1123cc Big Bore Piston Kit for 1000DS

[jwoconnor]

May as well get the NCR crank.  [moto]

[koko64]

Has anyone here ever had their Ducati's crankshaft balancing and lightened? 

The rod bushing that holds the wrist pin for the upper cylinder of my bike is worn.  This causes a sound when the engine is running.  The sound can be heard at idle and throughout the range of RPM, but is especially noticeable in the 4-5K range.  This wasn't a problem before, but after the bigger pistons were installed the existing wear was enough for this sound to become more prominent.    Donnie took the top end apart and inspected his work to see if there was any problem with the work he had done.  Everything looked great and there was no wear.  It took a while to find the offending problem, but now we know.  I could ignore the sound and live with it for quite a while, but I'm not going to.  To replace this bushing the bottom end must come apart. 

I'm thinking of having the crankshaft balanced and lightened while it is apart.  Does anyone have experience with this?  Was it worth the extra expense?  Did it reduce engine vibration?  Were there any negative side effects? 

A friend who blueprints engines is in favour of balancing/polishing cranks and rods. He only really lightens cranks on race engines. If I had to split the cases I would do it. A fastidious balancing job should make a significant improvement making for a sweet, smooth engine.

Lightened cranks sometimes lead people to put a heavy flywheel back on the bike to tame the power delivery. I would sooner play around with flywheel weights than lighten the crank on a street bike. I have tried three different flywheel weights on 2 valvers, and there was a big difference.

Thanks for showing the way with your engine work. Your bike must be awesome to ride.

[Speeddog]

I've had a couple customer's cranks balanced.
I'd say it's worth the money.

I wouldn't bother with lightening a crank unless you're racing with someone else's money.

[Travman]

May as well get the NCR crank.  [moto]

Maybe someday, but for now I'm thinking about spending a couple hundred extra for balancing versus $12,000 for the NCR crank.  Once you put the $12K crank in you are going to have to spend $7K for the NCR rods, and I'm sure there is a lot more to go with that.  That's for racers with deep pockets, not for guys like me that spend their spare time riding.  It would be cool to have the extra cc's the NCR crank would provide.  It would probably be the only true 1200 cc air-cooled street Ducati in the world. 

[Travman]

Thanks for the advice Koko and Speeddog.  My mechanic is steering me in the same direction.  I'll probably end up having the crank balanced and not lighten the crank.  I hope it makes for a smooth running engine and adds to engine longevity. 

[junior varsity]

I'm planning to get this done on the project 900 this winter, and then split the cases on my M900 the following winter to have it done too. Pretty important for piston changes, but would be beneficial even in stock form for engine longevity.

I plan on using Fox Performance - he does lightening, balancing, SPS-style, and polishing.

[Travman]

a m, I knew you'd chime in since you've got your own project going on.  So you are going to go with the SPS-style crank.  Do you have any worries about lightening your crank?  What have you heard about affecting drive-ability?  Do you already have a lightened flywheel?   

As of right now I will definitely be having the crank balanced.  I may also have the crank knife edged and polished, but I'm not planning on having any serious weight removed. 

[junior varsity]

On my Monster 900, the flywheel has been replaced with a Nichols Flywheel. I have kept my original flywheel in case I wanted something in the middle from stock and Nichols, and can get it machined down by Fox while the crank is there too for medium weight.

The lightweight crank is supposed to significantly improve many things throughout the spectrum. I am planning on having the project's crank lightened, polished, and balanced for big pistons.

I think you'll enjoy this read: http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=61585
(Written by Ben Fox himself)

[monsta]

I'm also building a 900 big-bore, going for the 984..
you cant lighten the crank too much unless you have lighter pistons or conrods or it wont balance. I lightened mine a bit, but only because the pistons were a bit lighter. Not a hell of a lot came off the crank to get it to balance.
Dont know if its that beneficial to knife-edge and polish...  I didn't bother.

[krista]

I didn't read the whole thread...

Some time ago, we got talked into selling a guy with a Sport Classic 1000 a set of individual FCRs. He was ditching the ecu and efi because he hated how his bike ran. He had a nemesis ecu running the ignition. The other mod to his bike was the small diameter Termi 2-1.

With a set of FCR41s and the same filters we put on Pongo, he got 99.6 hp.

So when folks with 900s call and want to "build up some power", I tell them about that and suggest that any mods made to a 900 engine are in the vein of reliability but not for power.

Chris

[junior varsity]

and fun!

[junior varsity]

note, for those guys who are interested in the 1123 kit - we've got a full setup (core exchange) for taking the 1000DS to an 1123 with balanced crank, ported heads, etc, ready to go at the AMS shop in Alvarado. Jordan was telling me about it over beers on Monday. I thought I'd pass it on to you folks since I am without a DS motor.

[greenmonster]

With a set of FCR41s and the same filters we put on Pongo, he got 99.6 hp.

FCR`s do rule...

[Travman]

note, for those guys who are interested in the 1123 kit - we've got a full setup (core exchange) for taking the 1000DS to an 1123 with balanced crank, ported heads, etc, ready to go at the AMS shop in Alvarado. Jordan was telling me about it over beers on Monday. I thought I'd pass it on to you folks since I am without a DS motor.

Very cool.  It makes sense for people like me that had some money in their pocket and wanted a little more out of their bike . 

I'm surprised they're including balancing the crank since there is a lot more labor involved at that point.  I'm having it done, but only because the bottom end was coming apart anyways.  So, did he tell you how much it is going to cost?  They should advertise it on their website.

[junior varsity]

Ha, we were just talking over beers - I'm at the Dallas shop while the engine work goes on over near Fort Worth at the other shop.

I'll get a completed list of what all is included and get it up on the website by next week. I started asking questions that received wide-eyed looks when I asked about a similar package for Streetfighters... (what can I say? I dream big.)