Prepping the tank for fitting. Aside from the fuel pump which is best left in place, I had to replace all the fittings before the assembly could go back on the bike. This meant renewing several items where necessary and carefully manoeuvreing it back onto the frame without scratching anything. Main fuel line feed pipe went on first. New "Norma" clamp ensures a leak free seal. The only thing to watch out for here is that you orientate the angle of the pipe correctly, else it is a PIA to connect it to the airbox fuel inlet feed. That done, next up were the support brackets, Swiss cheese original bolts replaced with A2 stainless items. Locktited and torqued as per factory spec. Dual lock pads and new fairing grommets in place on each side. Instead of the goop OEM white lithium grease, I bought some red rubber grease which will prevent these grommets from being pushed out when the fairing pins pass through them. New dual locks for atop the tank. The backing on these is a total mare to remove, so I slit them with a surgical blade in order to peel it off. Once on the bike they aint moving, so you need to ensure you position them accurately before you commit. Once the rear grommets were fitted (where the tank bolts to the rear subframe), all that remained was to offer it up to the bike, reconnect the earth lead, fuel pump electrical connector and breather lines, then bolt it back into place. Next up was the underseat bracket, fuel inlet hose clamp where it attached to the airbox inlet feed and fuel filler assembly. The filler plate is held on with four bolts, so again these were replaced with stainless items. The plate is orientated in such a way that you need to ensure the two bleed holes line up correctly, to allow the venting system to work. before bolting it down. Finally the DP filler cap went on next and job done.
Refitting the seat fairing involved marking out the position of the rubber pads that rest on the underseat compartment and whose purpose is to space the panel correctly. They need to line up with two corresponding points, so positioning them accurately is vital. Here I used a track fairing seat panel to measure the position of the pads and translated this across to the painted version. Stuck in position Last up was the rubber grommet, that locates the panel by sliding over the tail compartment "nib" at the rear. Silicone spray makes this a lot easier to fit than attempting it dry as it's a pig to get in otherwise. Once fitted and four bolts later, the rear of the bike is now complete (save for a number plate).
Nose fairing fittings back on and titanium bolt kit ready to attach the new screen. The fairing itself utiliises two mounting bolts recessed into the instrument surround, that pass through the front subrame, which were replaced with stainless items when fitted back to the bike. I found it useful to apply a small piece of masking tape to the end of a T-bar to prevent them falling into the abyss inside and thereby avoid having to fish around trying to retreive them. Unfortunately the Lightech mirror block off plates are slightly different on the later fairing, so I had to order a replacement set which should have arrived by the time I am next home. As of now the upper side fairings, nose fairing, screen, tank, seat and seat panel are all back on. Just the lowers and battery cover to go now.
Quick update one and all. It seems there are some alignment issues with the lower fairings despite them being on point as far as the Lieb Speed carbon elements are concerned (and no reflection on the accuracy of his parts) so not quite sure what is going on, but it's under enormous stress to get it to fit and distorted when bolted into positon, so it's now off the bike. That is not something I am akin to accepting so as an insurance policy I have a one piece carbon belly pan from Ilmberger that is being painted as we speak and will go on the bike instead. Not as practical as a two piece setup I grant you, but will nevertheless be a worthy replacement. In addition the instrument cover has two alloy threaded collets into which the inner fairing ducts bolt to at the front. These were a pig to get the bolt to thread into so I suspect that some of the clear coat on the carbon got into the threads. Needless to say I ran a tap down them (0.8) as per the bolts that were to be used and no dice. One of them snapped off so basically the whole front end has to be dis-assembled to remove each side piece and replace with new. I will get the new ones braced in a jig (at the collet point) and checked that the threads will happily accept an M4 screw before I refit the whole thing. PIA but there we go, no sense in shortcuts at this stage. That being said the bike should be complete within the next three to four weeks. Have to say, it's looking as nice as I had hoped it would thus far. Battery cover is back from Peter Lieb, after I had had it painted and sent out to him. He fitted the grilles and their carbon backing plates as well as the pin posts to engage into the side fairings, all of which had to be done on a jig in Germany. Perfect fit. It really is a thing of beauty. I also swapped out the carbon set pad I fitted earlier with one of his embossed versions (to accept a domed Corse badge) and which is now complete (pics will go up tomorrow). As I alluded to earlier, once that's all done its off to have the PPF film fitted in Hampshire, ceramic coated on all the other areas (ie wheels, suspension linkages, carbon parts) then off down the M3 to Moto Rapido, to have them activate the DMS module and update the software and load the Akra map. After that, who knows. If the weather holds out, heaven forbid, I might even get to ride it.
