Some of you saw my original thread:
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=3104.0Well, I got my bike back together and I'm finally back on the road! What should have been a simple project, turned out to become more than I originally planned. When I started to take my bike apart, the plan was to black it out by getting some parts powdercoated; however, the project evolved into much more...
First some before pics: ![](http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s306/rafael04/DSC00953.jpg)
After: Black Gold!![](http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s306/rafael04/DSC01291-1.jpg)
I wanted to do something a little different with the swingarm. Instead of powdercoating it, I decided to polish and anodize it to match the deep gold color of my CRG levers. The polishing was a ton of work, but after getting it back from the anodizer, I realized it was worth it. To keep the swingarm from getting nicked, I went with a Shift-Tech carbon hugger.
While I had the swingarm off, it was a perfect time to upgrade the Sachs shock. An Ohlins gold shock was the obvious choice to keep with the theme, but I found a great deal on an S4R Showa adjustable shock, I decided to use the $$$ I saved to buy some other bling - like the gold sprocket nuts, Sato rearsets, and the Rizoma billet CF sprocket cover.
![](http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s306/rafael04/DSC01283.jpg)
Since I upgraded the rear suspension, I needed to upgrade the front as well. I sent the Marzocchis to Jason at Dept. of Suspension and he installed the Matris cartridge kit and anodized the fork tubes while he was at it. I think the fork and swingarm really balance each other out. The stock silver tank decals no longer matched, so a heat gun to remove them and some ol' skool gold decals in their place.
![](http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s306/rafael04/DSC01287.jpg)
Now that the bike is pretty much blacked out, the stainless pipes on the Zards seem out of place. I'm thinking ceramic coating this winter. I also have a pair of 4-pad calipers and 320mm rotors to install, but I didn't feel like waiting for new brake lines, so they too will have to wait for this winter.
![](http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s306/rafael04/DSC01290.jpg)
The windscreen helps when riding on the freeway, but I like the look without it; I guess I'll ride it this way for a bit. I like the barend mirrors the best when the windscreen is removed, so CRG LS it is. DP billet signals replace the bulky stockers and a DP diversion fender wraps the front tire. When I reinstalled the triples, I took the opportunity to upgrade to tapered bearings.
All in all, I'm really happy the way it turned out. Although it took much longer than I would have liked, at least I can say I did most of the work myself. Now that I have the confidence, I'm going to tackle the 6k valve adjustment pretty soon!