Ducati advise you not to overhaul your eccentric due to safety reasons, however, I didn't fancy spending almost £500 on a new one and I like a challenge. There are 7 parts to the eccentric hub: - The body - 1 x double row ball bearing on the right side - 1 x circlip retaining double row ball bearing - 1 x needle roller bearing on the left side - 1 x dust seal for the needle roller bearing - 1 x bush that goes through the needle roller bearing - 1 x internal spacer separating the bearings As long as the bush, body and spacer are in decent condition then all you need to replace are the 2 x bearings and the seal. It's pretty simple. My bush had polish marks but nothing major. To strip the hub down do as follows: - Remove the circlip on the right side that retains the double row ball bearing. Circlip pliers needed. - Remove the oil seal which seals the needle bearing on the left side. Use a flat head to leverage it, be careful not to damage the shoulder of the bore. - Use a heat gun and heat the area around the double row ball bearing on the right side until can't touch it with your hands. - From the left side with the oil seal, use an implement which matches the diameter of the bush and drive it through. This will drive into the separating spacer which will in turn drive the double row ball bearing out. The spacer is unable to be removed at this point as it can only be installed/removed from the left. For me, the needle roller bearing on the left side also came out when removing the double row bearing which was a plus but may not happen for others. - If the needle roller bearing is still in situe heat the area around the bearing with a heat gun, again until you can't touch it with your hands. - From the right side, use a large flat head to chap it out, alternating around the circumference in order to make sure it comes out evenly, otherwise the bore may get damaged. The needle roller bearing and spacer can now be removed. My hub was in decent condition but still had minor corrosion where it met the hollow part at the rear of swingarm which was exposed to water ingress etc. I also noticed there was moisture staining/light surface corrosion on the inside so I cleaned it with gunk and rinsed it thoroughly. I then sprayed the inside with the VHT paint for added protection and masked off the bores which house the bearings. I got cracking results. There was some overspray on the bores so I dressed them with a new scourer you use for your dishes, going round the bores following the grain. I always do this when installing new bearings as it can remove small imperfections, again good results. The outside of the hub also needed some dressing. I then greased the complete inside of the hub to protect from moisture, especially the areas which had been affected before. Everything is ready to go back together again. The bearings for the hub are widely stated on forums to be Ducati specifics, however, that is nonsense and can be purchased at various places online, albeit they are pretty rare. I got mine from 123bearing which were by far the cheapest, however, the bearings are still expensive. - Doublerow ball bearing for right side - SKF BAH-0175, £88.96 Inc VAT - Needle roller bearing for left side - SKF RNA 4910 2RS, £45.90 Inc VAT - OEM dust seal for left side - 93010102A, £5.77 To re-assemble everything do as follows: - With the double row bearing, pull the inner 2 races outwards a small amount. This creates a gap where you can pack more grease in. Be careful not to pull them too far as this will cause the seals to tuck under the edge of the races which means they will not seal properly. Trust me, you don't want to have to try and get the lip of the seal back over the race. Next to impossible to do so without damaging it. Notice in image 13 how the seal has tucked under the race. Once done, close them back up - Put both bearings in the freezer over night to help shrink them for install - Starting with the right side, grease the bore and fill the circlip recess with grease too. Grease the whole double row bearing. - Place the new bearing inside the bore. Use the old bearing as a driver paying attention to keep the force being applied on the outer circumference. I usually use a block of wood across the old bearing first to get it started more uniformly. Drive it until it cant go any more. - The old bearing will now be stuck halfway in the bore, not ideal. Create 2 small cuts in the old bearing outer race directly across from each other which will let you chap it out with a flat head. Not much force is needed. - Re-grease the bore and bearing along with the circlip and re-install the circlip. Finish the right side by greasing the edge of the bore. - From the left side, grease the internal spacer completely and install it, placing it firmly against the double row ball bearing. - Grease the left hand bore and needle roller bearing completely and place it inside the bore. - Again, use the old bearing to drive the new bearing in until it's fully seated. Again the bearing will get stuck in half way but there is a lip on the outer race so you can chap it out easily but remember to do so evenly. - Re-grease the bore and seal and install the seal. - Grease the bush and re-install it Congratulations the bore is now like new.
