[pjbraybrook]

Hi forum, this is my first ever post on a forum (impressive for a 27 year old, no!) so please ignore any faux pas I make or silly mistakes, I will learn!

OK so I am in need of help for building a Sport Classic Biposto Café racer. I have always ridden sports bikes (last being an 08 RSV R1000) but have always been intrigued by the beauty behind ‘retro styled’ bikes. Ok enough waffle here is my plan, what I need to know if whether it is feasible to do it and any advice you have.

1) Take SC Biposto in Red
2) Change wheels to the Y type Marchenisi 10 spokes in gold from a Ducati 999/749
3) Add a belly pan (long style) in colour matched red
4) Replace the forks for Ohlins
5) Replace the Brakes to radially mounted Brembos
6) Replace the twin shocks with Hagon twin shocks
7) Fit the black Termigoni exhausts.
8) Change the levers to black Harris or ASV style adjustable

Ok so being 27 and not a millionaire I am trying to keep costs to a minimum and this is my plan and where your expertise really comes in. I was thinking of the following parts

2) the wheels would be from a 749 so cheaper but grey. Have them powder coated in soft gold colour similar to 999r wheels

4) Use forks from an Aprilia RSV R (2004+) as they are 43mm USD adjustable Ohlins and fantastic forks, many of them around and cheap

5) Use the same brakes as the RSV R as they fit the fork bottoms and are radially mounted Bremobos

Do you know if it would be possible to do all of the above, particularly the forks/brakes/wheels mod?

Have you heard of it being done before?

Any pictures floating around?

Advice greatly greatly appreciated as this will be my first project bike and I really want it to be a bike I can be proud of.
Thanks
Paul

 

[gas996]

Hi fellow Brit,
I have just fitted 999s wheels to my SC1000- See "wheel options- summary" on page 2. Not sure about using rsv parts it may cause problems fitting the 749 wheels. I know someone on here has fitted 999 ohlins forks and the wheels 999 wheels. Just fitting the wheels turned out to be quite expensive in itself, you will need a spacer kit, 749/999 caliper mount and caliper for the rear and the front is more or less a straight swap. Mine cost about £650, sourcing all the parts bar the spacers from ebay. The spacers came from performanceparts.de.
Pretty much all the info you need is on this forum.

 

[poolagent]

6) Replace the twin shocks with Hagon twin shocks

The Hagons are no improvement… take Ohlins or stay with the stock ones

 

[Nick1000]

Aprilia fork sizes

Hi,
it's not that the forks are 43mm internally that you have to consider it's the outer tube sizes -

ours are 50mm at the top yoke and 54mm at the bottom yoke -

I can't remember the top yoke size of the RSV but the bottom is definitely 56mm so they won't fit

The only one's that fit without any hassle and are a decent upgrade ie fully adjustable are s4r and st4s but the st4s' are 20mm longer so to sustain the same ride height they will poke through the top yoke

superbike forks will fit of the top yoke is drilled out to 53mm and the bottom yoke is shimmed in to 53mm

you can of course go to motowheels.com across the pond they make yokes and ask for some specials
Speedymoto - speak to christian over there in seattle - he will tell you you need a to make up a bracket to site the clocks

Get yourself a set of ohlins specifically for our bikes - I was recently quoted £1200 at pro twins

So it's an interesting and complex dilemma you have set yourself - what do I do. Search this and other forums for advice and trust it's correct and plough on but ending up with something that unique to you and take pride in your creation.
OR
Buy something else with good suspension/wheels - like a monster or speed/street triple R
OR
Splash out on a Paul Smart change the wheels, front calipers stick a set of Zards on and hey presto

God I wish I'd listened to my own advice, looking in the garage with the forks off wondering whether to get ohlins, sbk with a new yoke set, or s4r forks????

Regards Nick1000 - also in Blighty

 

[pjbraybrook]

hmmm

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated
ok so what you're saying is that the top yoke is too small and bottom yoke too big!
What if I used the bottom yoke from an RSV R and drilled the standard top yoke to fit, is that a solution? Or just lift the entire front end from an RSV yokes, brakes and forks?
As for the 3 options it will only be number 1 for me! Don't like the Paul S and owned a Daytona 675 before the RSV R so had enough of standard bikes with great suspension! Really can’t afford £1200 for the Ohlins thinking more around £600 for a set of RSV forks. Would it be expensive to get a new yoke set?

 

[giogolf]

Welcome to the forum PJ.

I really have no advice for you, but rather more questions. You said you are drawn to the Retro Cafe racer styling/look, right? But to me, it seems as though you are creating a track monster with your mod list. Nothing wrong with that, but with those rims and blinged out gold parts are not very cafe. When I think cafe, I see Triumph Thruxton, BSA, Norton, or the straight up Sport Classic 1000S.

I think if you want to keep the retro/cafe look you should look into Alpina Spoke wheels.

Now I am not against what your doing at all, I think it will be fantastic and make a world of difference, but its just not retro anymore

 

[pjbraybrook]

True

Hi

Thanks for the welcome! It's tru what you say and whilst I was drawn to the cafe racer I want a modern 'nod' to the past rather than trying to replicate the past exactly. For me it ha to handle well and have decent suspension (hence the wheels and forks mods) but the overall lines must remain a cafe racer line. Horizontal top, clip-ons etc. As for the wheels, I defintiely do not want spokes (too heavy for unsprung weight) and waaaay too hard to keep clean but I think the 'gold' wheels may be a bad description. I do not want bling rather a soft or more matt gold similar to 916 but lighter.

