Ducati Monster Forum

Yo,

I finally got off my ass and decided to tear apart my 07 Ducati S2R1K Monster to change some stuff around, have some stuff powdercoated, etc. Here's how the bike currently looks -->

3/5/09
The list of parts to be removed for powdercoating is:

1. Headlite trim ring and mounting ears
2. Rear Swingarm
4. Rear Spring
5. Rear foot controls and pegs
6. Kickstand
7. Top and bottom triple-trees
8. Clip-ons
9. Oil Cooler (paint not Powdercoat)
10. Stock pressure plate

All of the above is going to be Powdercoated black to match the frame (as close as we can get it).
If I do a high gloss black, it will stand out against the rest of the bike/frame/etc. I want everything on the bike to “flow” together as much as possible. I can’t stand when one piece of a bike ends up being the focal point, as ALL parts on the bike should compliment each other for an overall effect..

So, once I get the parts off the bike and in my hands they are going straight to “The Powder Pro” in Rolling Meadows, IL for powder. I have a chunk of the frame I cut off to use as a reference in color, so we should be able to get a pretty good match outta what we coat. Sean (owner of the Powder Pro) is crazy when it comes to attention to detail, and does a great job with what he does. Wet sanding in-between coats, huge selection of colors and finishes, and a fast turn around are ALL reasons why I and Half Fast Chicago highly recommend him and his work.. His website can be seen at http://www.ThePowderPro.com (http://www.ThePowderPro.com), as well as some past work he has done for people.

Stay tuned for more progress as it happens..

I'm a touch early (as the bike may not be 100% torn-down yet), but welcome to the madness anyway!  [thumbsup]  [evil]  [bang]  [clap]  [popcorn]

While you have it all apart you should do something with the forks as well.  [thumbsup]

Nice "to do" list!
If I may make a suggestion regarding powdercoat colour options, ask if you can see a sample of "JD black" or "John Deere black". At least, that's the black colour my local powdercoaters has used on my Monster parts. It's a medium satin gloss black so it should fit nicely with the rest of your bike.
Post lots of pics when it's done.
 8)

+1 spring and valves!

I am going to wrap the forks with black vinal once the bike is back together.
I want to get the thing back together sooner than later, as my anodizing "hook up" isnt going to happen till next fall (which is fine). So the black vinal will do for the time being. Def. a fan of the blacked out fork look 4 sure..

I am excited to get my parts over to my buddy Sean and have them coated. I have the back section of the frame that I cut off for him to match up the powder too. He has this sick gloss black that almost looks wet when its done, but it wouldnt match the rest of the bike (would stand out way too much). I once had a wicked little CB750 cafe deal-e-o and Line-X'ed the tank. After I did that the tank became the focal point of the bike and grabbed all the attention.

3/31/09
How the bike looks in it's current state:
;D

You are gonna pull that charcoal canister while you are in there right?

Yeah - I have been wanting to remove that thing since I bought the bike, just never got around to it.
I know their was a thread on here somewhere about a "kit" to remove it from the bike.
Anyone ?

you don't need a kit.  you may already have the 'Y' fitting and hose caps in your garage.  I didn't, so I went to NAPA and spent about $3.  there's a few threads around here about how to do it.  Since you have it all apart, it'll be even easier. just follow the hoses from the cannister to where they go to the intake manifolds, remove those lines and plug the fittings.  Then you can combine the 2 hoses coming from the fuel tank into a single hose (using the 'Y' adapter) to vent below the bike.

+1 on the sean and the powder (and thanks to Joey for hooking it up)! i was suppose to FINISH putting my bike together this weekend but wifey had unplanned emerg surgery (not sure when i'll get to it now!). but my lovely pieces can be seen on his site.

p.s. i had sean coat my forks.........any reason for me to be worried (since everyone and their mother is stickering them up and not coating)?!?!

p.p.s and no i'm not ACE from ACE motorcycle (thought i'd mention that before someone asks)

your POWDER coating your forks?

Most powder requires 1-3 mils of thickness, and the strength of the power is entirely built on its ability to encapsulate an item.... so that extra 1-3mm of powder might not be able to fit in your triple without scratching the hell out of it, and when you do, it might crack the film...

Unless you anodized them...

Back on topic, cant wait to see your bike man! i bought my powder and my powder coating gun and the oven just needs to have its heating element in place and im gonna start powdering everything on my bike!

I have heard of a few people have luck with powdercoating their fork legs. Just need to open up the triple-trees more than you normally would so they dont scratch the hell outta the powder. I am going to have mine hard anodized by the place that does our stuff @ work (http://www.BilletSpecialties.com (http://www.BilletSpecialties.com))
Was going to wrap them with vinal but figured since the entire thing is apart why not do it the right way.

