Ok folks - needing help. Started the rebuild today and I have to say it's going back together very easily so far. I'll get a few pictures up when i get a chance. However, the triple clamps. The item I have are by Nichols Sports Bikes, their 30mm offset version. Beautifully engineered. Now I've watched a ton of online videos and read various forums at how to put these on a various types of bikes, but none are specific enough. They have about 1mm of vertical movement within the frame stem. Is this right? I've double checked that the seals are seated properly on the bearings and the stem seems to be okay too, but having vertical movement is rather unnerving. Any tips/advice is very gratefully received.
IIRC the manual says something along the lines of tightening the stem nut to 30Nm and then another 30 degrees? At least thats what it was on my 749 (I think).
To be fair, it's only hand tightened, so perhaps that accounts for the movement, but I don't recall the oem item moving at all - even after I'd loosened the stem nut. Yeah, all oem bearings and seal rings are installed as well as the bearing holders. Nothing missing from what I can see. Perhaps it's just the torquing that'll make the difference. Torque value is 30NM +/- 10%. I'll do that and see if it makes a difference. Thanks guys.
There is a seal at the bottom of the steering stem - does the Nicholls one have that? Just checked the manual and the torque is, as you say, 30Nm and there is no need to back it off 30degrees (like on 749 and 916).
Such a thing is very rare out here. Does happen though, but the market for used parts is tiny and everyone knows everyone in the bike community. Wouldn't get very far I'd hope...
The nichols set up comes with a new Ducati OEM seal. That's installed and seems to sit fine. I'm going to take it all back off and look at it again when I get a chance. Thanks
Last update of the year folks. I'm back to work at the weekend and then on leave for the festive period - it's seems other things will just get in the way... Still, I'm in no rush. Like I said yesterday, I managed to spend a few hours putting parts back on the bike and adding some new parts. The cleaned chain runners, carbon swing arm cover and new short hugger to start. The swing arm cover had been rubbing on the swing arm, so a couple of little felt pads were installed to rest against the metal to stop an further rubbing. The little short hugger with the chain guard looks mean!! After that, the oem ride height adjust had to be ditched. It's pants and Ducati should be ashamed of installing such a clumsy item on what is a track focused bike. The Ducabike part is beautifully made, very nice to the touch too, and exceptionally easy to install. If you don' have one of these, get one!! The old offender came off very compliantly, a paddock stand was used to support the swing arm too. In order to retain the ride height, which wasn't standard anyways, I simply measured from the bottom of the top fixing eyelet, to the top of the bottom fixing eyelet, set that to the Ducabike item, reinstalled the washers and screwed it in to place. Works with great ease and looks the mutts nutts. The old Corse style carbon clutch cover went back on and the new carbon belt covers were introduced to their new soul mates. Both went together like a dream, lining up perfectly. The vertical belt cover was a bit of a pain to go on - you have to slide it across the and infront of the belt/pulleys from left to right, and there is one bolt which is a pain to install, but we got there in the end. I protected it with some masking tape for good measure. All worked out dandy. They are stunning on the bike. To give you an idea how long I have been ordering parts and researching the build, I first contacted Cox Racing in November of 2014 about their radiator guards... A year goes fast in my world.. I first found them when I was looking for some guards for another bike and really liked the look of their products. Simple, yet very effective. So, I now have a set for all of my bikes. The kits are very straight forward to install. For the 1098/1198, it comes with a metal framed guard for the rad, preformed/cut mesh for the oil cooler, a crank case chain guard, as well as some installation parts and instructions. All in all, it too 10 mins to install and I think is a very practical and important part of the project. Sure, it wont stop those tiny little stones, but it's the bid ones that hole rads... This will stop them. You'll notice in the picture above some tie-warps poking through the rad. These are for the carbon one piece radiator cowl that C-Tech made for me. The tie-wraps slot neatly through the edge off the fins and will loop around to secure the cowl in position. A few little mods will be need to the cowl, mainly to clear the lower triple clamp and holes need to be drilled for the tie-wraps to slide through. Nothing too difficult. Time was running out for me last night, so I decided to quickly install the triple clamp, in part to see the fit, but also to keep the bearings greased up and enclosed. I'm still not 100% happy with the vertical movement, but I think I may be missing something in installation. Not too much time to take it apart at the moment. It'll wait until the new year. Enjoy the festive period everyone.
