Ducati Monster Forum

Hey guys,

I know there is a on of different threads here for modding and stuff. I've probably perused through most of this forum and I figured I would start this thread anyways so you guys can help me figure out which mods/brand to go with and such. I just bought a used 2005 s2r 800 which was completely stock. I'm hoping to turn this thread into a progressive mod and also a future sticky so future modders can use it as a resource. I'll start to name some mods I know I wwant to start with and if you guys can help pick the brand and give any advice/review on it I would gladly appreciate it. Like if the install was straightforward easy, PITA, and what tools help and such. Some of the first few things I want to start with are:

-tailchop/fender eliminator (competition werkes / evotech / or some other brand?)

-frame sliders (woodcraft / speedymoto  I have found a pretty helpful install video here: Installing Ducati Frame sliders Part 1 of 7 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncjYIKbwvZ0#))

- bar end mirrors (I really want napoleon mirrors but it seems to be really hard to find. Anyone know where I can find a set in black? / If not I guess I will go with the CRG LS ones)

- clipons (yes some people say to flip your handlebars upside down but I'm short as in 5'5. That and I don't mind a slightly more aggressive stance. I found a set here:http://stores.sportbiketrackgear.com/Detail.bok?no=6200  but I'm not sure what size to go. Got any input here regarding the mm length?)

-exhaust (leaning towards boomtubes however the guy seems to stopped taking orders since he injured his back. Does anyone have experience with any tuning issues with a DP ECU? I've read around that they don't have enough back pressure and it can be really hard to tune? Will I need a PC3 alongside the DP ECU for it to run smooth?)

Thanks. Will update with more as the mod bug hits hard...

Nice start for some Monster tweaking.  I'd spend some time with it to see how you like the existing ergos.  If you're 5'5", you may find that you're hunching over the tank or reaching further than you think with clip-ons.  I'm 6'1", and find the reach to stock bars almost too much.  YMMV.

Your exhaust plan is more ambitious than mine was, but I'm sure you can find a lot here by doing a quick search in the Accessories or Tech sections.

Start with the 14t sprocket first, which seems to be the 'go-to' first mod.  Though this is only my opinion, I'd rather not do frame sliders unless I were doing track days.  I've seen some torn up frames from the leverage they create on the frame bolt areas (friend's Trump 675 comes to mind).

Good luck, lots of info on this site if you have time to browse.

+1 on the 14t if you ride primarily in city traffic.

tailchop: i used the compwerkes kit, fairly easy mod. there is a great write-up in the how-to section here with lots of pics from cairnsduc. i used a pipe-cutter wheel to cut the frame, you have other options.

my frame sliders were installed by the dealer, so no firsthand experience there. i think it is an easy mod, you just have to be able to support the engine with something.

i have rizoma barends, thinking about changing them to the crgs.

exhaust: you will find hours and hours of material here about that... i had the full termi+open airbox+dp ecu first, then i fell in love with the look of the boomtubes. so i changed the pipes, but did not touch the other part of the setup. bike is running great. now i'm thinking going back to the termi because i miss the deep rumble. go figure. lots of people love the arrows as well.

have fun 

Thanks for the advice guys! Will definitely look into getting the 14t front sprocket. I'm coming from a jap bike where most people usually changed out their rear sprocket to +1 or +2. Is there a reason to go front over rear?

Will post pictures when parts start coming in.

I'm also looking to get oberon bar end turn signals. Anyone have experience connecting to them with napoleon mirrors? I could only find the nap mirrors on ebay and I'm willing to bet based on what I have read that I will have to shave the rubber mount in my bars to make it fit.

Before you throw good money at unnecessary mods, consider upgrading the electrical system in three ways. 1) a MOSFET regulator/rectifier 2) a Motolectric wiring upgrade kit 3)a Shorai battery.

If you want the bike to start and run properly these are critical. Don't blow all the mod money on carbon fenders and bar end turn signals and silly crap when the bike needs functional upgrades to ensure you will not get stranded while out on a ride.

You should also take a good look at the fuel tank and go see a dealer if yours is deforming or swelling.

After that, it's a toss up whether to upgrade the ECU/airbox/exhaust or suspension. I'd vote ECU etc. Then I'd do the suspension. A 14t sprocket is unnecessary if you do the ECU kit. In fact, it's a popular bandaid for people who are too cheap to spend on an ECU kit and proper tune. The stock 15t is better for chain life.

Making it look good isn't as important as making it reliable and rideable, unless you are in it for the pose and not the ride. Even then you would need for it to be reliable to avoid looking like a tool.

Thanks for the tips berg! Will definitely look into getting those parts. I presume I can get those from monsterparts.com?
Your bike was one of the cleanest bikes and it was a shame it sold before I could get it.

