Looks fantastic, would expect fork lengths to be the same is the preload identical? looks like it's got compression set in one leg & rebound in t'other could that be something to do with it. The plastic bar end pieces will pop out if you stick something down from the other end and give it a tap. Yep use the markers on the clamps Steering head sounds right
Hmm, could do - I never thought about that. When Kais set them up, I'm sure they were set the same. Perhaps on being rebound other being compression will make a difference. A contact that has also put the FG353 on said it was a bit of a nudge to get the axle on. I'll fiddle about with it. Thanks for info on other bits - looks like my initial thoughts are correct. Cheers!
Exactly this. I even had one come off on it's own... never to be seen again. The other one I could just pull out without any tools what so ever. I installed some Ducati Performance bar end weights.
Hi all, It's been a while since my last update, apologies for that. Where did I get to: The front end... I was measuring up some spacers for the calipers and figured out that I needed a 7.5mm spacer on the right where the front wheel speed sensor is located and the left required 12.5mm spacers. Well a top bloke called Andy made them for me and they're sport on. Thanks mate - I'm sure you'll be reading this. Getting the spacers were a huge step for final assembly of the front end. It's allowed me to get the front wheel, calipers, DTC sensor, and RS brake lines on, lined up and more or less finalised in their positions. As with many projects like this, I'm sure the process of putting bits on, taking bits off, putting the same bits on again dance is well known. Well, that process I have down to a tee....!! The RS brake lines are great, but they're not built to suit the standard road bike or the Brembo RCS master. Some jiggery-pokery will be needed to ensure the lines don't foul the carbon rad cowl and the lines sit nicely and symmetrical. I'll get it sorted though. The 749/999 axle arrived too and fits rather nicely too after a quick clean and re-grease. Popped the back wheel on too and that wheel is stunning. Wowzers, Marchesini make some lovely stuff!! Brembo provide some nice reservoirs for their RCS levers, but of course they're at an extra cost. No bother as the OEM stuff won't fit, so it's a kinda must have pair of items. The black hose lines they provide though are rank. Tygon do some nice clear tubing, it reduces the hydroscopic qualities of brake fluid, plus looks cool - so, t'was bought and is on the front brake/clutch setup. I have enough for the rear brake too. I'll get round to putting some pictures on at some point.
Oh, while I remember, torque marking.... Does anybody bother doing that with their projects? I understand the logic of it, Ducati do it with their new bikes prior to delivery, so - what's the thoughts? I bought a gel based marker from Dykem, but it's clearly not meant for bike size nuts and bolts.
looks incredible, not sure if it have been spoken about but are you going to go for samco or similar hoses? would really finish off that super clean engine
Hi, thanks - great fun putting it all back together again. I have planned to put a hose kit on it, was thinking the black samco kits - less obvious and less is more in my opinion. However, I really want the silicon/aluminium kits that Ducati did. Down side is the tubing only comes in red and it's not a full replacement kit like the samco offering. Will have to do more digging around to find exactly what I want.
Hello again all. Sorry I’ve not been here much recently, other more important things have just been taking up my time. That said, the project has been ticking along. Where am I at now? Well, I think the bike is almost 80% re-built, with the following back on, or newly installed: Full exhaust system now back together, Fuel Pump (plus new filter which is a right pain in the hoop to install), Fuel tank with a new sheer bracket. This had clearly been over tightened as the bracket was supporting thin air…! SP Electronics Quickshifter, Side Stand, Corse Rear Sets/Hell Guards, Renthal RSR 525 chain, Crank protector and carbon front sprocket guard, Carbon Side panels, Mono Seat unit and Seat, Pro-grip 717 Grips, Ducabike lever protector (and removed again). And probably a list of other things I’ve forgotten I’d put on…! Unfortunately, I’ve spent (wasted) a lot of the time I’ve had, putting bits on and then having to take them off again. As I was putting it back together, I’d notice little bits I wasn’t happy with – I’m picky that way. Perfect example of this is installing the exhaust - I wanted to put some heat reflective barrier on the hugger and under-tray and thought I could do it in situ, but no. So the Exhaust had to come off, to then be put it back – only for it to come off again so I could torque up the