I decided to purchase a set of radiatory guards for my 1199 and thought that I would share with your the installation process. The guards I purchased are made by COX. For those not familiar with this brand, these mount between the radiators and the radiator housing.
I'm going to break this post down into three parts.
Part 1: Preparation and planning
Part 2: The installation process
Part 3: Final thoughts and suggestions
Part 1: Preparation:
Let me start off by saying that this is not a simple job. Despite what a sales person or advertisement on the net may tell you this job is not a simple R&R. If you are easily intimidated working on your bike, are not mechanically inclined or are flumoxed at the thought of adjusting a chain, bleeding your brakes, or installing a simple set of termi slip-ons then this installation is not for you. Take it to a GOOD mechanic who is familiar with Ducati's and that you trust.
While the overall process is straight forward there are some areas where experience working with bikes (or cars) will come in handy. I will make mention of specific areas of the installation where you will face some challenges.
You will want to have your bike securely mounted on a rear stand. Doing this with the bike on the kickstand is NOT advised. You will knock the bike over refitting the radiator frame.
While I did not remove the front wheel to do the installation, if I were to do it again I would remove the front fender and wheel without a second thought.
Make sure you are working in a well lit environment. Make sure you have plenty of working space available. This is not a job to be performed with the bike wedged in the corner or between two cars in your garage. You will need to work from both side of the bike.
Have your cell phone camera handy. You will want to take pictures of key areas for reference when putting things back together. I will mention when and why in the installation section.
For tools you will need the following: 3mm allen head, 4 mm allen head (both t-handle and smaller L type for tight spaces), 8mm socket, needle nose pliers, T15 torx head and philips heads screw drivers. That is it, no other tools required. You'll want some thread lock as well. A few of the bolts removed have a thread locking compound on them.
Keep the box that the guards are shipped in. You will need it to cut a 6.5 inch by 16 inch rectangular piece. Use the remaining part of the box to sort the various screws and bolts that you will be removing. I punched a bunch of holes in sections or groups into the box and marked each section. i.e. left fairing, right fairing, core support, etc... to keep each screw and bolt in order and make it easy to remember where they all go. You will wind up removing about 30 screws and bolts to do this so keeping everything in order and not losing any will make the process less stressful.
You will need a fairly large, safe, area to place all of the components that you will remove. I laid a large blanket over the hood of my car and laid all the parts on that. It kept them off the ground and out of harms way.
Finally you will need something to drain the radiator fluid into and you will need new radiator fluid. Unless you have recently drained, flushed and replaced your coolant you will not want to reuse the old stuff. I considered it until I saw it. Lots of nasty looking stuff came out. So figure out what you want to use and go get it before starting the job.
Finally, and most importantly you will need time and patience. This is not a job to start at 8pm with plans for that group ride at 8am. All-in-all it took me 12 hours to do this job. Doing it again and without doing some of the other things that I did I could probably do it in 6. But why rush? Take your time.
While performing this job I took advantage of having things apart and took the time to clean and inspect. I would suggest doing so as well. You will be able to see if you have any coolant leaks, oil leaks etc... I was lucky and had none. Mostly just dust.
That's it for preparation. Next post is Part 2. Installation.
This is a continuation of Part 2 of a 3 part posting dated 3/20/2013.
Part 2: Installation (continued...)
Now that you have everything apart it is time to begin reassembly. For me, this was day two. You have some decisions to make at this point.
First. If you like, now is the perfect time to unhook the exhaust SET value. No harm here, lots have done it. If you wish to do this then simply remove the servo housing from the top of the fan sub assembly. The servo housing is the part with the silver heat shielding wrapped around it. There are four T15 screws that hold this on. Simply remove the 4 screws and lift up the housing. Unhook the cable from the servo motor and pull the cable out from the box. Doing this also has the advantage of making reassembly of the radiator subassembly much easier. After removing the cable, screw the servo housing back onto the fan assembly.
