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My 999S "Isabella" - the full story

145K views 466 replies 75 participants last post by  seven4niner 
#1 · (Edited)
So... First of all, pardon my English and partially extremely crappy photos.

I live in Finland and have been a Ducati fan since 2006 when I saw this full carbon 996S at a motorbike show.





I was in the army back then and starting university studies after that so there was no chance on Earth to get a Ducati. The 748/996 etc. styling was never my favorite after seeing the facelift-999 with the beautiful black swingarm. It was love at first sight. In my books the 1x98 styling is very "Japanese" and not so original as the 999, and Panigale is not a real Ducati to me anymore - no trellis frame and no dry clutch :(

After failing miserably with my studies I worked for Nokia for one summer (2011) and started my own business at the same time. Business started going well next year and after a couple of years the dream of getting a Ducati came back to haunt me. Originally I would have wanted an R but in Finland there are maybe one or two 2005-2006 models and they cost an absolute fortune compared to US prices for example. So at this point I set my heart on a 2005-2006 999S Monoposto, in red of course ;)

Ducatis are a rare breed here. They are expensive and scarce and there aren't too many service specialists around. At the moment I'm writing this there are in total 169 Ducatis for sale on the biggest used/new motorcycle online marketplace in Finland. About 30 out of those are new bike (2016 or unridden 2015). When I started looking for a 999S there were only older 2003-2004 models available in Finland. And like three of them... It was obvious I needed to start looking elsewhere so I browsed all German and Dutch marketplaces every day.

After three months of unsuccessful searching there had been three "matches". One very pretty example in the Netherlands which got sold already, one +20k km example in Germany and one bike which had a full carbon bodywork painted as a Fila replica. I wanted a low-mile example so the +20k bike was out of the question and I have never been a fan of the Fila paintwork...so that put me back in square one.

Until one evening I saw a beautiful 2006 S with only 8544km. I sent a message to the seller instantly and he turned out to be a real Ducatista - he was building a 851 with a 996 engine, full carbon kevlar bodywork etc. He was selling the 999 due to wanting a Monster S4RS. I got more pictures and details and everything sounded good. The seller was the second owner and the bike had had belts done 3500km ago along with a full suspension service. He had all keys, code card, service book, owner's manual and receipts for services.



The seller kept the non-OEM carbon parts (front mudguard, hugger, air runner covers, V fairing) and the reverse shifter. After removing those the bike was pretty much original apart from the tasty blue Samco hoses, DP tail tidy, ABM levers, carbon heel guards and an MRA windscreen. The gearing was lowered a bit with a +2 rear sprocket and there was also a nice TSS/EVR 48t slipper clutch and a Termi half system + ECU installed. The original ECU and silencer came with the bike but not a front cylinder pipe though (not like I needed it for anything...).

So the bike was in Germany and I was in Finland, there was about 2000km between me and her. I started finding out about different delivery companies and got lucky with the first one I found! They had a truck in southern Germany next week and would be able to pick up the bike with no problem. Fast forward one week and the seller had his money, the delivery company got my bike and I was biting my fingernails waiting for it to arrive in Finland. I had to have it delivered to my girlfriend's mother's house since I didn't have a garage back then. And since the bike needed to be registered I had no use for it before the inspection etc.

After a couple of days of waiting I finally saw the bike for the first time and apart from being a bit dirty (on the engine etc.) it was perfect. This was in August 2014.





But as usual, there was a lot to be done with it. The silencer had ugly Termignoni decals covering the FOR RACING USE ONLY text since in Germany that's an illegal silencer (and they have MOT every second year!). Like I said the engine was dirty and there was a lot of cleaning needed. Here's one pic when I tested a Corse clutch cover, you can see all the muck - I can't stand even looking at this...



To be continued...
 
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#2 · (Edited)
The next step was to have the bike inspected in order to start the registration process. I had to put back the original silencer (which weighs a f*cking ton!!!) and get a parking light for the windshield. It had been removed and the hole covered with a Corse sticker. Couldn't find one in Finland so needed to get the light from Germany for 20€. After some work the bike was ready for inspection.





