Fuel Tank Removal

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bp_SFV4 said:
Much cheaper to skip a few dinners and workout more if weight reduction is the goal.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I didn’t really have a goal or reason for doing this other than I fancied doing it and the cost was not something that concerned me, plus there’s no downside to removing some weight from the bike. 🤷‍♂️ If I needed to do things cheap then I probably wouldn’t be on a Ducati… 🤣

I was buying the Pierobon stands as a little treat for myself and threw the subframe in at the same time on a whim - unnecessary of course but very nice. Having said that, the rear stand is nicer to use than the DP one (the bit that goes into the hub is rounded at the end so it goes in really easily) and it’s lighter. The front stand also enables me to turn the wheel while it’s on the stand and that’s been more useful than expected. I’m very happy with it and I like the look of it on the bike and the more exposed engine looks good as well. 👍

I should have weighed the subframe though - it would be interesting to see exactly what the weight difference is, although I doubt it’s a huge difference. If someone happens to know the weight of the Pierobon STK subframe then let me know! The OEM subframe on its own with the plastic engine covers and the metal bar that ties the two sides together is 2.2kg. It’s probably saved only 0.8kg or so.

Replacing the rear plastics with carbon, particularly a one-piece carbon cover, would make the weight saving more significant but I wanted to retain the ‘storage’ section in the tail as it’s a perfect place for the data logger.
 
spooky said:
Honestly, I didn’t really have a goal or reason for doing this other than I fancied doing it and the cost was not something that concerned me, plus there’s no downside to removing some weight from the bike. 🤷‍♂️ If I needed to do things cheap then I probably wouldn’t be on a Ducati… 🤣

I was buying the Pierobon stands as a little treat for myself and threw the subframe in at the same time on a whim - unnecessary of course but very nice. Having said that, the rear stand is nicer to use than the DP one (the bit that goes into the hub is rounded at the end so it goes in really easily) and it’s lighter. The front stand also enables me to turn the wheel while it’s on the stand and that’s been more useful than expected. I’m very happy with it and I like the look of it on the bike and the more exposed engine looks good as well. 👍

I should have weighed the subframe though - it would be interesting to see exactly what the weight difference is, although I doubt it’s a huge difference. If someone happens to know the weight of the Pierobon STK subframe then let me know! The OEM subframe on its own with the plastic engine covers and the metal bar that ties the two sides together is 2.2kg. It’s probably saved only 0.8kg or so.

Replacing the rear plastics with carbon, particularly a one-piece carbon cover, would make the weight saving more significant but I wanted to retain the ‘storage’ section in the tail as it’s a perfect place for the data logger.
Click to expand...
I didn't know the subframes existed. I find my SF rather porcine. The SF subframe is steel. If we take Pierbon's claim of 40% weight loss or 0.88kg their subframe weight is 1.32kg. The density of steel is about 2.5 times aluminum so assuming the two subframes are identical otherwise (of course they're not) the weight savings of one of these on a SF is about 2kg. 415 euro per kg reduction. Nice part and anything that moves the CG forward even a little is always good.
 
baggerman said:
I didn't know the subframes existed. I find my SF rather porcine. The SF subframe is steel. If we take Pierbon's claim of 40% weight loss or 0.88kg their subframe weight is 1.32kg. The density of steel is about 2.5 times aluminum so assuming the two subframes are identical otherwise (of course they're not) the weight savings of one of these on a SF is about 2kg. 415 euro per kg reduction. Nice part and anything that moves the CG forward even a little is always good.
Click to expand...

That’s good, and I had not thought about it slightly moving the COG forwards.
 
These parts are made on a jig by hand, there are going to be larger tolerances then most parts. My tank was touching on my SBK subframe to the point I had to grind a good mm or 2 off to fit. Does that make a regular consumer happy about spending the money on it and then discovering slight issues - no. Keep in mind that financially selling to non race teams is not important for this brand and in a way is a courtesy that is quite nice for those of us that are nerds about having race kit on our bikes.
 
KarlKani said:
These parts are made on a jig by hand, there are going to be larger tolerances then most parts. My tank was touching on my SBK subframe to the point I had to grind a good mm or 2 off to fit. Does that make a regular consumer happy about spending the money on it and then discovering slight issues - no. Keep in mind that financially selling to non race teams is not important for this brand and in a way is a courtesy that is quite nice for those of us that are nerds about having race kit on our bikes.
Click to expand...

