January 30, 2008
Header Pipe Update
Because I know Jonneke wants to hear the latest.
I swung by Team Synergy on the way home and picked up the exhaust for the 750 Sport. It looks fine; I was a little concerned that the pitted metal be too much revealed, but it came out more like orange-peel than anything else. Considering that one would have to be on the ground to inspect the pipes, I think they are 100% acceptable. In addition to the one header piece, I had the downpipe and the exhaust flanges coated. With the cans done, it will be a trick-looking setup. All I have lost is the look of stainless for the matte black. Which is fine by me: both the Morini and the other Ducati have black exhausts.
To address the mystery of the previous post, these pipes are definitely not stock to the 750, and I doubt (given their construction) that they are stock to any Ducati. My guess is that the 750 Sport I purchased in October was fitted with a full FBF exhaust solution. And now that I have removed the P.O.'s exhaust wrap job and had them coated properly, I have paid for the upgrade. I measured the aftermarket headers: the exterior diameter is 42mm at the cans, and 45mm at the exhaust port. Interior dimensions at the port are 42mm vs 31mm of stock. According to my envelope calculations, that is 1.8 times the volume! No wonder it seems like such a peppy bike. I think we can safely rule out lack of breathing as a source of any potential slowness.
Posted by Underblog at 5:59 PM | TrackBack
January 28, 2008
Stock vs. Mystery Exhaust
Admittedly, the "mystery" about the header pipe on the 750 Sport is in all likelihood one of three possibilities.
- The header that came on the 750 when I bought it is matched to the Fast By Ferracci cans.
- Ducati switched headers as they went along, meaning both headers are stock, only the larger diameter headers are later.
- The header that came on the Sport when I bought it is off of a later motorcycle (probably a 900 Supersport).
For reference sake, the stock header is 35mm diameter on the manifold side, and 40mm diameter on the silencer side. In comparison, the headers I am getting ceramic coated are estimated to be about 10mm larger in diameter. I'll measure them once I pick them up from the coater.
There are some other differences. The stock set (pictured) have a gusset where the exhaust diverges. The other have larger diameter pipes at the diverter and there is no gusset plate. I did not think to look for a part number on the pre-coating header before I handed it over, but I will look for one when I get it back.
Posted by Underblog at 12:11 PM | TrackBack
January 27, 2008
Exhaust Coating
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been planning to take the 750's exhaust in for ceramic coating. I asked the folks at PJ's who they used, and they could not think of anyone working in the area locally. I asked my welder-neighbor about who they used, and he recommended Southwest Plating, who in turn referred me to a person named "Robert" who picks up specialty stuff once a week and ships it off out the area to be coated. Robert then referred me to Team Synergy (in Albuquerque's Midway industrial park, just across the gravel yard and the North Diversion Channel). "Bobby" was out when I dropped off the header for an estimate, but I spoke for a while with his mom. While there, I picked up a couple of brochures, one for PJ's and one for my gearhead-neighbor across the street.
Mike at PJ's appeared to be glad for the info, though he most often appears to say whatever the customer wants him to say. Turns out my neighbor across the street had already used them for the header on his "Pink Panther" Challenger, which he sold last year. Evidently, a concours-restoration project was too much for him to carry forward. Exhaust headers get pretty hot and they tend to cook off their own paint (and subsequently rust). Moreover, the heat they radiate places additional strain on surrounding components.
But I digress.
Once the folks at PJ's removed the exhaust and the wrap, it became clear that the wrap was in fact concealing a fair bit of rust. The rust was not limited to the header (which I had planned to have coated) but the intake end of the mufflers as well.
I decided to bring the mufflers over to the coater to see whether the mufflers should be disassembled to have the ends coated. The process allows for masking off of parts of pieces but since the only part I was concerned with leaving original was the "Fast By Ferracci" emblem, I decided to have the cans coated as well. After all, they get hot too. The emblems will have their rivets drilled out and will be replaced once the cans are coated.
Having the cans as well as the header coated effectively doubles the cost of the transformation, but I hope the results will be worth it. I am tempted also to have the Morini's header and exhaust coated the next time those pieces are removed from the bike, should it turn out that Team Synergy knows its stuff.
Posted by Underblog at 7:52 AM | TrackBack
January 26, 2008
Madrid and Back
The weather looked as nice as forecast (mid-50's) this morning, so I thought I would go for a short ride up to Madrid. The twisties up there some of my favorites and I like the coffee at the Mad Hatter. Another reason Madrid appealed was that it offered an easy exit strategy. If it got too snowy or cold, I could turn tail and quickly return to Albuquerque. I reckoned on the way back I could stop by PJ's and take a second glance at an 888 that PJ scored at a recent auction.
I checked the air in the 851's tires and was glad I did, because the pressures were a little low. I fueled her up and was once more amazed by how that bike can still make the hair on the back of my neck stand up, even sitting still. I wheeled her out of the garage and took a quick picture with the bike; the last one I took of the bike and me together was while she was still wearing the modified Ducati cans. The Conti's look oh-so-much more sweet, even if they have that fine print stamped on them that they are for closed course use only.