It was below 0'C when we finally got to take her for inspection with my father so there were some starting issues already... After an hour of charging the battery we ran her hot an got on our way. The inspection was a no-brainer, took maybe 30min including the paperwork and everything was in order. After that I filled out all the necessary paperwork for getting the import tax calculated by "Trafi". I was expecting something around 2500€ but luckily I only had to pay around 1300€! So the total cost for this bike registered in Finland was almost exactly 10 000€ including the bike, delivery, inspection and registration costs. For that kind of money you'd normally get a 2004 base 999 with more miles so I was pretty happy.

The next phase was obviously getting the bike clean and starting to get some tasty parts for it. Thanks @Dennie and @yellowducking for getting me into the RS etc. parts. My wallet hates you! :D

Before I even got the bike I had already purchased some parts:

DP magnesium valve covers 96429203B



DP magnesium mirror stays 96728403B



DP carbon gas cap 96958703B



DP windshield without parking light 96972005B



and

DP carbon front sprocket cover 96902498B

DP carbon oil cooler fairing 48410483B

All the parts were new and I was pleased with the quality. Everything was nice and shiny, my favorite ;) At a later point I sold the V fairing since it wasn't the vented version and got a 749R version instead. I needed to get more parts of course since I had seen all the beautiful bits in the DP catalogs (I have the 2004, 2005 and 2006 ones in pdf).
 
#3 · (Edited)
The first part on my "to get" list was a magnesium headlight housing. After some searching there was a mint one available at Bursi Evolution for a decent price so I bought it. There was no corrosion on it.



I absolutely love carbon and hate all plastic Tupperware shit on this bike so things needed to change. I wanted the original 999R (2004) carbon front mudguard with a Corse decal and a short carbon hugger. Finding those in great condition took some time but I got them eventually.





The hugger only needed a good clean but I had the front fender clear coated for a better look and put a new decal on it later too.



From Sweden I got two of these lovely DP/Corse carbon clutch covers.



After clear coating the texts weren't too visible anymore and I was a little disappointed :(



One of these got on the bike though and I sold the other one.

I managed to track down a BNIB DP billet steering damper bracket, although they cost silly money for such a small part.

 
#4 · (Edited)
Spotted some nice Brembo M4 Monoblocks on eBay.it and got them pretty cheap, all they needed was a good clean and they were ready to rock. Or so I thought, they needed new brake lines as well since the connectors have a different position than the P4 calipers on a 999. These came from an RSV4R.





To go with the calipers I tracked down some used 999RS narrowband, full-floating 320x6 front rotors which needed spacers to correct the 10mm offset on these. They weigh a lot and rattle like crazy when riding but I love how they look :)





Found a nice, brand new vented & sandcast 999RS clutch casing on eBay UK and got it for a good price. It was missing an oil seal and washer but luckily they did not cost much.



Original DP carbon air runner covers turned out to be very hard to find. I found them separately from different continents but they weren't very nice looking. Probably stored in sunshine or something... After a while I found a pair in Germany and they were in perfect condition, BNIB. Made by MS Production and the quality is 5/5. Sold the extra pair locally for decent money.



I was trying to find some carbon brackets to replace the original plastic brackets which hold the seat attached to the subframe. Turned out that they are pretty prone to cracking when tightened so decided to forget them - until I found a new pair of carbon covers for the original plastic parts. They also cover the bolt nicely so I bought them. Never seen another pair for sale.



Beautiful small weave and very nicely made. They don't need glue etc. for installation since they are a tight fit on top of the original ones. Hats off to the manufacturer!
 
#5 · (Edited)
One night I was searching for some DP carbon mirror covers (96951703B & 96951603B) which seem to be impossible to find and located a pair in Switzerland. They were brand new and priced pretty low - compared to the fact they were originally nearly 500€ for the pair. I ordered them straight away and got them right after Christmas 2014.





Made over 12 years ago. As many of you probably know these are known to fit pretty poorly on the OEM mirror housings and indicators. Luckily these fit pretty well. I had them clear coated too since the finish was a bit dull and wet-sanding + polishing did not help.





I absolutely love how they look. I tried to find some smoked indicator glasses but the two pairs I got were both absolutely rubbish so decided to go with the retro orange ones then. They don't look bad either - I've grown to like them more and more.

