Budget RS12 Build

As mentioned on my intro post, I've been browsing the forum quite a bit so thought I'd join up and also share my minor project.

During a recent trackday at Rockingham, I unfortunately went a little 'off road' and caused some damage to the bike. The video is below (skip to the end to see the crash!).

www.youtube.com/embed/oW-T3zhIWak

Anyway, after the crash I found I had damaged the fairings on both sides, scuffed the nose, smashed the screen, broke the left mirror, cracked / smashed the clutch casing (which damaged the basket and pressure plate), snapped off the steering lock pin on the lower triple, sheered the tabs on the upper triple, scuffed the right DP bar end and maybe a few other things I've forgotten.

I set about sourcing replacement parts and came across some mint replacement OEM fairings and nose and snapped them up. I also secured two brand new mirrors, a full clutch assembly and set about adding some crash protection, including spindle protectors, crash bungs and generator cover. I acquired some DP mirror blanks and a brake lever guard and went back on track at Bedford Autodrome where I was fortunate enough to get some tuition from Chris 'The Stalker' Walker. Also hit 173mph in 5th down the straight which is the fastest I've been so far!

Edit: I also purchased a CNC Racing triple clamp set and had it installed - a lovely piece of kit and looks way better than the OEM piece.

Ready for Bedford:
20170709_161131 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

In the Pits:
20170710_090809 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Anyway, the thing that lead to this build is that when I purchased the red fairings, the seller also had some carbon panels for sale. I had zero intention of purchasing them as I had no idea if they would fit or their provenance but they seemed a good price and a deal was done! Here's a pic of the panels:

Carbon Fairings by Matt Bly, on Flickr

They're made by CM Composites and retail as Speed Carbon. If you check the World Superbike ran by Aruba.IT or view their sponsors you'll see the Speed Carbon logo. Further support that the fairings I have a the genuine article...

Speed Carbon logo front bottom of the fairing on the race bike:
Aruba WSBK by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I'm sure some of you will know more about them than I do.

Anyway, back to the plan. I had a couple of possible results in mind - these being either a RS12 or RS13 look. As you know, the RS models are basically race bikes that the big boys buy and take racing. The RS12 was the 2012 1199 race bike and RS13, well, you can guess. Here are images of each of the bikes:

RS12
RS12 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

RS13
RS13 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

After a couple of straw polls on various Facebook groups - it's been neck and neck between gloss and matte finishes. Of course, I love the gloss but everyone seems to go for the gloss carbon! The main difference with mine is that I'm going to have the full race panels, ie. full sides rather than an upper and lower so I'd be happy mine was different enough to remain gloss.

I can't stop wanting the matte version though. It just looks 'racebike' and less of a tarts handbag. It's a lot of work to make this work but being a little different isn't always easy...

Update to follow....

Further update:

I knew there would be a few teething problems fitting the carbon bodywork due to the slight differences. The easiest part to fit is the nose as it's the closest to a road version and is almost identical. The side panels and tail unit are a different story though. I'll talk about each one in turn.

Side panels:
As mentioned, the side panels are one piece items. The race bikes do away with the electrical panels bolted to each side of the bike although there are common mounting points at the top and near the rearsets. To allow them to fit, I've found I had to trim the rear edges and some of the support sections at the bottom as these are built in to the one piece panel.

Here's a modified right side electrical panel:
20170912_162607 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I then added some Dzus fastener recepticles to replace the oem screw holes and bolted it on to the bike. The right side was fairly easy done slowly and with photos to make sure all the wire positions were replicated and cable tied exactly where they were before:
20170914_151435 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

The left side turned out to be similar but with the added complexity of requiring the tank to be unbolted and a few more wires moved about. This had me thinking I had bitten off more than I could chew but it turned out OK in the end!

Tank up:
20170922_123700 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Panel removed:
20170922_130442 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

New electrical panel in and nose removed:
20170922_191443 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I was hoping I'd be about there with the side panels so offered the left one up. Unfortunately, as these are for race bikes - the left side is slightly lower than the road panel and doesn't account for the side stand! I can't see me being able to avoid having to chop in to the panel to clear the side stand. I may get a pro to do this as it's a one shot kind of thing and I really don't want to mess it up! I'll be getting the panels refinished anyway so the cutting can be done then! I just need to decide whether to cut small pieces out in order to use my Abba stand as at the moment, just like the OEM panels, they cover the swingarm pivot just enough to get in the way! Very annoying.

