Miscellaneous Cool Italian Bikes

[ducatiz]

I think it's a perfect mod just for the fact that you get such a large amount of air being forced onto the oil cooler. 

i think the main benefit is that it's far from the engine.  when it's behind the fairing it actually doesn't have a huge amount of air compared to the head-mount location on the SS -- which was really a compromise as the preferred place is behind the fairing as on that F1 -- the problem was that they needed a place to hide the charcoal canister.  of course, everyone ripped that right off.  bob miller used to make a kit to relocated the cooler but he's long gone.  :-/

[thought]

saw this on the for sale section of ducati.ms... 999F06, true factory race bike from the BSB.  pretty nuts

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/128-bikes/111594-fs-ducati-999f06-ex-greg-lavilla-ducati-factory-race-bike.html







more ridiculously large pics here:

http://www.finckenhagen.com/tmp/ducati_999f06_images.html

[ducatiz]

the 999 looks wonderful with no headlights.  i mean, i love the race versions a lot.  beautiful.

[DRKWNG]

i think the main benefit is that it's far from the engine.  when it's behind the fairing it actually doesn't have a huge amount of air compared to the head-mount location on the SS -- which was really a compromise as the preferred place is behind the fairing as on that F1 -- the problem was that they needed a place to hide the charcoal canister.  of course, everyone ripped that right off.  bob miller used to make a kit to relocated the cooler but he's long gone.  :-/

Ah.  I figured they had altered the nose of the fairing to allow a bit more air to come in.  There was a guy with an SC that filled in the headlight space on the nose of his fairing.  He then perforated it, and relocated the oil cooler to just behind the screen.  He claimed that his oil temps went down by an average of 20 degrees.

[ducatiz]

Ah.  I figured they had altered the nose of the fairing to allow a bit more air to come in.  There was a guy with an SC that filled in the headlight space on the nose of his fairing.  He then perforated it, and relocated the oil cooler to just behind the screen.  He claimed that his oil temps went down by an average of 20 degrees.

probably because you're moving it away from the heat of the engine and adding about 12-16 inches to the oil line more than anything else.  think about it.. engine radiating heat-180-200deg on the surface versus ambient 70-80 deg heat in the front of the bike, away form the engine.

hard to say why oil temps go down tho.  a new bike will always have higher temps until it breaks in.  but it should be cooler nevertheless.

[DRKWNG]

I see what you're saying, and agree, but...  My point is that you would have a smoother flow of unobstructed air flow to the oil cooler if it was relocated to the very nose of the fairing AND the fairing had been modified to allow more air to flow through it.  Both of these things working in conjunction just brings you double the pleasure, double the fun...

[ducatiz]

I see what you're saying, and agree, but...  My point is that you would have a smoother flow of unobstructed air flow to the oil cooler if it was relocated to the very nose of the fairing AND the fairing had been modified to allow more air to flow through it.  Both of these things working in conjunction just brings you double the pleasure, double the fun...

if you can open that fairing up, then yeah.  the problem on the SS is the vent hole is small, like 6x0.5" but on the F1 it's bigger, like 2" tall.. a lot more air pulls..    i've got one of miller's kits and will someday put it on the FE...

[DRKWNG]

That's what I'm getting at.  The guy with the SC had basically cut out an oil cooler sized, rectangular opening in the (pre-filled) fairing nose.  From there, he put some screen mesh over the new hole and popped the cooler right up against it.

You can see it here.  He had painted the number scheme on it by the time this pic was taken.

http://www.bikeexif.com/thunderduc-2-0

[Travman]

BevelTech's latest creation
http://www.beveltech.net/BTR.htm

[Travman]

British & Italian hybrid

[Travman]

http://www.bikeexif.com/laverda#more-12155

[ducatiz]

This mildly customized Cagiva Alazzurra just sold on ebay.

The list of mods is fairly short, but the guy did it so well it comes across looking amazing.  It was originally meant as a tourer, but the mods really bring out the sportiness of the bike. 

for those that don't know, the Alazzurra is a restyled Ducati Pantah created when Cagiva bought Ducati and tried to kill the Ducati name on touring bikes.  However, Cagiva restyled it so well that it is actually considered a more attractive bike than the Pantahs, but since it has the Cagiva name, they never sell for as much.

I have 2 Alazzurras (well, three if you count the frame, engine and summary parts from the 3rd one I bought and disassembled).  I love them, they ride well even with modest power (55hp).  The engine is a 650cc L-twin, the poppa of the 900cc desmodue of the 90s. 

The last Alazzurra was made in 1987 and then the Sport 750 came out, then the 900 SuperSport (1990).

My second Alazzurra is in need of work, mostly cosmetic.  I've decided to duplicate this bike, I can't stop looking at it.

[TAftonomos]

that exhaust is just amazing.  i wonder what that line off the top is?  can't see where the hose goes.

dry clutch on a squarecase = badass.  NCR made that kit, it is like $3k now. 

That is a vac line to the crankcase to pull vacuum.  The "module" right after the venturi (pipe that is welded to/extends into the exhaust stream) is a check valve.

[Travman]

[ducatiz]

these were considered ugly bikes when they came out!