The Termignoni carbon silencer cover was very faded and the decals weren't perfect. I removed the decals and tried to polish the clear coat a little but it had no effect.



I decided to open up the small recesses on top of the cover and get it clear coated.





After adding new decals and the mesh it looked very nice. Pictured with Ti axle nuts.

 
#8 · (Edited)
Did you use Ebay or do you have some recommendations for the not so talented?
I follow many marketplaces, eBay is one of them. Mostly in Germany, Italy and UK since from the US everything costs so much (due to having to pay +24% VAT on top of the purchase price).

The story continues...

Since I didn't have a garage where I lived I had to find a suitable place for the bike. There aren't many garage shares available anywhere near so I started asking around for any unused spaces that are warm and near me. Then I remembered my uncle lives in a house which has a part of it "spare" - it used to be a shoe store and the space has been pretty much unused ever since the store was shut down. After some negotiations I got the bike there. The space is OK - lighting is a bit poor and it's 50km away from me, plus I didn't have a chance to go there if my uncle wasn't home.

When I got the bike there I started disassembling some bits, sorry for the crappy photo:



I bought a Bursig stand from Germany to aid fiddling with the bike, it lifts the whole bike from the frame so it's easy to take off both wheels. Later the bike looked like this:



And finally like this:



I had some problems with tools. The first clutch tool I bought was absolutely useless - first of all it did not fit the shape of the EVR basket teeth and once I modified and tested it it still wasn't any good. Since the clutch is a slipper the spider spring starts "bending" the hub and I did not dare twisting the nut open with that tool installed. Bought a new one and had to file the teeth on this one too to make it fit.



But eventually I got the clutch off and cleaned. Replaced the bolts with titanium ones, polished the spring caps a bit, put a new pressure plate bearing and replaced the push rod pin with a titanium one (not pictured). Also replaced the push rod with a newer version and the slave with a 29mm Oberon. With the bigger slave and the lithium grease trick on the plates the clutch is a pleasure to operate. The TSS slipper is the same as Yoyodyne in the States.



One thing I really dislike on the 999 are the original air runners. Ugly plastic parts with the big flaps, resonator "bubbles" and coolant catch tank. I sourced some MS Production oversized carbon runners from Germany, which are absolutely gorgeous. They weigh absolutely nothing and the craftsmanship is stunning! Had them clear coated as well. It's a strange thing these were never available as a DP part but MS Production (one of the OEM carbon suppliers for Ducati) made them for race bikes.



The RH air runner originally has the coolant catch tank so it needed to be replaced with something else. I did not like the idea of cutting the original tank off the runner so I purchased a Motion Pro catch tank from Motowheels and mounted it on top of the rubber grommet on the radiator end tank. Fits nicely and securely with zip ties. It rubs very slightly on the bottom triple but only just. The overflow hose is not installed in the pic.





I was thinking of painting the tank black, leaving a small "window" on the inside, but haven't bothered with it yet.
 
#7 ·
In my books the 1x98 styling is very "Japanese" and not so original as the 999, and Panigale is not a real Ducati to me anymore - no trellis frame and no dry clutch . Well put Jussi , I could not agree with you more ! Thank you for your story now i know what you are up to . The 999 stands in its own light and is not just some warmed over model from the past , or a past model that had such a long run and no longer has any vibe IMO .Great job Jussi very nice bike !!
 
#12 · (Edited)
Mine runs fine on highway speeds but riding in slow traffic tends to raise the temps a bit. Never had any problems last summer though. I will be making a small carbon air conveyor on the left side for this summer if I have the time for it. On the right side the coolant tank might act a little as a shroud.

Rearsets. Where to start...

I looked at multiple options. Gilles, Lightech, Acculign, Cycle Cat, DP, NCR etc... None of them looked "perfect" to me. Then I saw @Dennie 's RS rearsets and those really hit me. The massive carbon heel guard on the RH side and the minimalistic design along with a subtle black anodization looks absolutely epic. Mind you, one must have a decent exhaust behind that heel guard. A stock pipe looks stupid with it.