Second, if you have you charcoal cannister on the bike, now is a great time to remove that. Mine was tossed day 1 of owning the bike. There is much discussion on this board about this controversial piece. It has been blamed for everything from collapsed tanks, to hard starting. All it really offers as a benefit is to capture fumes from the tank rather than letting them escape into the atmosphere. If you're a greeny then by all means keep it so you aren't ridden with guilt. For everyone else. Ditch it.
Follow the directions offered by the radiator guard manufaturer for installation of the guards. The Cox guards require that the radiator mount housing be filed a small amount around the lower radiator. Other may as well. Use a flat file and remove the 2 mm of plastic. Work slowly and take your time. If you are squeemish about doing this then take a chill pill, or valium, and go for it. Mount the guards and then the radiators to the radiator support as directed.
Reassembly is basically the opposite of assembly. Exceptions are, if you disconnected the exhaust SET value cable from the servo then you can now bolt the fan housing to the radiator support. If you decide to leave the cable in tact, well good luck. Just reverse the disassembly steps.
I am not going to go through all the steps to reassemble things but I will highlight some areas that the instructions do not mention and will make the job easier.
First is the exhaust cable. With it installed you will not be able to bolt the fan assembly to the core support until after you have the core support repositioned on the bike. You will need someone to hold it in place while doing this. So, again, a second person or helper is required.
Re-installing the radiatory support is a bitch. No other word for it really. So get ready. The following advice will help.
You will want to remove the three screws that hold the electronics to the side of the airbox/frame. You will need this to be loose so you can reach behind it from the rear and push the upper radiator hose into place.
Position the core support and work the upper radiator hose onto the radiator inlet tube. I recommend lubing the inside of the hose first to help it slip over the radiator inlet tube. A bit of saliva is convenient and works well. (and your DNA will now be a part of the bike forever) Position the hose clamp over the radiator inlet tube rather than the hose when installing. Reference the picture (you did take those pcitures right) so that you know how to orientate the host clamp. Do it wrong and you will not be able to access the hose clamp screw to tighten it. The screw needs to be on the bottom.
Once the hose is on you will want to start the two 4mm bolts that hold the radiator support onto the steering head/airbox. These are the two bolts that are located up under the fairing between the two hinged flapper things. You will need to be patient to get these lined up. Make sure that the top radiator and the support do not get hung up on the semi circular plastic piece under the front fairing. (You will see what I mean when you are taking things apart) It is tempting to want to line up the core support with the mounting studs on the front cylinder. Trust me, if you do this you will NOT be able to line up the upper mounting holes.
Once the top screws are in place you can line up the two holes where the core support bolts to the engine valve cover. The rubber grommets will fit over these mounts. Once lined up and pushed into place, screw in the two 3mm allen head screws. Finally, route the exhaust set valve cable and install the 5th and final radiator support screw that is located under the bike by the oil drain bolt. Tighten all the screws. Make sure to use loctite on the two 4mm bolts under the front fairing. (Should have mentioned that earlier)
Now, using the picture as reference reach behind the left side electrical panel and push the upper radiator hose all the way onto the upper radiator inlet tube. Use the picture as a reference for how far this hose needs to go. Tighten the clamp, reinstall the lower radiator hose. Install the coolant drain screw. Plug the two electrical connects (one for the fan and one for the servo motor) back into place. Use 2 zip ties to bundle the wires into place. You do not want these hanging down.
On the right side reinstall the radiator hose between the upper and lower radiators, if you haven't already. Don't forget to also install the coolant return line from the oil cooler. This tube needs to push all the up to the radiator inlet. Use the needle nose pliers to reposition the clamp. Note, this hose is a pain to get back on. I found it easier to reach it from the top rather than from the back.
Use the picture you took of the vent and overflow lines on the right side of the bike to reposition all the hoses correctly.
At this point you are done except for adding coolant and installing the fairings. Check all fasters and clamps. Then check them all again to make sure they are tight.
Inventory all screws you have left (you did take my advice and use the trick with the box right?) All that should be left are 4 plastic pins and fairing bolts. Reinstall two of the plastic pins into the two holes under the front fairing that are located next to the fork tubes.