It's the axle's turn for a refurb. The brake disc bolts were on tight to the point where even with the loctite melted they were an absolute bitch to get out. One of them rounded and so I had to dremmel a slot into the head and use a large screwdriver to get it out, then the brake disc was able to be separated. After this, I gunked the spindle and disc before going round them with a wire brush and finishing them with isopropyl alcohol. The disc appeared new and had no lip on it what so ever. I bought 4 x titanium disc bolts from Racebolt for £27.16. The 4 x bolts weighted in at 20g. The OEM steel bolts weighed in at 36g. This whopping 16g weight saving equates to approximately 45%, or a bag of wotsits. Result. Once I chased the threads on the spindle it was time to get everything back together. Despite everyone using red loctite, the torque sheet I have states lock 2 should be used which is loctite 243 and blue. Also, I'm fed up with getting brake disc bolts stuck and it's pissing me off. I torqued 1 x bolt to 28Nm as per the torque sheet but it started to smoosh so I dialled it back to 20Nm which felt spot on. Boom, ready to go in the hub.
Swingarm finally refurbed and ready to be re-assembled. I initially planned on spraying the textured cast areas but it would begin to flake and be more trouble than its its worth in the long run. Polish is starting to weather in due to me constantly wiping grease and all sorts off it but very happy with how everything turned out. I had to rub down a couple of bits at the front left hand side which now appear smooth and not textured, however, it's better than a deep scratch. This area is hidden so it's all good. Drilled a 2mm pilot hole at the rear of the swingarm before doing a final 4mm hole for drainage. After drilling, I used a larger drill bit and turned both sides of the hole to deburr it, you end up with a minor chamfer. I tried to get the hole as close to "bottom dead centre" as possible as this is where the water gathers in the middle recessed area of the hub bores, causing the corrosion and damage. There is flat area with a ridge just inside the hollow of the swingarm, however, drilling the hole there would not drain the water which gathers in the hub area due to the ridge and positive gradient of the bore. I'm going to get/make a rubber bung to plug the hole and then periodically drain the swingarm incase water does get back in. Finally, a quick clean of the casting areas with isopropyl alcohol and a wire brush. I rubbed the swingarm in a circular fashion while spraying the alcohol. Alcohol has penetrative characteristics but is also evaporative which is ideal. Had to wipe off excess liquid though in the dirty areas. Again, I dressed the bores with a scourer to clean up the imperfections. All I need to do now is clean up the bolts which secure the chain guard and brake line guides and then I can put everything back together again. I've not done it yet but I'm going to spray some silicon inside the swingarm for waterproofing. The anticipation of getting the back of the bike together again is building.
Set aside some time to clean the back of the engine and frame. There's a decent amount of blemishes and it's by no means pristine due to its age but I'm happy with how bright it came up. Decided to install the termi manifold before the shock and swingarm as it was a bit of a nightmare to get off initially due to having such little room. Blagged a couple of Athena gaskets for £8.54. The gaskets have a raised bevel which I believe are to be installed against the manifold flange. Bought 6 x new manifold nuts from Ducati for just under £3. The top and left nut were no issue what so ever and were torqued to 10Nm. The right bolt is a pain in the arse as the spanner caught the edge of the header weld. I thought about grinding down an old spanner but couldn't be bothered in the end. I tightened the right bolt down to what I believed was at least 10Nm and managed to keep it from rounding which is always a result.
Didn't really document the disassembly of the swingarm so I'm doing it now at point of assembly. Before starting I sprayed the hollow of the swingarm with silicon and greased the area which were initially corroded. - First up, grease the whole external mating surfaces of the hub and install it from the left side, leverage the clamping point with a flat head to open up the bores and ease the eccentric into its housing. - Install the washer onto the right side of the eccentric. The manual states states there is a rounded side and flat side to the washer and that the flat side is to be installed against the hub. I bought new washers and found it very hard to tell the difference but went with what I thought was the right way. - Insert the green o-rings into the caliper plate and install it on the right side against the washer. Grease the recesses for the o-rings so they don't dry up - Install the second washer against the caliper plate with o-ring, again with the flat side towards the hub. - Grease the recess for the circlip and secure it on the right side. This was a bitch to do alone so some help was needed from my dad. It's quite a tough circlip so someone is needed to prize it open and another person is needed to help assist it over the end of the eccentric. Once placed on the hub, I found the new o-rings and washers caused some extra width preventing the circlip from seating into its recess. I had to use a small aluminium rod I had lying around and drive it with a hammer against the circlip in order to get it seated properly. I had to follow it around ensuring it was indeed fully seated. - Grease the axle and install it from the right side. I used a lot of grease to begin with, probably too much but this was just a precautionary measure to be safe. When finished I wiped off excess grease. There was some corrosion/rubbing marks underneath the chain guard areas so I applied a bit of grease to the plastic mating surfaces and installed them.
