Ducati Monster Forum

Here it is.  The pics are not the greatest but after what seems to be about 11ty million hours the bike has made its track debut.  Here are the list of the modifications from stock:

•   SBK front forks from a 749
•   Ohlins steering damper (side mount, mounted upside down so it can be adjusted while riding)  This isn’t a good pic of this but you can find many on the forum
•   All suspension set up for my weight
•   Speedymoto top triple/bottom is stock with 0.5mm shim
•   Speedymoto clipons
•   bar sliders
•   Speedymoto frame sliders
•   CRG levers
•   Rizoma rearsets (all the way up and back)
•   Cut air box just like this http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=19989.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=19989.0) (pics seem to be down)
•   K&N
•   PCIII with a dyno tune - seen here http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=20239.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=20239.0)
•   14 tooth front sproket
•   Leo Vince Ti exhaust
•   Marving mid pipe with a lot of work done to eliminate exhaust leaks from joints
•   Tail chop with clear alternatives integrated signals
•   New front signals, small and super bright
•   Sharkskinz Triumph Thruxton front fairing (really easy to mount, decent wind protection when your head is way down)
•   Billet twist gas cap
•   TPO parts kickstand eliminator
•   On the bike are the stock 5 spoke Marchenisi wheels with street tires.  I have a set of Michelins rain tires I will mount and the race rubber will go on a set of Brembo 3 spoke I picked up.  I will be running Bridgestone DOT BT003 with tire warmers.

I am racing as a novice in the novice races, and in the www.ducaticup.com (http://) (http://) (http://) (http://) as novice's are allowed to race in this series.  The Ducati Cup has a HP limit of 118, perfect for a complete stock 848 but about a 48HP deficit for me.  My priority is to learn, have fun and to finish.  For those of you unfamiliar with Calgary's soon to be closed racetrack, the pavement in your local shopping mall is way better than the track here.  Cracks large enough to swallow a tire are not uncommon.  The straight is also very long so anything 600cc (inline 4 and bigger twins) and above destroy me on the straight.  I do catch up to them in the corners however   [moto]

I have decided to keep the front signal lights and tail light in place as this bike it still street legal; I have them taped for the track.  From race trim to street trim take about an hour including the wheel change. 

I melt the crap out of my right boot on the Leo Vince pipe.  You can see the header tape I have added in a lame attempt to prevent this.  Has anyone found a solution to this problem?  The exhaust tape really doesn’t work.

Other than the lack of straight away speed I am very happy with the bike and confident in its cornering abilities.   First round is May 23rd…wish me luck!

KNG

The pit:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3402/3519602824_f821eea514_o.jpg)

Behind my bike is a 848 race bike and his backup 1098R.  The 848 had a clutch spring problem so he ended up using the 1098R for the rest of the day.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3591/3519596438_29aefbe88b_o.jpg)


(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3598/3519591956_21295183e1_o.jpg)

I wish you good luck [thumbsup] very cool [moto]

Did you change pads or anything to improve your brakes?

I haven't yet.  I have a set of Brembo gold line masters sitting in the garage.  If I can find some of the matching calipers and rotors (2 sets) I will do the switch.

As to the melting boots. It looks like you midpipe is missing the attachment point for the boot guards? Should be something you could get welded to the pipe to keep you heels off the hot.

Congrats on the buildup and good luck!

Nice work. Good luck.

Maybe try these

http://www.carbonpartz.net/id80.html (http://www.carbonpartz.net/id80.html)

Good luck [thumbsup]

And add some oil....... looks low in that first pic :o

It is running ;D

Cool.............. & it's not smoking ;D

Finished Round 1 on May 24th.  Here are some action pics.  Got crushed by the 600's on the straight but were able to reel most of them in through the corners and occasionally pass one out of the bus stop.  Lots of fun and the monster did great considering the 50hp deficit  [moto]

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3604/3594460698_26bc609c09_o.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3614/3593649241_6bef5e92f5_o.jpg)

 [moto] Cool beans, cool action shots!  [thumbsup]

great action shots!
love the dandelions, they add a nice touch to the scenery... hah.
nice number plate choice too. 66 is one of my favs..

Way to go! great update [thumbsup] I'm glad to hear you've got the bike out there. Have fun [beer]

Very sweet which clip on set up are you using with those reservoirs?

The speedymoto clamp style.  Very tight clearances but possible.

KNG

That Sharkskinz flyscreen looks like an upside down welders mask.  Looks something like that off of a Buell. 

Looks like it just covers the headlight.

