Yes, the shock and the flywheel were probably the best deals. At the end of November Forza Moto listed them on their ebay store as an auction instead of buy it now. Nobody bidded on them so i got an absolute steal. The shock really needed cleaned up. I've had the spring powder coated and its currently up at knockhill with ERS racing getting serviced and dialled in. Nacho failed his Mod 1 first time but passed it with myself and then passed his Mod 2 a few days later. He was planning on getting a BMW S1000rr but think the insurance etc was too much. Pretty much every job I've done on the bike has had complications and been very frustrating but when you manage to resolve and finish the job, the feeling is probably one of the best you can have.
Great job! My 1098 is a kit of parts right now and I’m just starting the process of getting it the way I want it before it goes back together. Lots of useful info in you’re thread - thanks.
Mega weight saving but zero bank balance after. https://amsducati.com/ncr-ducati-848-1098-1198-titanium-frame
Appreciate the comments guys. There's more to come but I'm pretty mich up to date now so updates will be a bit slower. That frame is insane. For 15k though you could almost get a poor condition R.... If ever there was one lol. Recently picked my spring and tail tidy up from the powder coaters, Powdertec in Glasgow. They are a great company with great work. I have used them for my M3 wheels, RS 125 wheels, subframe, headlight bracket and tail tidy. All items have been blemish free and come with a 1 year guarantee. I just got a generic satin black.
Very good read & good work in bringing the bike back to it's best. What are doing with the Oberon clutch cylinder fitted originally, I'll be interested in it if it was unscathed in the off Andy
I think you might of bought that from me off eBay (there's one of my security stickers on it) I bought it in the United States. I too am not sure who manufactured it but it weighs half of what the standard frame weighs. I bought it for a project that never happened, so sold it on at a loss!. You got a real bargain! Looks like you've got a real labour of love going on there, good luck with the build
Yeah, i must admit the quality of the subframe is top notch. I did get a very good deal at £200 considering the R subframes are just over £1100 new. I bought it from a seller on ebay called moto rossa uk so if this is you then thanks for the frame. It totally is a labour of love but due to poor weather and a cramped shed theres not much labour going on.
Next up on the agenda was refurbing the lights. The tail lights were heavily scored and there was some scoring/stone chipping to the left head light. I think the left one was a bit worse for wear as this is the side which i assume the bike went down. Just over £20 bought me a 3M headlight restoration kit which consists of a velcro foam pad drill attachment, 500, 800 and 3000 grit velcro sanding discs along with rubbing compound and a foam polishing pad used as a final stage. The first picture of the tail light was with the 500 grit. The next 4 pictures were using 800 grit. The 3rd last picture of the tail light was with 3000 grit wet sand and the last 2 pictures were with a polish. I was very impressed with the results as the kit is only supposed to really deal with yellowing/hazed lights. The light appeared brand new, however, while polishing it, there was a dry part of the foam pad which melted some of the plastic due to the heat. In an attempt to rectify it i ended up sanding a little too much and put a very small hole in the corner which is circled blue in the last picture of the ta light, DOH! Could have kicked myself. It'll teach me though which is why I'm doing this. I ended up ordering a newer second hand one because i didn't want to use the botched light. I repeated the exact same process for the headlight but due to it getting dark, poor lighting conditions and reflections it was hard to capture the true results. A bit of advice for anyone wanting to try this, this is a very simple job, however, i would sand using the 500 grit by hand. I initially sanded using the drill but the headlights are tough and with low speeds, the drill was doing nothing, long story short, i up'd the speed and leaned a little heaver which caused the plastic to overheat and crystallise, again DOH! I managed to bring it back to a good standard, a lot better than what it was but wasnt able to fully eradicate the crystallisation.
The indicators and reggy plate light were a bit grubby and oxidised so decided to strip them down and give them a good clean using electrical contact cleaner. I have the evotech tail tidy so may differ from OEM setup. Pretty straight forward, there is a little slot to just pop the clear cap off. In the cap sits the orange insert and behind them lies the bulb and mirror piece. The bulbs are conventional push and twist types, about £5 from ducati. To remove the indicator arm from the head, just pull the arm while wiggling it being careful not to break the bulb while seated. The wires were exposed so decided to wrap them in loom tape for a bit of added weather protection.