I do understand this - it was just a little more than I expected. I also had to enlarge a couple of holes in the plastic to get everything to line up when putting the carbon tail cover on. Not the end of the world.

The part is great quality and the welding is lovely. It only needed a lit bit of finessing but when you’ve not done much of this sort of thing then you have to learn it.

So, a few minor issues, but was it enough to make me regret doing it? Of course not.
 
The bike won't start... 🤣

The fuel pump primes but it won't start.

I've taken the fuel tank off (only takes a couple of minutes!) to check the cables and connectors underneath it and all looks absolutely fine.

The battery is showing 13V.

Any clues as to where I should be checking and what might cause it?
 
KarlKani said:
did you reconnect the ground wire ?
Click to expand...

I did.

I also checked the connectors for the right switches and they seemed okay as well but had a little wiggle in the process.

I also put it in first and second and back to neutral while the tank was off.

I put everything back together and it’s working fine… I checked everything very carefully and it all looked exactly as it should.

I have no idea what stopped it working or what made it work.

Weird.
 
hmm strange, the only system connections are the fuel pump, fuel line, ground + purge line. I am sure you have but if you are reconnecting he. fuel pump while tank installed it is maybe not seating correctly?
 
Be more specific…
You say fuel pump primes… is there fuel coming out the pipe? Release the clamp and check fuel comes out on priming.
Does the engine turn over?
Does it fire but not run?
 
spooky said:
If it helps, the on off button does not seem to be doing anything. The bike is indicating neutral.
Click to expand...
If I ever have a problem with the left or right controls not functioning, the first thing I’d check is the wiring to the controls. It is only retained by a rubber tie to the bar; there is no retention mechanism on the connector. I believe this is so in the event of a crash the wiring will merely disconnect from the switchgear instead of destroying the wiring harness.

I don’t think the ground tab on the tank serves the purpose of completing a circuit necessary for running the bike but rather to discharge static electricity for safety.
 
andyb said:
Be more specific…
You say fuel pump primes… is there fuel coming out the pipe? Release the clamp and check fuel comes out on priming.
Does the engine turn over?
Does it fire but not run?
Click to expand...
If it all looks normal but doesn't crank look at the safety switches. Weird.
 
If you have messed with the rear wiring which you did to swap subframes… have you grounded something out especially the lambda sensor… blown a fuse?
 
Maybe the ground wire didn't make a good connection or something. It worked fine when I put it back together.

When you press the start button you usually hear a click and that wasn't happening, so maybe it was something to do with that connection. 🤷‍♂️

Very odd.
 
bp_SFV4 said:
If I ever have a problem with the left or right controls not functioning, the first thing I’d check is the wiring to the controls. It is only retained by a rubber tie to the bar; there is no retention mechanism on the connector. I believe this is so in the event of a crash the wiring will merely disconnect from the switchgear instead of destroying the wiring harness.

I don’t think the ground tab on the tank serves the purpose of completing a circuit necessary for running the bike but rather to discharge static electricity for safety.
Click to expand...

I have a feeling it was most likely to be that and nothing to do with the tank removal and reinstallation. The cable does go down the side there but looked fine and I did check the connection into the switch - as you say, it's not really secured in there. Probably that.
 
andyb said:
Be more specific…
You say fuel pump primes… is there fuel coming out the pipe? Release the clamp and check fuel comes out on priming.
Does the engine turn over?
Does it fire but not run?
Click to expand...

I’m sure it was something to do with the switches. Hopefully the issue doesn’t happen again this weekend at Brno.

If I get a chance in the morning, I will have another look at the cables going to the switches. I’ve tried starting it several times since and it seems okay.

Hopefully I’ll make some progress at Brno! It’s weird how much more I like this bike than the SP2. I can’t think of any logical reason why I would but I do.
 
spooky said:
I’m sure it was something to do with the switches. Hopefully the issue doesn’t happen again this weekend at Brno.

If I get a chance in the morning, I will have another look at the cables going to the switches. I’ve tried starting it several times since and it seems okay.

Hopefully I’ll make some progress at Brno! It’s weird how much more I like this bike than the SP2. I can’t think of any logical reason why I would but I do.
Click to expand...

where you plug the fly wire from the switch into the loom connector.... make sure you haven't pushed one of those pins into the connector body....dont ask how I know!

so it runs but vibration disruption...... but as I found out approaching the table top at Portimao ....it cut out just like turning off the ignition! Are yours jet prime?
 

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