V4s Build - From Start To Finish

With the 'back-end' almost complete, it was time to focus on the front subframe, the remainder of the wiring, instrumentation and lighting. Up until this point, no power had been applied to the bike, and with so many sensors disconnected and disturbed, plus some additions and modifications to the original loom, it was always going to be a heart-in-the-mouth moment that everything worked as described, when I turned on the ignition. I wasn't planning to run the bike at this stage (that would have to wait until the fuel tank was back on), just check the basics functioned as intended.

First step was to re-install the two part 6-axis Bosch IMU accelerometer with new fasteners. It's important not to apply any power to this unit until it is in it's correct orientation on the bike, else I am reliably informed, it can throw it out of kilter.



Instrument panel re-fitted. You can also see the "silent-block" as Ducati call them, rubber dampers that help locate the 2 IMU units onto the subframe.



The two leads from the bar-end indicators in the centre of this image, are routed underneath the top of the subframe and will connect to the loom just as the original OEM mirrors/indicators did. Under the top yoke, you can also see the white connector that will eventually connect to the electronic steering damper.



I applied a "Speedo-Angels" anti-glare film to the face of the instrument panel, partly to, as the name suggests, reduce glare but also to prevent scratches. It's easily removed and replaced if needs be.

The plastic instrument cover on the V4 is normally a one-piece moulding with enough give that it can be bent into position as it sits astride the sub-frame casting. Owing to this, there just isn't the scope to make it in a single arrangement, so it comes in three pieces, with an additional three parts supplied as part of the kit, two that bolt through the subframe into the nose fairing (mirror caps) and a GPS blanking plug.



GPS blanking plug.



Mirror caps and blanking plug.



Side panels of the instrument cover kit.



The side panels need to be fitted first.



These are then sandwiched between the subframe and the main front cover.

Owing to the proposed paint scheme, the exposed subframe where it meets the nose fairing, is not in keeping with what I want to achieve. Thankfully Lieb Speed have an answer for that......



As with all things from Peter Lieb's company, they are so meticulously planned out, even down to the packaging. The kit included the two carbon covers, adhesive, bonding panels (not shown here) and a 'Scotchbrite' pad.



Bonding panels are attached to the subframe and the area bound by the white lines is roughened up using the "Scotchbrite" pad to give the adhesive a good key.



Next, the adhesive is applied.



Finally the covers are pressed into place and the adhesive allowed to cure.





I have already ordered the Gel "Ducati" domed sticker that will go on the centre of the front panel, as per the OEM plastic part.

With the headlight and the remainder of the wiring finished (well almost, as I have yet to fit the Multimedia module), the steering damper now on plus a few other bits and pieces, the bike is starting to resemble a Panigale as opposed to a collection of parts. There is still a lot of work to do at this point (May 2019), so I thought I would get some of the ancilliary stuff out the way first such as the tail tidy, temporarily fitting the fuel tank and new cap (so I could run the bike), rear sprocket/carrier, LH silencer and the seat. Time to crack on....

The tank is only on the bike temporarily as it will be coming off again for paintwork, but I obviously need it in situ to test run the engine.



I transferred the fuel cap over from the 1299.



New stainless bolts of course.



Always thought it odd that Ducati should choose to date the tank in this way - 24/04/18 in my case.



Tank/seat pad bracket in place.





Once again, I apologize for the slight discontinuity in these photos as there are obviously parts on here that I have not yet covered or that appear to no longer be fitted! However I am sure you get the general idea. This was taken shortly before we moved house, hence the plethora of boxes in the background.

Evototech tail tidy, not much to say here except for anyone who's unsure of the assembly process, their instructions might prove inadequate.



I ended up having to shim the mounting bracket, in order to get the assembly to sit dead level on the bike. If there is one thing I hate, it's crooked number plates. I may end up swapping out the rear indicators for some Kellerman items but for now these will suffice.

Moving on to the final drive for a moment. Always handy to know someone with a hydraulic press to fit the cush-drive rubbers.



I used to be a Renthal convert for many years but the aluminium sprockets just don't seem to fair well even with regular maintenance. I've been a fan of SuperSprox ever since, as you get the best of both worlds. A light aluminium central core, with a hardened steel toothed ring, topped off with a CNC racing billet carrier. First lashings of titanium on the bike, sprocket nuts and axle nut.