BTW Berg since you are from the DC area, what shop would you recommend in the DMV area? And who you core your own stock pipes yourself?

Thanks for the compliment. I miss the bike.

Get the MOSFET regulator/rectifier from Rick's Motorsport Electrics

Get the Motolectric wiring upgrade kit from Motolectric

Get the Shorai battery from Motowheels

Regarding the pipes, I would only core and pack the stock pipes if I could also find a Quat-D midpipe to go along with them. No other brand of midpipe looks as good. The rest of them look kind of weird. Since Quat-D no longer makes that midpipe, I would recommend an Arrow Full System.
Along with these I would suggest you send your stock ECU to get it reprogrammed to Ducati Performance specifications, and cut the airbox lid down and install a K&N filter.

The only shop I ever went to was Ducpond in Winchester VA. It's 80 miles away. That's why I did 98% of the work on my bike by me onesies, from ECU tuning to valve adjustments. It's not difficult.

had cyclecats on my old monster (an '05) and they saved me from alot of damage! almost installed the speedymoto on my new bike, and they do look like they'd have done the job, as well as alot of others here vouching for them


at 5'6" I found most clipons on the monster to be excessive. the suburban machinery bars were a perfect fit for me ergonomically.  they were great bars.


cans will be largely subjective.  style, sound, etc.

I had slip-ons, cut airbox/BMC filter, PCIII (stock ECU) with dyno-tuning and it ran great, and was a fair bit cheaper than going the full DP/termi route.  YMMV, obviously, but I didn't see any downside to how I tackled that upgrade path.

Any Ducati or Triumph dealer should be able to order them, as both brands have bikes equipped with them stock.

If you can't find any locally, I know for a fact that Northern Colorado Motorsports outside of Loveland, CO, can get them and I'd be happy to ship a set wherever. I had to order one from them earlier this year.

Another up side to Napoleons is that they're 1/2-1/3 the cost of CRG's, depending on which model you get and from where. That said, eBay CRG knockoffs can be had for much less.

i always thought you to be more of a diy kinda guy! paying $120 for three leads and some zip ties seems extreme to me. you could buy the materials, a soldering iron, some spares to practice your soldering skills on before hand, and still have enough for atleast a six pack or two to drink while doing it for that kinda money.. someone is making a lot of money there

I am a more DIY kind of guy, and I rigged me ownsies just like you said, but the OP doesn't sound like he wants or is able to do all of his own work judging from the request for advice about shops, etc.

$120, when you think about what comes with the kit, is too pricey. But when you think about the overall benefit, it seems like a good deal. To some who have more money than time or expertise, it's a solution. 

Yeah I would prefer to DIY but some things are beyond my capabilities. Especially with electrical stuff.

BTW, berg you wouldn't happen to have any guides for doing some basic maintenance stuff would you? You seemed to know how to adjust your own valves and replace belts to doing things like cleaning the throttle cable and what. I guess what I'm asking is a general guide to the interval and any tips on them.

On the Ducati's, the front sprocket is generally a lot less expensive than the rear.  The consensus I gather is the 14t in the front is cheap and easy, but could lead to more wear on the sprocket and chain, +2 on the rear sprocket is more expensive and also involves adding links to your chain, but is probably better geometry.

The frame sliders (Speedymoto here) were ridiculously easy to install.  You'll spend more time watching the video's than actually doing the job.

Thanks for the info!

On another note I've ridden it around the last couple of days and the bars are definitely too far for me to be comfortable. I need the bars closer by an inch or two and wouldn't mind if it dropped up to an inch Can someone recommend me a set of clipons? I've researched around and I'm confused as some need a new triple (cyclecats?) while others don't need a new triple but the drop in the bars is way too aggressive.

edit* I should clarify that I'm looking for the bars to be closer while having more sweep. I'm assuming that means I'll need a riser kit?

gahh tried to open tank cover today and noticed that the latch was hard to move and was pushing up against the ignition  [bang]. I guess everyone knows what that means...

Thanks for starting this thread. I have an 08 s2r1000 and I have a few mods, all done at the dealer.

QD ex-box, speedymoto framesliders, Rizoma barend mirrors, New grips (cant remember brand)

I really want a tail chop and to do my ecu and airbox

I'm going to start doing a better job in getting this thread organized once parts start coming in once I have the bike properly winterized.

