Nick and Kev - very productive ... NOT...
:lol::lol::lol:

Nick, I had no idea the consumption could vary that wildly. To be honest, I don't notice how it alters on track days because I have all my dials taped up so don't look at mileage. But it seems that I'm about right on average riding, which enables me to plan my trip abroad in 100/120 mile pit stops. Are there any guides of Europe that tell you where to get fuel? Oh man, it's too complicated to think about. I expect I'll just pack a rucksack, book a ferry, buy a map and wing it! bouncy::bouncy::bouncy::bouncy::bouncy:


Skids, I'm surprised no-one's answered your question. Apart from Loz who doesn't really know much in the technical vein, as far as I can tell. ;):

We need more questions :P

I want answers :P

Question
 

Brake lines...

Most brake lines feeding twing calipers seem to have a single line from the master cylinder splitting into 2 about half way down to feed both calipers.
Other setups, which are not so common, have 2 separate lines from the master cylinder on a double banjo.

This question is because I'm doing a twin disc conversion to the Monnie, but don't know the pro's and con's for the the different brake line configuration.

Any braking experts among us?

Ruth - I had something around 135 out of mine last year when we all got lost in Suffolk... but it really depends how you ride. I usually work on 100-120 for comfort...

Nick the two line option from the calliper is the most common on race bikes as it only envolves banjo fittings, my 998 has a T- piece just above the bottom yoke but is not the way I would go if I was making up the hoses myself.
Some bikes do come with a splitter box that is usually cast alloy and is bolted to the bottom yoke, again this system usually only envolves banjo bolts but in this case 6 of them, the weak point of this system is that the splitter box can easily trap a bit of air that is hard to bleed out.

My preference is Two hoses from the mastercylinder fitted with a double banjo bolt that has a bleed nipple in the end, unless you use a Brembo or AP Master that has its own built in bleed nipple

Hired for my looks, not my know-how!

:D:D:D

Single vs. Dual Lines

From a hydraulics point-of-view there’s no difference. However, the two-line configuration has a longer total hose length so you’d expect that you’ll have a little more volume expansion under pressure than with the one-into-two line configuration. More expansion of the hose will give a slight springy feel to the brake lever but won’t affect stopping power. The difference is so slight that the other factors mentioned should be considered instead.

My choice is to always fit two lines up to the master cylinder. Some people dont like this idea for some reason, but the thing I really really like about it is gravity ! Those pesky little air bubbles will always go all the way up to your master cylinder and with most setups, they will self-bleed when you put the bike on the sidestand. I even go as far as taking the calipers off when bleeding new fluid, cos I get gravity working the bubbles out then too. The job is done so much faster, without paying stupid money for a contraption that is trying to push air downwards !
I learnt the trick from trials riding, where believe me, you get into situations where your brakes _have_ to be absolutely perfect, or you're on your ear literally ;)

Now I have a question !

What are the comparative weights of 900SS, 851, 748 and 916 engines ?

Have you got some large scales handy
currently out of the bikes and available for weighing I have a 955 engine along with engines from a 600 Monster and a 748 and if my mate gets his finger out possibly would be able to weigh a 900SS engine as well
From lifting them at various times I would say they are all quite heavy, heavier than my ZXR400 engine and my R6 engine and my Fireblade engine even my TL1000 engine feel lighter than the 600 engine

Hmmm ... shame oxford isnt an easier journey or I'd bring my bathroom scales over !
I'm enjoying the low-speed smoothness of the 748 so much compared to the 900SS lump in the beast that I am wondering how much heavier it would be if I put an 851 lump back into it !

MORE QUESTIONS!!!

Phil have you tried phoning people like Tony Brancato & John Baines between them you may get the answers you need, Steve Hilary and Louigi may also be able to help.

theres plenty of ice around at the moment,but?
how come the battery "acid" has'nt froze in my battery? the coolant has got anti freeze the window washer fluid also has anti freeze the vodka in the freezer hasnt turned to ice either cos its alcohol i know so why hasnt the battery fluid got anti freeze in it and it aint alcohol either?????
the answer is possibly basic school science but i dont know?

Simple really, it has a high content of hydrogen chloride (hydrochloric acid), which the freezing point as around -114degC.
Your battery acid will freeze well above this point though, because there's a high water content which , as we all know, freezes at 0degC.

So depending on the percentages of HCl and H2O that you have in your battery, the mixture will freeze at somewhere between -114 and 0.

thankyou!!!!lets hope it doesnt get that cold!!

Just a few more days of this Quiz and then I shall be consulting with my fellow judges about awarding the prize. Let's have a final spurt of questions to make it worthwhile.

I think I'll start a poll to get votes from the few people who've been paying any attention to this whatsoever throughout February. :lol::lol::frog:

OK - showing my total lack of knowledge...

What's the big deal with wavy discs??

Another question!

Why is it my little Fiat got through the snow quite happily at 35-40mph this morning, but these big 4x4 X5's, Range Rovers etc. seem to struggle to get above 15mph???? :mad::mad:

Wavey discs...

The original concept of these was so that the edges of the the disc would run across the surface of the pads and shave a tiny layer off, this was supposed to stop the pads glazing. Negative effect of course was the pads didn't last very long!
I may be wrong, but I think the first team to use them was Padgetts? Kev is gonna tell me I'm wrong!

But we have them on road bikes just cos they look flash!

You need nice narrow tyres on snow. Big wide four x four things dont exert enough pressure on the road to cut through the snow to the road below. Look at rally cars used in snowy events. They run tyres that are only about 100mm wide.
Also most four wheel drive things dont have diff locks which makes them a bit pointless in my opinion.

Who owns Ducati (the company) these days? Or who has a controlling interest?

