Ducati Monster Forum

Hi everyone, so Ive had some posts here, and I have gotten alot of help from all of you and really appreciate it
hopefully soon i will be able to provide assistance instead of just asking!!! but for now just starting out with my first duc. and still have a lot of questions...

Here are some pics of my ducati, sorry for the bad pics.. its in progress still so:

Mods so far:
- Matte black paint
- Clip on cafe racer handle bars
- Cafe racer mirrors at the end of the handle bar grips
* ive found these three mods have completley changed the look of the bike and I am quite happy with it!!!!


Pending Mods:
- I should be getting this week the DUCATI   oldschool 1950s outlined logo to put on.... like the sportsclassic
- I would like to change the tach and speedo, for something smaller (i would like to just get rid of the whole thing actually) what would be amazing would  be an analouge tach with an integrated digital speedo.. does anybody have aftermarket tach/speedo resources?
- The header pipe going to the mufflers is quite rusted.. im thinking of wrapping it and painting it black....  any comments? or should i just spray it black with high temp spray paint, every couple of months?
- Ive been thinking of also, changing the front headlamp for a yellow one...  how is this done? is the front cover change for a yellow one? is there anybody here who has done this, how does one go about it...?





The bike was originally stock and red, when I bought it:

(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/original03.jpg)


(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/original02.jpg)

(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/original01.jpg)


Currently:

(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/MYDUCATI02.jpg)

(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/MYDUCATI16.jpg)

(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/MYDUCATI17.jpg)

(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/MYDUCATI08.jpg)

(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/MYDUCATI09.jpg)



I welcome any comments you guys may have!

cheers!

I liked it red better.  Flat black is completely played out.  It's been done too often for too many years.  If you are going to go black use gloss black.

You should paint your belt covers.   

I think the best thing you can do to your bike...no matter what...is to ride the hell out of it!

Lower the gauges... paint the belt covers and maybe the rearsets. Chop the tail.

I vote for this one above ^^^^^

got My first Duc/Bike (750) some time in June/July 2011. I so then got caught up in all the mods I wanted to do to it (sometimes same mod over again)...Not saying that it's bad; it made me learn much more about my bike (motorcycle in general).

But ride it as much as you can is the idea  [thumbsup]

and paint your belt cover haha  [beer]

I agree a bit with travman... if you were thinking about doing it again, I actually really like the matte white look right now.  It's different and it look amazing in person.  Extra points if you can paint the frame red.

You might want to look at getting rid of that beer try too ;)

Look in the tutorials section for a write up on how to install a vapor gauge instead of the analog one.  I remember it being pretty detailed.  I believe it was Artful that wrote it.

Tutorial on how to clean up your mid pipe

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=43917.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=43917.0)

Two big improvements, both super cheap, would be a tail chop and cleaning up your headers.  Looks pretty good to me

I like the matte finish.

Tailchop, painted headers (high temp BBQ paint), and painted or (some people don't like this) remove belt covers...

The matte black looks evil.  [evil] Lower the gauges or replace them with motogadget, aftermarket cans of your choice, rearsets.  [thumbsup]

This too!

Hey Guys thanks for all the comments so far!


Of course the best you can do is ride it...  I bought this bike 1 month before I get my offiicial driving permit... getting your drivers license in HK is a complete pain!! So i cant really ride it just yet! haha legaly at least... but that meant it gave me a month to do everything I want to do to the bike before putting it out on the road!  so its working out well in that sense...

- I agree on the belt covers , they are really in not good condition, previous owner says they got scrape with his boots.. im a bit skeptical as if that is the only way they got scraped.. however, def. planning on doing that.. but thats pretty much straight fwd thing to do..

The color:
The read was an issue i grappled with..  I know ducati is tialian, and like ferarri's its a classic color for them.. but im just not a -red- type of guy, i consider it too flashy... and I also know that the matte black is been done a lot, but i quite like it  ;D  so i just went for it!   Also ive never seen matte white, sounds interesting, but shiny white with red accents looks cool, but again too flashy for me... the whole idea was to try to make this look more cafe.. ratty... and there is a certain component if "sinister" in that look, wich i think the black matte achives easily...


Gagues:
- duccarlos... are there any threads out there on lowering the gauges?  the ducati gauge has a strange cover with the N and high Beam lights does that lower with itself as well? im quite  anovice on duc. gauges... What do you mean by the rear sets?

-kraptaker.. thanks for the motogadget brand!! ,ooking at it now.. what are the rear sets!? haha sorry im a complete novice to ducs!


