Thought I better give an update on the bike after all the advice given leading up to the purchase! The past week has been torture, work has been busy and I haven't been sleeping right with tension and stress, well not stress but "pressure" from work combined with the excitement of having my new ducati 999s in the garage. I have to confess though, mostly excitement (do we ever grow up ?) I did manage to ride it home from work on the first day but 40km / hr for 35 minutes in traffic is NOT the bikes forte by any stretch of the imagination. In fact my ass was hot, the underneath of my thighs were almost burning, my wrist didn't ache..they went from slightly uncomfortable to outright numb with pins and needles within about 10 mins and I seriousley wondered if i had done the wrong thing.....fortunately 2 big hills just before my house let me open it up a bit and I thought...hmmm might be alright....MIGHT. So I stripped the bike down that next evening or two to get it ready to drop in to my mates Ducati shop for a check over (if it didn't check out alright I was allowed to send it back to the bike shop it came from...a 9 hour drive down country). Dropped it in to the shop Friday morning, left it there all day and the ducati guru didn't get a chance to look at it!.....AAAGHH with the weekend coming up!!! :frown: He also said it would be better WITH the tank so he could run it up with the diagnostics. Okay, fair enough. Packed it up in the van and took it home again.... Spent 4+Hours Saturday and about $50.00 worth of cleaning, degreasing and polishing products to REALLY make it clean. Had an absolute ball and the bike came out looking pretty bloody good (if I do say so myself!). Got about a tennis ball of grease and grime from around the front sprocket, cleaned up the chain and low and behold a nice DID gold link chain in pretty good knick under all the (over) grease/lubing. Both Sprockets in good order too. Engine case all came up mint and over all pleased. Spent the next day and a half impatiently waiting to get the bike back to the shop to change the belts (looked used but not worn...better to change and be safe than sorry without definitive proof of the last change I guess...) Anyway after a frustrating day and a half Monday comes around, dropped the bike in and end of day STILL hadn't got to it....aggghhh!!! ( a nice bonus was one of the guys there said how amazing the bike had come up, which as most of you know, bike mechanics are usually a pretty tough crowd so that was very pleasing ) Good news was come tuesday it was done by lunch time. Belts changed, bike checked out all A okay. Valve clearances checked, nothing came up on the computer so all good to go. 2.5 hrs labour plus belts....cha ching. (I do get a good rate and some discount on parts so no complaints!!) Got home tuesday night, stayed up late putting it all back together.....debated on riding it to work this morning but (disapointingly) realised I had to many things to pickup through the day so had to leave it at home (plus i dont think I could STAND another peak hour riding session just yet!!!)......rushed through the day got home, put the gear on and left for some country roads....
Sorry for the delay, I had a track day to prepare for these past few days. Since retiring from MX I have been racing an MX5 turbo in a class we call Classic Japanese over here. Today was a day for friends and family to be driven around one of our Auckland circuits, Hampton Downs. Had a lot to get ready the past couple of days... Anyway, ride impressions... First ride post getting it home in traffic, I took a back country road, about 30 mins each way...on the way out I rode the bike a bit lame. Ass planted securly in the middle of the seat and just tipped it in to corners lazy, not moving around...bike feels nice, tips in well and generally feels a lot like my old 250 Production days, more stable but similar tip in feel....a longer feel chassis but tips in so amazingly well...... A few issues, in a straight line the bike has a very slight weave.....I would be concerned except i think it is a tight head bearing... Secondly, any little bumps in the road would upset the stability more than I feel it should and it tended to pick itself up across these bumps and undualtions.... To be fair this is very picky as I really cant say enough how pleased I am with the bike overall. On the way back from my ride I started to move my ass around and weight properly for the corners (racer style) ..the stability and "feel" was significantly better. I cant stop thinking about how lovely it is to ride... Good news is when I got home, and started looking at the forks settings, I found the pre load to be fully wound in. I am sure this is the cause of the issues over bumps and have wound it back about 2 full turns, I will go more if necessary. I think back to the Jap imort 749s I briefly had 4-5 years ago where I found the handling of that bike to be somwhat off putting, probably had messed up sag as it wouldn't turn in at all...where as this bike is just begging for more corners, harder turn in etc.... I really like how the power is just like a giant hand pushing you forward as you twist the throttle, the GSXR 750 im selling now (due to this purchase) is more like twist the throttle and as the revs get in to the zone feel the world go a little bit crazy/out of control...the 999s is very linear on the throttle, wind it on and surge forward, roll it back and the giant hand pushing you forward releases pressure... sounds a bit absurd/silly but it is what it feels like to me. I cant wait to take this to a track day. Another friend of mine ( now the service manager at my friends motorcycle stores) says he didn't like the 999 on track as other bikes (litre bikes i presume) would zoom past him on the straights...At this point i dont think i would mind that. For me track days are more about getting things right within myself and the bike rather than "keeping up with the others"...my experience in racing and track days over the years...theres always someone faster! Anyway, this has been a bit wafty but needless to say after another quick ride up and down the nearest windy, country road when we got back from the car track day today..... I inadvertantly took the 20 min "short cut" to a 5 minute shop up the road....a good sign if ever there was one A few little things to work out but it really is a lovely bike and I am really pleased with it!!
Suspension set up is a MUST. Another mod is the R1 throttle http://ducatiforum.co.uk/f92/r1-throttle-mod-999-a-921/
Nice write up. Get the suspension sorted and it is sublime. What is the head angle set at and also the rear ride height? Makes a massive difference to how it feels. OGR
Glad you're liking it. I had a similar experience getting used to mine: at first I was riding a little passively, and was not too sure about the handling, but once I started using my body-weight a bit more and sitting forward over the bars the bike came alive: more eager turn-in, but very stable and confidence inspiring mid corner. And you're dead right about the engine: really responsive everywhere. Track-days are similar - I'm just pushing a bit harder and it's become abundantly clear that the bike is much more capable than I am, so plenty of room to learn and develop. Unless you're really ham-fisted with the throttle I think you can trust the bike to do what you want it to do: it's a classy chassis, especially once set up for your weight as has been said. Enjoy! cheers, Dom
Thanks guys, It was a bit wafty but i was exhausted when i wrote it. Great sugestion re the throttle mod. I now remember that from the 749 days and realise why I struggled with accelerating from stop signs with the 2 motion twist!! Will look in to that on monday. A few questions, I believe the steering is already on the quick setting, the tip in and sensitivity to bar movement is high (almost but not quite too high). Is there a way to tell from looking at the steering head? I need to loosen the steering head bearing slightly anyway as it is contributing to a slight weave when in a straight line. Is there a particular write up or setting you guys refer to for suspension setup on these bikes? i.e what sag, ride height etc...is recommended. My bike came with a photocopy non s manual. I can see how to adjust pre load on the fork, - is rebound at the bottom of the fork, screwdriver up between the bolts? like the showa.....and my MX bikes were. - is compression an allan key inside the pre load adjuster?
I would hold off adjusting the head bearing until you have made other usual checks. Check tyre pressures Suspension hardness settings Tyre wear Chain tension v important with these bikes (as it compresses the tension tightens right up and can set a weave off if its too tight at rest)