Last minute question:

Lots of discussion going on about length of inlet manifolds for 600/900 2v, the theory being that the shorter manifold (on the 900) gives better top end power than the shorter. This is (in theory) because the 900 has more torque low-down, so can afford to be tuned for top end power.

My question is 'If I fit the shorter inlet manifolds to my 600, what do I use to connect the carbs to the airbox??'

I spoke to Nelly about this, and confused him greatly.:lol: He'd just fitted Mort's even-shorter manifolds to the blue beast, but couldn't remember using anything different from standard to connect the injector bodies to the airbox!

Cheers,

Ali

i might be talking b*******s but can you not do away with the air box and fit a couple of K+N filters straight on to carb intakes?
something like these ;
http://www.knfilters.com/universal/universal.htm

i appreciate that these may upset the dyno kit if you have one etc
i dont know if there is enough room to do this its too cold to have a quick look at my own bike to check but i would consider it to acheive what i think you are trying to do i have used these on several cars in the past with a bit of main jet and needle tinkering i had good results

or is this against the rules?

[Edited on 26-2-2005 by monstermob 998]

edited due to correction from Ali

Ducati is owned by shareholders, as Ali says below a major holder is Texas Pacific Group who'm it appears have controlling interest in DMH.

In addition, Ducati Motor Holdings S.p.A. operate the following subsidaries (percentage of ownership in brackets):

Ducati Deutschland G.m.b.h. (100%)
Ducati France S.A.S. (100%)
Ducati Japan K.K. (100%)
Ducati Benelux B.V. (100%)
Ducati U.K. Limited (100%)
Ducati North America Inc. (100%)
Ducati Corse S.r.l. (100%)
Ducati Retail S.r.l. (85%)
Ducati Consulting S.r.l. (99%)

[Edited on 27-2-2005 by NBs996]

The most recent info I can find: Ducati Holdings Group is owned, at least 33.4%, by Texas Pacific Group (TPG), a venture capital company in the U.S.

How much of the company is public I don't know, but a quick look makes me think most of the rest is, and it's owned by find managers, etc.

Ali you could always dump the airbox and CV carbs and fit a set of nice exspensive Kiehin smoothbores.
I understand from reading the rules that to fit the shorter inlet tracts you need to cut the cross brace out of the frame.

Being as I sold my 748 track/race bike to Old Yella for just over £2k I have no intention of spending any more than that on my 600SS so that rules out getting to much done to the bike especially on the tuning front as I just sold a more powerful V-twin race bike that has been out playing with the big fish/sharks in SoT, Powerbike and Open.
I’m still going on the maxim “don’t race what you can’t afford to trash” after chucking a £4k bike in the skip at last years TT I think i'll try and restrict myself to a £2k bike this year.

Ali...this is one way to do it......

Ok a last question then.....

Apart from the obvious expense - I cant help wondering why Ducati didnt make a gear driven cam train for the belt drive bikes ??? If H0nda could do it with the VFR range, couldnt Ducati - or does the Desmodromics (?) prevent this in someway?

I was just thinking about the carnage (Bikeage ???) that could be produced if a belt ever snapped :o

thats just what i had in mind frank!!!!

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[Edited on 26-2-2005 by monstermob 998]

Sure there'd be a few miffed dealers out there if the belt didn't need changing every ten minutes! It's also worth bearing in mind that Honda can do things with mass-production engineering that Ducati can only dream about...

As an aside to this question, does anyone have a cast-iron example of belts snapping? What mileage? What damage? Which cylinder? What's the difference between a duke belt that needs changing every 12000 miles and a Honda one that lasts 85000?

I was just thinking about the carnage (Bikeage ???) that could be produced if a belt ever snapped

exactly the same if a chain snapped???

I'm with skids on this one. A bike you can afford to bin has to be worth 2secs a lap!

Not that I wouldn't want a set of FCRs, but if I had some they'd be 41s and on my SL....:D

Seen the carnage of a 996 belt snapping at a Pembrey practice day a couple of years back when I guy I was often racing against decided he would try and get 4 race meetings out of his set of belts, not only did he need an expensive engine rebuild but also lost the points for 4 SoT races as the day was followed by a 2 day race meeting. Luckily the Desmo Due belts aren't under the same amount of strain as the Desmo Quattro belts but they will still need replacing at regular intervals. Luckily they are fairly cheap and easy enough to do.

Well..I remember reading a thread about a belt snapping.....

Destroyed valves and pistons.
Damaged valve gear, con-rods and barrels :o

In my question I did actually mean why didnt Ducati do the gear driven cams on something like the SL maybe, as a limited production run to make it really 'special' (with a bit more power to boot !!!)
***I think I've just created a niche market **** ------ NOT !!!

Ca-cycleworks seem to be the peeps tp talk to about FCR's on Ducatis - I've seen a few banks of 4 - 41mm FCR's for some of the Suzukis etc and wondered about splitting them in half but, it seems like a lot of problems for not much money saving.

Hmmm... dead right Ali, Shareholders.
Looks like TPG are the controlling partner, other shares held by the board of directors of DMH.
The rest, I wouldn't like to speculate... but you can get their investor profile from yahoo financials for the princely sum of $25!

I dare say one of the euro versions of ebay may be able to help. Tend to get quite a few race bits...;)

Cheers for the ownership info guys. I too thought it was Texas Pacific Group but a guy i work with found some info that said VAG had a large interest.

can i have one last question please?

tony rutter had some success back in the eighties/early nineties racing a 600 ducati -i believe that is what the 600SS engine was based on-- any one know what spec the bike was as regards to carbs,cams,pistons, suspension, exhaust and or any other go faster bits?----cant seem to find any info on the web