1100 Did Something Completely Unexpected Today….and I Can’t Wait!

Evening folks, just a follow-up update now that I’m a month down the line. In short, absolutely love it! I put most of the running in miles on within the first week/10 days, so had to really ease up on usage due to the soonest running in service date being this Saturday; in the end I’m going to be almost spot-on the 600 miles.

So, the dealership fitted the Evotech engine and oil cooler guards, but didn’t have time to fit the tail tidy. The heated grips that I ordered didn’t arrive in time (in fact I’m still waiting for them to come into stock).

The tail tidy should’ve been an easy one to install….but it actually wasn’t that straightforward. For starters one of the underside M8 Allen bolts decided to round off with barely a rotation of the hex socket bit….God knows what torque Giuseppe did that up to….ended up getting an f-sharp new drill bit to drill a nice concentric pilot, then for once, a screw extractor actually worked for me (however, it was my mates Snap-On one, not my shitty Machine Mart set). Secondly, the Evotech tidy was designed for the bikes that had their number plate mounts originally mounted off of the pillion seat. Mine, however, had this abomination mounted from the LHS of the swing arm. The difference is that the underside plastic trim is different; the older style has two recesses moulded into them to accommodate the original mount (and therefore also the Evotech one). My tail underside trim is smooth, no cutouts/recesses. I’ve raised this with Evotech, and after seeing my photos they tell me that they’re going to now redesign the kit for the later bikes.

In the meantime, however, I decided to order the older style under-set trim panel as it was only £10. The only downside is that it doesn’t have the spring-loaded seat keyhole cover that the newer bikes have….I’m going to modify and merge the two pieces…

I also ordered the throttle spacer kit…£40 for two tiny pieces of plastic, but hey-ho. I hated that rattly throttle, made the bike feel ever so cheap. Only done one ride since installing the other day, but it feels a lot better.

Other observations….

1. The engine loosened up a lot after the first 100 miles….more than any other new engine I’ve run in over the years
2. The “Journey” (middle mode) setting is actually very enjoyable when having a blast through some of the really rutted/potholed lanes near me….less whisky throttle and you can really give it a handful of Braap and enjoy it more.
3. Conversely the Active mode is great fun on everything else!
4. She’s pretty thirsty at the moment. Matey (John?) from Bike World had a long-termer, and commented that it was frugal….I struggle to see how, I’m filling up every time I take it out.
5. The fuel gauge is absolutely not linear! Almost caught me out on Day 2, on an early morning ride out to Herne Bay….was on “half tank” when we left, then suddenly dropped to whatever the fuel warning range is, then down to single digit range soon after. Gulp.
6. I’ve spent way-more-than-I-should’ve on new gear!….any excuse….

Must give a big shout out to the lads at Laguna Performance Centre in Ashford. Yes, I’m aware of some historic negative posts, but speak as I find, and Andy (sales), Pete & Liam (clothing) and Chris in parts, could not have been more helpful and friendly. I’ve been back there a couple of times each week, just popping by to collect parts or clothing and it feels like a social club. Great lads.

The only downside to all of this, is that I went into Laguna the other week and saw the Desert Sled. God I love that thing. I’m now having dirty thoughts about how that can be added to the roster.

 

Thanks Jez, yeah definitely loving it, fulfilling the requirement of a Sunday morning coffee run bike. I‘d love to buy that old garage…a subtle and sympathetic do-up, perfect. I used to drive past that each weekend taking my daughter to her Saturday job.

 

Thanks Multi….I confess to being totally smitten with it. As I said in the initial posts, I’m not a “yellow” guy at all, never owned anything yellow before.

In between posts this evening, I just got a call from a pal who’s relinquishing a rented garage about 200m away from my house, and has talked the owner into letting me have it…very kind of him….trouble is my justification for NOT getting another bike was the lack of space. And now I seem to have acquired more space. Oh no…..

 

Thanks Multi/Ducbird/Simon....i reckon i should be on commission from Ducati... or at least Laguna.

Bike went for it's running in service yesterday, all in fine fettle and enjoyed extending the engine a bit more on the way home. You really don't need it though, it's cracking fun just using the torque and "short" shifting then cracking the throttle and hearing the braap.

For the first time i hopped from the 748 to the Scrambler, literally back to back with only as much time in between as it took to get out of the leathers and into the Scrambler gear. Amazing the difference in engine feel, the desmo feeling so much more rev happy and smoother (i do realise I'm not writing anything revelatory here!), whilst the old aircooled 2v feeling in its happy place at 3-6k. Nice having the weather to actually go out and use them.