Slow Monster rebuild

[Darren69]

New bracket is loads better. Here's mine, very similar to DukeDesmos (early DP rearsets) Although his seem to have been drilled and tapped to move the m/cyl forward, not sure why.

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[Dukedesmo]

Originally Posted by Darren69

New bracket is loads better. Here's mine, very similar to DukeDesmos (early DP rearsets) Although his seem to have been drilled and tapped to move the m/cyl forward, not sure why.

Well spotted.

I found the position of the rearsets, even in the furthest back position to be too far forward and also too high so I made some adaptor plates to locate them lower/further back.

In doing so the M/C touched the exhaust so I moved it forward to get some clearance - I'd like the pegs further back if possible but the position of the M/C is the limiting factor with high-level exhausts.

Interesting the pillion pegs/brackets that you have, I've never seen those before and often wondered how I would fit pillion pegs should I need them. I presume they are a standard part that is, or more likely was once, available from somewhere?

[Darren69]

Yea, I believe it is a DP item. It came with the rearsets which I bought s/hand. Flip has some very similar ones on his bike too.

Rizoma make some but they are hideously expensive:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PE576B-RIZ...4AAOSwuhhXWVPV

Says they are for 696 but they look the same as the ones I sold last year.

[Dukedesmo]

OK, I had seen Rizoma brackets before and whilst they aren't the same 'style' assumed they would probably fit (mounting holes being the same) but they are a touch on the dear side, especially as I never carry a pillion - that said if I found some at a reasonable price I might be tempted so that I have the option.

Not sure they'd clear the exhausts without fitting considerably longer spacers though as my pipes seem to be set too wide/far away from the swingarm?

[Darren69]

I needed to add both the supplied small and larger spacers and source some longer 70mm bolts, then it was ok, and was fitted with just enough to clear the large 50mm exhaust link pipes I have and everything lined up but only just. Its tight for sure. Im sure somthing may still rub. The pillion brackets I have, have some fretting on them where they pass behind the link pipes so I think the link pipes rubbed in their original fitment.

[Mr Gazza]

Originally Posted by Darren69

...and source some longer 70mm bolts,

Aren't all 70mm bolts the same length?

[350TSS]

Had some good and some frustrating time in the garage this week, focussing on how to mount the tank and the seat.
Making the mould for the tank I just rested it on the two rear facing lugs for the airbox/battery box and on the original arch which holds the original tank hinge pin. Clearly there will need to be some form of vibration proof mounting and those split circular ribbed thingies you see on Tritons were considered but they were too hard, raised the tank too much and actually looked naff.
I got some 25mm vibration mounts from TME in Poland for about £1.50 each and screwed them into the relevant holes. They raised the tank too high and caused it to sit inclined forward.

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[350TSS]

I must have had the tank mould on and of the bike about 50 times (it weighs about 15kg with all the filler in it and it is a snug fit so I had to be careful not to damage the top surface) adjusting the vibration mounts with washers and using different thickness mounts ( I bought 25mm and 20mm male female mounts at the same time but the 20mm mounts were too hard). Eventually I got the tank on an even keel and with a uniform space front to back above the frame rails (but still about 10mm too high). I then bored some 30mm indents into the bottom of the mould to lower it.

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[350TSS]

I realised that the fact of boring the 30 mm holes at the front made for good fore and aft and lateral location so I decided I needed to infill the tank base at the rear and use the same technique to get the same degree of lateral and fore and aft location. This obviously required two 9mm thick pieces of ply to be cut, glued in place and filled and sanded.
Unfortunately, when I came to the hole boring at the back, when I marked out the positions for the two locations I must have moved the tank laterally so I bored the holes 6mm off centre so the tank mould sat skewed on the frame rails. Bollox!!
So I had to fill the bore holes in again, re-sand and re bore the holes. Its an old rule "measure twice - cut once" which I still have trouble assimilating.