Got some of the stuff powdercoated yesterday (cant beat knowing the guy for same day turn around eh? ;D)..
Still need to finish up the swingarm and some other little bits.

Stuff looks really good man!  [thumbsup]

I'm contemplating having all of my stuff redone, as I'm not quite happy with it.  That pic you posted isn't helping much :D

 8) thats shiney :P

It really isnt in real life (my camera's flash needs to be adjusted).
The parts might have alittle more "sheen" to them then the stock frame, but not much.
Literally from a foot (or more) away you cant tell the difference.

Dropping off most of the parts today to the shop to get the bike back together.
Not that it matters, as it's about 28 outside with 3'' of snow on the ground(gotta love Chicago)...

bike is sick, parts look sick! i might hit you up in the near future to see about those guys at ACE.......since my bike is now back together and not running (DAMN!)

Question for ya AceMoney,

You said you had your upper fork tubes powdercoated by Sean right ?
How did you manage to get the tubes thru the triple-tree's without messing up the new finish ?
Pics would be great if you could post a few.

first off, let me say sean did a great job of the tubes and they look SICK!! well.....it's like this, i gave myself a 50/50 chance of actually pulling it off and that is the exact result i got half good half bad....one is perfect and one.....not so perfect (scratch up quite a bit above the triples). it's staying on the bike so hopefully a little touch up paint will do the trick. i'm suprised i got ONE right hahaha. what i did was took a pry bar with a rubber tip on it and pryed them open, seem to open more then enough. the problem SEEMED to occur (i could be wrong) when my top and bottom triple on the one i scratched up seem slightly not lined up. the triples were more than enough scretched open and i got through the bottom triple just fine.....when putting it through the top triple it wasn't going through the middle it was touching on one side and had like a 1/2 inch on the other side of the hole in the triple, thus scratching when i banged it through. the first one i put in went in perfect and smooth second one not so much......would i do it again.....of course.....i would rather have scratched matching powdered forks than sticker-wrapped or non-matching anodized forks (that's just me though). this is my first bike so it more of a trial and error do this do that bike for me.....as of right now i'm losing the battle though because it's all together and don't run!!!!!!

p.s. i have pics of the tubes, pics of the forks together, but because of issues with the bike actaully running i have no pics of them on the bike yet. maybe someday if i get the bike running.

pics!!!!! woudnt mind just looking at the forks and triple. Sounds like you did a good job there!

i have pics of the forks tubes, pics of the forks together, pics of the triples....BUT NO PICS right now of the forks IN THE triples in it's current state (bike is not available for pics at the moment). will post pics when i get them. if you want pics of what i mentioned i can post them in a seperate thread or email them to you but i really don't want to turn ProTeal's post into a post about Ace coating his forks.....ProTeal's bike deserves that (SICK BIKE).

New thread it then  :)

Thanks buddy !
Should be looking alittle better once all is said and done (and I get an exhaust on the thing)..

4/12/09
The swingarm looks mean as hell in black (the way Ducati should of done it from the factory):
And my SpeedyMoto top triple tree that we stripped (black it came in didnt match), coated, and then sanded down the edges to give it the effect below (I think it's pretty nifty):
a HUGE thanks goes out to Sean over at The Powder Pro for all his help with the project. He is def. down for custom projects such as this, and has the skills to do some pretty neat stuff (like how the triple came out above).

Stay tuned  8)
Powder Pro's Website:
HTTP://WWW.THEPOWDERPRO.COM (http://HTTP://WWW.THEPOWDERPRO.COM)

The top triple looks amazing! Really neat idea  [thumbsup]

Not gonna lie, it actually happened on accident  [thumbsup]
When we first pulled the tree outta the oven it had some wicked orange peel and we decided to sand it down and re-shoot the part. As I was sanding with some 400 grit paper the edges started to show thru the powder, which gave me the idea to keep going with the sanding, slowly swithing to higher grit paper. Eventually I broke out the polishing compounds and a buffer wheel and went to town. About a hour later I had all the little scratches outta the powder and the exposed alum. was all polished up. Def. turned out cool/different. Can't wait to see it installed on the bike (hopefully have pics soon)...

I agree: that's a nice touch on the top triple.  Great idea!

wonder if you could anodise the edges gold.

Not sure if the anodizing process would mess with the powdercoat or not..

