V4s Build - From Start To Finish

bp_SFV4 said:

I wasn't responding to you. That dude has a prior record of low rent drive by posts which do not give anything to the community.

For the record, the torx screws have never been a problem. Just the allen head and a couple of yours look a bit worse for wear. The big problem were the tiny allen head bolts, battery holder to airbox and MAF sensor to airbox size, not the larger one you pictured.

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Sorry if I offended you somehow. You will note that I said in my post that I am also guilty of not getting tools engaged properly. I stand by what say. If you slip when you have a tool not lined up properly then you can wreck the screw or bolt. I was not being critical of anyone. I just do not agree that the screws are that bad. As for your comment about that dude and low rent posts. I am pretty careful what I say. I don't post about things I have not done myself. If I fit something and it works well or not so well, I post about. For example: I do not comment on exhaust wrapping as I have never done it. I don't ever say I think it looks bad as I don't want to rain on the parade of someone who has just posted about wrapping their exhaust. Usually I post about stuff on the 1199 as I have had one for 8 years. I just looked back a page and can see at post #109 that you may have taken offence believing I was having a shot at your skills. I was not. I was responding to the post #114 and in particular this line

"but its not necessary most of the time to replace a perfectly adequate low grade fastener with titanium or stainless." I don't know if you are a member who has been on this forum a while and changed his name or whether you joined in July 2020 as your avatar indicates. So your comment about my prior record does not mean too much to me. If you only just joined in July you have not really had a chance to get to know what my posts are like. I know nothing about you or your bike. I have no reason to try to be critical of you. Again I apologise if you took it that way. For the record, I have posted lots of answers to new members asking questions about the 1199. But that is old history now as most focus is now on the new V4.

BMW Alpina said:

Do you mean this small silver bolts (picture below), these are all the bolts I need to took out so I can remove the throttle body assy.:

These small silver bolts are actually even easier to take out than those larger black color bolts and as you can see no stripped head on this smaller silver one.

Some of those black bolts above were not stripped, but their black coating was chipped due to the strong force exerted by my tools setup.

On this smaller silver bolts, I use similar setup but with smaller 1/4" ratcheting wrench instead of the 3/8" ratcheting wrench...

Please test and try using ratcheting wrench the next time you take out these bolts, the key is to also push (preferably directly) from the top of the bolts so it won't slip, I believe it will make a different, and you can feel it when you open the first bolt.
Seriously, I was very worry that I will stripped the head of the bolts too before I managed to open the first bolt without drama... then I felt relief...

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I was using a mix of allen head sockets with a 1/4" and 3/8" drive and extensions. For the really small allen head bolts I was just using an allen key as its the only tool I had that was that small.

I would not reuse some of the long allen head bolts you have pictured. They look pretty chewed up.

bp_SFV4 said:

I was using a mix of allen head sockets with a 1/4" and 3/8" drive and extensions. For the really small allen head bolts I was just using an allen key as its the only tool I had that was that small.
I would not reuse some of the long allen head bolts you have pictured. They look pretty chewed up.

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So you already use the same tools set up as mine (with ratcheting wrench), and you don't have much problem with the larger bolts especially the TORX type
(which is understandable because TORX can handle higher force than allen, however, these TORX were also larger bolts with loctite and was harder to open, but still you did not have much problem with the TORXs...)
and you only have problem with the allen type, especially the smaller one...

hmmm...
The TORX has only one standard for sizing, no metric or imperial standard for TORX, although it is possible to use one size smaller and still "grip" initially, but the chance of using the wrong TORX bit size is minimal...

However, the allen bolts can be had in either metric or imperial standard...

Since, all the Ducati bolts are in METRIC standard, Is there a chance that you were using an IMPERIAL L shape allen wrench when opening these smaller allen head bolts?

Because the IMPERIAL allen wrench might feel ok/fit at first, but it has high chance of stripping the allen head once you use force to open the bolts
and for the smaller L shape allen wrench, it's easy to mistakenly use the "imperial" L shape allen wrench since it is very hard to see the small size label engraved on it... and we usually just rely on try fitting the L shape wrench to the allen bolts head without even checking the size label of L shape allen wrench...

In my case,
I was also using the allen BIT sockets (you will need 2.5mm size) with the 1/4" ratcheting wrench for these small silver bolts.
and since it was a bit socket, it was easy to identify the 2.5mm label engraved on the larger section of the bit socket unlike the L shape allen wrench.

edit:
in some rare cases where I had to use a regular allen L shaped wrench, I used this set from FACOM (France).
If the allen wrench material is not good, then the tip will be easily rounded since they experience very high force, once they are rounded, they will then easily stripped the bolt.

So if you already using the correct metric allen wrench and the size was correct, then the maybe it was the material of the allen wrench.

I mean a bolt head only exposed to the force once or twice when you open it, while the allen wrench had to endure the same force over and over again, so material quality of the allen wrench is very important.



