More Waiting

I've ordered the stuff I need to properly complete the exhaust system. Perforated tubing, as well as black header wrap, stainless steel zip ties, and pipe wrap paint are all on the way here. Not sure if I'll be able to do much prior to Kate and I leaving for the UK. I did spray the headers with hi-temp paint, and they have been hanging in the garage for a week. Should be plenty cured by the time the other stuff comes in. I also snagged a second set of exhaust cans, already shortened, from someone on the www.ducati.ms forum. If you haven't checked out that site, you should take a peek.

Hiccup

Got the headers back from Cycleboyz and painted. Should work well, still wondering if I shouldn't wrap them in header wrap. They are actually stainless steel, but painted black... my question is, why go to the trouble of making an exhaust system in stainless, and then go and paint it? Either way, the tig welds look great, they patched the hole from the crossover pipe, and everything fits.
Since I was going to make a set of shorties anyway, in the interim, I hacked about 5" off the end of each of the exhaust stacks. While they looked 100 times better, what resulted was a straight-through type set-up, so when I fired up the bike, it was obscenely loud. Good news is, the bike still runs after a year dormant. Bad news is, the exhausts still need more work. This will involved some perforated tubes and nutserts (on order), and another trip to Cycleboys to tig weld the assembly back together again. The resulting cans will also be much lighter, and should have a more "rorty" exhaust note.
Wilson came over yesterday, and we chatted and I was able to weld a tab back on his TZ250 expansion chamber. His indication is that Gimli as a track is on the mend -- the turn 8-9 combo is being modified properly, and might even end up as a safer turn. I can't forsee me making it to the track before September this year... the trip in July and the resulting financial crunch will put a damper on my trackday excursions. It would be a good opportunity to "test" the bike before putting it on the street. I should probably sit down and put together chapter 3 of the Ducati build chronicles for Desmotimes -- see www.Docc.ca for a great website, forum, and club. If you are reading this, you should join!
Switched around some banjo bolts yesterday as well, and now have all the hydraulics bled and sorted -- the clutch, front and rear brake systems are all operational and ready to go. Another 20 zip ties, and all of the electronics and wiring is out of the way, including the front wheel speed sensor for the speedo. Just the pipes and a place to put the plate, and it should be able to hit the road!

Plugging away

Things are proceeding at a decent pace. Got the lower exhaust hanger built and painted, and dropped off the pipes at Cycleboyz to get properly welded. The headers were aluminized stuff, so my oxy kit won't weld it properly. The guys at the shop will either tig or mig it, depending on what they think. Don't care a whole lot either way, to be honest.

Got the bodywork back on -- looks great, except for... BUBBLES IN THE TANK PAINT!! Dammit!!! This will be a real bugger to fix right, and while the machine is certainly rideable, the tank may need to be bead blasted down to bare metal, re-prepped, and re-painted properly. Getting rid of the auto-air is nasty as well... I will leave it for now, but it certainly is disappointing. There are a few of them...

Also in the process of shortening the shotgun pipes. A real PITA, but I got one sectioned. Despite the fact that the exhausts weight about 20 lbs each, they are made of aluminum (at least the outer sleeves are. The guts are steel, and the rediculous pipe maze to quash sound and kill some ponies in the meantime. And again, something I cannot do due to the pipes being alloy. Will shorten the other tommorow, after I fought with the first one.

Good Help...

... is sometimes tough to find, so when Dad and Mom showed up for a visit, I stole Pop away for some quality time in the garage. There was lots that needed to be done... wheels mounted, swingarm mounted, exhaust routed, brakes hooked up, etc. etc.

1. Dad was the parts courier again this time, and brought in the rear hubcentric and tires to be mounted. When we removed the rear hub from the old swingarm, we found that most of the mounting bolts and the rear brake stay pin could be used on the MH swingarm. As well, the hub bearings looked OK, but were due for a clean and re-grease. While this was taking place, the rest of the rear axle of the bike was put together. When the hub bearings were done, the spacers went onto the swingarm axle, and the rear swingarm was attached to the engine case. Next went the tires onto the wheels, the rear rim onto to the rear axle, the shock, and then the front wheel was mounted. Finally the Duc got back onto its "feet".

2. While this was going on, Dad and I started to dream up a way to get the PS1000 headers and exhaust cans to work. I incorrectly thought they would be a bolt on, but I couldn't be farther from the truth. The best compromise we could come up with was a design with two separate pipes, no crossover, exiting out the right hand side of the bike. You can see in the first pic the rear header cut and tack-welded to clear the rear shock.

3. It took a rediculous amount of time, but over the course of 2 days we got the two pipes to the state you see here. You can see the steel upper mount (which I hope doubles as a mount for the rear licence plate, and the temporary alloy mount which is attached to the footpeg brace. It was very tedious to get the pipes symmetrical in terms of their angle, and roughly close to their orientation towards the rear of the bike.

