V4s Build - From Start To Finish

topolino · Mar 8, 2020

The front frame being such an integral part of the bike hides a few sub assemblies that must be fitted, before you can marry it up to the engine, namely the air cyclone unit, cooling system pipework and the air intake duct.

Here is the upper radiator hose link pipe (Cerakoted black) and mounting bracket. Yes the manual calls for zip ties here which need to be tight but not too tight as you need to be able to adjust the pipe left and right a little when fitting the hoses later on.

Here is the inner air intake duct. The rubber seal needs to seat perfectly around the opening at the front of the airbox. White lithium grease helps enormously. You can also see the pipework for the air cyclone unit on the right.

In this shot you can see the two retaining clips for the front coil connectors, I didn't spot these when disassembling the bike in the months before, and ended up breaking a connector (see earlier post). Incidentally you can also see just how rough this casting is, almost looks like parts of it are flaking off on the side rails (they're not BTW!) but surely Ducati can do a better job than this? Thankfully none of this is visible once the front frame is on the bike.

Here is the frame ready to go back on the bike, complete with inner air duct, cyclone unit and radiator link pipe/bracket.

topolino · Mar 8, 2020

A few last minute (can't access them easily otherwise) jobs to do before the frame goes back on.

Here is the ground wire that sits just inboard of the left hand frame rail, then we have the link hose to the link pipe which fits onto the thermostat housing. One thing worth mentioning is that Ducati place a lot of emphasis on the orientation of the jubilee clips you saw earlier on the thermostat housing hoses, so as once the airbox is in place you can easily access them later to tighten if necessary. You can also see the airbox breather hose, MAP sensor tubing and purge line on the left. The latter is capped off anyway, when you fit the Akrapovic exhaust. The large hexagonal black bolt on the engine under the airbox is one of two cam chain tensioner bolts, which was the subject of a check-torque recall on earlier bikes.

Secondary air system actuator valve bolts.

topolino · Mar 8, 2020

Running out of time today, so I might post up more later. For now at least, here the frame is reunited with the engine....at last!

Its a VERY snug fit and design and a good example of mass centralization.

Custom made stainless steel frame bolts (4 in all) - 90Nm.

DStyleNZL · Mar 8, 2020

Man... that is alot of effort for some paint and bolts.

nice pictures thou. interesting seeing the inner workings under the airbox etc.......hopefully theres no leaking thermostat housing or hoses like the 1x99 Panigale.

JHTmcrider · Mar 8, 2020

Great work!

topolino · Mar 8, 2020

DStyleNZL said:
Man... that is alot of effort for some paint and bolts.

nice pictures thou. interesting seeing the inner workings under the airbox etc.......hopefully theres no leaking thermostat housing or hoses like the 1x99 Panigale.

I would like to think it is more than paint and bolts alone. The build quality of an average bike as it leaves the production line is woefully poor in some respects. At the price point we as consumers pay, you would rightly expect better, so the aim of this project is to address those issues and put a bike together that is as close to the intended article without the restrictions that time and mass production constraints impose on the finished product. I'm not reinventing the wheel just trying to produce a bike that if time and budget allowed the factory could turn out and that would be more in line with the expectations an owner would wish for given the retail price.

Paul G · Mar 8, 2020

I hear you but I just ride.

topolino · Mar 8, 2020

Paul G said:
I hear you but I just ride.

As do I. It just takes me a lot longer before I start! I'm not too concerned anyway as the riding season doesn't start in the UK until at least April and I've got to build a new garage yet so there's no immediate rush