Not sure how to do the airbox yet but this is the cheapest ECU replacement I've found online so far: http://www.gothamcycles.com/servlet/the- (http://www.gothamcycles.com/servlet/the-)*NEW*-ECU/Categories

As for tail chop I've cut down my list of kits to the competition werkes one or this: http://www.ducatimonstertailchop.com/ (http://www.ducatimonstertailchop.com/)

Looking for some adjustable levers also. Does anyone know if the S4RS levers are interchangeable with the S2R? Reason is JPRs are exactly the same quality as ASVs for half the price but they only list the 1098, S4R, and other superbikes on there but none for s2r.

airbox is easy if you have a dremel, or really skilled at hacksawing  :) just cut the top of the airbox lid, above where the metal retaining clips snap in. once you have the tank up and look at it, it's pretty obvious.

install whatever flavor of aftermarket filter you like, and bingo! done.

just make sure you are ready w/ECU or something at that time, to keep the fuelling right

pretty sure they're not.

the stock masters that your S2R have are the non-radial, 'larger' pivot type.  CRG/Pazzo/brembo are usually what you need to look for.

if you want the OE brembo type (4 pos'n adjuster) I have a set off my 'tard that should fit
your bike which I will gladly unload on the cheap  :)

Thanks for the info Teddy! Can you pm me your price?

On another note I've been looking at how to winterize my bike. Been really worried about the expanding tank issue. Has anyone here tried using seafoam? I still peruse many other forums occasionally and it seems to me alot of jap bikers are using it now in their fuel and oil to clean it out. It may even help with the expanding tank issue in addition to coating the tank with caswell.


http://www.seafoamsales.com/how-to-use-sea-foam-motor-treatment.html (http://www.seafoamsales.com/how-to-use-sea-foam-motor-treatment.html)

pm sent  [thumbsup]

winterizing? what's that?  [cheeky]

*I are TOB's official hawaiian, and as such no nothing of this 'winter' y'all speak of

If you've already got the Caswell coating, you shouldn't have to worry about the tank expansion issue. The tanks expand because the plastic absorbs water. The Caswell coating seals the plastic off and keeps it from even coming into contact with the water. Ideally, anyway.

So for winterizing, all you really need to do is treat the fuel to keep it from oxidizing.

What I do:

1) Air up my tires to recommended pressure.
2) Fill the tank.
3) Add Sta-Bil or Sea Foam, your call, in the prescribed amount. Then let the bike sit for an hour or so to let the fuel treatment mix in.
4) Run the engine until it's warm. This will get the treated fuel down into the rest of the fuel system (fuel lines, injectors, etc).
5) Kill the engine. Let it cool. Pull a spark plug from each cylinder and spritz in some fogging oil.
6) Put the spark plug back. Do it now, before you misplace it.
7) Hook up the battery tender.
8 ) Put bike up on stands to avoid flat-spotting the tires.
9) Have a beer and try not to strain my arm patting myself on the back.

Excellent list buckethead! Only part I'm worried about is pulling the spark plugs as I have never done it before. And looking around seems like you need a special tool (something I've realized the past few weeks is that i've been buying lots and lots of "special" tools). Is there any benefits of pulling the spark plugs and spraying oil? I'm assuming its so that when you start it up again in a few months its easier?

*edit* I should also mention that my left rear blinker light is out. I swapped out bulbs with the right hand side as that was working and it still didn't work which eliminated a dead bulb. Took off the beer tray and made sure the line was in. I wasn't able to open up the whole light as my hex kit is being shipped from amazon. Got any ideas guys on the process of elimination now?

Fogging oil is like PAM for your combustion chamber. It leaves a nice, thin, even coat on all the surfaces. Just makes it so that any sort of corrosion that may want to take place has to fight for air. Probably not necessary, but it's cheap and it makes me feel better.

Yes, there is a special "spark plug socket," but it's a standard part (not Ducati-specific and therefore $4,723). Here's a Craftsman 18mm spark plug socket for $6. (http://community.craftsman.com/Craftsman-18mm-Easy-To-Read-Spark-Plug-Socket-3-8-in-drive-reviews) The nice thing about the spark plug sockets, as opposed to regular deep sockets, is that they usually have a rubber piece on the inside that holds the insulator nose. This keeps the plug inside the socket while it's upside down, rather than letting it fall onto the threads. Makes it much easier to pull AND reinstall plugs, especially when they're recessed.

A word of caution: when putting your plugs back into an aluminum cylinder head, 1) Always spin the plug backward first to make sure it's not crossthreaded. 2) Don't over-torque. Those threads can only take so much before they strip.

Edit: You will want to double check the size on the spark plug before you buy. Worst case, just stop by Auto Zone or someplace and pick up a single spark plug (NGK DCPR8E) to take with you for a test-fit.

As for how-to? http://www.ducatisuite.com/sparkplugs.html (http://www.ducatisuite.com/sparkplugs.html)

if you worry about the spark plug, just leave it alone. it is nice to go through that process, but certainly not necessary.

NGK part 4339.  there are two versions of the DCPR8E spec plug.

Good catch, Tiz. Learn something new every day.