Sprocket assembly time. Bought a rental sprocket/sprocket carrier and new titanium Racebolt cush drive nuts. Managed to get the carrier for £115, the sprocket from Ducati for £25 and the racebolts for £30. The titanium nuts weighed in at approx 31g whilst the OEM bolts weighed in at at 63g, so just over 30g lighter which represents a 50% weight saving. I lost an OEM bolt before snapping a picture. Once assembled, the rental sprocket and carrier weighed in at 623g whilst the OEM sprocket weighed in at 1.13kg, so just over 0.5kg lighter which represents a 45% weight saving. Bought a couple of titanium axel nuts as well. The titanium one weighed in at 65g whilst the OEM but weighed in at 115g. Considering there are 2, the titanium nuts total 130g while the OEM nuts total 230g, so 100g lighter which represents a 43% weight saving. - Started off by assembling the sprocket carrier and sprocket. No need for loctite because of the nyloc nuts. - Wire brushed the cush drives which were pretty bad. - Greased the cush drives and carrier bores before installing the cush drives. - Grease the mating surfaces of the carrier retaining plate and assemble it with the rental carrier. - Loctite the threads of the cush drives with blue Loctite 243 and torque to 44Nm. I used masking tape and a rubber glove on the socket so the bolts weren't marked. Cush drives have an allen slot behind them used for the keeping them in place while torquing. - Grease the bottom of the nuts and install them on the cush drive threads. - Grease the centre teeth of the sprocket/carrier and install it on the axle with eccentric spacer, wheel nut and washer. I greased the axle too. - Grease the swingarm hub retaining bolts and install them. Torque them to 35Nm in a 1-2-1 sequence, however, like me you may wish to hold off until finalising the chain adjuster. Swingarm refurb complete.
After a long days days work I had to take things inside because it got so dark. Now that the swingarm was complete it was time to install the shock, shock linkage and ride adjuster and get it on the bike. - Grease the threads of the rod end bearings as well as the hollow between the bearing and it's housing. - Grease the bottom retaining bolt and install the ride height adjuster from the bottom. - Grease the bottom shock mount. Grease the hollow area of the swingarm where the shock actually mounts. - Grease the retaining bolt and install the shock from the bottom as well. It's much easier doing this compared with doing it after installing the swingarm. - Grease each side of shock linkage and install it into the frame. - Slide the swingarm in the bike and align each side with the hole at the back of the bike for the pivot bolt. Once aligned slide the pivot through the frame, swingarm, engine, swingarm and frame again. This may take some elbow effort. - Grease the mate surfaces of the shock linkage. - Grease the top shock mount and install the top of both, the shock and ride height adjuster. - Torque all shock linkage and ride height adjuster bolts to 42Nm. Torque the swingarm pivot bolt to 72Nm. Job done. Go and celebrate.
Not as much done today but finalised the rear tail tidy and got the subframe on. The tail tidy was just bolted back together but I wrapped the wires in loom tape as they were initially loose and exposed to the elements. The subframe just needed the speed clips put back on and then I could install a new under tray. The subframe was then installed on the bike. It went in relatively easy but did require a bit of elbow grease to line up the retaining bolt holes. Also, I have no plans on installing pillion footpegs so there's a bit more weight saving. Some folk laugh about minor weight savings on bikes but when you do them in tandem it can be quite decent. The weight saving on the back of the bike is currently about 2.5kg and that's not accounting for the carbon exhausts which don't have cats or the 520 chain I'm going to be putting on. Weight saving on a bike can't really be compared to people's weight fluctuation as a lighter bike will generally handle better than a heavier bike. People's drastic weight differences can ultimately determine performance when racing or hooning about, however, even heavier people will appreciate a lighter bike due to the experience.
@cookster @kartman I'm not going to lie, both of those wheels would be class. I've just made my last expensive purchase being triple clamps and have zero expenditure for a while. That being said I was really surprised at how light the 1098s wheels were so going to keep them for now. Would love a set of carbons though, can't even imagine how light they'd be. The only thing that would really make me contemplate ruining my finances would be a nice set of desmo forks or similar but I don't see that happening anytime soon also, the clog slippers are a running Christmas tradition that everyone should get involved in lol
Even though I had a carbon hugger, I came across a brand new DP one with hardware at a very good price, so because I'm a total gimp when it comes to OEM stuff and uniformity, obviously I bought it. The quality is a fair bit better than the aftermarket one as the lacquer appears thicker but I suppose it is brand new. Just the 3 x bolts, 3 x metals washers and 3 x plastic washers and that's it.