As timelines go, the thread has now taken us up to around June/July of 2019 so far. I should explain that we moved in July last year and the bike went into storage on the 18th of that month, pending the building of our new garage which is due to start in March 2020 and will take 12 weeks to complete, so I've not seen or touched the bike in over 6 months! I am hopeful that I can resume the build in late June, but who knows! Here are some more photos in the meantime. I'll add in a few images of some of the smaller jobs I carried out as well as some of the parts yet to be fitted in the interim.

Since I was always intending to change out the rear sets on the bike, I knew the Bonamici offerings I had settled on, needed to have a pressure switch fitted, which drew my attention to the connection on the main loom for it. The way it was orientated seemed a perfect place to collect moisture, so I decided to break out my trusty toolkit and fit a rubber TYCO AMP boot. These tools enable you to extract the pins from the connector which once off, allowed me to slip the boot over the two connector pins, then re-assemble afterwards.

Another of Peter Lieb's creations. This is the only carbon cover on the market, where someone has gone to the extent of manufacturing a decal and lacquering over the key legends.





Cover is held in place by two, two-tone shouldered bolts, courtesy of DesmoWorld in Germany.





If you been reading this thread from the beginning, you will remember the caps I showed you. Here is one of them in situ. I primarily fitted them as I didn't want the lock stops marring the paint on the front frame, where they contact it on full lock.

A small selection of parts yet to go on the bike. I've got dozens more in boxes, also in storage, that I have yet to unpack, so if I get the time I'll fire off a few more photos, but for now we've reached close to 300 photos on this thread and an impasse for now until bricks and mortar appear, in order to house this project. As you can imagine, I'm itching to carry on with it but it's out of my hands at the moment. I'll be back with more updates as and when..........to be continued

Bonamici rear sets. I will be swapping out all the bolts shown here, for polished stainless steel items.









Made up my own plug and play brake line pressure switch. Tygon tubing will replace the stock Brembo kit.



Going to switch out the one-piece conical titanium nut on the rear wheel (axle side) for this AELLA two piece affair.



Front sprocket cover.

While I wait for the garage build to start, if anyone is interested, I completed a ground-up rebuild of my wife's Monster 620ie which was subject to the same attention as the V4. Turned out OK, at least I think so for a 17 year old bike.

As I said...hoping to post up some pics of the parts yet to go on the bike in the next week or so. The Coronavirus situation may have a bearing on how things pan out in terms of the garage build and when exactly I will finally get my hands on the bike again to recommence the build project so please bear that in mind. Man cave construction is set to start 2nd week of April so fingers crossed for a 3rd week of July continuation!

Yes, great to see some folks actually pulling these machines apart and revealing what lies beneath the skin. I did a project for an economics class a few years ago about the supply chain on my 1199 Ducati, and its interesting to see which companies are providing the IMU, cables, and computer etc. As I recall Mitsubishi builds the ECU?

Keep up the good work!

JHTmcrider said:

Yes, great to see some folks actually pulling these machines apart and revealing what lies beneath the skin. I did a project for an economics class a few years ago about the supply chain on my 1199 Ducati, and its interesting to see which companies are providing the IMU, cables, and computer etc. As I recall Mitsubishi builds the ECU?

Keep up the good work!

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Thanks for your comments. It's not really surprising nowadays, just how many of the bikes components are outsourced and I don't think Ducati are that different to any other manufacturer. Aside from the engine, there really isn't much left that is made "in-house". Whilst many of the constituent parts might have their logo stamped on them, it's certainly not been produced at the factory but most probably under licence. Few if any of the total sum of parts parts bear the actual manufacturers name, with the exception of the obvious ones, such as Brembo, Bosch, Magnetti Marelli, Mitsubishi, Ohlins, Pirelli etc. As an example, the swing arm and frame for both the 1299SL and the V4 Superleggera are produced by RIBA composites. Equally, most of the headlight units are made by FAR S.p.A, such as those fitted to the 1199, 1299, Supersport, V4 etc.

How long did it take to figure out and order all the different nut and bolt sizes you needed? I can't imagine that being an easy task! Great work and great to see someone tackling something like this. The bike looks excellent!

ArcticWhite said:

How long did it take to figure out and order all the different nut and bolt sizes you needed? I can't imagine that being an easy task! Great work and great to see someone tackling something like this. The bike looks excellent!