endodoc · Mar 8, 2020

When I built my first “ground up” 1299 5 years ago I was truly introduced to the brand form an engineering perspective in design, manufacturing and component selection. There are some interesting design aspects of the bikes both a aesthetically and mechanically unfortunately there are a myriad of inherent problems and head scratching issues as well. The hardware is the worst in the industry, the castings are crude and poorly finished, the ability to consistently provide surfaces that seal correctly plague every model and seem to fall on def ears when complaints flow in. Lastly the electronics from a “gimmick” perspective are nifty and I say gimmick because the number of owners globally who actually even fiddle with these things is infinitesimally small however the electrical components and harness assemblies are junk. Most owners are oblivious to these issues. They ride the bike and then it goes to the dealer to get fixed and they are all sent away with the same message “It’s a Ducati, it’s supposed to be like that” “it’s all part of the Ducati experience”The bikes are for sure the best in the industry with regards to aesthetics but they are for sure over priced for what they deliver and I think this thread sheds a bit of light on how for the money, Ducati could deliver a bit more than they currently do without much effort. Nice write up.

cmh210 · Mar 8, 2020

Many, many thanks for sharing this with us. It is good to see some of you "tinkerers" with an extreme wealth of knowledge and experience still on here. You included endodoc

topolino · Mar 9, 2020

endodoc said:
When I built my first “ground up” 1299 5 years ago I was truly introduced to the brand form an engineering perspective in design, manufacturing and component selection. There are some interesting design aspects of the bikes both a aesthetically and mechanically unfortunately there are a myriad of inherent problems and head scratching issues as well. The hardware is the worst in the industry, the castings are crude and poorly finished, the ability to consistently provide surfaces that seal correctly plague every model and seem to fall on def ears when complaints flow in. Lastly the electronics from a “gimmick” perspective are nifty and I say gimmick because the number of owners globally who actually even fiddle with these things is infinitesimally small however the electrical components and harness assemblies are junk. Most owners are oblivious to these issues. They ride the bike and then it goes to the dealer to get fixed and they are all sent away with the same message “It’s a Ducati, it’s supposed to be like that” “it’s all part of the Ducati experience”The bikes are for sure the best in the industry with regards to aesthetics but they are for sure over priced for what they deliver and I think this thread sheds a bit of light on how for the money, Ducati could deliver a bit more than they currently do without much effort. Nice write up.

Thanks Endodoc. Have always been a close follower of your input on this forum, over the years that I've been a part of it. I'm also acutely aware of the shortcomings of the brand, as I strongly suspect you are. That's not to say the factory don't turn out a suitable product, just that they produce what they can at a price that affords them sustainability, which ultimately means cutting a few corners here and there.

I suspect that for a lot of riders that's acceptable but from the threads you've penned, its apparent you share the same misgivings of the brand in terms of where they could be, as I do, Ideally if they tried just a little bit harder to produce a product that did not fall short of what you might come to expect, with respect to the price they command at the point of sale, then I'd be much less likely to feel the need to improve on what sits on the showroom floor.

topolino · Mar 9, 2020

Time to fit the outer air duct/filter housing and new Sprint P08 filter that comes with the Akrapovic exhaust system. We are up to 90 images so far peeps, with a lot more to go, so bear with me!

V4 nostrils, up close and personal.

topolino · Mar 9, 2020

With the front frame in place and torqued up, it was time to turn my attention to the swing arm and linkages. When it came to fitting it, this proved tricky as I had to counterbalance the engine on its stand to prevent it rocking/rolling over, as all that holds it in place within the sump plate, is it's own weight and it was, by this stage, very top heavy!

New chain slider polished stainless steel bolts.

The lip on the underside of the upper chain slider serves an important function, as you will see later.

In order to make a shouldered bolt you need to combine an aluminium collar and dome bolt (both from ProBolt) - 10Nm with a dab of Loctite 243.

Lower rocker link, for rear suspension, Cerakoted satin black, along with new bushes and seals pressed in (courtesy of Carl Harrison Motorcycles).

topolino · Mar 9, 2020

Swing arm, rear Ohlins shock absorber and rocker link back on, torque values vary here and are critical. +/- 5% tolerance. Here's where that Shell "Gladus" grease comes in, I mentioned earlier.

Upper and lower shock mounting bolts and rocker link bolt, linkage plates have yet to be fitted.