Here I am, back at the project and happy to be working on it again. Happy New Year to all. So, where did I get to? Issues with steering stem, I think solved and some new parts have been ordered. Unfortunately, things take time out here and Ducati only place orders for spare on a weekly basis… Why, I have no idea, but that’s how they work… I’ve come across a few new issues, that to be honest I never thought I would. I know another guy that is putting FG353 forks on a 1098 and he’s found a few problems that have saved me a bit of time. The axle from a 1098/1198 will not fit in the FG353 fork bottoms. Bummer eh? Simple fix though, the item from the Desmo will, or even better, that from a 749/999. Loads on ebay and problem solved. Next problem is caliper spacers!! The spacers for the Brembo M4’s/FG811’s on the SP are 5mm, I always though that they’d just go back on as the discs/calipers are the same as those on the Desmo – a safe thing to assume, right? Wrong!!! The spacers on the Desmo are 12.5mm - so, simply just get 12.5mm spacers, job done right? Wrong!!!! Argh!! The SP has a TC system and I’ve always wanted to retain this as it. With the front end mocked up on the bike, I could get a far better picture of what was going on and it was easier to measure. I’ve been lucky!! The front wheel speed sensor is attached to a bracket and that also has a 5mm spacer. I took the 5mm spacer from the other side and added it to the sensor side and tightened it all up. It’s out of alignment… damn. I loosened it off again and eyeballed the difference, about 2.5mm I guess. Set a gap of an extra 2.5mm and it’s bang on – brilliant!! A very kind chap is going to make me some 12.5mm and 7.5mm spacers and I am extremely grateful to him. Thanks! What else have I done, the rear sub-frame. That lightweight replica I got was off. Not by a huge amount, but I don’t have the tools/equipment to sort it, but I’m sure it can be made to fit. I’m sure you know this guy on ebay who sell loads of stuff, “elitesuperbikes” – nice guy. Anyways, I got a 1098R rear sub-frame from him. Great condition and it’s super superlight – 1.3kgs!!! Gave it a proper clean as it was manky, bolted it on the bike and hey-presto, fits perfect. Fitted the rear DTC unit and brackets from BSD also. I had to also fit a new bracket to support the fuel tank. The one on the SP had broken, as had the part on the R frame – very flimsy material and I’d suggest you check yours – the only thing that really holds the fuel tank on….!!!! If you remember, I was going to get my exhaust sent to Zircotec for some ceramic coating – well I got it coated but my Camcoat in the end. The colour choice was very limited with Zircotec and it was a good bit more expensive. I really wanted to just have a stainless steel finish for the exhaust and the best option that we could come up with was their “ceramakrome” finish with a low polish. The quality is great and was done very quickly at short notice, just before Christmas. The colour is a bit bright and milky, but I think it’ll dull down a little after some heat it put through it. The pictures are the before and after at the clean/treatment stage. Airbox is back on too. Fairly easy to do and all the connectors just clipped back on. Likewise the rear Renthal carrier and sprocket went on very easily. Big next push is the carbon fibre. It’s been on and off the bike a good number of times now and my hands are cut to hell to prove it. 95% of the custom-made items fit perfect, but it does require a trim here and there. I’m getting there with it, but carbon is a pain to work with and the dust is nasty stuff, so it’s taking time. There’s still a good bit to be done, just a matter of drawing up a list and finishing it off. The carbon will take the longest I think, but I’m pushing as much as I can on that. Once I have the bearing sets for the triple-clamps, the front end will be on and the build of that can start – that I’m really looking forward to. If you have any tips, let me know.
I've built it up once already and it's eyewateringly beautiful. The next week or so should have me a rolling chassis and toward the end of the month, the clip-ons should be built up too. I'm super excited to see it getting closer and closer. I just hope it fires up and everything still works....!
Glad to see that folks like what I'm doing. Sorry if it's turned in to more of blog, but I'm trying to express what I'm experiencing as I'm going having never done anything like this before. As always, I'll take any info and tips coming my way. :thumbsup:
I know a couple of lads that have had that coating done, both have put a fair few miles on they haven't discoloured but have lost a bit of the shine
The front end is on – kinda!! The triple clamps, forks, clip-ons, handlebars, throttle, brake/clutch levers and controls, both street and race setup with all bolts just hand tight so I can space the various items and get it set to it’s optimum before torquing. So far, so good, but I have a few questions that some of you might be able to help with: Ride height. I’d tweaked the suspension before the rebuild, so I’m matching the height of the fork tubes above the top triple clamp, two full rings. Is this the common consensus? But, how do you ensure that both forks tubes are set to exactly same height? They look identical, but when sliding the axle in, it was rather tight! Am I better to slide the axle on then adjust the fork tube length, or do the axles normally require some persuasion to go on? For info, the last one was a doddle to take out and put on, could move it with my finger!! Handlebar rake. Now I know there are tools that sit on the fork tube tops that have indicators out at each side to set the angles, but are there other ways of doing it? The renthal clip-ons have degree markers, so I’ve set them to be the same (I think) through the gap on the top triple clamp. Seems ok, but would like to know if there are other ways. Whilst I’m going on about the handlebars, any idea how the end caps come off? Just before I take a set of pliers to them and pull it off for the lever protector. Remember the issue I had with the triple clamp initially, well that’s solved - new bearing kit installed. However, when it’s torqued to the Ducati spec (30nm), the lateral movement is tight, uncomfortably tight. Is this correct? Every guide I’ve seen suggested that the movement should be free. I torqued to 30nm then backed off about 30deg and it moves quite freely but not at all loose. Decided it was time to start plugging all the disconnected parts from the harness back on - for the lights, switches, sensors etc. I thought it was such a waste that I’d labeled a lot on the harness, so I put a labeling machine to use that I’d bought and it’s great. Can’t recall how much it was, but I think it looks very professional now and it’ll be easy to fiddle with the wiring in the future now. The front end really is looking great, the pictures do it no justice whatsoever. Look, share, drool or even better talk. I’m really amazed I’m doing this – seem to have been very lucky as it’s going back together very easily.