[350TSS]

The tank mould now sits nicely in place with good for and aft location and enough resilience in the mounting to prevent it being damaged by transmission of shock from the frame rails and it is not possible to move the mould on its current mounts far enough to hit any metal part of the frame. I do need a mechanical fixing to attach it to the frame and I think I have sufficient space at the front to use the standard Ducati over centre catch to latch it at the front. The rear mounting is still a bit of a puzzle, an over centre catch would be nice at the back as well but it will involve a cut out in the seat and a projection at the back of the tank just where it would not be comfortable to have one. I had thought of an aircraft type locking pin (a shouldered pin with a key ring attached to a retractable ball bearing in the shaft similar to the principle of a captive socket on a ratchet spanner) but this would require accuracy of manufacture and compression of the vibration mounts to the extent that alignment of the pin would negate the benefit of rubber mounting. A Hoover rubber drive band is looking the most likely candidate at the moment but this will still require a projection at the back of the tank.

[350TSS]

Whilst waiting for the filler to cure on the tank mould I turned my attention to the seat mounting arrangement.
I wanted an end product with no visible fasteners, quickly detachable and physically secure (and from thieves).
The available mounting points are: the bridge at the back of the tank, two staggered lugs with captive nuts just aft of the suspension rocker arm, a single earth point on the left frame rail, the two existing captive nuts where the existing seat lock fixes and possibly the threaded end plugs at the end of the frame rails.
I rejected welding or brazing some 25mm x 3mm steel flat straps across the frame rails on the grounds of additional weight, difficulty of getting the profile just right to fit the underside of the seat, the inevitability of exposed fasteners and difficulty and /or inadequacy of attachment of a resilient cushion between the steel and the carbon fibre seat base.
The original Ducati design of moulding the seat base to sit on the frame rails and two moulded hooks feeding into the bridge at the back of the tank together with the car bonnet type pressure latch at rear seems to be an optimum solution.
Unfortunately when I cut off the passenger grab rails off I also removed the plate holding the lock for the cable latch. Mistake???
The existing carbon fibre mould for the seat base has a relatively flat underside. What I will do is cut some stiff polyester foam in a profile that matches the seat rails and glue it to the carbon fibre seat base then carbon fibre it into place permanently, leaving enough clearance for some resilient material to be glued to the frame rails. I think this reinforcing of the seat base will ensure enough stiffness in the structure to permit the use of a relatively strong spring at the latch at the rear of the seat. Securing it from thieves is still a problem, although if the worst comes to the worst I could always re-manufacture the key lock holding plate and re-weld it to the frame.

[350TSS]

Having finished neither of the jobs I started, tank mounting and seat mounting, I naturally started on another just because it was in the same area, namely an under seat tray. At first I thought it would be nice to show a glistening sheet of polished alloy to all those following lamely in my wake. I had some pristine 2mm aluminium sheet and thought I would attach it to the underside of the frame rails by means of the staggered lugs behind the suspension rocker and the two mounting points for the seat lock. The gap was measured at 160mm between frame rails, a cardboard pattern cut as they taper slightly aft of the rear frame brace and the aluminium jig sawed and filed to shape. It was only then that I realised that the mounting points at front and back are displaced vertically by about 5mm either side of the centre line of the frame rail tube. Measuring the gap between the rails was not good enough the plate would have to be wasted to fit nicely. This did not show up on the cardboard template because it flexed slightly but the aluminium was more unforgiving. My plate fitted exactly for about 2mm in the middle along its 290mm length and only there.
Having invested about an hour in cutting and filing the plate I was reluctant to bin it and I thought supposing I edged the sheet with rubber moulding I could make it seal against the frame rail. I couldn't find any suitable moulding so thought what about rubber insulation from 2 core flex. I tried stripping it by pulling the inner insulated wires but it just tore along the weakest point resulting in a semi spiral line. I then tried stretching the cable between two g clamps and Stanley knifing the insulation against a straight edge. This worked better but the 2 cores are not consistently in the same relative position within the flex and so the end product was lumpy in appearance when I tried attaching it to the aluminium plate.

[350TSS]

The solution to the under seat tray is another carbon fibre mould which I made yesterday. Looking at my S4 the under seat tray has an indent about 15mm deep to allow the hugger clearance on full bottoming of the suspension, the M900 has a different suspension arrangement with the hoop and also I have ride height adjusters fitted which would give about 20mm more clearance, I therefore concluded that a flat bottom would be OK.

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[350TSS]

From the top.

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[350TSS]

You will note I cocked up once again cutting out the mounting locations then realising that I needed them so I had to make infill bits and glue them in.
I also machine up some aluminium parts to fit the tray and made a bracket to hold the rear most part of the tray

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