Since I only ride on the street and am used to the "normal" shift pattern the genuine RS rearsets wouldn't have been any good for me. Luckily my friend @djcalix91 had RS replica rearsets by RCM for sale and they use a normal shift pedal. They are a nice and sturdy piece of kit and are made by the same manufacturer who made the genuine Corse parts.



The pic is poor and the bigger heel guard isn't bolted on, but they are very nice. I wasn't able to use the rear brake pedal due to clearance issues with my exhaust but used the original pedal instead. Later I swapped the pedal for a different type which uses the stock master cylinder location (instead of being behind the heel guard) which I might fit later.



Around that time I was browsing eBay one night and came across a new auction for a pair of "999S Marchesinis". I instantly saw the yellow Forged Marchesini stickers and the thin spokes on the wheels. The seller had no idea they were forged wheels and because of some paint damage they were priced very low. I bought them about two minutes after the ad went online.



There was some paint flaking on the front wheel but the rear was pretty much perfect. I had them both repainted and put some decals on them, and they turned out like new. Fitted later with new Pirelli Diablo Rosso II's, RS front rotors with titanium bolts and Supersprox Stealth sprocket with titanium nuts.





Bought a pristine 999R full carbon tail from @Profy_X:



This is one of the parts I love the most, it's simply beautiful. And even with the exposed carbon is still very subtle, you won't even know it's there unless you know where to look.
 
#10 · (Edited)
When replacing the old plastic belt covers with carbon ones I was tempted to chuck the horn somewhere dark and nasty. Why oh why would anyone put it there?! (pic from the intterwebz)



The belt covers looked so good after clear coating that I definitely wasn't going to put the horn back there.



After some eyeballing I decided to put the horn under the headlight bucket. There's plenty of space and the wires reach there without problems. Just one hole on the bottom plastic cover, a bit of bending on the horn bracket and voilĂ .





The belt covers look great without the horn.



Found some Gilles chain adjusters right after that.





They are a nice piece of engineering and a massive improvement (looks-wise) compared to the stock ones.
 
#63 ·
When replacing the old plastic belt covers with carbon ones I was tempted to chuck the horn somewhere dark and nasty. Why oh why would anyone put it there?!



The belt covers looked so good after clear coating that I definitely wasn't going to put the horn back there.



After some eyeballing I decided to put the horn under the headlight bucket. There's plenty of space and the wires reach there without problems. Just one hole on the bottom plastic cover, a bit of bending on the horn bracket and voilĂ .





The belt covers look great without the horn.



Found some Gilles chain adjusters right after that.





They are a nice piece of engineering and a massive improvement (looks-wise) compared to the stock ones.
these parts are perfect..
 
#13 · (Edited)
The winter was long and progress on the bike was slow due to limited time at the "garage". I spent a lot of time trying to find an exhaust for the bike. I looked at multiple options once again but since I already got the Termi silencer cover "done" there was no other real option than a 57mm Termi. I liked the look of the older, round-piped system but went for a newer one instead. Found the system in Italy eventually. It was slightly polished so I decided to polish it properly.

Arrival:



Progress:



Silencer:



Finished system can be seen in some later pics (coming up).

I did not get a bracket for spacing out the side fairing with the system so I had to fabricate one myself. Luckily it was pretty simple even with my selection of tools (the Dremel decided to break while making it, oh well) and skills. Turned out fine.



I added some heat resistant tape on the insides of the fairing and wrapped the front header pipe. The pipe was very close to the left side fairing near the kickstand but nothing major.

The steel silencer is very heavy and someone had made a DIY E-approval plate on it. Absolute genius... I still used it for last summer.



Took a while to find an uncracked titanium silencer but eventually got one from Poland for a good price. Needed only some cleaning and it turned out very nice. Going to install it for this summer.



The titanium silencer weighs about 3.6kg, haven't weighed the steel version yet. Probably around 4.5kg...
 
#14 · (Edited)
Titanium. Ahhh... Thanks again @Dennie. There's no going back once you've bought the first ones.









There are around 200 titanium bolts and nuts on the bike at the moment, including brakes, clip-ons, front fork, subframe, engine, fans, mudguards etc. Most of the visible ones are titanium. Took a while to take measures... The engine bolt kit came from Podium Racing. Not an exact match though, but close enough.

