BlackKat's builds

[Raux]

2100 euro for the wheels

[BlackKat]

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[BlackKat]

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[BlackKat]

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[Raux]

The Kineos are by no means cheap...but neither are Alpinas (who don't offer anything for the single sided swing arm), OZ or even stock replacements for that matter!

wasn't complaining, just providing info

[BlackKat]

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[Slide Panda]

The point which you've gone past until your engine goes *Ker blam!*

[freeclimbmtb]

The point which you've gone past until your engine goes *Ker blam!*

Ive heard most engine detonations actually occur on decel...when that throttle plate snaps shut and you have a vacuum sucking the piston toward the head instead of compression slowing it.

So just never let off the gas i guess  

I have a friend that strongly believes in not shifting until you stop making power. (this goes for EVERYTHING he has with a motor.)  He got pissed one day and wound out his Kawi Spectre 750...about half way through the revs winding down the tach needle came unpegged.    oddly enough, hes never actually blown anything up. (at least not through over revving)

[BlackKat]

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[brad black]

...Thats what you noticed from all the pics!

mostly.  i guess i could comment further under three headings: bolt on, budget and beige.  and given that you asked.

bolt on as that what it mostly is, which i imagine is what was required, a flash, eye catching thing to show off some products.  you'll probably take that in a negative way, but it's not.  it's a bike built by a dealer to show stuff off.  we used to do it too, just not to the extent you have.

the wheels look a bit 70's corvette driven by tubby bloke wearing a rug and gold chains to me, but maybe i'm a bit too young for spokes.  i think the older guys tend to get more into spokes as they can remember them.  on a period bike i rather the early skinny cast wheels than spokes (thinking guzzi lemans, bevel 900ss, etc).

budget as there has to be one, and this probably leads into the beige point more, but generally the bolts ons are preferred as they are cheaper to do and then undo and resell.  you've gone the exta step by painting the frame, which really defines the project as what it is and is now hard to undo. plus you've spent money in labour time doing that which was always the restriction when i was involved in something like this.  so this point leaves me a little confused, as you've gone past where most would stop by becoming not easily irreversible, but seem to have stopped short of taking the detail to the extent it could go.

beige: my opinion is that bikes need 3 colours, black, silver and colour of choice.  the issue with this bike (which is inbuilt by ducati, and budget wise expensive to change and hard to reverse) imo is the bland midish grey on the engine covers, fork lowers and subframe.  as raux said, the subframe in green would have been more complete, but maybe that was over budget or maybe you photo shopped it and it looked crap.  but even that stuff in black would be more defined, or just more consistant.  and the gold fork legs add another redundant colour, but that goes back to the budget point and cost to change.

so that's my take on it.  don't like the spokes or seat cover.  seat is cool.  might be the light, but the frame green looks too light/washed out, the silver is too silver and lacking in great big chunky metalflake and it's overly blinged (again, your point of exhibition).

the exhaust looks very odd too, finish wise.  is it the floor colour reflection or is the colour not even?  bead blasting then 10 pulls on the dyno tends to fix that nicely.

i've been watching the cafe racer series recently and looking at lots of bikes on the net and the results of the typically serious vs half arsed approach is always the details.  the pros do the details so well, to the extent that very ordinary bikes are elevated to wow (hageman's silver cx500) by simple detail and often the lack of complexity or bling that can be left off as no compensation is needed.  when you're doing this sort of job that detail costs hours, and in a delaership if a tech is working on this rather than a paying job the cost to the business skyrockets quickly.  i'm in the position of currently debating the depth (or even starting) a project that will have some business exposure benefits, but i'm so busy all the time i spend will realistically be costing me the $90 per hour i'm not getting from a customer and the decision to do it even half properly and paint a frame and wheels a totally non std and possibly unpopular colour (non trad in most ducatisti eyes) will really put it well beyond any measureable busines benefit.

of course, i never listen to anyone else, so i don't expect you to listen to me.

[Pedro-bot]

Interesting analysis BB.

Never gave other people's motos that much thought.

I guess that's what separates the true modders and someone like me, a tinkerer.

Love the wheels, fantastic exhaust BK.

[brad black]

well, he did seem put out that i didn't comment initially.  i had a good think about it this morning lying in bed.

and keep in mind that there is a photo of my guzzi eldorado in ian falloon's guzzi book.  it's uncredited (didn't even bother to ask me if he could push my bike out of the showroom to a park across the road and take a photo or use it in his book) and in black and white due to the non std colour that apparantly he didn't approve of.  i'm told it caused quite a stir in the guzzi club at the time.  like i gave a shit, and no one actually said anything to me at the time.  it cost me money when i sold it, but i loved the colour.  which is some of my background behind the irreversibilty comments above.  been there, done that.  check out the gold on the 888 wheels on my blog.  that cost me money.

if you like it, do it.  don't ask anyone else's opinion or expect them to like it or give a shit anyway.

unless you need to sell it, of course.  it's why people repaint their ferrari's resale red.  see the craig's list crackheads thread for clarification.

[DucHead]

Please don't take this the wrong way...its just not important enough to test...Its well known that LEDs are efficient, the build was about style...not performance. The motor was untouched. The bike had exactly 2 miles on it when we began, the charging system was and still is perfect. Will your battery last an extra week from less strain to the charging system? maybe..but it just wasn't at all relevant to the build.   

Never asked for a test, it was a simple question that I thought you might know.  A simple "I don't know" would have been sufficient and the  make you look a bit dick-ish.

I think the bike is borderline gaudy.

[Pedro-bot]

You are the Brad Black. I read your blog and my eyes gloss over. There's layers of knowledge, depths that I read but don't understand. Probably never will.

You're analysis definitely reads of someone who's been there, done that. Only experience gives you hindsight on what to expect and what to appreciate after a decision is made.
And totally agree with your comment about putting your stuff out there, for every Tom, Dick and Harry to critique or praise, for better or worse.

So just to clarify let me see if I understand your point in its most basic sense:

If you mod a bike with boltons don't add things you can't remove.
That costs money when you sell.

If you mod a bike with things you can't remove, go balls to the wall.
That costs money, a lot more money, but the point is to go all out, not to make back money.

Is that about right?

I'll keep your perspective on a build on my next project. Definitely a fresh way of looking at things that I had not considered, it's worth remembering.

One question though, did you figure out this mantra the first time around or the second?

[BlackKat]

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