hey guys, long time no see....haha, well just over a year to be exact!
today's entry will be concerning my recently re-acquired ducati.
so, always being one to be never satisfied, i decide to take the bike into a more "symmetrical" direction. and i was inspired by those crazy spaniards at rad-ducati. besides that, it's my "opinion" that underseat exhaust and single-sided swingarms are soo 1993 (and why not single-sided fork tooo? cannondale bicycles has been doing it for almost as long, but that's a whole other rant) also i felt the wheelbase is a tad short (there's a reason for those +15mm corse swingarms, and the 749/999 swinger is about that much longer too)
and really nothing against any of these things, i just do as i please
soooo, on with the building.....
to start, i had a couple options, which is great considering i had already made irreversible modification to my engine when i fitted it into the SBK roller.
i could go with 777/749 swingarm but with a couple caveats, FIRST the shock would have to be lengthened about an inch, *or* the upper shock rocker would have to be moved downward about an inch because the 749/999 models moved the whole assembly down that far by recessing the lower mounting points almost to even with the front pivot and rear axle (as viewed from the side) and the SECOND caveat would be the exhaust routing, not alot of room to be had there barring major fabrication to the swingarm (which i am as of yet incapable of aluminum welding/heat treating etc...just give me some time tho HAHAH) or some sort or assymetrical routing to a high-or even undertail exit.
which brings me to my other choice, a multistrada 620 swingarm! the multi-family of bikes utilise bearings in the swingarm a-la all SBK's, and have provision for convenient exhaust routing! now you may ask why not go with the multi1K SSSA?? welll, the multi-bikes also have the lower shock mount recessed in the swingarm, BUT the 620 dual sider (which i said up there i wanted to go dual being bored with single) is made of steel, so that i can work with! and i don't have to make any more modification to my already powdercoated frame...just weld new shock mount on the swingarm and re-paint!
so, here are a couple dark spy-shot pics (not really, just couldn't get the flash to go off):
as far as the exhaust goes, turns out that multi620 *almost* fits. amazingly the flanges are just like the older carb and IE 900 motors, just that the bends where the two pipes come together are about 1/4-1/2 inch short, causing the junction to touch up against the rear of the case. no worries tho, there are some nice bends to re-use!! and i am able to now make the routing go in an even more sensible route (meaning i'm gonna be able to make them closer to equal length)
so finally i need to decide on a can, (traditional or megaphone?)
and unfortunately must do some re-thinking on wheels...it was also my thought to go with a 4.5" wheel, which in my humble opinion, there's no need for a 5.5 wheel on a sub-100HP bike, as i have seeeen red5 scorch a track on his small-wheeled monster (and i scored a gorgeous gold-frame matching wheelset on the cheap) but i'm also of the opinion there's no need for dual 320mm discs on a sub 100hp and <400 lb bike, but here i'm going back to dual fronts (all about symmetry right?!) but, anyways, the 4.5 rear wheel it just looks a little, well, off hanging out back there. am leaving it for now, just gonna marinate on it for awhile.....
so yeah, that's about it, besides what i can get done today as it will be my last "free" day to do work on it til this time next week///
