Another installment in “making the GT mine”…or maybe just more not being able to leave things alone. I like to think of this bike as an old Erector set, constantly able to be changed. Sometimes needing to be changed, or improved. I’m starting to wonder why I bought the GT in the first place, so many things about it I have always wanted to change. Maybe I saw the potential! Anyway, one thing that always bugged me was the double wall headers. Heavy & obviously not the true diameter of the header. Too shiny. I’ve been lusting after a set of spaghetti headers and finally picked up a set from a ducati.ms forum member in Sweden. They arrived quickly and I set about fitting them up.
The headers came in a small box in 4 pieces with some damage (that I knew about when purchasing). The assembled set would have used 5 different joints held with springs. I wanted to clean things up a bit so I carefully fit everything up, cutting down a couple joints where necessary to make sure there was enough clearance through the swingarm, etc., and tack welded the joints where I wanted them. Was able to get out a couple dents using a pipe expander tool. I also finally got the chance to use some cool retro finned header mounts I’ve been saving for a couple years!
Next was fitting up the stock Termignoni cans to the new headers. A coworker who has experience welding up headers for race cars and bikes gave me a couple u-bends and fittings to play with. Good thing, because I had to use some tight bends to clear the chain and expansions on one fitting fit the header perfectly. I mocked everything up, and even nervously cut off the narrow tips of my beloved Termi pipes...
At one point I considered building up my own set of headers from scratch. “No problem” I thought…”just get some pre-made bends and start cutting and fitting…” Yeah right. This stuff is harder than it looks!
Schrapnel:
I dropped off the header parts with my co-worker to get the stainless seams tig welded up.
Of course the new header was eventually going to require a new dyno tuned map for the Power Commander. Which means I might as well work on the intake while I’m at it. A new Ducshop Hyperstack kit was definitely in order.
(Can’t wait for that NASCAR performance! haha )
I made a couple brackets to hold the coils and case breather. The throttle control valve filter was mounted directly to the throttle control valve. Popped the plastic covers off the horns and they were mounted back-to back on the stock airbox bracket. I didn’t want the filters flopping about putting added stress on the rubber intake boots (their only support) so I added some safety wire to secure them to the frame.