Tail Section:

As mentioned above, the tail section is a very similar shape to the road version but the way it fits together and number of pieces is very different. The OEM tail has two sides and a front as shown below: (take note of the mounting points on the light unit for later)

Tail_Section by Matt Bly, on Flickr

The two side pieces and the front piece (with the two diamond shappes connected together bolt directly on to the subframe / seat housing and the pillion / seat hump cover clip in to that with the lock unit. As I won't be using the storage space which is only useful for a small bag of spicy nik-naks - I removed all of the tail pieces inclusing the locking mechanism.

The picture below shows the tail unit removed leaving the seat support / cubby hole. You can't even hide a refreshing beverage in there!

20170915_203714 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

This is a test fit of the new tail prior to fully stripping the subframe - it seemed that all I needed was the seat pad to complete the unit.

20170914_151435 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

£120 later and this arrived:
20170916_170051 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

It looked promising on the garage floor but in reality, I already knew it wasn't going to be simple!
20170915_153522 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

It fits the tail unit in terms of the exterior but there are no mounting points to locate it. This would normally be resolved simply by the addition of a bracket as below:
Carbott bracket by Matt Bly, on Flickr

The next problem is that the rear light unit has nowhere to bolt on to.... I thought I might have to create a new bracket to let me mount things up but this seems very tricky given the different mounting locations involved. It then hit me that WSBK and BSB bikes have the lights in place as they have to run a red light to the rear in inclement weather and on the Panigale, this tends to be the normal lights. Indeed, I read that the whole bike needs to retain the silhouette of the road bike give or take a few mm here and there so it made sense.

After a bit of facebook work on the various owner groups a company in Italy got in touch. They're called CARBOTT and appear to either have a race team or provide composite parts for race teams. In our anglo-italian conversation, it was agreed that I would soon be the owner of the parts required to fit the lights. It is essentially the left hand bracket from above, along with a different tail pad that had mounts for the lights - as follows:

Carbott Tail Pad by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I can have that with the Dzus recepticles already on, in either gloss or matte carbon and included with the bracket I need. The only downside is that the factory are currently on holiday due to a break in racing so I will have to wait a few weeks before this is made, let alone posted out to me. In the meantime, I've got some card (one thin and one 3mm) to start to see if I can make my own bracket as a stop gap.

Here's a photo of the fullsix tail pad that wont fit (yet):
20170915_153559 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Tail section challenge #2 to follow!!

Thanks for reading so far!

Tail Section Challenge #2:

With the new tail section missing a couple of holes / mounting points for the oem / Bruudt tail tidy, in order to mount a number plate hanger and indicators I will need to fabricate a new tail tidy. I considered using something similar to the NRC fender eliminator kit as below:

NRC FE by Matt Bly, on Flickr

There are two issues with this - one being that the underslung indicators are stuck to the underside of the tail unit and on the new one, there isn't a flat surface to allow for a good purchase. The other issue is that the size of plate needed to fix to the plate hanger is pretty small. At least two inches in each dimension under a std (and legal) plate. This is due to the limited clearance when the rear wheel moves with the suspension travel - approx. 130mm. My memory is a little faded but I'm also sure that the indicators are required to be further apart than these are.

This also put paid to the simple idea of an integrated tail light which would look pretty good. Again, some testers may let is through but technically, it's not legal and I don't want to have to mess about every year come MOT time. In the future, I may get an integrated tail light and bypass it for the MOT / fit the solution I will eventually come up with.

Anyway, the mounting points that remain are 4 x M8 threaded holes that normally take the passenger footpegs as well as 4 x M6 threaded holes used to fix the tail to the subframe. I'm planning to use two of each to mount my new tail tidy. I first set about making a rough template in CAD (cardboard aided design) and then transferred this to 3mm card. I plan on using half of my Bruudt tail tidy so all the mounting points were carried over. Here are some pics...

Final template:
20170909_142111 by Matt Bly, on Flickr
20170909_142122 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Bolted in place:

20170907_202434 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I'm still concerned about the clearance so I think I'll extend the prototype to go further back and angle the rearward section to follow the angle of the underside of the tail - as below:

20170909_142241 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

To help, I may incorporate a way of adjusting the angle of the plate holder as this would give me a few more mm clearance - as below:

20170907_202956 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Again, I don't want to go much more than 30 degrees from the vertical so there's less faff come MOT time but as long as it can be seen from the rear, I shouldn't have any problems day to day. The plate I actually plan to run is only an inch shorter than std anyway so not taking the mick.

The final piece will be in either steel or preferably aluminium plate and powder coated black. I just need to find someone who can help out with the fabrication. The wiring should be quite easy as I've spotted a natural 'hole' in the tail to feed the wires through.

