My 2015 Panigale R Build

Nice photos thank you for posting

The Big Haul

It's been a couple of months since the last trackday and new parts are ready to go on.

1. Homologated Akrapovic end can. This is the same unit that came stock on my bike, but in way better condition. I had someone here buy my stock unit (which was corroded a fair bit), and it was an easy decision to get a take-off unit from Moto Corsa. I wasn't ready to go with the race system as I still use the bike on the streets and the laws here are very strict.

2. RapidBike Evo. I loved this mod on my 899 and was hoping for the same great fuelling improvements for the R.

3. New master cylinders. The RCS units were great, but I was intrigued about the next step - the Brembo Racing CNC billet masters. I went with the settings I was using on the RCS masters, so the clutch was the Brembo Racing XR01150 16x16 and the brake was the Brembo Racing XR01172 19x20 (I preferred the quick action of the 19x20, especially for the street).

4. Brembo GP4-RX Front Calipers and P2 Rear in nickel finish. This may seem unnecessary, but they were on my Tuono previously and now that the Tuono was sold, they had to go somewhere Pads were changed to Brembo SC pads, which were great for road and track use.

5. Ducabike carbon brake lever guard. I wasn't a huge fan of the DP brake guard for two reasons: (i) bits of the guard were held together via grub screws and if you don't check often, they'd unwind and fall off, taking part of the guard with it, and (ii) there wasn't a large enough dip to the guard near the grip, so depending on how you ride, you'll feel the guard against your right pinky finger.

6. EVR slipper clutch. The R stock slipper clutch worked fine, but it never felt as solid as the STM unit I had on the 899. At the time I couldn't find an STM unit for the 1199/1299 (aside from the dry clutch conversion), so EVR it is.

7. Factory Pro Shift kit. The stock shifter on the R felt mushy and imprecise compared to the Blipbox setup on the 899. I thought I'd start with this kit first before modding other related components. The revised detent arm with bearings and a stiffer spring is meant to improve the shift action (so more precise) but at a cost of a 10-15% harder shift action.

EVR Slipper Install Issue

While the 899's STM slipper was plug and play, the R's EVR slipper was not. I received a message from my workshop pointing out a difference in the stock and EVR clutch housing – there was no step in the EVR clutch housing that would allow it to seat properly in the clutch basket.

I wrote to EVR and, credit to them, they replied in less than an hour. Apparently Ducati Corse (yes the race department - they use this in WSBK) asked for this change in the clutch housing, and it was no longer a plug and play fit with the stock basket. EVR was really good about offering to make the required modification at their end and send it to me, but because I was due for another Sepang session soon, they provided instructions on how to get it to work. Essentially the basket would need to be machined to lower the lip area indicated by 1.5mm. My workshop did this and it all fit fine.

Next stop, another Sepang outing.







Instructions from EVR



Basket fixed

Thanks so much for this....fantastic read!!!

With your EVR did they supply a 1.6mm clutch plate? My EVR slipper came with a 1.6mm plate to replace the only 2.0mm plate on the OEM slipper all the rest are 1.6 so wondering if your EVR is a older version? Who did you order it from? Mine came from Bellissi less then 6 months and dropped right in on my 16R no problems but do remember the bottom of the drum looked like yours so trying to figure out why yours had to be modified.





While the 899's STM slipper was plug and play, the R's EVR slipper was not. I received a message from my workshop pointing out a difference in the stock and EVR clutch housing - there was no step in the EVR clutch housing that would allow it to seat properly in the clutch basket.

I wrote to EVR and, credit to them, they replied in less than an hour. Apparently Ducati Corse (yes the race department - they use this in WSBK) asked for this change in the clutch housing, and it was no longer a plug and play fit with the stock basket. EVR was really good about offering to make the required modification at their end and send it to me, but because I was due for another Sepang session soon, they provided instructions on how to get it to work. Essentially the basket would need to be machined to lower the lip area indicated by 1.5mm. My workshop did this and it all fit fine.

vyruz said:

Thanks Phl!



