[yellow900]

I have a Technomagnesi 18" rear and a stock Pantah 18" rear but no matching front.

I do have a set of 18" spoked wheels (Borrani front and Akront rear) but they weigh a metric tonne!!!!!

Currently the TT has 18" rear and 16" front of a 1985 Katana, so I will endure with them till I can find a 18" Pantah or Magnesium

On the TT1 build we have a 17' 120/150 Marvic Magnesiums. (when the TT1 went from cantilever to rising rate they went to radial slicks and wider tyres) no frame changes other than the suspension set up in the tail. Going to use 40mm 1989 750 Sport forks (valved) for the rear '91 900ss aluminium swingarm.

You are correct, tiny and light (opposite to myself) is the way to go with these. The big 1100DS project bike was built on the same principle.

 

[yellow900]

Some engine build pics

Every build needs some pics of the bits and pieces right?

We started all the way back to vapour blasting the 600cc cases as we start the build of a dry clutch hi-comp 750cc driven of a 650SL crank that has been worked over.

 

[pat1098]

Excellent. It sounds like you are well across it.

Not sure about those 750 Sport 40mm forks though. They were pretty ordinary.

Nice to see such lightening and enthusiasm though. A man after my own heart.

Except you can't have it - I'm still using it.

:naughty:

 

[yellow900]

Not sure about those 750 Sport 40mm forks though. They were pretty ordinary.


Indeed they are, this was a new old stock, stripped and gold valved and reassembled.


For the other TT I have some adjustable magnesium 35mm legs.

 

[shotie450]

Hi again, back again, love those shiny new parts. Nothing like nice, new vapor-blasted cases!! wish they would stay that way. Gotta start having a big garage clean-up/0ut so I can find the ol' girl & get her up &running. Look forward to more pics

 

[shotie450]

BTW, check out ebay, campagnolo 18x3 for sale, hopefully still okay, but would have to check condition first before serious use

 

[yellow900]

BTW, check out ebay, campagnolo 18x3 for sale, hopefully still okay, but would have to check condition first before serious use

Checked, look good, but once you take into account the postage $1000 is a big punt for what could be a wall ornament

I am tempted to just offload the second 650 TT2 and focus on finishing of the case up build. One less storage headache as well :ahhh:

 

[shotie450]

Hi again, didn't notice the postage, & agree on the wall ornament, sorry.... That's part of the reason why I want to try & get 17x3, 17x5" rims for mine, as I was extremely happy with handling characteristics of current combo, but lighter would be nice!!

 

[yellow900]

some updates

 

[yellow900]

pistons fitted, barrels on, starting to look mighty tidy

 

[shotie450]

MMMMM!!!! Looking very tasty... All those lightened cogs are making me jealous.... Been busy building up my new dinghy, getting ready for QLD later this year.

 

[shotie450]

Was talking to my mechanic today,he suggested contacting Gowanloch for a possible front wheel...btw he asked who your mechanic is ???

 

[yellow900]

Getting ready for Qld? are you moving this way?

Leith and his dad Axl Martinsen at bikebuilders in Albion Brisbane. Doing some fastidious and beautiful work. Axl had a Ducati shop in Canberra in the late 80'/90's I think

Alas not all the lightened cogs made it in, as some were binding. It would appear that we weren't sent set that were worn in together, so with some mix and match we have however achieved a beautiful and smooth engine.

Oodles of time spent on clearances. With all those nice phenolic bearings it literally rolls itself of the crank gravity. Should be a cracker engine. I'll look forward to offloading all the spares to cover the build bill. Some tasty 40mm Del Orto's and all sorts of lightened parts etc in there.

Looking forward to getting shipped to Melbourne late this year when its finished. Rolling chassis is just sitting there patiently

 

[shotie450]

Hi again, back from the dead, not much happening down here, got a few good sunday rides in & managed to catch up with my mechanic/mate. No progress on my baby{ soon hopefully}.... missus has me busy doing house/reno's.... quick query, does your fairing-upper accommodate wider front ends??? hopefully will be heading up Qld way @ Sept to visit family etc... looking forward to maybe catching up with you sometime.

 

[yellow900]

Well I have arrived in Melbourne at last. Haven't shipped any bikes down yet as I need to come up with some sort of shed/cover to house them.

The fairing was a royal pain in the !@#$ we had to cut the top and bottom and widen them to accommodate the wider front end.

A friend of mine who has moved to Tassie was clever enough to make a mold of his one (he runs late 750ss running gear) and we pulled 2 tops from that

Unfortunately we didn't pull any spares.

So all is quiet on the build front (except the TT1 build, which is slowly plodding along) till I can get some workspace sorted.

 

[shotie450]

Happy Easter, glad to hear all's well & you're getting settled in. looks like i'll have to attack my fairing & make it fit. Winter's coming so I'll need to refurb my garage so I can attack the ol' girl & get some shit a'happening... went & looked at a 748sps yesterday & hmmmm.... could be tempted!!

 

[shotie450]

My Missus[ very understanding] shakes her head & calls it a sickness!!

 

[yellow900]

nice bike the 748sps and easily converted into a 955SP

 

[shotie450]

you've piqued my curiosity with the 955, whats the recipe ??? Just had a minor technical 2 days ago.... tore my achille's tendon 80% through, & now am bed-ridden for a while, Hmmm..... no testing for a while. Find out Monday if I need an op to fix tendon, expert opinion says screw & glue or will have probs later on.... more good news!!

 

[yellow900]

wow that sounds like a terrible run of luck! Early on when I bought my 916 I looked into the possibility of running the wsbk big bore kit, essentially to try get it to SP specs.

There were a number of articles in street bike in the mid-late 90's that went through all the options. Essentially the SP and 748 (the hot yellow SP, R etc model) have enough meat in the bottom end to allow for a bigger bore, hence allowing them to be taken out to the 955cc WSBK spec engine. the liners for the cooking model 916 and 748 couldn't be taken out that far.

Brook Henry made a lot of the earlier kits, but you can now find a host of other suppliers for them, Ferraci, Pistal etc. They don't come up as often but the big bore kits do still pop up on eBay and the usual ducati forums, more so in the US though.

Another nice beast to modify (if you can find it) is a 749R, bore and pop in the bigger 999 barrels, get the head worked to suit the new slugs and you have a very very hot 848. With all the high end spec in the 749R bottom and heads you have a very high spec 848. In the US and Europe these bikes did quite well.

Slow progress on the TT, still mixing and matching gears to create a non-binding set. The lightened gear sent across from the US obviously wasn't from the one bike. When we popped it all in we found some of them binding so have had to mix and match to get a smooth turning internal.