I've been wanting to swap out the OEM bodywork on the Ducati for some time due to the ridiculously high cost to replace some of the carbon fiber pieces (tail section, belly pan, couple of pieces near the gas tank). A low side at the track would easily be $7K to start. I did a bit of research on which vendor to go with, but I didn't put enough work into it. I chose Sharkskinz due to quality and fit.
Initially, my plan was to simply toss on the bodywork prior to a track day and then revert back to OEM bodywork afterwards. I quickly realized that removing all the OEM bodywork and installing aftermarket bodywork was a major PITA.
Plan B was to get the aftermarket stuff painted up to a level where I could just leave it on, permanently. I went to high school with a very talented painter that manages a body shop in Rockville. I could take it to him and have it painted and clear coated. After that, Plan C was born. Find a Ducati Corse sticker kit online and bling the thing out. Stickers DO add 15-20bhp, so why not?
I went to www.bikehps.com and ordered the Ducati Corse Haga kit, stickers came in very quickly and looked great.
The painter required me to strip the bike down and leave it at the shop for most of the duration of the project. We spent hours fitting the replacement bodywork (and a bit of trimming). We also mapped out sticker placement and paint lines, etc. There were a lot of trips down to the shop, but the painter was really patient and cool about everything. Steering damper in the way? I'll come take it off. Sidestand's in the way? Drive back down and remove it. Somewhere along the way we realized that there were two pieces of bodywork that were missing. The pieces run along the bottom of the tank and below the seat. I find out Sharkskinz doesn't manufacture those pieces (really poor planning on my part), but Attack does. I bought the Attack pieces and it all worked out in the end. Both appear to be very well made. My paint guy was pretty impressed with their quality and said it saved him a lot of sanding and prep work.
The stickers and paint came out pretty good. There are a couple of areas where I can see mistakes but this job wasn't intended to make the bike look like a show bike. The Sharkskinz lacked the screen material in the vents (2 in the nose, 4 in the tail section). I found nearly identical material at Home Depot, in the form of an office waste basket. LOL I bought the trash can for $12 and some really good cutters. Made templates and cut out the mesh sections, glued them into place.
The only problem I have, at the end of the project I've got a pretty high investment in terms of time and labor. Low-siding now would STILL be a pretty big loss, so I probably haven't really done that great of a job in terms of project success. Truth be told, I don't hang it all out on the street or the track and have never crashed on the track. My lap times are solid B and they'll probably stay that way. The point for me is to go out and be smooth, be safe, and have fun.
Positive and negative feedback appreciated.
Initially, my plan was to simply toss on the bodywork prior to a track day and then revert back to OEM bodywork afterwards. I quickly realized that removing all the OEM bodywork and installing aftermarket bodywork was a major PITA.
Plan B was to get the aftermarket stuff painted up to a level where I could just leave it on, permanently. I went to high school with a very talented painter that manages a body shop in Rockville. I could take it to him and have it painted and clear coated. After that, Plan C was born. Find a Ducati Corse sticker kit online and bling the thing out. Stickers DO add 15-20bhp, so why not?
I went to www.bikehps.com and ordered the Ducati Corse Haga kit, stickers came in very quickly and looked great.
The painter required me to strip the bike down and leave it at the shop for most of the duration of the project. We spent hours fitting the replacement bodywork (and a bit of trimming). We also mapped out sticker placement and paint lines, etc. There were a lot of trips down to the shop, but the painter was really patient and cool about everything. Steering damper in the way? I'll come take it off. Sidestand's in the way? Drive back down and remove it. Somewhere along the way we realized that there were two pieces of bodywork that were missing. The pieces run along the bottom of the tank and below the seat. I find out Sharkskinz doesn't manufacture those pieces (really poor planning on my part), but Attack does. I bought the Attack pieces and it all worked out in the end. Both appear to be very well made. My paint guy was pretty impressed with their quality and said it saved him a lot of sanding and prep work.
The stickers and paint came out pretty good. There are a couple of areas where I can see mistakes but this job wasn't intended to make the bike look like a show bike. The Sharkskinz lacked the screen material in the vents (2 in the nose, 4 in the tail section). I found nearly identical material at Home Depot, in the form of an office waste basket. LOL I bought the trash can for $12 and some really good cutters. Made templates and cut out the mesh sections, glued them into place.
The only problem I have, at the end of the project I've got a pretty high investment in terms of time and labor. Low-siding now would STILL be a pretty big loss, so I probably haven't really done that great of a job in terms of project success. Truth be told, I don't hang it all out on the street or the track and have never crashed on the track. My lap times are solid B and they'll probably stay that way. The point for me is to go out and be smooth, be safe, and have fun.
Positive and negative feedback appreciated.