Round two completed today.  I was able to lower my lap times by 4 seconds over the weekend.  I was quite happy with this.  Did much better in the novice race passing some people and only getting passed by a few, most bikes in this class are inline 600's. 

In the Ducati cup I was once again crushed into the ground by the other bikes all at the 118hp limit, mine was dynoed today a the track: 66hp coincidentally my race number.  My bike tops out half way down the straight at 210kph while the big bikes, even stock 748's can easily reach 260kph with the 998 and 749R's reaching close to 300kph.  Fun none the less and trying to chase these guys down is making me smoother and faster. 

I went from a HJC AC-12 to a Suomy Spec R-1 and can't believe the difference.  Sooooooooo much better!

Here are some pics:

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3347/3626656321_481c62bd61_o.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/3627466812_90c15055b5_o.jpg)

Looks great and nice setup too. [thumbsup]

Digging the new helmet. [thumbsup]

I think the helemt adds about 10hp overall.   [laugh]

Hi, I got a few questions.
Did you change springs in the fork?
How much of  the fork legs are above the triple clamp?
Did you raise the rear?
Stock rear shock?
Have 749-forks on my 900ie but i am not sure how much to raise the
fork legs in the triple, and raise the rear to get proper geometry.
Did not measure before changing  :-\

You want to get about 11 degrees of swingarm angle if you are setting this up for the track. So, raise the rear end to achieve this. Your forks are not the same length as the stock forks so your reference of "how far above the triple" won't matter. Yours are longer. To get the front end right, it's a bit of trial and error. As a starting point, the stock forks usually work good with 10mm above the stock top clamp. If you want to measure your forks against the stock ones and just figure out how much that is, you can start there.
Also, getting the forks and shock sprung for your weight is a must...again, I'm assuming that you want to know for track riding purposes.

What's hanging off the left side of the engine?

Catch can.
I would hope it's a Red Bull can  [thumbsup]

Is that with the rider on the bike? How do you measure? Is zero degrees stock?

4 seconds - that's a lot - must feel GREAT [moto]

Do you find the Suomy to be quiet? My Schuberth R1 is not, and Suomy + AGV GP Tech are two of very few
helmets in my size 3XL. Round or oval head shape?

Thanks Faster, and you are right its for the track.
The reason is that i lowsided in a corner, and cant figure out what I did wrong.
Probably my mistake but the confidence for the bike is bit hurt :-[
So I want to be sure that the setup isnt way wrong.
I´ll try to measure the swing angle and go from there. [thumbsup]

That's for a dual sided swingarm. Measure with the bike upright, both wheels on the ground (level surface), and the bike unladen. You will need two people, one to hold the bars and one to measure. Or, go to Home Depot, get an angle finder for approx. $10 and you can measure it with ease.
Put the angle finder on the top of the swingarm. Raise the rear end with your hands as high as you can, then let it settle. Take a reading. Then push down on the rear end with a lot of force and let it settle back up slowly, take another reading. Average these two reading and that's your swingarm angle. This method is what I do to take into account the stiction of the shock, and give you a true measurement. It's the same thing you do to measure sag.

I've had a lot of success racing a Monster and race with several others. I know about setting these up. If you are even close to stock, then you are trying to corner a chopper...they are just not set up to corner. You can do trackdays on them (as you see lots of people on here post pictures of), but as soon as you start riding faster, you will ride beyond the capabilities of your suspension and street geometry and crash. These are not like a middleweight that's designed to ride hard "out of the box". You can do it, but it takes some work.

It's critical to get the suspension and geometry right. I don't know what happened to you but did you feel anything before the crash that was not right while cornering? Have you tried to baseline your set up at all? You will have to get the forks and shock sprung correctly for your weight first thing. Then have a suspension guy baseline it for you, or read up on it and have two buddies assist you.

1. get your suspension sprung correctly
2. set your sag, and rebound
3. set the swingarm angle and fork height
4. ride the bike, and make small adjustments

Have not got the shock or forks sprung for my weight.
Guess there is no way  around that.
I believe the fork spring are a bit hard.
Front: 749s forks ca.40mm above the triple
Sag with me on it: 34mm

Rear: stock sachs, sag with me on it:20mm (rideheight raised about 10-15mm, no exact measurement though) 
Have tried to set it up as good as i can.
Feels pretty OK, but I have nothing to compare with.

Have read some articles about suspension.
There are a bit different opinions about sag (how much one should have)
Have not find out exactly the sag numbers for monsters.

Am I somewhere near the correct settings you believe?
Or should I just drop the bike in the nearest lake ;D