'Belle's 748 Fix-up

[mostrobelle]

I took a ride on the bicycle this morning and couldn't stop thinking about the 748 the entire time.  Today I was finally going to ride it.  It was just a little ride around the block, but it was big for me.  I'd never been on it with the seat on.  I didn't know what the clutch felt like.  There were a million new things that I was going to have to adjust to within 3 seconds, and I was admittedly nervous about it. 

I got home and didn't even take my spandex off.  I tossed the 'Stich over the top of it so that I didn't lose my momentum and started to wheel it out of the garage.  The husband made a good call about starting it up in the garage first--we live on a short steep hill, and pushing bikes up it ain't fun.  So I tried to start it up.  The battery had died during its time on the stand, so we plugged it into the tender for 10 minutes while we sat around staring at it.  It started up after bit and I headed for daylight with it. 



I left the side fairings and bellypan off of it for now.  Glad I did.  The bike is really tall for me.  I can get a foot down if I hang half my butt off the seat.  That makes for an interesting descent down our drive. 



I love the bike naked, but the right thing to do is to have a belly pan on the track, and I can't have that without the side fairings.  For now, it looks like this. 



And off I go! 



And here I come back.  Granddad (former pilot) used to say that landings should equal take-offs.  I'm one for one. 



The bike felt a lot stiffer at the bars than what I'm used to, so on that front I was a little disappointed.  My Monster handles in a very unique way, with a steep rake on the forks and really wide bars.  Most sportbikes feel odd to me, so I think this is fairly normal.  I noticed as soon as I just rested against the tank and let my arms go loose that everything seemed easier and smoother.  I'm looking forward to getting this out on track.  City riding is not what this bike is meant for. 

In addition to the handling the tallness of the bike is an issue.  Later on I might raise it back up, but for the moment I think that I'm going to lower it.  The bike doesn't have a kickstand and I'm not super-comfortable maneuvering it around at low speed with it.  Not knowing jack about suspension or geometry, I'm going to take it into the shop and have a cursory set up done, as I don't know if this service will be available at my trackday.  I bought the bike from a guy who's not huge, but I could probably use a little suspension tweaking anyways. 

Have put in a request to a BARFer about a few simple decals.  I like the austere look of the bike as it is and don't want to muck that up with stickers.  I've peeled all the stickers off the exhausts, windscreen, etc. to clean things up.

[hadesducati848]

so when is the photo shoot of everything back together?
 great job the bike looks very sharp! 
love it

[mostrobelle]

Soon!  I'd like to see if anyone with a good camera and some talent is interested in doing a shoot with me.   

[hadesducati848]

id be happy to volunteer but my best camera is attached to my cell phone and talent is well ummm... non existent at best.

[mostrobelle]

No worries...I'll see what pans out.  I'd like to truck the bike somewhere interesting and spend an hour flicking away.   

[hadesducati848]

personally i would think that a snowy background would be cool, i always thought that darker bikes looked better with white or grey backgrounds behind them while lighter color bikes look good with dark blues, greens or fresh asphalt black behind them. oh well. cant wait to see what you come up with.   

[johnc]

No worries...I'll see what pans out.  I'd like to truck the bike somewhere interesting and spend an hour flicking away.   

i would lay even money that either wayne or sig. moore would take some cool and groovy snapshots of you/the bike.

[mostrobelle]

personally i would think that a snowy background would be cool, i always thought that darker bikes looked better with white or grey backgrounds behind them while lighter color bikes look good with dark blues, greens or fresh asphalt black behind them. oh well. cant wait to see what you come up with.   

i would lay even money that either wayne or sig. moore would take some cool and groovy snapshots of you/the bike.

The bike is really shiny and clean right now and I actually think it's going to start to look a little better as it "weathers".  It would be fun to get a shot of it right after the painting though.  I've met Wayne but don't know him well enough to ask him.  If MM wants to do it that'd be cool too.  I'm trying to track down interesting stickers for numbers right now.  That's the finishing touch. 

[Spidey]

In addition to the handling the tallness of the bike is an issue.  Later on I might raise it back up, but for the moment I think that I'm going to lower it.  The bike doesn't have a kickstand and I'm not super-comfortable maneuvering it around at low speed with it.  

Don't lower it.  It's a track bike.  It's not like there is a lot of stop-n-go at the track, and you'll want the height (and the geometry) for when you're riding.  If you have problems mounting up, get someone to hold the bike for you.  

[DanTheMan]

Ride it the way it was designed.

Or wear heels.

[mostrobelle]

I lowered the 400 initially, too, and then raised it back up.  It's just a confidence thing.  I feel weird not being able to hold it up well.  Let me get a feel for it and then I'll tweak it back up again.  I doubt Dave Moss is going to be around this trackday, but I'm thinking about signing up for another before the weather goes really sour and spending some dosh to have him futz with the suspension all day.  I have an appt. with Desmoto to do a really basic suspension set-up and lowering of the bike for Friday morning. 

[Speeddog]

Don't lower it.  It's a track bike.  It's not like there is a lot of stop-n-go at the track, and you'll want the height (and the geometry) for when you're riding.  If you have problems mounting up, get someone to hold the bike for you.  

+1

If you get the suspension set up for your weight, I bet you'll get a bit of lowering from that.

Good plan to get the suspension done beforehand.
It'd be ideal to have the same person at the track as well....

[Popeye the Sailor]

personally i would think that a snowy background would be cool, i always thought that darker bikes looked better with white or grey backgrounds behind them

Well, we could just have 'belle stand behind her bike for the white background.




Nice paint, noob.

[mostrobelle]

+1

If you get the suspension set up for your weight, I bet you'll get a bit of lowering from that.

Good plan to get the suspension done beforehand.
It'd be ideal to have the same person at the track as well....

Desmoto is doing the suspension so they won't be at Buttonwillow to follow up, but I might consider going back to them to give it another go 'round.  That's sort of a pain and expensive compared to going out to a day with Dave Moss present and paying the guy in cheeseburgers to work his magic.  La Ducati Day might also be a consideration, but that's a long line and I have to truck the bike in. 

Well, we could just have 'belle stand behind her bike for the white background.




Nice paint, noob.

I could use a little tanning, but I'm not keen on being in the photos with the bike.  The stuff I have in mind would be more abstract anyway, and it wouldn't require my face to be in them. 

[mostrobelle]

It's done.

Picked up the last of the little parts I needed today.  I even have the decals on.  There's a couple of little things, like putting a coat or two of wax on the side fairings, putting on the tank grip... I put on Granddad's "white 9" on the front tonight.  That felt really good. 

(photos coming Friday--that's the first chance I'll get at something in the sun...)  [moto]