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Not that long. The vast majority of the fasteners on the bike are M6. Fairings and typically smaller components are M4 or M5 and suspension parts are often M8 up to and including M12. It was more a case of going through each fastener I removed once the bike had been stripped and making a note of the qty. and sizes required, as well as the style/profile of the head (ie allen, torx, philips, domed, socket cap, tapered, pan head etc). Similarly with the washers and nuts, the type and size needed (ie plain, serrated, spring washers and for the nuts...hexagon, nyloc, metal locking, flanged, half or full size, left or right hand thread etc. If anyone in interested I can post up a list with the size and dimensions for all the bolts replaced to date and over the course of the entire project.

topolino said:

Here's how the bike looked at this point in the build. Well almost.....the eagle eyed amongst you will notice that neither the indicators or silencers are fitted in this image and it appears to have gained a rear sprocket as well, that is because some photos are slightly out of sequence to give this thread some sense of coherence.

View attachment 29913

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Wow, I wish Ducati Cerakote the frame and swing arm just like what you did!
That would look awesome and bring connection to the original 916 Trellis Frame color.
Thanks for all the pictures, I am in the process of buying some carbon parts similar to yours but in matte color.

Once you conclude this project I’m going to send you another bike to work on and a couple of shoe boxes full of green folding stuff

Rock on!

This is unreal, I would love to have the funds and, more importantly, expertise to give my 1299 this treatment

BMW Alpina said:

Wow, I wish Ducati Cerakote the frame and swing arm just like what you did!
That would look awesome and bring connection to the original 916 Trellis Frame color.
Thanks for all the pictures, I am in the process of buying some carbon parts similar to yours but in matte color.

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Great to hear. Good luck with your modifications.

DucatiKev said:

Once you conclude this project I’m going to send you another bike to work on and a couple of shoe boxes full of green folding stuff

Rock on!

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You are not the first person to suggest this, though working on these bikes is well within the realms of most people who have the time, tools, information and confidence to tackle a comprehensive build. If nothing else this project, I hope, helps to dispel the myths that these bikes are beyond the scope of owners to work on, even at a safety critical level, provided you follow workshop manual directions, guidance, recommendations and torque settings rigidly. In many cases, fear of invalidating your warranty, time constraints and/or personal abilities as well as access to the right tools and diagnostic equipment are the driving factors behind a reluctance to tackle any work for yourself. For some owners they just want to ride their bike, as opposed to spending a dis-proportionate amount of time working on them. In my case I probably derive as much pleasure from a build project itself as I do from using the bike as intended.

Andy7 said:

This is unreal, I would love to have the funds and, more importantly, expertise to give my 1299 this treatment

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It's not really down to expertise Andy, if I am honest. I have been doing these sorts of rebuilds for over 15 years now, so yes that does afford you more confidence to completely tear down a perfectly serviceable brand new bike (not withstanding the knowledge that you are invalidating the warranty in doing so). The key is to begin by tackling only those areas you feel comfortable with and progressing from there on to more challenging areas, if you are considering something similar.

One thing I must add to that, is that I am not so arrogant to assume I can't or have not made an error or an oversight during the build, so as with each of my previous projects (this one being no exception), I always have my local Ducati specialist (www.carlharrisonmotorcycles.co.uk) check over the complete bike thoroughly, before I then ride it. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes are worth your time, as they may spot an issue you didn't.

topolino said:

It's not really down to expertise Andy, if I am honest. I have been doing these sorts of rebuilds for over 15 years now, so yes that does afford you more confidence to completely tear down a perfectly serviceable brand new bike (not withstanding the knowledge that you are invalidating the warranty in doing so). The key is to begin by tackling only those areas you feel comfortable with and progressing from there on to more challenging areas, if you are considering something similar.

One thing I must add to that, is that I am not so arrogant to assume I can't or have not made an error or an oversight during the build, so as with each of my previous projects (this one being no exception), I always have my local Ducati specialist (www.carlharrisonmotorcycles.co.uk) check over the complete bike thoroughly, before I then ride it. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes are worth your time, as they may spot an issue you didn't.

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Well said, 100% agree with that confidence statement. I'm planning to do most of my own mods/upgrades seeing as I enjoy that strategic process of making it all work out. I also reckon it'll make me a better rider having a closer understanding of the particular bike I bought. Hopefully I'll be able to upload my own build thread as I go. Cheers!