....Or I coudl just go all out and create the bling cafe racer, call it the 'bistro burner' lot's of gold and shiny bits, maybe bluetooth built in and Ipod holder?

 

[giogolf]

Either way it will look great, but please post pictures as you do the mods. I think I speak for everyone when I say we love seeing pictures of our bikes..

 

[DADDA]

a far cheaper alternative to the radial calipers, which require complete fork replacement, is to upgrade to the 4 pot brembo calipers. These are the calipers from, I think, the 996 series. They are a bolt on, though you may also want to change the brake lines as they mount differently on the 4 pots.

you might also want to investigate the Carrozzeria rims. They do a package which includes the 4 pot calipers. There's heaps of posts on this forum about them.
Of course, it depends on your budget and your objective.

have fun with it.

 

[Nick1000]

Whole world of hurt

If you want to change out the yokes for RSV one's you would have to ensure that the rake/trail are within the design parameters of our bikes - rake 26 degrees (I think) trail 27mm to 30mm, If you start upsetting the steering and suspension geometry you could have allsorts of problems - a prime example of messed up geometry would be the Aprilia V4 World Superbike that keeps falling over because the engineers have attempted to get the bikes to turn sharply but instead they simply lose balance and fall over at high and low speed - see wsbk yesterday for a prime example.

Our yokes are too small top and bottom and I'm not sure they can be taken out to 56mm plus the distance between the centres of our forks is 215mm (at the top) so our axle/spindle is for that fit, if you fit 749/999 wheels, their yoke centres are 205mm hence the need for expensive spacers from performance parts in Germany 175Euros.

Muschi also has engineering experience so he might have some further thoughts on this.

New yokes are expensive but motowheels.com have some on offer $800 I think.

I hope this helps
My brain hurts
Regards Nick

 

[Nick1000]

By the way

I forgot don't use Hagons on our bikes - they're more suited to Triumph twins - a lot of people opt for YSS or Ohlins. The former cheaper and quite good the latter well what can you say? Quality finish and outstanding performance - the proof of the pudding is that you NEVER hear of Paul Smart owners moaning about their suspension like the rest of us

Regards Nick - again
my brain hurts more and my wife wants me off of here

 

[lechef]

pic

This is what my bike looks lite at the moment.

999r forks with bst carbon wheels etc... one kick ass engine is being worked on aswell.

 

[Nick1000]

Lechef tell me all

I am looking hard at your yokes and forks, tell me about the fit, how did it go, what parts did you buy etc etc.

I am all ears and like very much what done you've so far.

Regards Nick
PS In fact I need to know so much that I'm going to pm you

 

[pjbraybrook]

That looks perfect and is exactly what I need. How much wre the 999r forks if you don't mind me asking and where from?
That is so nice

 

[lechef]

Svecia

Im from sweden.

The forks ran me about 900euro but that was a bargin from a friend in the swedish ducati club.
But on ebay you can buy em kinda cheap.

Best of all is the engine, post of that will be up as soon as the linings and the one off teflon coated pistons show up. 1123cc is what im gonna end up with.

 

[Nick1000]

Short update re: Aprilia forks

The Aprilia top yoke is 51mm and lower 56mm not the same as ohlins fitted to Ducatis, Ducati fitted 53mm upper 56mm lower earlier ones has 65mm axial Brembos as did Ducatis, later had 100mm Brembo radials that look to me like the cheaper gold line one's. You will need a yoke set from a 999 or 749 to make the wheels (Marchesini) fit. The trail on these guys 36 degrees but our good friend Lechef from sweden informs me that this eliminates the need for any steering dampers due to a more stable ride if you wish to return to SC trail then aftermarket it is.

Regards Nick

 

[Muschi]

Have you heard of it being done before?
Any pictures floating around?

this bike is on sale on the uk autosearch web-side,
or bike trader, can't remember, it is priced quite
reasonable at something around 8200 pds.,
i'd take that at anytime, as much more money
has been thrown into it.

here are the pictures:

 

[Muschi]

The trail on these guys 36 degrees but our good friend Lechef from sweden informs me that this eliminates the need for any steering dampers due to a more stable ride if you wish to return to SC trail then aftermarket it is.

Trail is measured in mm, not in degrees.
Superbike yokes have got a bigger off-set, that
results in a shorter trail, that definetly calls for
a steering damper.

:think:

 

[Nick1000]

Correct

Muschi you are correct, thanks, as I said my brain was hurting by then and her indoors was in my ear telling me to off that thing!

Italsport are selling that bike on bike trader and through their Ducatidirect website


Regards Nick

 

[bpracer]

2) the wheels would be from a 749 so cheaper but grey. Have them powder coated in soft gold colour similar to 999r wheels

As I am in the middle of this wheel conversion, my advice would be to get some wheels made for a Sport Classic. ....unless you can get the 749/999 wheels for VERY little money.

In order to convert to 749/999 wheels:
- different front and rear rotors (5 bolt, not 6)
- rear 749/999 brake bracket/caliper
- special rear wheel spacers
- the speedo will not read correctly without a electronic speedo healer

Of course if you put other motorbike's front forks on it you may need a different front axle or spacer.

Then again, making something work is half the fun.