Belt cover mod picture

[sejman]

I had a busy weekend with the bike (wife was out of town).  Pseudo muffler core (see other thread), tail chop (using Juan's bike as a model), and belt cover mod.  As you can see, there was not much material left when I was done.  I like the no cover look, but I did want some protection (especially that leading pully) and I didn't want it to look like something was just missing.  Any thoughts about color - should I leave grey or go with the more common black?  I was even thinking of gloss red since there isn't much left - might be an interesting accent:

[alienfocus]

Covers look great!!!!!! I would paint them though. I recommend black for sure...red is hard to match and even though the covers are 80% gone..it will look corny..trust me..have seen someone else do it and it looked Vegas cheesy. Black gives your cylinders more shape and is a natural accent to the silver engine..it actually will catch your eye with the belts accented by the black.

Mine are OEM covers machined out and painted semi-flat. I get more comments on them then my exhaust. Your came out sharp!!!!

[j|rz44]

Nice...
Flat black will look clean

[psycledelic]

Looks good, I would also recommend black. 
I did my covers, sprocket cover, and heat shields a couple of months ago

The only issue I had was that it didn't take long for me to notice rust developing on those square blocks located behind and below the pulleys (no idea what they are or do).  Might not be an issue, but just a heads up. 

[sejman]

Black it will be!  I was going to leave off the vertical cylinder cover, but I think once they are painted I think it will look more finished if they match.  I'll have to get some nice stainless screws to replace the stock ones now that I'm making everything more pretty.

While I'm on that subject - how do you guys keep your headers looking so good?  Mine came to me this way (I just bought this about 6 weeks ago - it's an '01 with about 14K miles)...anyway to get that lower pipe looking nicer?

I also don't like the look of my throttle cable plate - I think that will have to be painted black too...

Thanks all for the input.

[OverCaffeinated]

All three are very good examples of belt cover mods. 

Little to no cost mods are my fav, especially when they looked like they cost $$$$ like these do.

[Magnus]

looks good, although after getting a pebble in the drive pulley on my forward cylinder and bending a couple valves, i'm going back to something more protective...

[mtn_mnztr]

While I'm on that subject - how do you guys keep your headers looking so good?  Mine came to me this way (I just bought this about 6 weeks ago - it's an '01 with about 14K miles)...anyway to get that lower pipe looking nicer?

The older bikes came with a coating on the headers that makes them look like cast iron after awhile.  I pulled mine and had them sandblasted, then worked them over (perpendicular to the pipe) with a 3m stripping pad to make them look like stainless tubing again.  After a couple thousand miles they are turning darker but still look much better.

[sejman]

I probably would not be stripping this bike down so much if I was still riding in the Northeast - the sand, leaves, wet, road salt, etc. especially in the early Spring made for a mess and the more protection for rider and bike the better.  Down here in Texas things stay very clean on the roads - no salt, no sand and when it rains it really pours hard for relatively brief periods.  I know there are no guarantees, but I'm willing to risk a little more for the look I want. 

It's actually funny - in the 6 weeks I've had this bike I have accumulated quite a pile of stuff that I've pulled off:  mirrors (went to Napoleon bar ends), rear hugger, rear fender extension/license plate holder, "beer tray" and related frame remnants, CA emissions charcoal canister and related hoses, PCV valve hoses and reservoir, and now some chunks of belt covers.  Makes me feel like I over paid for this thing

Little to no cost mods are my fav, especially when they looked like they cost $$$$ like these do.

Definitely my favorites - with two teenagers (braces, sports, the right "fashions", etc.) there is not a lot left for dear old Dad's hobbies.  The tail chop cost me about $10 in materials and what a huge difference.  My recent stock muffler mod cost me a few drill bits and grinding wheels - but the sound just makes me grin ear to ear.

Hey Psycledelic:  is that the Zero Gravity ST windscreen on your bike?  It looks great.  How do you like it?  I may get something like that for the winter months...

[A.duc.H.duc.]

I like em 

[NYCmonster]

How do you keep the screen on? Is there some heat resistant glue?

Looks good, I would also recommend black. 
I did my covers, sprocket cover, and heat shields a couple of months ago

The only issue I had was that it didn't take long for me to notice rust developing on those square blocks located behind and below the pulleys (no idea what they are or do).  Might not be an issue, but just a heads up. 

[NAKID]

I wouldn't normally say this, but I say you paint it with duplicolor red to match the bike. If they were full covers, I would say black. But since they are minimal, I say go for the splash of color...

[ute]

i gotta agree with the red if you can get a really close match......................with your frame silver it should look good

[Privateer]

what do you guys use to cut out the 'windows' in the covers?  This is something on my list but not something I want to do by trial and error.

Also, ditto on how did you attach the screens?  I've got my own ideas, but wondering what you had success with.



Andy

[sejman]

I free-handed my design using a pencil (and compass for the circular cut-out) and then used a coping saw to do the cutting.  The plastic is very easy to work with, but it is a glass-reinforced plastic, so the blade was dulled pretty quickly.  After the rough cut with the coping saw, I cleaned things up with a dremel and then finished with sandpaper.  It was very easy.

I tried the red accent color quickly on the front pulley guard last night with some red that I already had that was pretty close - I like the look, but I need to get the match better before I'll be satisfied.

Does anyone know of an off-the-shelf rattle-can red that is a good match for the standard Ducati red?