Word of warning re the DP hugger, "IT'S CRAP!" Nicely made and fits on a treat but stops sod all road crap from messing up your immaculate shock and rear end. I had one fitted before delivery of my then brand new Tricolore and within a few weeks I took it of and fitted a decent sized one that did the job properly. Just a word to the wise based on my personal experience, you've done a top rate job on your shock and s/arm and it would be a shame to see it get messed up unnecessarily.
Appreciate the heads up. I've not properly ridden the bike so not aware of how badly the hugger performs. When I first got the bike I did suspect it offered little protection other than for the shock. I think I'll stick with it just now but keep my eye out for another one that will offer more protection.
After re-assembling the swingarm, I left the brake caliper and speed sensor loose as it was covered in chain lube or something else not very nice. No need for a wire brush, it all came off with some isopropyl and a microfibre. Re-secured both lines in the bottom chain slider so now the bike can free wheel with no immediate issues. Pads seem to have plenty of life left too.
Finalised the indicator/loom at the back. The tail tidy is an evotech one which utilises bullet connections instead of the OEM plug. Unfortunately, whoever installed this made an absolute pigs ear of it. The loom's protective sleeve was presumably cut for access about 6cm and just left open. In the first picture you can also see the furthest right bullet on the loom side is hanging by approximately 3 x ball hairs. I taped them up as best I could as well as the loom sleeve and reconnected everything which took a bit of patience. The loom is sealed from the inside by the little rubber grommet. Was pleased to find both indicators working but when my girlfriend wanted to try them as well she beeped the horn and then the right one stopped working, so she's getting the blame ha ha. Hopefully it's just a blown bulb. All the connections were cleaned with Holt's electrical contact cleaner and there was no corrosion present at all.
Good start to the day. Replaced the right indicator bulb and boom, let there be light. The old bulb wasn't blown and still worked afterwards so either the bike got in some sort of loop or there was a bad connection. Also these indicators are like cheap 20 quid ones from eBay so I've found. Next, I cleaned the front manifold, cylinder head and oil cooler which were pretty minging, before installing the front downpipe. Again, 2 bolts out of 3 were straight forward but the bottom left one tucked beside the back of the battery tray was a bit tricky. Undone 3 bolts to remove the heat shield behind the rectifier which allowed enough room to get 1 x spanner rotation. Due to the weld, I was unable to torque this bolt so done it by feeling in comparison with the other 2. Included a couple of pics to show the different sides of the gaskets. Now I can finally start to get the rest of the exhaust on. Spent most of the day cleaning the bike and getting other bits and bobs buttoned up while I remembered/could be bothered. The bottom of the exhaust isn't proper polished because I was lazy and could only be bothered putting a proper graft into the visible pipes.
@PaulPhillips no worries. It's good to see people reading this and hopefully getting something out of it. Buttoned up the oil cooler and made tracks on the exhaust. I installed the lower straight pipe which leads from the front manifold first. There is a little rubber grommet which is used as a spacer for the belly pan. I then connected the 2 x middle vertical pipes before connecting them to both, the top manifold and lower straight pipe at the same time. In order to get clearance, I had to remove the hugger and rear wheel which made things a lot easier. The exhaust wasn't actually that far away fitment wise but to get it better, it did require a fair amount of effort. The plate that connects the exhaust to the frame could be a bit higher but I've got it as good as I could get so I need to deal with it. There are 2 x graphite spacers which go between the 2 x vertical pipe's connecting plates. Unfortunately one of the washers completely shredded at 5Nm so I need to order another one and just tighten it by hand. Also, I replaced the blue rubber flex piece at the mounting point which is rated at 10Nm. At this torque the rubber was completely squashed causing it to be forced out one side so I dialled it back to what I felt was an acceptable feel. Last to be installed was the Y-pipe. I had to remove the subframe to get this on but after re-installing the subframe, the undertray rested on the Y-pipe. With the subrame being lifted up as far as possible and the weight of the exhausts keeping the Y-pipe down, this created a very small gap. I've since bought reflective gold tape used specifically for heat dissipation which is yet to arrive but I'm confident this will keep the undertray from melting. Considering the subframe was allegedly a custom job in conjunction with the exhaust being handmade, I feel the fitment is decent as I didn't really have any major issues. It is just mocked up for now until I get the baffles and gold tape on. Then I can get everything aligned and torqued down. I really like the spaghetti pipe from the left hand side as well as the curve from the back. The fitment between the right rearset and exhaust is pretty so I need to shorten the bolt for the adjuster rod ball joint.
