Nice work. I'm looking forward to my boy being old enough to tool around with me.

 

in a few short years you will be able to pass down your skills to your little one also. congratulations on the new kiddo (as long as I have read your tad properly that is)

 

Crating the motor

So Getting this motor ready to ship was something I wanted to make sure was solid and not going to have any issues with while being jolted over its journey.

I started off with a shipping crate, then decided to added some padding to the bottom to catch any fluids as it moved along its journey.

Working in the construction industry, I had a good idea how to make this solid.
I used tie downs to keep the motor in place using metal ties over the hooks for the tie downs (I can provide pics if needed) this made sure it was not going to come loose while in transit.

I read somewhere else putting handles on the outside for easy moving was a good idea... but let me tell you this puppy was no light beast. weighing in at 240lbs it was a two person deal when moving.

 

MBP inspection on my motor

When I 1st spoke with Guy he asked for me not to tell him the issues I was having with my Ducati only to share with him the year and model of my mistress (thats what my wife calls my bike). After telling Guy this information he began to tell me the issue I was having (like he was reading my mind)...
It was crazy I must admit

This was the 1st picture Guy Martin sent me of my pistons.

Thats my old stock piston on the left.. A little Carbon eh? It comes down to zero respect for the break in period of the motor from the beginning. Which I tell tell you, if your considering to purchase a Ducati I would be worried about low miles more than high in my opinion. but thats only cause I have had a sour taste.

the one on the right is my new Hi-comp piston ( oh shinny

 

The Motor

So as the storey continues... I decide that if i was going to rebuild my motor I want to do it once and be done.. This bike is also not going to be a track bike, strictly for local roads and canyons and long rides.

I went for a lightened and balanced crank

Lighten the flywheel

Hi-comp pistons

MBP collets and retainers

 

Guy also told me the bearings on the motor are a usual cause of failure so we replaced all those as well.....

 

Tough pill to swallow, but it looks like you’re finding a silver lining in the whole deal.

PM sent. Would love to chat about your 10K service experience as I’m due for it too.

Cheers
FJ

 

Guy Martin

Hello Finisher

You can put your mind at ease. Guy Martin is great guy and knows what he is doing. He is the only one who services my bikes. He did the engine and head work on my 748 and i tell you it was a different bike when i go it back. Fantastic work. My 04 749 s is going in at the end of the month for 20 000km service. I have nothing but good things to say about Guy. He sorted out my stalling issues i had with the 749. I will never have anyone else play in my bike period. Also because he is next door almost. Hope you will enjoy your bike soon.

Cheers and ride safe.

Richard

 

Hello Finisher

You can put your mind at ease. Guy Martin is great guy and knows what he is doing. He is the only one who services my bikes. He did the engine and head work on my 748 and i tell you it was a different bike when i go it back. Fantastic work. My 04 749 s is going in at the end of the month for 20 000km service. I have nothing but good things to say about Guy. He sorted out my stalling issues i had with the 749. I will never have anyone else play in my bike period. Also because he is next door almost. Hope you will enjoy your bike soon.

Cheers and ride safe.

Richard

Guy has been a real treat to work with, id send him another motor in a heart beat!! I am really excited to get this build in order and back on the road. He sure knows his stuff and your super lucky to live so close to Guy, cause if I did I would take my bike there for my service too.

 

why are some of the parts painted maroon?
That looks a bit ******* to me.

 

Call me ******* then. I wanted it unique to me. likely its also the way the photo came out, cause im pretty confident my surfex slipper clutch is not maroon but i will be able to tell you that whne i see it

 

Yes! Subscribed! Keep it coming!

Sent from Motorcycle.com App

 

subscribed

 

A short story

A funny story from last year while ridding with a friend on a new Panigale. We stop for coffee and a older gentleman comes out of the shop see's our bikes, he cant help but talk about the magnificent Italian design and craftsmanship. We both had to ask which one he thought was newer.... He picked my 999
The 999 has always been spoken of as being ahead of its time, which I completely agree with. The 999 is also a "love or hate bike" and of corse I am very partial to my Ducati, but still love the design of the Panigale (no knocking coming from this guy)....

 

Some of the other major motor work I had Guy do involved testarossa heads or porting and polishing as I've been told.

:think: Im not 100% sure what photos go with this but I have a few in mind.

 

Surfelx Slipper

I had been on the fence about getting a slipper clutch as I do not ride that hard, however I have had my back wheel lock up on me 3 or 4 times and since we do get rain and fog I figured I had to get my hand on a Surflex Slipper clutch.
Obviously the stars alined because Motowheels listed the exact clutch I wanted mounted on a display bike but never used and I saved big (besides my old clutch basket and plates had half a season left and needed a change anyhow) I don't know if the wife would believe that but Im sticking with that story

 

--This would be a great time to go with a BCM overbore kit, they are still available ($700) and w/o a doubt the best upgrade you can make to your 999 bar none. Granted it's only 40cc, but the Pistal HC pistons that come in the kit raise the compression to 13.5:1. I also added S spec cams and had some porting and valve work done.
--Crank balancing is money well spent. Last year my left main bearing failed, had all new bearings replaced through out along with getting the crank race spec balanced. I didn't get the crank lightened, doing that would require the idle rpm to be raised a bit. The dealer said unless it's a track only to leave it stock.
-- IMO the slipper is a waste of cash for a street bike. (use this $$$ for the overbore kit)It is a complete maintenance package meaning w/ the exception of the pressure plate, everything else in time will need to be replaced. Stick with a standard clutch.
-- I had lightweight cam belt pulleys, flywheel installed, great upgrades.
I wouldn't pass up the overbore kit (at this point in the rebuild)if you can swing it money wise.