LH swing arm bolt in place.

Finally it's beginning to resemble a motorcycle, rear axle and brake disc also back on.

Here you can see how the upper radiator hose and link pipe snake behind the front frame.

topolino · Mar 9, 2020

Getting ever closer to being able to remove the engine stand. First I had to re-attach the rear suspension link plates. The bolts retaining these have to be torqued up to 110Nm! I had originally commissioned some stainless steel ones but they proved to be of the wrong tensile strength and I stretched the thread on one of them whilst tightening it, so decided to use the original three bolts for safety reasons and had these Cerakoted satin silver, to get rid of the dull zinc plated finish.

Here's the completed rear suspension set-up, there is only a 2mm clearance between the lower shock bolt and nut and the inner face of the linkage plates, so very tight!

topolino · Mar 9, 2020

Front forks were next. Once these were on I could dust off the paddock stands and remove the engine stand that had done its job after three long months of work. As I said an invaluable bit of kit.

Front forks back on with temporary steering stem nut. Next pic shows the new stainless lock-stops and nuts.

These plastic pipe caps will serve as protective caps on the ends of the lock stops to stop them from marking the frame on full lock and scratching the paint! Lower yoke bolts also replaced - 8Nm.

Even the horn mounting nut and washer don't escape my attention.

topolino · Mar 9, 2020

Here the front fork axle pinch bolts and axle nut have been replaced.

I decided to go with a two tone setup on top of the forks with a black anodised top yoke and red steering stem nut.

Re-fitted the ignition switch using new shear bolts.

View from above. Still a lot of wiring to sort out. More of that later.

topolino · Mar 9, 2020

Before I could use the rear paddock stand I wanted to ensure the rear of the bike was as stable as possible, so that meant installing the rear suspension/footrest mounting plates and which also encompassed the side stand assembly. Here is the extended footpeg for the side stand I fitted from CNC Racing. The zinc bolt in this shot was replaced with a stainless item at a later date.

Stainless pivot bolt and self locking nut for the side stand.

Completed assembly.

Finally the RH suspension plate fitted back on the bike. I have already ordered some anodised frame plugs to cover the swing arm pivot bolts.

topolino · Mar 9, 2020

I've mentioned many times on this thread, the parts I have had Cerakoted, such as the front frame, swingarm, suspension linkages etc. It's not a cheap process but it's advantages are that it is resistant to heat, does not fade, is exceptionally hard and therefore does not scratch easily, bonds readily to the surface and resists corrosion unlike many other paints or finishes. It is also not so thick (unlike powder coating) that it changes the appearance or rather the definition of a casting. As a result, you also don't need to mask off the threads on any part, though, on certain items they were masked anyway. Cerakote was originally designed to coat firearms which are subject to extreme heat under use but has over the years found it's other niche for coating exhausts, radiators and other parts requiring a tough durable solution. All my Cerakoting was carried out by Hi-Spec Coatings in Sussex (UK). If you are in the market for similar work, give your local Cerakoting company a call. Here is a selection from those parts I had coated.

Radiator fan brackets.

Oil cooler pipe retaining clamps.

Fuel tank/seat pad plate.

Rear subframe cross-member.

Gear change lever.

topolino · Mar 9, 2020

Completing the top end of the forks involved the handlebars, clip-ons, switchgear and bar-end indicators and hydraulic reservoirs. I will come back to the hydraulic system and indicators later. For now here's the setup I went for.

Handlebars and clip-ons ready to assemble. E clips not shown in this picture. The roll pins in the plastic bag are used as locating dowels for the switchgear and to lock the handlebars into the clip-ons.

Clip-ons fitted along with switch gear, clutch master cylinder, Rizoma clutch lever and ProGrip 717 grip. As usual all bolts replaced for stainless, including bleed nipple and banjo bolts.

Same again on the throttle side.

Throttle spacer kit installed to remove slack/slop when first applying throttle. Best $25 you can spend.

V4s Build - From Start To Finish

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