Some minor tweaks to the paintwork being done as I was not happy with two particular elements but these will be completed very soon. I'm at a cross roads with the lower panels for now and the one piece bellypan as its a royal pain in the ass to replace and remove it, due to the kickstand and not risk marking rhe paintwork so it's sat in its box still. I've got a set of Ducati OEM Akra lowers I'm going to mount to rule out any issues being caused by the main fairings themselves, so if these align without the bodywork being under any tension then I know the lieb speed/oem combo is where the fault lies and I'll have to determine what's causing the problem. Bloody nuisance as it's nothing obvious. The Lieb Speed carbon lowers are tight up against one of the Akra rubber spacers on the pipework that runs down rhe RH side of the belly pan so I might see if removing it means I don't have to pull the RHS lower upwards to get it to bolt up near rhe rear brake pedal. This should all be a simple process but frustratingly it's not.
As I’m on fuel tank number 3, the first two had problems, this brought back memories I settled on a FullSix carbon fibre number. Very nice too…
Hey @Topolino any updates on the V4S? I'm seriously bored with this winter and Christmas crap and could do with something exciting to look at and read!!!
The last few pieces of bodywork (which has been plagued with numerous delays, owing to the painter's second off on a trackday earlier in the year, leaving him with a badly broken arm and a very messed up Achilles tendon) should be ready at the end of this week, early part of next week, now that he has thankfully recovered sufficiently to return to work. If all goes well, the bike should have all its clothes back on soon. I'm hoping to post up a video and plenty of gratuitous photos of it before Christmas, if I can. Aside from somewhat hectic work commitments ATM, unfortunately I'm also dealing with a terminal illness in the family, so the project has had to take a bit of a back seat, so I need something exciting to look at as much as you do. Fear not, I'm as keen to see this finished as anyone else.
On the home straight at last. Main fairings, nose cone, tank and seat unit fitted. What an utter PIA it was to get the side fairings on without the small tank grommets and rear mid-fairing grommets engaging on the pins without them popping out. Must have tried about ten times before I finally got them to go on correctly. Next up is the battery cover panel and lowers. I have both a split lower fairing and a one piece painted bellypan. The latter will get fitted after the bike's first service/oil change. Once it's all back together it's going off to get the paint correction done (any minor swirl marks and flaws removed), then an Xpel film kit fitted. Lastly the Media module needs to be activated, Akra map and any software updates installed and an MOT (despite the fact it's never been ridden and has only 12 PDI miles on the clock). As promised I will upload a video and pics as soon as I get some free time, which is not something I am blessed with right now, so please bear with me.
Hi @Topolino, have you considered an alternative to PPF? As you're a perfectionist i would have thought you'd want full protection to your paintowork/panels? I looked at PPF but i wanted all the panels covering which is impossible with PPF without having multiple bits of PPF to deal with curvs, lumps and bumps etc. I opted for this https://ngenco.com/protect/ which is spray applied therefore covering the whole panel. You can't even tell the panel is protected but it is!
Is that PPS? I watched a recent review/comparison between the two PPF/PPS the both have pros/cons seems PPS can still get stone chips though which if you have changed colour will be obvious
Not 100% sure but possibly fits into that category. With any protection you'll always get stone chips and the PPF, PPS or Ngenko is only there to protect against the smallest of chips. If you threw a rock at your bike none would protect it! Some PPF is self healing through heat but we're talking very small holes. I only opted for Ngenko because it was spray applied and covered all the plastics as you would with a spray job. I was told that the Ngenko offers the same protection as the PPF. See thread #14 here https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/new-bike-rsv1100-factory-motogp.79372/
Project V4S Unica.........................................................................is complete!! (save for the PPF film, some software updates, MM module activation and an MOT). Pictures and video to follow as soon as I can get some free time to piece something together. I'm well chuffed with how it's turned out after three looooooong years in the making. It's been a labour of love and definitely a journey I might actually think twice about repeating, given the time and effort involved but I've learnt a lot along the way and appreciated the design and technology that goes into producing a modern day superbike, given the sheer complexity of the build.
I will. So much negative sh*t and heartache going on in my personal and professional life right now, so please bear with me. This project has been beseiged by an army of setbacks, I can't begin to tell you of them all. Needless to say I will post up some updates in the next few days, assuming I get ANY time off work over Christmas. As it stands I have the 25th/26th off and that is it. Working over New Year too, so I will do my best.
thanks for keeping these updates coming, slow progress is still progress, and I for one enjoy your posts.. looking forwards to the finished result Sadly working Christmas and new year as well ! what we do for fun eh..!