Thanks man. The taxes here on vehicles were bad enough as it is, but I was lucky when I bought my R. Not three months after I bought it, they changed the tax structure for bikes here (to align it with cars), and literally overnight the price of a brand new 2016 Panigale R went from US$54k to US$74k.



Heya mate, thanks! The 899 forum build was proper fun.

A V4 would be great, but not with prices as they are here. I would probably have to top up an additional AU$30k after selling my R to get the V4S . That said, I'm not sure I want to part with my R. I'm keen to see what the V4R looks like (we'll know on Sunday) but it's nothing something I'll be able to afford anytime soon.

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Well, good news is that you made a instant profit when you got the R. Bad news is that it will be expensive to get another.

Which Rotors are those? 330?

oh and thank you for the post with detailed descriptions and pics. Parts numbers shown on pictures are great too as I like to order them in the future.

Love the nickel finish on the callipers. Fantastic bling. Always loved the look. You have to tell us if you feel much difference. I have nothing to compare, I have always thought the brakes on my 2012S are fantastic. I have nothing but my BMW 1300S to compare to though.

Very much appreciate the detailed pics and specifications.

bradp51 said:

Love the nickel finish on the callipers. Fantastic bling. Always loved the look. You have to tell us if you feel much difference. I have nothing to compare, I have always thought the brakes on my 2012S are fantastic. I have nothing but my BMW 1300S to compare to though.

Very much appreciate the detailed pics and specifications.

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I have the same set. It's out of this world differences. It takes while to get used to because it brakes so hard and so well. You could start braking so late and deep into entry. I will say with stock M50 with RCS17, you would normally start braking at #5 braking point but this set up, you could do at 1 easily. Lol

Mick1976 said:

With your EVR did they supply a 1.6mm clutch plate? My EVR slipper came with a 1.6mm plate to replace the only 2.0mm plate on the OEM slipper all the rest are 1.6 so wondering if your EVR is a older version? Who did you order it from? Mine came from Bellissi less then 6 months and dropped right in on my 16R no problems but do remember the bottom of the drum looked like yours so trying to figure out why yours had to be modified.

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Heya Mick! I bought mine from MotoWheels in June 2017. These mods happened quite some time back, but because I have pictures and apparently too much time to spare, I thought I'd post chronologically I got in touch with EVR in June 2017 as well, so I wonder if they've since added a new plate to address this issue. Guess I was a bit of a guinea pig then!

youngR said:

Well, good news is that you made a instant profit when you got the R. Bad news is that it will be expensive to get another.

Click to expand...

youngR said:

Which Rotors are those? 330?

Click to expand...

youngR said:

oh and thank you for the post with detailed descriptions and pics. Parts numbers shown on pictures are great too as I like to order them in the future.

Click to expand...

Haha yeah mate. It's kinda like the whole housing market thing. People get all excited their house has appreciated not realizing that so has everyone elses' so you won't see gains selling and buying (unless you time it right I suppose!)

The rotors are 330mm Brembo Supersport discs. When they're done, I think I'll give the T-drives a go

Thanks for compliments too!

bradp51 said:

Love the nickel finish on the callipers. Fantastic bling. Always loved the look. You have to tell us if you feel much difference. I have nothing to compare, I have always thought the brakes on my 2012S are fantastic. I have nothing but my BMW 1300S to compare to though.

Very much appreciate the detailed pics and specifications.

Click to expand...

Heya Brad mate. Hope you're enjoying that parcel I sent to you from Singapore a while back. You have to post a pic or two at some point. Or at least email them to me

It's hard to say how much the GP4-RX calipers are doing on their own as I changed the master, lines and calipers at one go. Braking power feels significantly better, but more importantly feel is up as well. I like how smooth the brakes have become, and I think that's partly the CNC master and also the CNC (and therefore more precise) interior of the nickel calipers. This is helping me stay on the brakes later so I can trail them in a little more. I'm still a ways away from trailing to the apex or thereabouts, but I'm certainly more confident staying on the brakes as I tip in.

More Sepang and more parts

My second Sepang outing felt largely similar to the first - I was more familiar with my markers but the bike had changed so I just wanted to get more laps under my belt. Everything worked perfectly:


As always, after going on track, I justify to myself that more mods to the bike are deserved As she goes back to the workshop straight from the track, the following new bits are waiting for her:










Up next, proper photos of the mods installed.