 

I spoke with Guy about the overbor in the beginning, he said in the long run it would not add longevity and weaken the motor so sticking with the standard size was my final decisons and to be honest I was not looking for more power, it just became part of the build. I was also told that lightening the crank and flywheel would reduce inertia on the motor and make things last longer. I heard lots of mixed reviews on the slipper clutch and decided on Surflex for the super low Maintenance. I'm pretty sure it will get used as time progresses and I get comfy
As I was making my decision about what to do with my motori believe I read a bunch of your posts.

 

When rebuilding youre looking for what? yes its up to the beholder.
You seem to get along so no issues there

On the 999 the cylinders and cylinder heads are strong enough to take a bigger bore, however youll get the same power from stock bore, albeight another direction, its the combo of stuff that matters, not the numbers.

On 996 you dont want to bore as heads are too weak to take it, they WILL leak combustion gases into the water mantle, if they dont you just didnt push the envelope and then again why did you bore it?

Ducati eventually learned and the 1198 has emensly thick cylinder walls, like 4mm, so this one can be bored to 109 and still have margin.
Trouble here is finding good piston materials over 106mm.

 

After my BMW Demo ride a few years ago...and knowing w/o a doubt that my 999 handled tons better, plus my knees fit to tight to the tank...gheez' I felt like I was straddling a flocking hippo on the BMW...I just had to have a bit more HP...you can "almost" never have enough HP right? I was kind of shocked that the combo of S spec cams, HC Pistals and 40cc would add so much additional performance. The addition of the Termi 54mm full exhaust increased the performance even more....you were right Tom, I wouldn't have thought a full exhaust would have made such a marked performance improvement. It didn't w/ my stock bores, but it surely did with the kit.
That said as I mentioned, I really don't think I'm even sniffing 150 RWHP...in fact I would be thrilled if it broke 140RWHP with all I've done. That's not enough to stress the engine of a street ridden 999.
The OP would be beyond satisfied with what he's doing....it's a shame he's not spending another $150 for the cylinder rebore/nikasil. IIRC thats what Millenium Technologies quoted me.
The 999 testastretta is a solid mill....

 

I must admite I was curious as to doing the bore, but with kids and all i just thought more was less. I am slightly nervious at the power she will have once i get it back, it was torqie already and hads lots of power.. now with a full system 54mm and everything else things shoudl be crazy to say the least.
I went way over budget on the build buying ohlins this and that...

my next concern is the sprocekt and chain.. my current setup is 39/14 525 chain im wondering if i should change the front to a 15... ah so many decisions to work out i should be knee deep into it next week which I will also share the install.

 

After Speaking with Guy, he suggested we up the front sprocket to 15, he was kind enough to handle that for me.

on another good note the motor arrives tomorrow and i can start the install and rewiring

 

Hi,

Great thread!

I look forward to hearing your impressions of the engine after your first test ride :yeah:

 

Thanks man. I am super excited to say the least.
I will be posting the full install and 1st startup. Thanks for following.

 

Ready to install the motor... however shipment has been delayed 1 day due to closed roads and bad weather

But it did give me a chance to get the tables setup, parts in order and clean the last bits of grease off some misc parts.

 

Would love to see your progress but for some reason all of your pictures aren't showing up for me. All I see are ?'s.

Any way to fix them?

Cheers,

Tmnstr


Sent from my Motorcycle iPhone app

 

weird not sure why you cant see the pics they are hosted through my website so they are not lost and show up on my end... what are you trying to view them on iphone...android....?

 

iPhone...strangeness.

I'll try looking at your thread on my laptop.

Can't wait to see the MBP motor

Cheers,

Tmnstr


Sent from my Motorcycle iPhone app

 

Motor has arrived :-0

Well the day finally arrived and I got my hands on my the motor now to install it

The 1st stop was to the purolator hub to grab it and avoid a residential delivery charge and also who knows when it would have arrived.

This 1st pick is just as it was coming off my truck

Now I gotta say I thought I had built a wicked crate when the motor was shipped to MBP, but damn when this baby arrived all bundled up in plastic with bolts going through both sides of the crate I was impressed. Guy can build solid crates just like his motors.

These are some of the screws must have been 40 or so in total

Even though we had a total of 3 people to put the motor in it just made a great deal of sense to drop off the swing arm and rear shock.. it was super easy doing it this way no struggling to put the motor up into the frame we brought the frame down to the motor

Now the 54mm exhaust was a major pain in the ass!!! This part took 1.5 hrs with 2 of us working on it she is tight and all good to go now.

Well that its for photos for tonight I am heading into the garage to start the wiring... the family is away so daddy shall play

 

Nice work.
You'll be out breaking in that engine in no time.

 

She lives !!!

Well after about 14 hrs of work and take apart and work then
I finally was able to take this video of the 1st start up...

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ps8vTJaqEwM?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Ducati 999 - YouTube