Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > Single seat styles

[MJS]

I've done a search on much of what has been posted on this subject but haven't come up with a definitive answer. Question is - why does the seat unit for a 998 not have the vents in the side? What purpose if any do the vents serve on other models? I assume the answer is none as there doesn't seem to be any reason why I can't fit a 998 style unit to a 996.
Next question - anyone recommend a good paint shop? What I want is a plain yellow single seat, no numberboards, but they seem to be in short supply and those that do come up are often scuffed etc. So I figured the easiest way would probably be to buy a plain one and have it sprayed to match. Any idea of the cost of having one sprayed - I want a spot-on job so that the whole thing looks like new.
Cheers
Martin

[bradders]

for a seat unit, you could try Ard Racing who have them pre done and apparently match the original colour well

[Rattler]

I don't know for a fact, but my theory is;

Before the testastretta engine was released the CPU was mounted underneath the seat unit and in the case of the SPSs were massive units. These needed heat shields on the sides of the CPU and hence would have required some way to get the heat out from under the seat. Hence air vents were designed into the seats.

After the CPU moved to the side of the bike (with the testastreeta engine I think) and was made much smaller, there was no need to have any seat vents, therefore the 998s don't have vents.

So I reckon you can use the 998 seat on your 996 no problem, unless its a SPS, even then you'd probably get away with it anyway.

Tim

[JPM]

My Bostrom has vents on the seat unit......

[Rattler]

Originally posted by jpmercer
My Bostrom has vents on the seat unit......

Ahh yes, but you're special!!!!

[rapidomoto]

just had a single seat unit sprayed. Yellow with white number boards and black outlines. Total cost was £100 for seat unit off e-bay, £55 for new Seat Pad, £180 for paint and spraying. Not cheap! Spraying will be cheaper without number boards. Word of warning, there is a variety of different Ducati yellows - as I found out! Will try and get the exact paint code from the sprayer but ended up with the Ducati Yellow which has a tiny percentage of green in the mix. It is an official Ducati yellow.

Got my mirrors done at the same time. Plasti coat them first to smooth them out, then sprayed. Another word of warning - (learnt quite a bit about painting during this little trip!) Do not oven bake the mirrors after spraying, the pro-longed heat causes the mirror glass retaining bosses to expand and mishape the back of the mirror surround (the part of the mirror visable from the front of the bike). Let the paint dry naturally.

[bolds]

The only bike that does not have vents in the seatbase as standard is the 998R which has a carbon seatbase

[MJS]

Originally posted by bradders
for a seat unit, you could try Ard Racing who have them pre done and apparently match the original colour well

Thanks, had a look on their website and it all looks really good, anyone had any dealings with them and actually seen the products?

Cheers
Martin

[MJS]

Originally posted by rapidomoto
just had a single seat unit sprayed. Yellow with white number boards and black outlines. Total cost was £100 for seat unit off e-bay, £55 for new Seat Pad, £180 for paint and spraying. Not cheap! Spraying will be cheaper without number boards. Word of warning, there is a variety of different Ducati yellows - as I found out! Will try and get the exact paint code from the sprayer but ended up with the Ducati Yellow which has a tiny percentage of green in the mix. It is an official Ducati yellow.

How many different Ducati yellows are there, and how do I go about getting something made up in the right one? I'm assuming that someone there's a paint code on the bike? I 've had this from previous experience when I got a seat cowl back in what they described as 'our standard Ducati yellow mix' only to find it was nothing like my bike....

Thanks
Martin

[neil748r]

Martin,

The original supplier to Ducati is PPG paint and there are only 2 different variations of the Ducati yellow paint recipe. The difference being that one has slightly more green content.

Your best bet is to contact PPG UK on 01753 611500. They will be able to give you all the info you need and advise on a PPG stockist near you.

The only slight fly in the ointment is that there is no record anywhere (PPG or Ducati) of which specific bikes were painted in which variation so when purchasing, make sure to take one of the other yellow parts of your bike into the paint supplier to match. There may not be much difference in the actual paint recipe but when you compare the 2 variations against each other they're like chalk and cheese.

Hope that helps,

Neil

[Edited on 26-11-2004 by neil748r]