ride-height adjuster and mark it.. I’m learning, put it that way!! I managed to source some gold heat reflective, adhesive sheeting at a sensible price. The idea started with installing it on the belly pan, then looked at a bunch of other components that could be protected. As you may, or may not know, the bike runs just stupid hot and with the heat here, I’m sure some good will come of it being installed. It’s been installed on the sump of the fuel tank, the carbon under-tray, hugger and rhs heel guard. I’ll put some on the belly pan after it’s painted. Certainly interesting making templates and the trying to get it to follow the places I was installing it. It’s a bit rough on the tank (in my book), but I’ll tidy that up later. It’s more than acceptable for now. What else… oh, caliper bolts…! If you’re ever in the position to be putting FG353’s on your bike, you’ll need longer caliper bolts. They are the same thread pitch and bolt dia as the standard caliper bolts, but very different in length. I’m waiting on a delivery of some, so who knows when they’ll arrive…!! I asked a while back about torque marking. I’d sourced a proper torque marking gel from a company called Dykem, which is a great stuff btw, but is clearly meant for much larger nuts/bolts. So, I stumbled across a yellow ink pen from Pilot in the local stationary store, which works a treat. Even rubs off with a small wire brush. Perfect! It does serve a small purpose - lets hope the bolts don't shake themselves loose..! I’ve also been in touch with Luimoto who are going to make be a rather nice seat cover for the project. I had bee trying to contact Raceseats, but they are a total waste of time – so much so, that every supplier that I spoke with said the same. The guys at Luimoto are first class and very very helpful. The rear of the seat will be modified to remove the indent, there will be a very simple design on it and it’ll be super grippy. I’ve had the Ducati Performance Superpole seat and didn’t like it, also the Neoprene DP seat too - it just fell apart. I’m sure this will be a far better seat when finished. The basis for the design was partly the 1198RS seat (which won't fit to my bike and is bloody expensive) and the seat that Luimoto do for the Panigale. It's their "R Edition" cover. Here is the idea: Majority of items left to do: Set and torque up the front end. This is being held up slightly, but want to take my time and do it once and once only!! Modify the off-side brake adjuster. It’s too long and needs trimming and connecting to the lever. Get some fluid in to the brake and clutch system. I had planned to use Motul RBF600, but all I can get my hands on for the moment is the Motul 5.1. I’m sure it’s more than up to the job. I’m no John Hopkins on the brakes!! Install the LiOn battery and check the electrical side is ok. I’m just praying that it is……!!!!! Get some fuel in her and start her up. After that, it’s a case of sorting the bodywork, still need to find a good painter in the UAE to do it. I was hoping to be able to do a track day before the summer heat arrives, but I think I’ve missed the window for that happening. The suspension will need a proper setup and I was planning to use that track time to do it. Still, I’m in no hurray and have zero pressure on getting it finished. A few months won’t make any difference. So, the 1198SPr project is almost there. Happy days!! A sneak look at where she's at...
So guys, bleeding the clutch... I've installed everything properly, from what I can see, but I seem to be pulling through lots of air from the slave cylinder, like lots! The reservoir was filled 4 times and never allowed to empty (hence pulling air in). I checked the master, that seems fine, but I'm clearly pulling air from somewhere. The setup is a 19RCS Brembo master with 29mm Oberon slave. Comparing it to the Desmo, which ok is "slightly" different, the clutch is super heavy, wayyy heavier than before. Any thoughts..? ps, clutch will engage and disengage no probs TIA
Are you pulling air from where the bleed hose connects to the nipple on the slave? Did you clean & grease the push rod? (might not be the proper name; the rod which the slave pushes on); it can be withdrawn by giving it a tug from the slave end.
I think I've solved the "issue" Yeah, I was pulling fluid from the reservoir through the slave bleed nipple on top of the banjo bolt. The push rod was cleaned and re-greased prior to being re-installed. It works fine, but I was concerned with the amount of air and weight. Thanks I was using a hand vacuum pump and I think it's too powerful. I resorted to the old school method of closing the nipple, pulling in the lever to create pressure, opening the nipple and allowing the fluid to push through. No air at all... Perhaps seems those gadgets are only partly useful...! Still damn heavy though, far heavier than I recall..
