Project Ducati 998 Superbike Part 4: Trackday Recap and Fine Tuning

Motoxpricambi was chosen for the bodywork. They come prepainted and the fairings are of good quality. They’re very flexible but thick. Less rigid than the Armour Bodies fairings on my Triumph. Fitment, however, was interesting. I must take at least part of the blame though. Some of the fitment issues stemmed from using non-998 spec oil cooler and radiator setup. These are things you have no way of knowing before trying to mount the fairings. The end result is great all things considered. Project Ducati 998 Superbike now very closely resembles the original Carl Fogarty piloted 916 Superbikes of the early 90s.

Period correct paint scheme and all.

 

Even the paint match from the tank to the new fairings is really good.

 

The white plates are painted on also. This is where the racing numbers will go in the future.

In the next installment, I’m hoping to get one more track day in for fine-tuning the setup. The vintage race group I race with is coming into town in October and the setup needs to be dialed in by then. More to come.

Sources
Motoxpricambi
McMaster-Carr
Kurveygirl
Brembo

9 comments

  1. That’s wwway easier than AP Racing brakes, no spring clip, no jet nut, no bolt, and you only need spacers because you have a thin disc. Basically a bobbin and an E clip, I wonder if anyone make replacements for Alcon/AP/Brembo.

      1. Ah, sorry, I meant car brakes that use bolt-washer-spring clip-bobbin-washer-jet nut x12 to hold a disc on to the hat. Motorcycles seem way simpler by comparison.

  2. Pretty cool. I have updated the buttons on my Kawasaki race bikes, it is neat and does reduce friction but it is not something you will notice on the track. Stomp grips are the single best value mod to a motorcycle, braking is so much easier with them.

    1. Rafa, I have to say, I noticed a considerable difference from the ‘fully floating’ conversion. Perhaps my discs are considerably warped causing more vibration than normal though. This bike does have roughly 12,000 street miles on what I have to imagine are the original discs. And yes, 100% agree on the stomp grips. I was astonished at how much I missed them during the previous event. I’d completely forgotten about them having had them on the Triumph for 10 years.

  3. Very cool, what a stunning build. Thanks for the tip about honing the discs, definitely something I should’ve done before. I interested in your process of suspension tuning and alignment. And what what the feel of that or various setups is like. Kind of like the alignment tuning series Mike has on here but for bikes.

    1. Thanks Miguel, I’ll take that as a huge compliment. I’ve been reading Kojima’s work and have idolized him for almost 20 years now.

      I do plan on doing a separate blurb specifically about chassis setup and suspension geometry/dynamics. Motorcycles are so incredibly complicated in motion that it’s difficult to put into words on paper and make it understandable. I promise to give it my best shot though!

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