4/14/09
Bit the bullet and sent Mark @ MotoCreations some cash to get my BoomTubes started last night.
Going to do a set in black, with a different exit angle and tips then the “standard” boom tubes. Mark now calls this the “EEL” mod for another user who requested the changes in his original design. The satin black pipes and brushed tips will def. go along with the theme my bike currently has going.. Mark said I should have the setup in my hands around the end of the month. Once the kit is installed I will post up some pics..

The new exhaust along with all the powdercoated bits will finally get my scoot looking the way I want..

4/23/09
With all the powdercoated pieces and the lowered stance the thing looks mean as hell [thumbsup]. It is finally looking the way I have wanted it to since the day I bought it. Still waiting on a new master link for the chain, some random OEM rubber pieces that needed to be replaced (and ordered from Italy), Brakes that need to be bled and some wires moved around and crap, but besides that it's done. Figure it's going to be another week or so before I get the parts but I am not stressing it. Rather have it done right then hacked together. Plus my exhaust should be in end of next week.

Here's some crappy camera phone pics...
Black Top tree/black clip-on's/lowered gauges-->
Blacked out fork tubes/triple tree's/etc--->
Time to look into some different reservoirs for the bike, belt covers, etc...

4/30/09
So I finally recieved the missing rubber piece from friggin Italy yesterday [bang].
So that is the last part needed to get the bike back together and back in my grubby hands.
Mark from Motocreations said my Boom Tubes should be shipping this Friday. Once I get it back smaller projects will start to go down like ditching the carbon fiber side covers, some re-routing of wires and such, getting the stock levers powdercoated black (or deciding on a aftermarket pair), and other little things I wanna get done. Can't tell you how much I am looking forward to seeing the bike lowered and blacked out with the new exhaust on it [thumbsup].

Here's how the bike currently sits (pardon the crappy camera phone pic):
Funny how lowering the rear of the bike made the udder look that much bulk-ier/bigger/nasty-er/etc (so glad it is going in the garbage).
Updated pics soon...

Nice job removing the PC around the edges of the top triple...unique and looks great!!   [thumbsup]

Thanks...
As I said eariler it was kinda by accident how it happened.
It is one of those things were people either dig it or hate it.
I am going to P.Coat my clutch cover and might try to obtain the same effect as the top tree.
Might look cool - might not - who knows ? I am def. enjoying the fact my buddy now owns a powdercoating business [thumbsup]

Nice bike!  Did you get the exhaust finished?

The bike is back together, just waiting for the BoomTubes from Mark to show up. Once I get the exhaust on the bike and the thing washed I will post up some pics..

5/15/09
Picked up the bike last night and it was a good thing I did (rained today)..
The bike runs SO much better with the smaller front sprocket. Cruising down the road, leaving a stoplight, and so on are all easier and smoother with the new sprocket (compared to stock). It literally feels like a different bike. Forgot how much fun this bike is to rip around in traffic…

Have to spend some time setting everything back up to the way I had it (controls/mirror/etc) and raise the bike but besides that everything cool. I put a lowering link on the thing and slammed it all the way down (to it’s lowest setting). While the bike looks badass I have two issues.
1. Even with an aftermarket “lowered” kickstand the thing stands almost vertical
2. I bottomed the main pipe that runs under the bike out on a bump and ripped all the headerwrap offa it
So, I need to raise the rear up ½’’ or so to keep the lowered look but not slam my exhaust all over the city. Also need to look into the rear brake and see why it’s so soft. Might need to be bled again after having the controls off (not sure), but currently I have nothing in the rear brake wise..

Also heard back from Mark @ MotoCreations and my exhaust is shipping today.
So once that gets in I can get it on the bike and finally start enjoying the 2009 riding season..

Will get some better pics of how the bike is looking once the exhaust goes on and the bike gets washed/waxed (it’s dirty as hell)…

5/18/09
A few pics taken over the weekend:
I really forgot how much fun this bike is to ride/rip around in traffic. Also the 14T front sprocket really makes this a completely different bike to ride.
Had to raise the rear of the bike 3/4'' from where it was becasue I kept bottoming out on the exhaust (see the missing headerwrap? [thumbsup]), but it's still lower than stock.
Should have my BoomTubes this Thursday, so once thats on and the bike gets cleaned up I will get some better pics..