Hello again all, It’s seems that even more now than before, other things are taking more of a priority than my project. All that said, I’m sure the final stages of any project are some of the hardest!! I finally figured out why my clutch was so damn heavy. Basically, the ratio is way out. Bit of shame that I didn’t know the optimal configuration at the time of ordering, but I got what I asked for, so my own doing I guess!! For future reference, with the Oberon 29mm slave, a 16mm bore master is recommended. If anyone wants/needs a 19mm Brembo RCS clutch MC, I now have one for sale… no sensible offer refused…! One other things I found out, that I was aware of, with the clutch position switch to allow the bike to be started in gear, it I stalled it for example (not that I’ve ever done that of course…). Basically, Moto Rapido have a small micro switch on the bottom of the banjo bolts, that I guess connects to a pressure switch. That in turn speaks to the starting system and allows the bake to be started in gear with the clutch pulled. Otherwise, it’s a case of finding neutral again… I had been waiting on a number of small bolts/bits n bobs, which have all arrived. So I can now get on with tying up the loose ends and score them off my to do list. Nice to be able to do that. I’ve not managed to start her again, nor have I got the battery back in and connected. I’m not expecting any surprises, but hey – you never know. My only real concern is the fuel system. I’ve checked it a ton of times. I’ll know soon enough. One of the main objects of the project was to loose weight and I’m very very surprised at my spreadsheet results. The bike will have two trims, road and race (this has been part of the issue for the time it’s taken). At the moment, having weighed almost everything, in race trim I’m looking a saving of between 18-20kgs. In road trim, it’s in the order of 16kgs. The bodywork change, as expected, is the area with the largest weight saving. It’s yet to be painted, but I guess the painted panels will add circa 3-5kgs. Speaking of painting, the bodywork is making it’s way to the painters in the next few days. The design will be on the more traditional side of my take on Ducati race bikes. Mostly red, white number boards with little reveals of carbon here and there. Hopefully it works out fine. I also received the Samco coolant hose kit from MR. Looks great in black. It’ll be installed when it gets it’s service in a few months. The seat unit from Luimoto arrived and wow, it’s brilliant. The quality of materials and standard of finish is excellent, far better than I expected. If you’re looking for a seat cover, you’ll struggle to do better than them. Their customer service is also excellent. So all I have left to do now is: Replace clutch MC Install body work (still need to make some support brackets) Install battery/check electrics and any fault codes that are generated (I really hope not…) Fuel her and start her With that all done, this stage of the project will be complete. The bike will have gone from a rolling stock SP in to my own road/track hybrid… Next stage will be set-up. With some thanks to @RickyX, I have some base settings to work toward with the FG353’s. I’m going to take the suspension all back to stock, work out what’s where and start again. Hopefully that works out too…
Well, I have been back at it and the bike is making a bit more progress. The carbon bodywork has been shipped off for prep and painting. Jacksons in Kelty, Fife have the pleasure with Stuart himself doing the work. Stuart has a great reputation of painting some stunning bikes over the years and I can't wait to see the finished work. It's not going to be of the mega race type scheme with colours all over the bike. As nice as that is, it's not me. It'll be a much more traditional affair. The clutch MC was swapped out to the RCS16 unit - what a difference. Much lighter in pull and much smoother to operate. For anyone reading just this post, if you're upgrading your clutch setup, Brembo RCS16 master and Oberon 29mm slave is the way to go. With the new MC, I installed the clutch position banjo pressure switch. Very straight forward, but the unit came with male spade connectors. The wiring harness has female bullet connectors. No big job to change over, but one to remember. New MOTUL 5.1 fluid was installed in the clutch system and at the same time, I set up the front brake. The vaccum pump I have is far too powerful to get a good, well bled system. Better just to use it for pulling the fluid through the lines and then bleeding the old school way. Works well. The lever feels epic - instant bite on the rotors. Spent a good bit of time making sure the front wheel/axle alignment was correct - when I first bled the brake, the front wheel managed less than two full revolutions before stopping due to disc/pad rubbing. Google helped my out and now the wheel spins much smoother, for longer. Great to see the semi-floating rotors doing their thing too!! The front end is all torqued up nicely now and 'm very very happy with out it's turned out. Looks stunning in the flesh. I will have to adjust the steering buffers though as I feel there is hardly any steering lock - I'd guess around 30 degrees left and right. Is this enough? So yesterday was also a major step in the rebuild. Power on and start up!! I charged the battery up, took no time at all to top up the lithium unit. About 1 hr from not being touched months ago. Checked all the major connections and made sure I hadn't missed anything obvious/stupid. As I've been building the bike in the house, I thought it'd be best to start it down in the car park... 38C is a bit warm, but that's what it was...!! Stuck in about 5 liters of fuel and checked for leaks probably 10 times, yes, call me paranoid (fire extinguisher always on hand) ... but no leaks without any pressure in the system. Key in and ignition on, quick duck down to check for leaks, nothing... great!! Think I checked a few more times just to make sure....! The fault diagnostic system did show up an error. I'd had a problem once before with the key/immobilizer ring and figure it was that - which it was. Quickly whipped off the carbon cover, pulled the ring up and the fault light was gone.... great... time to start!! As I've said before, I was concerned about error codes/fuel leaks/gremlins etc, as I have had everything off - throttle, throttle bodies, fuel lines/connectors/injector connectors, tank, new fuel filter and a whole bunch of sensor related connections.... but guess what, she fired up first time!!! YeeeeHaaaaaa! Delighted, shocked and stunned at the same time!! A few little tweaks that I've spotted need doing, but over all I really am delighted with what I've achieved. Almost there...! View attachment 73158 View attachment 73159
The bodywork is finally back from paint and it looks bloody brilliant!! All the carbon is "race", so I was always concerned how it would look when painted as I felt some of it was a tad rough around the edges in terms of finish, but I was delighted to hear that the painter thought it was some of the best carbon he has seen. Hats off to C-Tech and Fullsix. I could probably write about every panel, why I wanted it done a particular way... I'll just let the pictures do the talking!! Thanks Stuart!!
