1100 Evo mods - an addicts tale

[Luddite]

Here's a bold, (and probably premature), claim: I think I've finally stopped buying things for my Monster. Having purchased just about every aftermarket goody available over the past few years, (#moremoneythansense!), I think I've reached saturation point.

My aims were to replace every piece of black plastic or tin with carbon fibre, smooth out the low speed rough-running and improve the rather "unsophisticated" suspension.

Since I lack either the skill to undertake ambitious projects like 350TSS and Yorkie or the creativity to produce something like MerlinPV12's gorgeous reimagining, most of these mods are just bolt-ons - no skill required! To the casual observer, even another Evo owner, the changes might not be obvious but that was also one of my aims. I wanted it to look as though it came from the factory like this, like maybe an SP version, and I'm pleased with the end result.

We seem to have had quite a few new 1100 Evo owners on here recently so, to show them what aftermarket bits & bobs are available to personalise their Monster, here's a list of everything I've added to mine and where to get it. A lot of the accessories will also fit the 696 and 796 of course.

[Luddite]

Working from the rear...





• Ducati Performance tail tidy (96768109B). More expensive than R&G or Evotech but a guaranteed good fit. It does come with a bracket for the original reflector but I prefer a cleaner look, hence the 20p stick-on jobbies.
• Coupled with Ducati Performance LED indicators (96629909B). These are "plug & play" and come with the necessary resistors attached. Strangely, these only flash at the correct rate when the engine is running; with the engine off they flash at double speed (something I didn't realise until phoning Moto Rapido for advice - embarrassing ��).
• Carbon cap for the seat hump - just for looks. From Carbon4US in Spain (www.carbon4us.com).
• Smoked rear light lens. A straight swap for the OE red one. From Desmoworld in Germany (www.desmoworld.de). Goes better with the indicators, I think.
• Ducati Performance comfort saddle (96766909B). Slightly higher riding position and flatter profile, which stops you sliding into the tank. Much more comfortable than the OE seat over distance.

[Luddite]

• Carbon chainguard from Carbon4US. Very nice quality. A complete replacement for the stock item, including the swingarm guard. However, because the replacement chain runner was hard carbon, it was quite noisy and 'clattery'. I wasn't sure how durable it would be either as I'd also fitted a 14 tooth front sprocket, which brings the chain closer to the swinging arm. I ended up cutting the old and new guards in half and mating the back of the carbon one to the front of the plastic one.
• Öhlins DU737 shock. Adjustable for preload and rebound (40 clicks). Note that, as delivered, the preload was too firm with no static sag at all. A couple of turns of the preload rings did the trick and the ride is definitely more controlled than the stock Sachs unit. The Öhlins spring rate is 115 N/mm.
• Gold DID X-ring chain, mainly for the bling factor.
• Carbon hugger from Fullsix carbon fibre. (http://m.fullsixcarbon.com/) Flawless finish and a perfect fit. A straight swap for the plastic original. Available through Moto Rapido.
• MR rearsets from Desmoworld (http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/s...ad.php?t=54406). Beautifully made with plenty of adjustment.
• 14 tooth Renthal front sprocket. To help smooth out low speed running. Gives a boost to acceleration too. No obvious downsides (although, in theory, it could wear the chain more quickly along with the swingarm chain guard).
• Carbon front sprocket cover from Fullsix via Moto Rapido.
• Frame plugs and seat hump washers. Again from Desmoworld. You could argue that they keep moisture out of the frame but I just like the way they look.
• Oberon clutch slave cylinder. Nicely made from billet and eases town riding as it reduces effort at the lever by about 30%. You do lose a little lift, so a span-adjustable lever is a useful addition to maximise travel (see below). (http://www.oberon-performance.co.uk/...ders_DCSC.html)

[Luddite]

• Ducati Performance billet timing inspection cover (96644908B). Totally unnecessary. I think Craig at Moto Rapido sold me this during a moment of weakness.
• Carbon and stainless cable cover from Carbonworld (www.carbonworld.de). The stainless plate gives it a bit more strength than the plain carbon ones.