The ride to Madrid was cold but pretty uneventful. And I was reminded of how much more the 851 has that I do not take advantage of when I wound her up to about 120 mph and wasn't even in top gear. Once in Madrid I parked on the old freight scale and had an Earl Grey at the Mad Hatter, where a surprisingly-good-sounding bluegrass band was performing. Despite the music, I wanted to drink my tea in the sunlight outside. And of course the best sunlight was on the scale next to the Ducati.
The ride back down the hill was just as lovely. I noticed distinctly more motorcycles out and about as the day warmed up. Below Cedar Crest, I observed that a Sheriff's patrol car was several cars ahead of me, another motorcycle in front of him. In an abundance of caution, I slowed up and pulled into the right hand lane. Several more motorcycles approached coming up the hill. Just as I rounded the corner, one of the motorcycles flipped right over, end over end. Cartwheeling up NM 14.
I pulled over, as did the po-po and the three other motorcycles. The young rider wore a leather jacket that had "ARMY" embroidered across the back. He appeared to be OK; I am sure adrenaline was coursing through his veins in prodigious proportion. One of the trailing riders said that "there was no reason why he should have crashed: the road was clear, there was no sharp lean angle, he wasn't out of control." The rider who tossed his ride offered only that a car ahead appeared to be slowing suddenly and he grabbed a hand full of brake. We all walked over to the bike; it was totaled. It appears to have been a Suzuki Boulevard, a "muscle-cruiser" in blue. One of the other riders picked the guy's cell phone, which seemed to have survived intact.
Back at PJ's, we discussed what likely happened. Mike offered that he probably locked up the front wheel, which in turn pushed the forks sideways. Once that happened, the rear of the bike effectively launched itself over the front. While I am not about to give up riding (and the three motorcyclists seemed content to go on with their ride), bearing witness to such action hammers home the commandment to stay within one's limits with these machines.
Posted by Underblog at 3:42 PM | TrackBack
January 18, 2008
In For Service
For some reason, I take the Ducati's in for service, even though I perform my own maintenance on the Morini. I confess that setting the valves with shims is somewhat intimidating. One of these days, perhaps when I acquire some more shop space, I will give it a try. I am told that setting the valves is not nearly as difficult on the 2-valve machines as it is on the "desmoquattro's".
So I rode the 750 Sport over to PJ's. PJ was there and seemed excited about the 750, even though he had seen the 851 previously. He just picked up a 1993 888 which looks very very clean, and he suggested that we do an "old-timers" ride with the early 90's Ducati's.
So Chris and I are checking out the wrapped exhaust header on the Sport and comparing it to the stock one I was going to replace it with. It appears that the Sport has a complete Ferraci system, not just the slip-on's as I assumed. The reason we think that is that the stock header had a plate where the four pipes come together while the Sport's junction is entirely open.
The plan now is to do a bench test and the tuning work on the Sport, then remove the exhaust for plating / coating while the stainless braided lines, battery, and belts are being ordered. I think the PJ's folks like me because time is never the issue, since I have several other bikes to ride.
Posted by Underblog at 2:55 PM | TrackBack
January 17, 2008
Odd Book Sales
As readers have doubtless noticed, I have been purging my bookshelves of books I was required to read for grad school and that I am fairly certain that I will never read again. One of these books was McCubbins' Congress: Structure and Policy. Today, I sold it back to the author. Perhaps he is picking up cheap copies to distribute to his grad students to review for an updated edition. Or perhaps he likes to give them as gifts. Someone receiving my old copy as a gift would not be a cherished relative or friend.
Posted by Underblog at 4:33 PM | TrackBack
January 16, 2008
Ducati Nerddom, Part II
If I come up with too many more of these posts, I may have to start a new category for all the geekery that is Ducati. Or at least that small portion of which that I find sufficiently interesting.
Roomie bought me this video for Xmas. Pretty fun stuff, but watching it one is reminded just how difficult it must be to try to hold the attention of a motorcyclist. The interviews with Ducati racers, and senior staff from design, marketing, race development (Ducati Corsa) are entertaining. The video zigs and zags through various topics. alternating between history, project design and development, racing, the "idea" of Ducati, etc. And then the cycle is repeated. Evidently, we want to hear the sounds and see the factory, but only when interrupted by many short scenes of sportbikes vrooming through Italian hills.
One of the highlights is Federico Minoli, the former Chair of Ducati, discussing how the "cool factor" is measured. They drive to the bike to a local bar (the bars in Italy are more like cafe's) for an aperitif, and if folks come streaming out to check it out, then it passes the test. They have a similar driveability test, where they ride the motorcycle over the hills to Modena (if I recall correctly), to see how it feels. From the marketing side of things, they admit that the typical Ducatista has a "Peter Pan Complex." While not exactly a revelation, it was interesting to hearing them acknowledge the fact in what is essentially a marketing film for the company. The assembly process is also reviewed with the American Director of Production leading a tour of the various operations at Borgo Panigale.