4. The rear upper exhaust hanger is pictured below -- it is long to allow some flex in the design -- too short would have been too stout, and vibration may lead to cracking rather than flexing.

I don't know a lot about exhaust tuning -- a motoGP tech book I bought shows pictures of how the same engine from Honda, Ducati, Yamaha, etc. all had different exhausts on the bike depending on the characteristics the engineers wanted from it. Common sense to me and Dad suggested we try to get each header pipe the same length as the other, due to the lack of the crossover pipe. Stock, the front header was 9" longer than the rear. When I was done, the difference was only 4". How will it run? I have no idea. Will it make more or less horsepower? Only a dyno could tell. As this isn't a racer, I don't care a whole lot. Definately a different look but I'm happy with the progress so far. I'm sure I will have to fabricate an exhaust guard for my right boot, and I did see a neat bike with these same exhausts shortened for a stubby look, and likely a growlier sound. Need to finish the lower bracket first.

ReAssembly

For the last time, I think. Frame and swingarm/subframe came back from the powdercoaters. A nice durable finish, but not show-quality. At least if it were pristine, I would be reluctant to take it out on the street or track. It isn't going to peel, that's for sure. Cost me $250, which is a steal, due to the trellis design. A bit fiddly.

One afternoon's work got it to the stage you see here. Note the stack covers, which I hope will provide the same level of filtering as an aftermarket foam filter. I might add some K&N pre-filters as well. The mesh screen installed is pretty fine in terms of filtering. Will likely have to play with the jetting to get it to run OK. Still waiting on some parts for the rear axle (Dad has them) before I put the rear swingarm on. Want to line up the sprockets installed, and that will require some spacer juggling. So no sense doing anything at this point until I have the rear hubcentric to install inside the rear swingarm.

For the 4th time, finding discreet spots for all the wiring is getting somewhat easier. Its hard to believe how much extra footage of wiring is included, but I suppose there was an acre of fibreglass fairing to hid it all behind.

Home-made rearsets appear to be in the right spot peg-wise, but will have to get on the bike and ride it to fully be sure.

More to follow when the rest of the parts come in.

Slow Going

Slow going indeed... not much to report. I am supposed to be going to the powdercoaters tommorow to pick up the frame and swingarm. Hopefully it is ready to go prior to me making the hour-long drive down south. They were sandblasted awhile ago -- hopefully no surface rust has formed, and he remembers the color scheme I wanted and where the powder was to go and NOT go... we'll see.
I actually made a conscious business decision on ebay -- I bought the aformentioned Quat D exhaust for $450 bucks -- new, so less than half price from a retailer. Got it home, posted it on ebay, and advertised it on my usual Ducati stomping grounds with a $675 buy it now price... and got it within 3 hours. A cool $200 profit. Yippee! Yes, you CAN make money on ebay (sometimes). As for the exhaust, I think a sport classic shotgun system fits the style a bit better. Will keep you posted on that.
So the plan is to get the frame and swingarm tommorow, and start reassembly. Mom and Pop are coming for a visit on the long weekend, hauling the final pieces needed to get the bike back on its feet -- rear wheel, street tires, exhaust, etc. Will take lotsa pics of the reassembly as it proceeds. MotoDesmo is supposed to be running with 2 more articles on the build over the next few months.

Powdercoating and exhaust

The trip back from Fort Frances was fruitful -- Kate and I full of Mom's food, a great visit with family, and a car full of parts... not just bike parts, but new tires for the Mini as well. I was able to haul back all of the TTR parts needed to rebuild the engine, plus a pile of Ducati stuff. Still waiting on a swingarm, sprocket, rear wheel, and a potential exhaust. Race tires were also sold locally, and new Pirelli street tires (super corsa III's) were acquired.

The remaining tabs were removed from the frame, and it, the swingarm, and the subframe were sent to Cypress Industries for powdercoating. Will be interesting to give them a try -- I hope the parts turn out OK. The quoted price is reasonable, and the frame will be finished in a proper red -- "Snoopy Red", with the swingarm and subframe going black -- "R" model style. Look forward to how everything turns out. Considering doing the wheels as well, but I'll wait until I see how the other parts turn out.

Lastly, the rearset plates are coming together -- the basic plates have been cut out, with offset spacers to set them out from the frame somewhat. Still need to finish them on the belt sanders at school. 99% of the shape is finished via angle grinder and bandsaw -- lotsa aluminum dust all over the garage!

The aforementioned exhaust was actually a Quat D I got for less than 1/2 price on ebay, new. Will require some work to fit, as the two other guys doing this conversion have run into some exhaust problems. I had some good luck with cycleboys regarding stainless steel (which is what this pipe is made out of), and all I can see needing done is a minor tweaking of the rear header pipe... I think. Have to be patient until I have the parts in front of me...