Budget RS12 Build

A few more bits are ready for putting on the bike. As mentioned before, I had been collecting several spare parts to get them powder coated as I want to save the originals. I also dropped the spare tank off for soda blasting which is about a mile from the nearest Ducati dealer so took the chance to order a few spares for when the tank is to be fitted. who knew screws could cost over £2 each!

Anyway, pics of the powdercoating:
20171220_201808 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20171220_201823 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

New tail tidy
20171220_201834 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20171220_201840 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Carbon tank protectors and fluid canister brackets arrived today. Just need some time to get in the garage to fit them to the bike. The quality is fantastic and even better than the seat pad.

20171222_155426 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20171222_155413 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20171222_155340 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Get hot on putting those on lol

I though I would squirrel myself away in the garage and get this project moving on. The main priority was to get it to a road ready position so things like the powdercoated parts weren't a priority.

I started in a chilly garage (possible future project making it a bit warmer!). Even the bike was warning me it was cold!

20180114_191221 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

First were the carbon fluid reservoir holders. First, the front brake:

20180114_200153 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

And then the clutch:

20180114_200207 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Next was the carbon corse style short rear hugger:

20180114_203733 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180114_203745 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I then got a start on the bodywork. The easiest bit was refitting the newly refinished seat pad which if you recall was previously gloss. The painter did a great job and we went for a satin finish in the end to ensure the weave of the carbon still picked up a little reflection without being in your face glossy. Before fitting I trimmed it down to ensure that there wasn't any excess material as I remembered that when fitting the air scoops, they were quite a tight fit.

20180114_204844 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

While working, my new CNC Racing carbon fuel cap arrived. It's ready to go on the second tank once it's finished.

20180112_163032 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Next up was wiring the rear indicators. The hold in the tail tidy is too small for the connector to pass through and rather than butcher the tail tidy, I chose to cut a reconnect the wires. I butchered a couple of goes having never used these connectors before. You simply heat them up and the solder inside melts and completes the join of the wires which the plastic and glue seals the join making it waterproof.

20180115_145704 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

After sealing it al up and taping everything with black electrical tape to hide the joins, I bolted the tail tidy on and fed the wires through a small gap on the tail unit.

20180115_155956 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180115_160008 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180115_160026 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I'm quite pleased with the fit and finish of the tail unit:

20180115_155654 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180115_155637 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180115_155602 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I stuck the seat in place and tested the lights and everything worked fine! Now I moved on to the front fairings, starting with the nose. The fit isn't 100% OEM but it's not too bad. Some of the minor things like clips are a little bit too long compared with the factory parts but nothing a dremel didn't sort. The biggest pain is the bit I didn't get a photo of which is the plastic cover that fits under the nose.

After the nose, the mirrors went back on followed by the side fairings. Again, the fit isn't perfect and with the carbon being less pliable than the std plastics it all needed a little finessing to position but once bolted in with the Dzus fasteners, it was all in place. There are a few more things to do such as recheck all of the fasteners and add retaining washers and spacer washers but it's all on. I also fitted the DP shock cover while I was faffing.

There are a few more pieces of trim to fit but there's no point until the tank is changed. I can ride the bike without them if I wanted to so I'll leave them for now. What I do need to do is order some different lengths of Dzus fasteners as I'm down to only 15 and 20mm ones.

Here is the current state of the bike:

Lower fairing Dzus:

20180115_175916 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180115_175951 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180115_175955 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180115_180641 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180115_180627 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180115_180700 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

The workspace:

20180115_181134 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Thanks for reading!

Matt

Coming along nicely.

missed a couple of updates from a thread elsewhere... Here they are:

Minor update tonight in that I picked up the freshly soda blasted tank on the way home. I was a little later than expected after someone decided he didn't like the car in front of him and rear ended it causing it to hit me! Looks like just the bumper done and I feel a little stiff.

The blasters said the tank was in great condition but the paint was quite thick so took a bit of time to get off. It's gonna be a few days before I get chance to start sanding it out so these pics will have to do.

20180116_173437 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180116_173507 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

The finish left is in focus in the foreground - the medium still left on the tank is further back:

20180116_173450 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Matt

Another hour free tonight saw me get started on the brushed effect on the tank. I was initially concerned about cleaning it etc. but decided to leave that til the end and probably leave the painter to do the actual final clean as they will be responsible for the lacquering. Although not something I've done before, I set about the tank with some 180 grit paper on one section before moving to 240 for finishing.

The supplier of some of the carbon parts, Carbott mentioned that they prefer the finish of 240 and have done that on a few customer's bikes and it's worked well. Turns out it's not as daunting as I thought and after working on the first section, I started to get the hang of keeping the lines straight and not leaving pigtails which come from the paper decelerating so a stop while still in contact with the surface.

First section:

20180119_202512 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Majority done in 180 - still requires 240.

20180119_205923 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180119_204038 by Matt Bly, on Flickr


20180119_204027 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

It's a good start but the tank will need a lot of time to ensure that the brush marks are to a suitable standard - there are a few wayward lines so far but the beauty of this process is they can always be brushed out! As an example, the curved lines on the front shoulder of the tank are due to me finishing the stroke before moving off the surface but this is in 180 so not an issue.

Needless to say I'm pretty excited to get the tank finished and lacquered. I don't think there is likely to be another like it!