[Luddite]

• Billet aluminium valve cover from MVS Performance in Germany (http://www.mvs-performance.de/Ducati...2V-valve-cover) Beautifully machined. I hadn't realised until I swapped them over that the originals are just black plastic. (I thought they were painted aluminium.)
• After experiencing a slight leak from the OE filter, (which tightening failed to fix), I thought I'd try the K&N alternative (KN-153) (http://www.knfilters.co.uk/search/pr...px?prod=KN-153) These come with a 17mm hex head, which makes removal easy and means you can tighten it to the correct torque (11 Nm) without the special wrench. It looks and feels of comparable quality to the OE version and, so far, no leaks!

[Luddite]

• Carbon fibre oil cooler cover and shrouds from Carbon4US. Nice quality carbon with a good fit. Bit fiddly to install though. Comes with a mesh cooler guard, which is a bonus. Strangely, the 696 and 1100 have the same oil cooler cover, but the 696 comes with a mesh guard as standard (46013431A). I can't see any reason why the mesh couldn't be fitted to the 796/1100 if you wanted extra protection. I don't think cooling is an issue as I've never had any overheating problems with mine.

[Luddite]

• Carbon fibre cambelt covers by Fullsix. Again, a straight swap for the originals and a perfect fit.
• Carbon fibre top exhaust heat shield by Fullsix. Comes backed by heat reflecting foil. Top quality.
• Ducati Performance black billet oil filler plug (96858208B). Looks nice. Not so easy to undo though. One less piece of plastic.
• CT Moto black billet reservoir cover. (http://carbon-trader.com/cnc-other.htm) nice, clean design. Good quality.
• Tinted clutch fluid reservoir from the Monster 1200 (58540231A). You need to heat and bend the outlet pipe slightly, otherwise it fouls the bracket.
• QD Exhaust link pipe to eliminate the exhaust butterfly valve. (https://www.designcorse.com/collecti...tor-qd-exhaust) I got mine from db*killer in France via ebay but they don't appear to stock this any more. Much lighter than the original.
• Homologated (and with catalysts) stainless Termis (96450111B). These come with a more open airbox lid with performance filter and a DP ECU. The ECU disables the exhaust butterfly valve but keeps the lambda sensors. Note that physically removing the butterfly servo motor frees up just enough space under the saddle to store a disc lock. Although it's a DP ECU, a further custom remap is a worthwhile modification (more on that later).
• Evotech exhaust hangar. Allows you to remove the rear footrests. Excellent quality; the wrinkle finish paint is a perfect match for the Ducati subframe. Customer service is great too. They sent me replacement washers free of charge. (https://evotech-performance.com/)

[Luddite]

Back to the front end...





• Ducati Performance carbon fibre mudguard (969A03010B). Beautiful high gloss finish - a lot better than the early DP carbon that I remember. This also comes with the necessary clips for the ABS wiring (not sure if non-DP guards have this). Painted in a 1200R style by Image Design Custom (http://imagedesigncustom.co.uk/).
• Ducati Performance carbon fibre headlight cover (969A04709B). Another piece of black plastic replaced.
• Nose fairing striped à la 1200R again by Image Design Custom.
• Light tint replacement screen from ebay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Windshield...3D401106752194) I was a bit dubious about the possible quality of this but, at £10 including postage, I gave it a go. Thoroughly recommended. Quality is as good as OE. It even has the moulded bead along the top edge so looks totally factory. The mounting holes needed opening up very slightly but a perfect fit after that.