Pipes:
-lazyjinglin717   thanks for the resource!! great info!...  any opinions on wrapping it though? ive heard mixed reviews on how it can increas rust.


Tailchop:
Im a bit hesitant of the tailchop mod.. but I am fixing the license plate so it doesnt hang that low and it is just the pure plate on the the underside of the tial... 



Any ideas on the yellow front-light?

thanks again for all the comments guys!!

this isn't a criticism but in my experience. bar ends like that with clipons really makes for a lot of head movement during mirror checks leading to a bit more fatigue.

i had it for a season but ending up getting some a bit more raised.

http://motogadget.com/ (http://motogadget.com/)

For a new speedo and tach.

Ask and you shall receive... You can buy a kit http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=16517.msg288653#msg288653 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=16517.msg288653#msg288653) or do it yourself. In the previous board there was a complete tutorial that I followed along with some very good advise from NAKID. I simply cut the U-bracket and and mounted the gauges under the triple. I had an aftermarket headlight, so I did not have to worry about lowering the headlight, but you might need to, depending on the space.

Rearsets are where the shifter, rear brake and where your feet go. On your bike it also has the passenger pegs.

+ Tail Chop (I have a basic tail chop bracket you can have for $free.99 + shipping and handling)
+ Paint Dye the valve covers http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=43500.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=43500.0) Go crazy and just dye all your shit..
+Clean up pipes, paint or ceramic coat
+ I would say remount your clip ons above your triple.. too low
+Lower gauges and headlight (Or go with the Motogadget Chronoclassic and a custom headlight)
+Slip ons or, 2 birds with one stone, buy a full exhaust system.
+SBK controls and forks!!!!

Come back for more in a yr when you get all that done! lol

+1 on tail chop
and exhaust!!

or

go get that MV Agusta across the street!! [thumbsup]

Motogadget gauges are gorgeous... but 500 EUR ....  hitting the bank!
are there any more recession-time alternatives out there?

Yeah, I'm sure what I posted on TOB is gone. Don't know that I have the write up anywhere else and since the bike is back in the states, the only thing I have to go on is memory...

Hey nice work so far, I like your ideas, a cafe monster. I wonder if you can get an old school Ducati logo for your tank. Seeing you don't want your bike to be too flashy maybe the sticker could be clear or gloss black.
I agree with the tail chop comments, but if your going to mount you liscence plate below your brake light get a buell blast tail light. It means you won't need a plate light because the underside of the blast light is clear. I find it cleans things up a bit. Less is more in my opinion. If you think the same you could remove the side covers and re wire some wires so they sit on the inner side of the trelis frame rather than have them weave in and out.

But they are worth it! Either way, good luck. The bike is looking great. I would also recommend chop/ core the pipes and paint them black as well. I have used high temperature paint on cans in the past. It looks good.

With the look you've got going I would wrap the headers for right now because it's cheap, quick and easy.  After that I'd spend my days dreaming of boom tubes.

Im thinking about wrapping the headers..
ot convinced about the tail chop..  slightly modified how to hang the license plate
got finally the logo.. its not exactly like the original 1950s, but hey it looks good!
no more mods for now.. next mod will be the motogadget gauge...  gotta save some cash for that!


looking like:

(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/IMG_3338.jpg)
(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/IMG_3339.jpg)
(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/IMG_3347.jpg)
(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/IMG_3363.jpg)
(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/IMG_3367.jpg)
(http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh504/vivianov/viv.jpg)

On the cheap, you HAVE to do something with those belt covers. Either remove them or paint them flat black to match the tank. They just stick out SOOOOOOO much...

Yeah, pipes, clutch and belt covers could be painted black.
A cheap solution to replacing your gauges would be fitting a Puig bikini fairing/screen. They have a few styles and a couple look evil/nasty. Motowheels has them. It fits the cafe theme and hides the gauges for about a hundred bucks. You could paint it the same as the tank.

Nice job. [thumbsup]

Polish the flats of the "ducati" on the case, paint belt covers, polish header to high shine or if pitted hit it with header paint after a good prep with sand paper.

Stop by a duc dealer and check out the monsters with the matte white and red frames and you'll see what i mean.  Not as flashy as the gloss white... the 848evo's also come in matte white, but with red frame/wheels.

Its a great look and my current favorite color combo for ducs... not so much a fan of gloss white though.

Plus 1 for matte white or red or yellow haha  ;D

Thinking of painting mine cowl, tank, front fairing and front fender matte white.  Keeping the frame black though, kinda ....idk if it will look good.  ???