Cheers

Matt

Now up to date:

I managed another 90 minutes in the garage to get the whole of the tank sanded in 180 grit. It's starting to look the part now and I can't wait to get the chance to finish it in the 240. Here are a few progress pictures (you can see some crossed lines in there but the 240 will get these out):

20180128_184512 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180128_184500 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180128_184455 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180128_184439 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180128_184429 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180128_184419 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180128_184348 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Thanks for reading.

Matt

Horico said:

Now up to date:

I managed another 90 minutes in the garage to get the whole of the tank sanded in 180 grit. It's starting to look the part now and I can't wait to get the chance to finish it in the 240. Here are a few progress pictures (you can see some crossed lines in there but the 240 will get these out):

Thanks for reading.

Matt

Click to expand...

Amazeballs!! I need to do this one day...lol Looks great man!

GunMoto said:

Amazeballs!! I need to do this one day...lol Looks great man!

Click to expand...

Thanks dude.

Soooo, I know, I know - how many pictures can one man post of a fuel tank? Rest assured though, this wont be the last time either! I got the final sand done in the 240 grit and while initially I couldn't see too much difference - the pictures speak for themselves. I'll be dropping it in at the painters tomorrow to get lacquered along with the tank protectors.

Pics as promised:
20180129_180621 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180129_180615 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180129_180609 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

The difference:

PhotoGrid_1517255284780 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Cheers

Matt

Love it!

awasome

Sorry and I know I'll be criticised, but I don't get the fake race bike look and without performance mods (for me) makes it even worse!

able duc said:

Sorry and I know I'll be criticised, but I don't get the fake race bike look and without performance mods (for me) makes it even worse!

Click to expand...

Patience man.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

I told you there'd be more pictures of the tank! I picked it up today from the painter and it looks awesome. The picture doesn't really do it justice but you get the idea. The tank protectors were also lacquered with a satin finish.

20180202_095628 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180202_095636 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Cheers

Matt

I like the satin finish!

Very nice job
Love to see people having a go and doing their own thing with their bike

That tank work is beautiful .... that turned out well! Go’na be one badass ride!

It's been a little while but at last the end is in sight! The tank is now on with the new fuel cap and the tank protectors stuck on. The clutch cover that was re-sprayed is now on too. She's also been treated to a service and the starter motor has been rebuilt due to it making a nasty, angry screeching noise! She also flew through the MOT so she'll be ready to go once the last couple of bits of trim are put back in place and she's had a wash.

I'm now the organiser of my local Ducati Owners Club GB branch and our first meet is this Wednesday so the timing is perfect. Apart from a few more carbon pieces, all that I really want to get for her are an exhaust / filter combo and some rearsets (Spoiler: I may have some on the way!).

Here are a couple of rubbish pictures to give you an idea for now.

20180409_121332 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180409_121830 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

It's been a while since I updated this and we have some good news and bad news. Fortunately, it's mostly good before anyone has any horrible thoughts!

I managed to get her ship shape ready for a ride on Bank Holiday Monday and it was great to get a few miles in. First stop was at the Super Sausage Cafe:

20180507_095659 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Then on to the H Cafe:
20180507_111455 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Total for the day was a reasonable 125 miles, albeit solo (aka billy no mates). It was going well until I got home and was greeted by a rather sorry looking tail tidy:
20180507_131205 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I had noticed it drooping after my last ride and hoped it was just my imagination - it wasn't! It was bending exactly where it was identified earlier in another forum and I had hoped that it wouldn't be the case. Unfortunately, it clearly wasn't up to the job so a rethink is required.

Anyway, on to better things and yesterday saw me take a trip to TTS Performance in Silverstone to get a baseline dyno run in before the full system was fitted. It was then on to Baines Racing a mile down the road to get the work done. I was allowed to hang around and film the job. I also picked up a spanned and got involved where I could.

First time with the new Motolug (collapsible) trailer:
20180509_084434 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

All strapped down
20180509_095922 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Time to start work:
20180509_103935 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Stripped down:
IMG_4644 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

An assortment of bikes in the workshop:
IMG_4648 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

You wouldn't believe how much these go for nowadays!:
IMG_4647 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Now the plan was to go back to TTS the same day for an 'after' run but we ran out of time and I took the bike home. I was also in a rush to get back out on it and go to the local DOCGB local branch meeting. I was also looking forward to getting a ride in to see how the exhaust had changed things.

As well as the exhaust, I had a Sprint air filter fitted and uploaded the upmap which is essentially a remap suited to the full system. I managed to get out the door at about 1930hrs and the bike was nothing short of transformed! The stuttering at low speed and the unpredictable throttle were gone and it was smooth all the way. It also felt much more tractable at 'normal' revs which is where you are when riding on the road. Within the first 500m I could tell I had done the right thing!

Couple of shots from the meeting:
20180509_195519 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180509_214800 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

I believe this is a round case bevel = eye wateringly exclusive and valuable:
20180509_205308 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

Anyway, back to business. Today, I went back to TTS for the 'after' run. I'll move on to that later but not before more bad news - the tail tidy is no more! It finally cracked along the weak point and when I got to TTS it was in a sorry state. I managed to nurse it to Baines who kindly lent me some tools to remove the whole assembly. I cable tied the number plate to my camera bag on my back and hoped for a lack of rozzers on the way home! Here's the state of it now:

20180510_185600 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

20180510_185608 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

After sorting that, I nipped round the corner to Ducati UK for a couple of snaps:
IMG_4671 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

IMG_4672 by Matt Bly, on Flickr

IMG_4665 by Matt Bly, on Flickr