New tail light came and was in reasonable condition but decided to sand it back to new. Same process as before. Also tested it and confirmed its operational. Also swapped over all the gubbins from the old seat and installed the lights. Pretty self explanatory.
Chain had some surface rust so took a wire brush and some gunk to it before re-lubing it. Took care not to shred any o-rings. I have a good RK chain and renthal sprockets to put on in future but even so, the rusty chain was annoying me. Also used some 400 grit emery cloth and lightly sanded the swingarm. There was a couple of imperfections which need a bit of dressing, however, not all could be touched up. I initially intended to polish the swingarm but i like the coating for protection and also cant be bothered as its condition is decent.
Installed the quick shifter and GP shifter a while ago but was only able to finalise it yesterday. The power shifter draws its power from the rear brake switch so has connections tapping into there as well as the side stand switch. In order to cross the wires to the opposite side of the bike, they need to be run under the tank but through the frame. Above the horizontal cylinder there are 2 clasps which gather electrical cables and stop them from potentially melting. I used velcro pads to secure the power shifter but we'll see if it will fit with a fairing on. For anyone who would be interested or needs the ducati manual to set this up give me a shout. Actually setting the power shifter up and calibrating it was very tricky so i was thankful to have the same instructions as the ducati techs. With the power shifter and optimate, wiring is getting pretty messy but not much i can do.
I know it will make it nonstandard but you might consider drilling and tie wrapping your battery retainer “tongue” where it slots into the battery case as they have a habit of popping out in use. This probably occurred to you as you can see in the pic that it’s not fully located already. There is a convenient hole in the battery case to thread the tiewrap through so you only need to put a hole in the battery retaining part.
Good spot, I'll need to have a look and see what i can do. A small hole wouldn't bother me, however, i am a fan of practical solutions.
This update will probably be quite handy for some folks not in the know. Thanks to fellow member @Pedro848! I managed to get my hands on a pair of 6 month old Austin Racing foldable levers in really good condition. Austin Racing levers are identical to the TWM and Ducati Performance levers which are priced significantly higher. The clutch lever was missing the rubber spacer which engages the clutch switch so i ordered a 4mm polyurethane pipe and cut a piece off to slip over the pin. Problem solved and looks like the Austin Racing OEM piece. While doing this i decided to fix my shredded clutch master cylinder plunger seal/boot. Ducati, other manufacturers and even brembo i believe do not sell these individual components, however, KTM are the exception and do sell them preventing an unnecessary purchase of a new master cylinder or shipping your master off to a brembo service centre. The rubber boot is an identical brembo part used in KTM master cylinders which has the part number 61013008000. I got 2 from Fowler Parts, £5.10 each, however, there are alternative vendors. I started by ripping off the shredded rubber only leaving the outer seal in situ. I then got a large flat head and carefully prized the seal out, making my way round the edge prizing evenly. It doesnt take much force. I rested the body of the flat head on the opposite side of the seal making sure not to mark the seat edge of the master cylinder. Next i gave the internals a quick clean. I will eventually rebuild the masters, however, they looked in decent nick so will leave them be for now. Once cleaned, i greased the seat of the master cylinder, the outer rim of the rubber boot as well as the plunger which is provided. The OEM plunger is not needed unlike other levers. With my finger inside the cup of the rubber boot i inserted the plunger and slid it till the boot sat in the recessed slot. It is much easier installing the plunger before installing the seal. Finally, i just installed the boot with my fingers, again being careful. With the plunger installed all i had to do was slide it into its seat of the lever and insert the retaining screw through the lever. This whole process took about 10 minutes.
Forgot to include this but as part of the lengthy and multi-lingual brembo instructions, they included torque specs for the bleeder screw of the master cylinders.
Great work Itll be like a monty python broom, as new, only three new handles and five new heads Out of interest, the dullness in the lights, was that just general aging, storing outside or what do you reckon??
