Well I haven't had anything toooo exciting to update, but a few of my pals here have given me some stink about some new pics..
I'll start by saying I keep forgetting how many pieces a Ducati can be broken down into...
So I finally split the cases last week..... it was UGLY!
So, thank goodness I had a magnetic drain plug, Otherwise all this would be floating around inside my engine.
Oh wait..it reached its capacity and all that STILL was floating around my engine.
Here are the bearings that I found...the other is all the shrapnel throughout.
So glad I ordered a new crank, ALL bearings, rods and pistons...
After 3 hours in the parts washer I was able to finally get all the crap out of the cases. Reassembly will start next week.
NOW... The fun stuff. As I mentioned previously, I was going to repowder coat the frame. In having her completely taken apart, I am also going to do the swing arm satin black to match the Ohlins. Obviously since its a Cafe inspired project, I took the time to modify the frame a bit to fit the part.
First, passenger pegs, exhaust bracket and side cover brackets have been shaved. Easy stuff, right?
But the big thing I wanted was the retro style hoop for the rear of the bike and some simple mounts for turn signals. A good pal of mine is quite the fab guy and he offered to help me out.
An early on "resting in place" mock up.
His work is done. This is a pic of all the welds and he replaced my plastic liner with a nice steel one...Yes, that does say "THUG LIFE"... strangely ironic seeing how cracker white I am. I feel its not necessary to show the picture on the bottom of the tray... when 2 good buddys have 4 good beers and a sharpie while I'm not around, bad things happen. hahaha
The welds are wonderful and need very little clean up before priming and paint.The modifications were designed for all wiring to be inside the frame. The turn signal mounts are threaded for an M8 internally so I can run just about anything I want to put there. The idea is something small that won't be wider than the outside edge of the seat.
The final decision on the color of the frame is the champagne color used on the 1098R/S frames. I really wanted RED, but someone made a good point. It would look like a stock 695 Monster. All other color options would either look like crap with the painted tank and tail or would clash horribly with the Ohlins.
She's getting there. I'm finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. We really have no idea what caused the bearing failure. All oil ports are clean. Oil pump is fine. The only thing we have right now is that it was an existing problem when I bought the bike and then when it went on the dyno, That was enough to put her over the edge.
Linear Mode