Got a DP titanium front sprocket cover and an STM Titanium Wire clutch cover too.





Love the minimalistic look, although this did not fit with the TSS clutch so I saved it for later (new clutch coming up).

Collected a magnesium engine cover kit over a few months but ended up selling them. The vertical cylinder left side cover would have been the only one visible when installed and it would have been eaten by corrosion in no time (unless switching to waterless coolant). Beautiful parts nevertheless.

 
#15 · (Edited)
So the spring was getting closer and the bike was still in pieces. Some more carbon parts were purchased from Carbonworld.de, only the ones that weren't available as a DP part - ignition surround, tank protectors (front and rear), swingarm covers. Later I also got a seat pad cover and rear brake master cylinder cover elsewhere.







Artistic cell phone shot, motivating for further progress:



The bike spent the winter next to an 80's Honda VF (my father's second bike):

 
#17 · (Edited)
When I got the tires installed and wheels back on we decided to move the bike with my father back to my girlfriend's mother's house. The space there is extremely dusty/dirty and the lighting is poor but since it was early summer already I could do most of the wrenching outside.

She was starting to look like a motorbike again.



Soon after this I got the engine running again, only to find out some time later that there was some kind of manufacturing defect on the new OEM Ducati oil filter and it leaked a little no matter what torque it had. The seal was intact and the old seal was not stuck on the engine. A new K&N fixed this issue.

I was happy like a dog with two dicks when I heard her run with the 57mm Termi and open clutch for the first time

Shortly after this the starter solenoid went poop and the rear brake switch as well, but those were easy fixes. After installing a couple of more parts the bike was only missing a chain and side fairings. Installed a new Shorai battery and took a short video of her running:





When it was time to install the chain things looked odd. The master link pin would not come through the other side of the link no matter what we tried with my father. The chain was a 525 pitch and the master link and sprockets were 520... For f*ck's sake.





I bought the complete Supersprox 520 conversion kit from JC Pak Bikes and the chain was in a correct box but wrong type. Just my luck! Mr. Matsuura was extremely helpful with the issue and made Supersprox send me a replacement chain for free. Got to keep the old one too.

Soon the chain was installed and the bike was ready to rock on the 3rd of July 2015.





Rode her home that evening and I was completely extatic. I never knew one could be so thrilled on a motorcycle. My previous ride was a 600cc CBR years earlier. Over the next few days it was mostly raining so it took a while to get back on the road.
 
#26 ·
Absolutely beautiful all the way!! No expense spared.
 
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#27 · (Edited)
But the story continues. As you all probably know, a bike is never finished and mine is not an exception to this.

For this winter I had nothing too special planned.

The titanium silencer was displayed earlier already. The rear brake looked a bit boring so I purchased a full floating Braketech Axis rear rotor from @COP TZR.



Recently I purchased a Brembo P2 34 billet rear caliper and an underslung bracket but wasn't too happy with the bracket, it tilts the caliper too much compared to the swingarm. Ended up selling it and will probably design my own once I have time to finish my CAD drawing and do a few more measurements. The caliper is in the storage for now.





Sold my TSS slipper some time ago and purchased the one I was drooling over when I got the bike - an STM Evoluzione with the upgraded spring setup.



It's not permanently installed yet since I need to check the alignment of one spacer. But it will look something like this:



A 749RS water union for the vertical cylinder is a real eye-catcher with the blue Samco hoses so I needed to get one. Found a new example from Germany.



An Ă–hlins DU510 for a reasonable price? Yes please. High and low speed compression adjustment, hydraulic preload adjuster and an aluminium body. For some reason it has a silver adjustment nut instead of the blue one. Replaced the blue decal with a black one later to match the forks.



 
#28 · (Edited)
The radiator was looking a bit nasty after 10 000km of dirty roads. Replacing the water union gave me a chance to do something about the radiator too.



After some cleaning, straightening a few fins and slightly painting them:



After having some wrist pain on longer runs last summer I tried to find out if it's possible to raise the clip-ons a bit without spending a fortune on a set of adjustable clip-ons and relcacting master cylinder reservois. The beautiful Speedymoto top triple allows raising the clip-ons for about 12mm and also adjusting the angle. Originally wanted a black version but could not find one used so I bought a BNIB titanium colored one from eBay.