Thanks for reading.

Edit: I've just commisioned a company to fabricate a new tail tidy out of aluminium for me. I expect it to be ready in a couple of weeks ready for a test fit and powder coating. The final card mock up is below and included the longer, angled up section for extra clearance. The metal version will have rounded edges etc but the dimensions will be similar to the template.

20170924_163138 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

So that brings us pretty much up to date with the carbon project to where we are now and me not being able to resist a cheeky test-fit of the panels. On the whole, they're pretty good fitment wise although all providers of such panels that are intended for race use state there may be minor fitment issues!

I also noticed that carbon panels are a lot less flexible than the oem pieces so a little more patience is needed to get everything lined up. For example, the two pictures below show the position of the lower rear mounting point of the right side fairing before and after a tiny bit of pressure is applied:

20170923_165744 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Perfect!
20170923_165758 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I bolted the tail together with the Dzus fasteners and did the same with the nose and right side panel to see how it looked:

20170923_171228 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20170923_171626 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20170923_171652 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20170923_171910 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20170923_171752 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20170923_174603 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

My next bit of research is going to be for the final finish of the panels. I may have these refinished in gloss but then have them wrapped in clear matte vinyl which would make them appear like the RS12 panels. I can then revert back to gloss at any time if I wished. If anyone has experience of this or know where there are any images of this being done with gloss carbon, I'd appreciate it!

My other option is just having them finished with matte lacquer and I've already secured a quote for this as well as the modifications to the panels which isn't too excessive.

Any feedback or ideas would be welcome!

Cheers

Matt

My old mans advice, a cheap set of track fairings and tuition. Please don't be offended but you will enjoy your track riding much more, I was on the edge of my seat the whole video.

able duc said:

My old mans advice, a cheap set of track fairings and tuition. Please don't be offended but you will enjoy your track riding much more, I was on the edge of my seat the whole video.

Click to expand...

No offence at all buddy. The 1199 won't see the track again for a while. I'm on the lookout for a cheaper alternative to get some more days under my belt. As regards tuition, the day at Bedford was great having had a session with Chris Walker and the feedback he gave - I put that video up too if you care to compare.

I'm also old enough to know that I'll never be Rossi and that it was my mistake going too wide and fast and losing my position on track. I don't think I'm better than I am either, but I will get better with practice...

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Odd crash that dude. Rockingham is a scratchy bugger of a circuit though. I binned my trumpet on the 1st September on the national circuit there at the last corner hairpin 'Tarzan'. Front went as I tapped on the power! Combination of an old front, brand new rear and too much lean. Hello weight transfer, bye bye front!

Southwest said:

Odd crash that dude. Rockingham is a scratchy bugger of a circuit though. I binned my trumpet on the 1st September on the national circuit there at the last corner hairpin 'Tarzan'. Front went as I tapped on the power! Combination of an old front, brand new rear and too much lean. Hello weight transfer, bye bye front!

Click to expand...

Bad times buddy. I was always quite careful on that corner as it's always spoken about in the same sentence as 'highside'.

As for my crash, I know what happened and it's a good learning point - just wish the barrier was a few feet to the right!

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

My first track crash was on my old Pani at Rockingham the corner before that back in 2015 I think the stock Panigale race settings are a bit too stiff for Rockinghams bumpy surface. I went out later on the softer sport settings but with full power and it was a lot happier.

Go to 2'45'' for entertainment
[youtube]I_35MtaJe_0[/youtube]

Are you going to get a black tank cover? I reckon it will look a lot better than red.

Looks awesome mate, top job.

royal said:

My first track crash was on my old Pani at Rockingham the corner before that back in 2015 I think the stock Panigale race settings are a bit too stiff for Rockinghams bumpy surface. I went out later on the softer sport settings but with full power and it was a lot happier.

Go to 2'45'' for entertainment
[youtube]I_35MtaJe_0[/youtube]

Are you going to get a black tank cover? I reckon it will look a lot better than red.

Click to expand...

Even though you know it's going to happen, it's still unpleasant to see someone go down like that.

Personally, I feel the bike wants to run a little wide all the time. It's either me or there's a better setting for me and the bike together. I take it there wasn't too much damage if you carried on? What group were you in? You were about 5 seconds faster a lap than me at rockingham watching that.

As for the tank, I'll either wrap it in brushed aluminium or source a spare tank to strip. As with all the mods, I want to make sure I can go back to oem if I choose so I buy spares to hack apart if needed. Apart from the CNC triples, everything else is fully reversible.