[Luddite]

• Tinted brake and clutch fluid reservoirs (58540221A & 58540231A) from the Monster 1200, just to update the look.
• Ducati Performance black billet brake and clutch reservoir covers (96180291A). These are actually listed for the Multistrada 1200 and the master cylinder has to be rotated 90° if you want the logo to read left to right. (I made up a new bracket.)
• Ducati Performance bar ends (966320AAA). Much better than the original plastic buttons. Although only lightweight aluminium, they also seem to damp out vibes from the bars.
• Old-style Ducati Performance billet tear drop mirrors (970100AAA & 970101AAA). These have M10 threads rather than the standard M8, so you need different S4RS clamps (62640441A) to fit them. Although they're much smaller than the standard mirrors, you actually get a better view as they don't vibrate like the plastic ones do.
• ASV levers (BRC550-S & CRC550-S) (http://asvinventions.com/C5-Sport-Bi...ke-BRC550.html) Beautifully engineered and manufactured. 4 inch span adjustment with 180 clicks between max and min. Work well with the Oberon clutch slave cylinder.
• Billet aluminium fork preload adjusters from Desmoworld. Light, skeletal design. Allows preload adjustment without tools, (if you have strong thumbs!). Note to ensure that one arm of the star is always facing forward, otherwise one of the other arms could hit the tank at full lock.

[Luddite]

• Carbon ignition barrel base from Carbonworld in Germany. Note that there are two types; one for non-ABS and one for ABS, which has cutaways for the pipework.
• Carbon fibre filler cap surround by Fullsix. With 1100 Evo sticker for the "factory" look. The OE top hat spacers are a very loose fit in the holes and are easily lost when removing the tank panels, so I recommend gluing them in.
• Ducati Performance black billet fuel cap (96900712A). This is actually for the 1199 but fits the Monster perfectly. Not lockable, of course.

[Luddite]

• Carbon fibre tank vents by Fullsix. Straight replacements for the originals. They attach with double-sided foam-backed tape but I used black silicon sealant for a flusher fit.
• Monster 1200 "3D" tank badges. They remind me of the chunky metal ones on my old AP50. Applied to...
• Cheapo unpainted Chinese tank skins from ebay. Much better quality than I expected. After opening up the mounting holes a little, they were a perfect fit. The edges along the centre lines needed rubbing down by a couple of millimetres as they were tight against the center strip and would have chafed once painted. Painted to perfection by Image Design Custom again.
• Ventureshield paintwork protection. (http://chipguard.co.uk/) Virtually invisible clear film. I had this on my S2R for six years and it stayed completely clear with no peeling or lifting. Highly recommended.

[Luddite]

Finally, some other things you can't see...

• Rexxer ECU remap from Neil at Cornerspeed. (http://cornerspeed.co.uk/tuning.php)
• Heavier 1100S flywheel (27610251C) (http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/s...ad.php?t=54450)
• K-tech fork upgrade. (http://www.ktechsuspension.com/)
• Lambda sensor eliminators. (Not needed after the Rexxer remap.) (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261212263637)
• Blanking plugs for the lambda electrical connections from 3waycomp (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/3waycomponents/) (10% discount for club members) (http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/s...8&postcount=40)
• Stainless lambda blanking plugs (2 x M18 x 1.5) )(http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stainless-...skAAOSwU8hY5Bb )
• Iridium spark plugs (NGK DCPR8EIX). Run with a 1mm gap.
• I also gave the headers a light polish and "debronzing" using this stuff. It works by chemical reaction rather than abrasion so is dead easy to use. The bronzing returns after 5-600 miles but it's a quick job to remove it again.



Wow! That list is scarily long! Note to self: never add up the total cost!

Well, I hope that's given some Evo owners a few ideas. Be aware though, once you start, you just can't stop!

[bigredduke]

Very impressive! I was going to ask how much £££££ so far but it's obviously a bit frightening.

You haven't replaced the nastiest piece of kit on the bike (IMO) though...................

..........the horrible bit of bendy tin that passes for the rear brake reservoir bracket - yuk!

I haven't been able to find a suitable replacement yet.

[yusaf1]

Good effort! How about that handlebar clamp though?

[Darkness]

Originally Posted by yusaf1

Good effort! How about that handlebar clamp though?

Seconded, but never mind the clamp, what about the black plastic biscuit tin that is the airbox?