It came with a steering lock stop piece for 1x98 although it was advertised for 999, but luckily @moto provided me with the correct part. Thanks!

Installed with a MotoReva steering stem nut with RAM mount:



The original seat is very slippery even with leather pants so I wanted to try the DP neoprene seat. Bought a used one off eBay with minor damage.



A pic taken right before Christmas, new rear shock installed:

 
#30 ·
Nice bike. I love my 999S.

By the way the carbon vent covers were super easy to find... Lockhart Phillips has a bunch of well-priced carbon parts for the 999.

Lockhart Phillips USA : Aftermarket Sport Bike Parts

I also have the magnesium headlight cover, same rotors and a forged wheel only in front tho... (came like that from he previous owner.

One small comment on the clutch cover: in case the worse thing happens, a carbon cover won't protect your clutch. I had one but swapped it for something a little more robust.

Anyway, congrats, enjoy!
 
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#35 ·
Nice bike. I love my 999S.

By the way the carbon vent covers were super easy to find... Lockhart Phillips has a bunch of well-priced carbon parts for the 999.

Lockhart Phillips USA : Aftermarket Sport Bike Parts
Thanks :)

I was looking for original DP parts only. Other manufacturers' parts are easy to find indeed.

A thing of beauty sir........awesome job.
Thank you :)

So dare we ask the financial outlay so far?
Please don't.

:D

This is one sick build!

I bet when it is all finished, it's so nice that you'll put it away in your living room and start over with some other bike/project "to ride"..
ps. I remember seeing that same carbon-996 somewhere too.
Thanks, but I need to ride this one or swap it for an R ;)

I've been dreaming of starting an RS replica build but haven't exactly got the money yet...
 
#36 · (Edited)
The story continues...

I've always loved the carbon fairings on a 999R. They are so nicely painted with the exposed carbon. I've been drooling over a set for quite some time now and a couple of weeks ago finally located a set of '04 749R carbon fairings. According to the seller there were "no scratches" and everything was like new. The deal also included a tank and Monoposto tail kit.

When I finally got the parts the carbon fairings weren't exatcly what they were supposed to be... Small scratches everywhere and paint missing in a couple of spots. The sound dampening materials on the insides were completely ruined - they well off in pieces and were partially moldy. The tank has minor surface rust on the inside but at least the the tail is perfect.

I'm still trying to get a partial refund from Paypal, but in either case I need to have the fairings fixed. Most likely I'll have them repainted with 999S texts, imitating the R style. I would have wanted a newer model front fairing but I'll probably get used to the old one. Need to paint the vent meshes black, don't like the silver ones.



Photo taken far enough to hide the scratches :D

There's a DP windshield (without parking light) coming from Sweden since the newer model has different bolt spacing so the old DP windshield won't fit.

How about a mystery photo? Anyone recognize this piece of art? ;)

 
#39 ·
I can't say other than titanium , i would be very interested in seeing your dyno tune chart once you decide on a exhaust . Ive held back on changing from the kit . i ride on the street and don't want to compromise any midrange power . When the bike was tuned last spring Lofgren ran the Leo Vince TI. slip on power was very steady no bumps . i was very happy to see his results being i wanted to not look at the butt ugly Termi muffler it looks like a guppy .
 
#40 · (Edited)
I don't think I'll have the bike dynoed. I don't do track days and have no interested in crazy power. As long as the bike runs fine it's good enough for me. I didn't come across any issues last summer with the 57mm Termi + ECU (for a slip-on) + Pipercross filters + large air runners. It pulls good and doesn't act funny.

In my books Termignoni is the only exhaust that looks nice with the street setup (OEM tail, tail light and license plate bracket). All other silencers aren't designed with a tail light in mind. Plus it looks pretty balanced compared to the front part of the bike.

I bought a LeoVince slip-on about a year ago but ended up selling it since I did not like the look of the tail light bracket setup.



I really like the Termi but recently got the exhaust I've been looking for. Won't be installing it until next winter though along with some other bits.
 
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