Congratulations and welcome to the R family. They are awesome to ride on the track.
Some nice mods so far and thanks for all the pics.

Another photo-op

I picked up the bike from the workshop with its new bits, including some new Podium Racing titanium bolts (swingarm pivot bolts, clutch slave bolts and gear casing bolts). Some other changes were necessary to fit the bits I already had, e.g. the Ducabike start switch had to be replaced with a BSD one as the clamp style of the Ducabike did not fit the CNC master, and new Venhill lines were installed to better fit the GP4-RX calipers.

After a bit of cleaning, it was photo time. She's starting to feel and look like my bike (as opposed to someone else's bike that I bought ).

Now wire up those caliper bolts

Very nice photos. Love those callipers

Twistedracer said:

Now wire up those caliper bolts

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Good call!

Before the next trackday, the bike had the following things done:

1. Safety wired caliper bolts. We added a small rubber hose over the wire to prevent the wire from scratching up the nickel finish on the caliper.

2. DP GP shift kit. I couldn't find the linkage for the DP rearsets that would convert it to GP shift, so I went with this kit. I like the machined knuckle bit on this kit.

3. New Brembo Z04 pads. These things were a revelation. I try not to exaggerate where I can, but these things may well be the best brake mod I've done to date. Unbelievable power, super progressive as well. Now Al Fagan's review of these pads here make total sense.

4. R&G pad. I cut a strip from an old R&G pad and applied it to the shifter area after noticing scratches on the fairing. Not sure if it's the boot or the inner surface of the shifter.

Good to see you enjoying her on the track. That bike really loves the track.

Heat? What heat?

The next thing I wanted to tackle was the heat (what heat?).

We joke about the heat, but in the Singapore/Malaysia heat and humidity, these bikes heat up way too quickly. The old 899 would get to the fan-on temperature and not go much higher. The R just kept going up. Even on track, it ran hot.

This forum was a great resource for options for a new radiator. I wanted to keep the fan for street use, so this limited my options. I ended up going with Mac Radiators's street kit.

Pros: There was a decent drop in temperatures when I was moving. Where it would've stayed around the 98C/208F range even when moving (and quickly rising to 110C/230F or higher if stopped), I saw about a 3-5C/37-41F drop when moving. It would still go up at a stop (can't get around this as it needs airflow), but the rate of increase and the max values were much lower than stock. Also the parts looked well made.

Cons: Dealing with Mac (aka Aurelian) is not great. It was all Facebook messaging, which was okay but his responses were delayed. Payment was by bank transfer only - unnerving when you have no idea if he'll actually ship the item and there was no accountability. It took more like 5 weeks to ship instead of the 2 weeks he estimated. After the items ships, it can be all but impossible to get a hold of him. Also the parts didn't go on easy - my workshop spent quite a few hours getting the bits to fit.

I also had the exhaust headers (which had quite a bit of surface corrosion since they were steel units even on the R) ceramic coated. I chose a titanium colour hoping it would match the stock pipes but unfortunately they came out lighter than expected. This wouldn't be a problem for too long.

The Big Haul - Part 2(a)

With some time to spare until the next trackday, it was time for more parts. If you're wondering what is motivating these mods:


To go on are:

1. Race Seats and carbon tank extension - At my height (6'), the R's rider triangle felt great for the street but on track I felt like I had too much room and was moving too much front-to-back. I also thought I could do with a better surface to hang off from. I wanted to keep the bike looking stock-ish so I decided I'd have the extension painted to match the R tank. This was purchased directly from Race Seats, and I had the logo embroided in black for an incognito look.

2. MCET billet triple clamp - If you hadn't noticed, Ducati reserves machined billet triple clamps for its limited run Panigales (SL, Anniversario, FE). I thought my bike was special enough to deserve one too. I went with one from Germany via MCET (link). They have an almost identical look to the SL/Anni/FE clamp but without the webbed portion where the limited number would be laser-engraved. I liked that it looked OEM.