Project Ducati Hypermotard Part 2

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Although we are sure we could have done all of this, it was nice to have AMS handle it.  Having factory mechanics and factory warranty is nice too!

The DP cams have more lift and duration than stock and still use the factory rocker springs.  They also come with an ECU tuned for them plus the DP exhaust we installed in our last installment.  After installation AMS touched up the tuning of the ecu at idle and low rpm and confirmed our bike’s power on their dyno.  With our new mods Project Ducati Hypermotard pumped out an impressive 90 hp @ 7750 rpm with 67 lb/ft of torque @ 4850 rpm.  This was a healthy gain of 12 whp and 2 lb/ft of torque over stock. The power gains were accross the powerband but mostly in the mid and top rpm areas.  We did not lose any low end torque.

Ok the cams are in and time for more goodies, whew.

The stock levers were pretty high quality parts but we wanted to up the bling factor a bit and install a short type adjustable part to suit our two finger brake and clutch operating habits picked up from years of dirt biking.  We got some billet parts from Pazzo Racing to fill the bill.  The Pazzo levers are short and designed for two finger operation and are quickly and easily adjustable in six different positions for reach by flipping a lever. 

The Pazzo adjustable shorty levers better suited our dirt and mountain bike derived two finger control riding style.  The powerful brembo monoblock front brakes made two finger stopping a snap.  The levers look awesome as well.

Pazzo levers are machined from 6061 T-6 aluminum. The levers we got featured red and black anodizing and match the anodizing on the rest of our bike perfectly.  The levers and cam locks are hard anodized for long life. The levers took only a few minutes to install and fit perfectly.  Pazzo also has longer levers for those who prefer a stock like length.

The Ducati Performance slipper clutch is on the right.  A slipper clutch elimates the chance of wheel locking with agressive downshifting.  The DP part features all alloy construction for less rotating weight.

We also installed a DP slipper clutch at this time. A bike with a big 4-stroke engine like the Hypermotard’s 1100cc L twin produces a lot of engine braking, the rear wheel can easily lock if you downshift too fast causing you to fall.   A slipper clutch is a safety device that limits back torque and allows some slip in the engine braking direction.  This prevents you from locking up the rear wheel and low siding if you downshift a little too aggressively or don’t rev match well on downshifts.  When you do this with a slipper clutch, the engine’s compression braking force applies a backwards load on the clutch drum which forces the pressure plate backwards, rolling on ball bearings upwards on a set of ramps.  This compresses the clutch springs reducing clamping load on the clutch plates, allowing them to slip much in the same way that partway pulling in the clutch lever would. 

Ball bearings on top of the posts of the clutch drum shown on the left will ride up ramps on the clutch cover plate on the right.  This will partially disengage the clutch like pulling the lever in part way allowing it to slip.