Anyone put a 1198 engine in a 1098 SF? No doubt the subject's come up and I have searched but couldn't find anything. I'm thinking about my next round of HP junkie SF enhancements... I found a thread about it on another Ducati forum and the general opinion was the 1198 is too top-endy (which surprised me because the 1198 has nearly 100 lbs of torque and is famed for its mid-range punch which I would have thought make it ideal), and the SF couldn't accommodate the necessary airbox and throttle bodies to get the best out of the 1198 lump and so tuning the 1098 was a better bet. I've had my SF custom mapped and it goes like stink with more mid-range torque than it had before and I know it doesn't need it but I'd love more. The most I can get away with without making the engine fragile. It's stomp I'm after. I'd like to push the torque up towards 100 lb if I can. I'm thinking about blue-printing the engine and porting and flowing the heads. That's going to cost a similar amount to buying and fitting an 1198 lump. How far can I go with improving the performance of the original engine while keeping an everyday usable bike? If I could I'd just buy an 1198 or a Panigale and have two bikes (I couldn't live with a sports bike alone) but I'm not rich enough. Opinions welcome.
Had a chat with Rich Llewellyn at Louigi Moto today. His advice is, come what may, if the bike is a keeper get it blueprinted. This would include dynamic balancing and all the necessary head work. He also recommends while they're in there replacing the mains with older spec bearings which are much stronger. The bike already has about 165 bhp at the crank and blueprinting and balancing will in itself produce a significant boost to power and torque. Chris at CJS (Louigi's dyno-ing partner) would do the head work, machining ports if necessary to get them absolutely identical. He says there are no gains to be made to the 1098 engine by altering the ports beyond machining out any inconsistencies but shimming tolerances can be considerably tightened up with advantages for service life as well as performance. They would skim the heads to increase compression and alter the cam timing. And some other "things" said Rich with a glint in his eye and a twiddle of his engineer's fingers. And of course, another re-map. Different cams are a non-starter. There are none available off the shelf and they would have to be bespoke machined at something eye-watering like £800 a stick. We won't go there. I thought about changing the exhaust system. It has Termi cans on the original headers with the valve removed and the Termi ECU custom mapped. I would have to spend a lot of money changing the pipe to a full system for a very small handful of horses. For a road bike better to put the money into engine work. Rich is confident the blueprinting in itself would add a good 10 bhp and corresponding torque and the head work and cam timing will add still more. And the engine will be stronger, smoother more powerful and more durable with better service intervals. Its a lot of money but no more than buying and fitting a second hand 1198 lump which may or may not work with the 1098 airbox and won't have had the benefit of the blueprinting. So I'm going for it. The clincher is having effectively a brand new engine built to a much higher spec than factory with greater reliability and power. Its going to cost at least £2500 all told but the bike is a keeper and its general condition is pretty much immaculate. And the 12000 mile service is due so that's £500 odd I'd have had to spend anyway. Its going in to be done during the winter lay-up, so I should have a brand new rip-snorter ready to go in the spring. I'll post progress and results. Its only money...
If you can find one.... Riders of Bridgewater claimed to be selling a couple but when I inquired I heard nowt back
What I'm thinking now is that if I fit a 1198 or 1098R engine it will be an unknown S/H mill, condition unknown. I'm won over to the idea of blueprinting a road bike engine and that will start at £1000, just for the rebuild, more depending on the amount of machining involved. I'm not going to get a S/H engine under £2000 and may have to spend the same again getting it fettled. It could be hugely expensive. I really want the reliability of a sorted engine. I'd like to do some European track days next year and I don't want to ride with crossed fingers. I think Rich has convinced me of the logic of working on the engine I've got.