In summary, I am not worried about the condition of the bolts after removal, because they can either be cheaply replace with the same bolts or with better bolts.
(in my case I am replacing all of the bolts with ProTi anyway, mainly for cosmetic purposes).
However, it will be a pain if somehow the bolt head stripped before I was able to remove it,
because then it will require either drilling or grinding and have high chance of damaging the area surrounding the bolt, not to mention a waste of time.
(especially in this case there are maybe more than 40 bolts needed to be removed around the airbox area, so if many of them were stripped... well...)
That was my concern (but no more)

Great build and very informative things on here, that you don't see much of in the ducati community. As I am building my v4 currently, I do have a few questions for you. How do you feel about the removal of the air box assembly as I'd like to heat tape the whole airbox? Also any reason why you ended up not doing the block off plates on the secondary air system? From what I have heard these make tuning real troublesome. I am contemplating removing this and also doing the airbox. Any information would be greatly appreciated

topolino, Bravo. I'm only on page 4, I'll be enjoying your build out over the weekend. Quite the photo essay. This should be on Netflix. ;D
I'm an industrial designer by trade. I too cringe at the sight of manufacturing flaws and shortcuts. I'm impressed by your perspective so far and I have to say thank you, for your attention to photo quality as well. I look forward to seeing how it comes together.
The hounds of Spring are on Winter's traces...

topolino, Bravo. I'm only on page 4, I'll be enjoying your build out over the weekend. Quite the sto

topolino said:

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.

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I'm back! Well at least the build is after an 18 month delay and awaiting for the new garage/man cave to be built, but now it's full steam ahead. Stay tuned.

At last, after 18 looooong months in dry storage, the bike is finally back and in the new garage. Hoping to get the project/build back on track soon, as my work schedule is crazy busy right now and there is a mountain of work in the house to complete, as well as completing the flooring and skirting boards in the garage, before I can dedicate quality time to the build, but rest assured it will restart soon.

Spent a long time prepping the bike before storage and it certainly paid off after such an extensive period under cover. Having removed the indoor cover and a multitude of bubble wrap and blankets with a few more pieces to go and the exhaust blanking tape, all's good it appears.

Sorry folks. A lot has happened in my life in the last few months, so have been a little remiss in posting updates, but I will post up some more content later this evening.

Any additional details on the bar-end mirror you are going to use?

With the garage almost complete I have finally been able to sort out the myriad of boxes that contain all the parts for the remainder of the build. Had quite a few to sort through. Some parts I ordered over a year ago and they've been sitting in the house until now. I'm really looking forward to resuming things where I left off 18 months ago. Watch this space.

I've got a mini mountain of parts to go on the bike



Removed the last of the storage protective bungs and bubble wrap. All set to go!!

Fitted these LighTech billet alloy reservoir caps. Much better looking than the stock plastic items



A quick and easy mod

I've used Desmoworld products before and Chris Schipfer makes some exquisite items including these fantastic billet alloy frame caps that fit into the unsightly swing arm pivot bolt holes. Even the presentation case they come in is a work of art. We'll worth a look at their website.

His presentation and packaging is excellent, as always.

STM timing inspection cover fitted.

Been debating whether to fit a swing arm protector for a while but since this one does not mask too much of the Cerakoted swing arm I settled on the DP version which I had clear coated, to match all the other carbon parts fitted.

Finally fitted the Motogadget glass-less bar end mirrors I mentioned some months back. Will still need to adjust and fine tune their position for the optimum rear view but I won't do this until the bike takes to the road.



These mirrors are wafer thin and beautifully made.



I'm leaving the protective covers on for now.

I'll be fitting the DMS bluetooth module tomorrow. I had to have it initialized on a Multistrada at the dealer first to activate it and then its due a software update which I'll have done along with the Akra map and any other updates at the dealer at some future point.

Ordered some Stahlbus bleeder valves from Germany to replace the stock items. Clutch slave cylinder, both front calipers and rear caliper. Ingenious system that let's you reverse fill the system by opening the upper half of the nipple assembly by two turns. Once full, you simply close it again then reopen it by half a turn and just pump the lever to bleed any air out. Once done you close the bleeder upper half and job done. Spring and ball valve prevent air bring drawn back in to the system when you release the clutch or brake lever while bleeding the system. They are not cheap but worth it for the ease of use. I also purchased the Stahlbus anodized dust caps.

Fitted the Bluetooth DMS module tonight. Five min job but ended up using genuine 3M Dual Lock, as the adhesive pads supplied as part of the fitting kit were just not man enough to really secure the module securely. It's rock solid now. It's also a tiny part barely much bigger than a matchbox which is comforting as space around the headlight assembly is at a premium.

Front and rear Stahlbus bleeder valves fitted. Dust caps will go on once I've bled the system.