Matt

It was quite some time back and I'm a fair bit faster now but it was fast group. The damage was just to the panels and I gaffer taped it up

Minor update.

I've spoken to a company that can powder coat the tail tidy once complete (hopefully this week!) and have been collecting a few other pieces to be changed from silver to black at the same time.

The tail pad is made and in the post from Poland so again, hopefully with me this week! I was sent a sneak preview of it:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/120760751@N02/2a8085

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Any news Horico?

arturatv said:

Any news Horico?

Click to expand...

Funny you mention

A small package arrived:

20171027_092951 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20171027_094300 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Carbott included a Dzus fastener but didn't drill or add anything as this was dependant on my own fitment requirements. I decided to go with more Dzus fasteners to save it being like death by bolts so set about positioning the plate and seat pad. The rear hole required a small adjustment towards the rear but it was only minor. Dzus recepticles were then positioned and tested before the holes were drilled.

20171108_195652 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

In the image above, you can also see that I drilled the holes for the lights to mount on. I also trimmed the front legs of the seat pad as they weren't required. I still need to do some more trimming to allow the air duct pieces to fit in better. A fifth dzus fastener was added on the underside of the top section to allow the tail sections to fasten together at the top.

20171108_195657 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

All fastened up (minus the air scoops):

20171108_194304 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

From the rear - the lights work and are pretty secure despite no direct fastening at the moment. I may source a spare set and modify them in the future though.

20171108_194253 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

After sorting this, I set about modifying the side fairings to fit - I don't have any pictures at the mo but will take some soon. The next part will be the final trimming of the seat pad before I do a full test fit of the entire bodywork prior to sending it off for re-finishing.

I've also been collecting a few other spares ready for powdercoating!

20171028_103956 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Thanks for reading!

is there any engine, suspension work getting done or is just all about a set of bodywork.

reganc said:

is there any engine, suspension work getting done or is just all about a set of bodywork.

Click to expand...

I'm sure there will be in time but first priority is getting the panels etc sorted.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Small update:

If you remember - this was my riginal design for the new tail tidy I required as the original mounting / bolt holes are now covered by the carbon tail.

20170909_142122 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

It wasn't bringing the plate back far enough to clear the wheel with my 1 inch smaller plate, never mind the one for the MOT. (as below)

20170907_202434 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I set about re-designing the bracket to follow the contour of the tail and extend out:

20170924_163138 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

After a further thick card mock up, I took the template to a local metal fabricating shop and they agreed to cut and weld up my bracket from 3mm aluminium. I picked it up today and here is the end result. They weren't happy with the first one so made a second. From left to right above: Final version, First attempt, card template, thick card template

20171122_170148 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Looks like the first version had a few issues with the enclosed section.

20171122_170230 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20171122_170224 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

The better version with the plate section and light bolted in:

20171122_170216 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20171122_170205 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Bolted on:

20171122_171254 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I think I'll find some nicer bolts for the front but the rears are fine. I used small nylon spacers for the rear bolts.

20171122_171311 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Side view :
20171122_171246 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Rear view:

20171122_171326 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20171122_171338 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Normal size plate fitted - much more clearance:

20171122_171627 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Slightly smaller plate - 1 inch all round

20171122_171434 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

How it'll sit:
20171122_171424 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

The angle of the plate is just about acceptable and should hopefully be fine come MOT time (which has run out so it better be!). Next is to get the tail tidy and parts above powder coated in black before final fixing the body panels and then turning my attention to the tank.

Speaking of the tank, I may have some news on that front but I won't know for another few days!

Thanks for reading.

Look what arrived in the post! Just need to get it stripped of paint and set to with the scotch pads...

20171208_151409 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20171208_151358 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I've also acquired a corse style carbon fibre short rear hugger and a carbon clutch cover. The hugger is from carbonworld.de as per the link below. The clutch cover is a CDT / Fullsix version of the corse / DP item that is shown on the 1199 RS below.

Hugger:
https://www.carbonworld.de/en/rear-hugger-carbon-corse-mat-for-ducati-1199-panigale/ducati/a-13728/

1199RS showing clutch cover.
RS12 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I've also ordered some carbon tank protectors that mimic the RS style as well as the fluid reservoir holders - both from Carbott Composites who supplied the seat pad and bracket. Pics below:

My tank will be finished very similar:
panigale-carbon-tank-sliders-2 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

They will look similar to the ones on the bike below:
jolley bike by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Brackets:
panigale-fluid-brackets by Matt Bly, on Flickr

panigale-fluid-brackets-3 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I also acquired a Ducati Performance carbon shock cover:
img1434_1 by Matt Bly, on Flickr