I was also impressed with how much the factory has been improved since I took a tour there in 1989. Also, they have opened up the factory to anyone during business hours. The average age of the workers on the floor is 27, and they are instructed to talk with fellow Ducatisti on the clock. This is a far cry from the treatment my departed friend Lawrence Gill received when he an Morinista Pam showed up the gate and were turned away in the mid-80's. Certainly, those were dark years for the factory.
On the downside, some of the music used is made to appeal to a younger generation than my own. Or perhaps to a deafer generation of my own. Around 45 minutes into the video it begins to grate.
The timing of the video's release was less than ideal, since Minoli and Terreblanche have both been sacked since, and also because the Ducati marque captured the 2007 World GP title with Stoner just after it was released. But taken as a whole, the video is a 60 minute love song to Ducati and a must-see during these long and bitterly cold winter months.
Posted by Underblog at 6:14 PM | TrackBack
January 13, 2008
Kiwis in Italy, 1989
It is not just I who thinks that Italy is motorcycling nirvana. On my 1989 trip, I spent a fair bit of time with a couple from New Zealand who were in the process of exporting several Italian bikes Down Under. I always thought this would make a nice sideline business, though I have never had either the capital or the ganas to pull off such a trip. Malcolm and Sue rode with us to Breganze to visit Oro Ricardo, and the next day joined us on a sightseeing visit to Venice.
That spring, this couple shipped back home in a small container two Morini's (a 500 and a 3½); a Guzzi V7 Sport; a Laverda RGS 1000; and a Guzzi Ercole three-wheel truck. Ducati's must have been too expensive at the time, because I knew Malcolm had them in Wellington. At least he had the t-shirt collection to represent. Now that I own a Ducati or two and have thought about doing what they did nearly 20 years ago, I wonder how the business worked out for them and what they are up to now.
Posted by Underblog at 8:21 AM | TrackBack
January 11, 2008
Purging
Recently, a friend mentioned on her blog that she was posting instead of working on her dissertation. In a sentence, that is the reason I left grad school. I found myself doing anything else rather than working on research. Beyond the inherent difficulty of working in an arcane field, what made it particularly objectionable to me were the increasingly narrow constraints on the kinds of analysis acceptable in the field of American politics within the discipline.
Through therapy I came to the conclusion that I wasn't depressed so much as I was unhappy in graduate school. From that conclusion it followed that I would in all likelihood continue to dislike being judged on my academic merits. I am much much happier being able to recreate free of guilt and the fear of being underprepared.
Recently, I started selling some of my schoolbooks on Amazon. I am keeping the ones I find interesting, a couple of bookshelves worth. The rest are providing me with some return of the capital I put into my education. In addition, with each book mailed at Media Mail rate with Delivery Confirmation, I feel a tiny piece of shame being removed from my sight in placed into my memory. One book (Tripp's A History of Iraq*), I went back and read. Hopefully there will be others.
With the passing of time, I appreciate more of the time I spent in Minnesota. But I understand now that I spent that time doing the wrong things. So two years into my new job and life, I am yearning to make up for that lost time by doing some motorcycle riding while I have the opportunity. I have the greatest admiration for my erstwhile classmates, those who have pressed on and are now gainfully employed as professors. I wish that I had come to know them better than I did. But I do not think for a moment that I would be the least bit happy doing what they do in their new positions.
* I just yesterday heard Tripp comment on the current Iraq crisis on NPR.
Posted by Underblog at 6:07 AM | TrackBack
January 4, 2008
Why I Love New Mexico
My goal for the day was to get the 750 Sport registered. Before I went over there, I figured I had better remove the license plate (which had most recently adorned the Maicoletta 275) before the inspection. I quickly thought of bringing the plate along, since I was hoping to assign it to the 750. I ended up leaving the plate in the garage.
I rode the 750 over to the MVD, stood in line for five minutes and waited about 20 more for my number to be called. The woman at the window said it would be no trouble to transfer the plate, but that she needed the corpus delecti in order to complete the task. So back I went home. I like the DMV here because they will offer a "pass" so you can bypass the line once you've waited so long for your number to be called.
When I returned, I walked up to the next available clerk. Once we were outside standing next to the bike, he told me that the lack of a visible engine number was not a problem since he had two locations for the VIN on the frame. While the plate was being assigned to the 750, I said hi to Jane of the North Valley who scored me three sequential license plates and tried the dickens to get me a fourth (I cleaned her out that day). Regardless, I now have a sequence of license plates (P84419 through P84421) on my Italian "Red Fleet." Perfect for photographing. And now I have a Desmo and a spare, all legit and ready for a motorcycle-licensed friend to come riding.