Brake lines.

Twin brake line set up for the front brake callipers. Venhill make them so as you tighten the hoses they don't twist.

 

I had a bespoke clutch hose made, to reach from the, Triumph, high bars. This evens up the colour distribution between the brakes, front (left and right) and the choke/ throttle running down the right side of the bike.









 After running the lines through between the headstock and bottom yoke I decided to run the lines on the outside of the forks. (Pictures of the change to follow)

I bought some carbon exhausts from eBay UK and mocked them up on the bike. I will look to shorten them by 30cm, roughly 1/3 off the length, and tuck them within the rear pods so they exit at about the same height as the rear light. I have visited Dave over at http://www.anchor-motorcycles.co.uk/index.php who is the man from DASH Exhausts, and will see if he can make my link pipes without killing the power, although this is mainly about the look.

eBay Germany, although Switzerland was where it came from, was the source for the Rizoma open clutch cover which allows me to sit and watch the clutch spinning, and also lets the rattle out.

I talked to a lovely lady over at http://www.venhill.co.uk/ , for new clutch and racing front brake lines, plus extended choke and throttle cables, all in red.

Top yoke

 Lall Engineering have done a good job drilling and machining the top yoke, as asked. I had them mill into the top yoke, down to the level that it had been carved, so that the large washer (sourced with the Triumph Street Triple bars, thanks ebay uk) sit with 3/4's of the washer touching the raised yoke and therefore distribute the pressures put into the bars on to the yoke, rather than having the bar riser bolts taking all the pressure, and sheer forces. I bought Triumph Street Triple risers as they only have one bolt needed to go through the yoke. This reduced the footprint needed and made it possible to have risers and street bars.


I was looking to reinforce the underside of the bars due the the yoke being, in my eyes, thin on metal. However after looking at the yoke on my Ducati Monster it turns out that they are all made at the same thickness of aluminium. 


Once fitted and tightened with the 28mm handle bars bolted in place the structure becomes ridged and all is good :)

Handle bar modification

I have refitted the lower half of the fairing which gives the bike a mean stance.

Now I need to remove the clipons, remove the top yoke and drop the forks through the lower yoke.

Clipons removed.

But the top nut is a little harder. I can get a tool from ebay, which is in the US of A, and would get hit by import taxes on a £6 tool.

I will make my own.

Take two 4mm drill bits a jubilee clip and an adjustable spanner, put the two drill bits in the holes of the steering stem top nut, tighten the jubilee clip so the drill bits are parallel and then use the spanner to loosen the top nut.

By dropping the forks it will make the distance between the wheel centres (wheelbase) slightly longer, and hopefully stop the bike from being twitchy due the the change in the centre of gravity when the rider (me) is sat up rather than being cantered over the fuel tank. I am hoping that by fitting wider handle bars it will allow the bike to fall into the corners as I counter steer. Push the left handle bard forward, the bike wants to turn right but in fact the shift in balance turns you left. With the clipons you are only a foot from the fulcrum, the bolt that attaches the forks to the frame about which you steer, but with the wide bars this distance is further and therefore you should need less effort to steer the bike.

Top yoke removed and being taken to Lall Precision Engineering Ltd in Kempston (Bedford) for milling and drilling.

Moving on

With the bike stripped of its fairing and headlight I had to buy in a bracket for the speed triple headlights. Thanks to ebay.de (Germany) and Craigy B, my foreign financier (rather than getting hit with a transaction bill from the bank of £25), who buys the items and then I send him the cash, I was able to get the headlight mounts.
Once they were back in Blighty it turns out that the headstock of a speed triple and the one fitted to my Duke, are not the same and have different spacings and sizes of bolts.



For this I needed a cunning plan. I went to see the helpful chaps in http://www.inwoodmodels.co.uk/ who sold me some resin board and glue, which I will use to make up the gap between the Triumph headlight mount and the mounting points on the headstock (see left hand photo).






Leaving the speedo and tacho attached to the drive from the from wheel, I let the lay on the floor as I admired this striking looking bike, with its two headlights and clipon handlebars.

Stripped ready for action

Fairing, bracket, front indicators, mirrors and lights removed.
Once I removed the fairing I found an adjustable rear shock is fitted. I have also found a 19mm rubber tube that comes from the crankcase, on the right hand side, up under the seat to two chambers, for removing any oil vapour, and then back up the left hand side of the bike to the air box. This will have to go as I would like the bike to have clean lines and I also want to hide the wiring.

Bought a pair of triumph street triple headlights (on the left of the picture).
Now I need to get a mount, from a triumph, and make it match the mounts on the headstock of the Duke.


I will wait to sell all the plastics until I have converted the bike.

In the beginning.

I started out with a Ducati 900 sport, it doesn't have the Marchesini 5 spoke wheels or upgraded suspension like the ss, which is the 2002 model but found in a desert somewhere, with kpm clocks, in 2009.


Prelude.
After pacing up and down for a couple of weeks, contemplating whether I should spend £4500 on a brand new Ducati 900, Chris (a mate at work) told me to go and buy the bloody thing, he had obviously had enough of me thinking about it an not doing something.
So off up north, on a bus, I went and after a quick drive in the taxi of Phil and Jill we picked up my new steed.
When I got there, like a child at Christmas, I took some photo's paid the cash and with the warning of "don't ride in the wet on new tyres", rode out of the bike shop. Soon after the fuel light came on :( so I stopped and filled her up. When I got back to my bike it had already started raining. 
While riding down the M6 towards Birmingham the black clouds loomed and I was looking for a way out. On spotting Buxton, a place I am sure I had been before (but couldn't remember) or was it water I had drank, I was sure this would be a good short cut.
Don't do it, if you are ever tempted, as in the wet on new tyres these are not the roads you want to ride a new bike home on, no matter how good it is for your glutes.
Needless to say I got her home but tired and weary I was.

I had bought this model as the Ducati 600 Monster Dark didn't have the power I wanted, where as the 900ie had a further 30 bhp and more torque than you could shake a stick at.