Now, fill your radiator. I measured how much fluid I drained and poured out of the radiator. This gave me a good idea of how much I need to pour back into the cooling system. I had about 10 ounces left. Air in the cooling system.
Start the bike. Let it heat up. Let it get up over 217 degrees. The fan should turn on. Check for coolant leaks. Turn off the bike. Top off the radiator. The remaining 10 ounces topped mine off. Restart the bike. Let it heat up again. Turn off the bike. Let sit and check the radiator level again. It should be good, if not top it off once more. Reinstall the radiator cap.
Let the engine cool down. Check for leaks.
Note, I drained my overflow tank and filled it 2/3 of the way while the radiator core support was off the bike. Amazing how easy it was to see the level when that site line is in good light. I would suggest doing the same. It is harder to fill that tank when the core support is back on the bike.
Provided you have no leaks you can reinstall the left side fairing then the left side converyor cover. Reinstall the left side lower fairing. I started the bike one more time and let it heat up and then cool down. I then rechecked the radiator level. I added a couple more ounces. Reinstall the cap and put on the right side faring panels. Install the right side converyor cover, install the ignition key cover. Check all the faring bolts.
If you took the front tire off reinstall it. Reinstall the front fender. Make sure to route the wheel speed sensor wire correctly within the left side of the fender.
Congrats, your radiators are now protected. Go ride and enjoy.
This is a continuation of a previous post date 3/20/2013. Part 3 of 3
Part 3: Final thoughts and suggestions.
Ok,comment time.
First off, this job is a total pain in the butt. No doubt about it. But, it was worth it. The guards look great. I got the red anodized ones since I have installed various red anodized pieces like axle nuts and resevoir covers and wanted to continue with that theme.
It is worth taking the time to clean your radiators before reinstallation. You can see through the guards and nice guards in front of a dirty radiator would just look bad. If yours are really dirty and/or banged up from rocks it would be worthwhile to take them to a good radiator shop to have them cleaned and combed. (fins straightened).
Some heads up. The COX instructions show an S model with termis. They make no mention about the servo motor and cable and the complications that this bring to disassembly and reassembly. This is where experience come into play. You need to keep your wits about you when dealing with this.
Also, remounting the radiator and core support assembly is not easy. It takes two people and a bit of pushing to get it into place. This is why you can not do this with the bike on the side stand. You'll push the bike over or backwards and it will fall. So be forewarned.
The upper radiator hose on the left side is a bit of a bear to deal with. The instructions make it seem like a non-issue but there is simply no room to grab it to reinstall it fully over the radiatory inlet tube. By loosening the electrical panel you can get your hand behind it and push it fully into place. Only 3 bolts hold this panel into place. They all have silver washers for identification. Two bolts on top and one on the bottom.
Make sure to orientate the left side upper hose clamp properly. You do not want to have to take things all apart to flip the clamp around. The screw for the clamp needs to be on the bottom.
Speaking of clamps, use an 8 mm socket on the clamps rather than a flat head screw driver. If the screw driver slips off the clamps you'll drive it right into the radiators. Big $$$$
While you are monkeying around with the upper radiator hose notice the plug wire coming from the coil to the front cylinder spark plug. There is a rubber grommet wrapped around the wire where it passes through the front of the plastic electrical panel and front fairing. This grommet protects the wire from chaffing. Make sure it is in place correctly.
While everything is apart you have a great opportunity to really clean the mufflers. I found that an SOS pad works great. Always move with the grain of the metal. If your bike is due it is a good time to change the oil too. If you were thinking of a new lithium battery now is the time as well. Everything is exposed.
Overall, I would rate this as a high 6 or 7 out of 10. Mainly because the core support is tought to get back into place and pulling it out and back under the bike requires care to not scratch things up. Also because of complications with the servo housing, wiring and cables.
Again, front tire removal is highly recommended. Definitely at least remove the front fender otherwise you will scratch it up.
Use the cardboard trick on the back of the upper radiator to protect it during removal and assembly. Again, with the front tire in place, things get really tight.
Finally, plan on this taking some time. Don't rush it, give yourself plenty of time.
In the end the pieces look factory. Overall, to me, it was worth the effort.