5/31/09
After two(2) hours or so of riding around and messing with the settings on the FatDuc I think I have the bike running good. At one point I had it backfiring so hard on Decel people were running off the sidewalks in fear ! As it stands the scoot sounds mean as hell, pulls hard thru the gears, doesnt pop/backfire during shifts or on decell, etc. Has a nice/mean/deep/strong sound to it..
Here's two camera phone pics of the bike from yesterday:
I can't say enough about the BoomTubes. They look great, they fit tight aginst the bike, the sound is amazing, and Mark stands behind his product 150%..
I should of done them along time ago. The only thing I need to watch is the temp on the bike. When I was riding around with my buddy yesterday the bike saw 265 in stop and go traffic. I cant say I have seen the bike EVER run that hot, and it wasnt even a hot day yesterday. So not sure if it was just how the bike is going to run now with the new exhaust, or the bike is running lean (and thus hot). I am going to leave eveything where it is and get some miles on it to see what happens. Also need to change the plugs and see how the current ones are looking. Also need to get that oil cooler blacked out, figure if I am going to keep the side panels or ditch them, re-route some wires, makeup a sidemount plate deal-e-o, ditch that stock/factorycarbon can, etc...

Here's a video of the first time we started the bike with the BoomTubes on it -->
I plan to put my stock clutch cover back on the bike (to shut the clutch up) and record me doing a few blasts so you guys can hear how the bike sounds...

They look good :)

Someone ought to get the tubes installed/tuned and post up some dyno graphs...

Wonderful bike! Great job. I love it! Celli

when you take the clutch cover off send it to me!!!!

Looks and sounds great!

Thanks for the kind words. Your bike is a huge insp. to me Celli....
I am keeping the clutch cover that is currently on the bike (paid way too much cash for it 2 get rid of it) [bang].
I want to put the stock/closed cover back on the bike to shutup the clutch, so when I have my buddy record me doing some fly by's you will actually hear the exhaust. Love it when people post videos of their new exhausts and all you can hear is the clutch [thumbsup]

Very nice. Looking clean.  [thumbsup] [evil]

Nice work! I like the overall balanace of the bike, however can I suggest you move the clip-ons to underneath the top tripple clamp. As Stu said, welcome to the madness. I doesn't end from here!  [thumbsup]

I def. hear ya on moving the clip-on's below the top tree, just the bike is super comfy the way it is currently setup.
Believe me I look at my front-end all the time and think about how I can clean it up and still be functional. I do ride this bike (alot), so the line between form vs. function is a very thin one. Over the coming winter I am going to attack the controls/brake lines and so on, so maybe then I will play around with different setups for the clip-on's. Issue is I want the bike to be as low as it is currently, so that means if I move the clip-on's under the tree it they will be that much lower (meaning I will be hunched over that much more while i am riding). We shall see once winter comes, now I am having too much fun riding the thing to tear anything apart..

great looking bike!
ive been kicking myself in the rear for a good two years now for not pulling the trigger on a 1k instead of my 800.. wish i had a dry clutch  :'(
working to get some extra loot to get another monster or an older sport.. until then.. droolin at ur bike.. im surprised i haven't seen ur scoot rippin around town.

oh and i've been seeing a ton of half/fast stickers around the city lately.  [thumbsup]

If you look hard enough you will seen them e v e r y w h e r e !
I just recently got the bike back together so with that and the crappy weather I havent had the chance to ride it all that much. I do plan to be on it whenever I can going forward though..

Make sure you make it out to our "Chicago Shakedown" event on Friday the 19th (see below):
The event is open to ALL types of bikes so tellwhoever you know that rides to come out..

hhhhmmmmm might have to check this out!

+1, agree. Riding beats modding, but I dont listen to my own advice. - Chris

very nice.  I've been wanting to black my swing arm and forks as well.  Thought about going the easy route on the swing arm and trading for an S4Rs swingarm which is already black but never got motivated enough to take it apart.  I like riding it too much. 

+1,000,000  lol  I did the speedymoto triple with clipons also and sometimes I wish I wasn't so low but in my case the function isn't following form for me because I always am riding in the twistys.  I do admit however that the bent over position gets tedious in a straight line or commuting especially with the Sato rear sets, but it is always worth it when I am carving it up!!!  Bike looks great!

I think with as much as he lowered the rear, the clip-ons are best suited above the triple to keep the steering lively...

The bike is used as a daily rider, as well as one I use to cause hell within the streets of Chicago  [evil].
As I said I am ALL about form over function, but as the bike currently sits I can ride it for three hours and not have any kind of back/neck pain what so ever. I feel if I move the clip-on's under the tree I will be bent over too much. Last thing I want is to make the bike un-rideable or not fun/comfy to ride. Over the winter I plan to tear the front end apart to clean up a few things, and then I will see what my options are to get it looking alittle cleaner..

Now I am just looking forward to putting some miles on it (if it would ever stop raining [bang])..