While I was up at the track last race weekend with Boston Moto slinging Pirelli tires (the best tires on the planet, mind you!)... Mr. Charles Sandoz from Seacoast Sport Cycles (where I bought my 848 from, and a fantastic dealer), mentioned they were having a Ducati trackday in conjunction with Dunbar Euro Sports (another fantastic local Ducati shop). This day happened to have a perfect forcast and was an oppourtunity I couldn't pass up!
So, I got ahead of myself here a bit... as over the past few weeks as I was getting to know my new 848... I had a list of "wants" and "must-haves" which I feneagled (meaning, well sold my kidney for). First things first was to drop a tooth on the front sprocket, which I had Seacoast do prior to my taking delivery of the bike. I highly recommend this to anyone with an 848, as even with a 14T front, the gearing is still somewhat tall (in my opinion). Next up after getting 600 miles on her (which took all of 2 weekends of riding!) were Termingoni slipons with a Ducati Performance ECU and air filter.
I had been contemplating suspension upgrades as I planned all along to do some serious track work with this bike, so after talking with Dan Kyle about my options, I decided to have the Seacoast boys install a 25mm Ohlins Cartridge Kit in the forks, as I really didn't have the time to drop my forks and send them out for service. Seacoast was kind enough to let me borrow a bike to ride in the meantime, and after a couple of days I was back to pick up my recently serviced and tweaked steed.
Key-in, thumb starter and.... ::smile:: that's what a Ducati should sound like :D Jesse grabs a ruler and we quickly set the sag and I'm on my way. Enjoying the mechanical symphony unleashed by the new exhaust, I can instantly feel two things: The front is planted, and the rear is all over the place (for more on the stock suspension and initial impressions, refer to my prior blog). Any thoughts being harbored about putting off a shock were quickly erased, but if the front was any indication I started to get my first glimpse of what the end result would be. Needless to say I was encouraged, even if my wallet was not.
It didn't take long for me to be on the phone again with Dan Kyle, of Kyle Racing. As we had discussed, a TTX out back would do quite nicely. Originally I had planned to get the Kyle Racing suspension link and the TTX modified to suit, but currently suffering sticker shock... I decided to hold off on the race link and modifying the TTX. For now, I had DK send me a TTX sprung for me, and I'd do the install myself. Next on the list would be triple clamps, which Kyle Racing was working on a non-adjustable set with 30mm of offset... and I decided to wait for those to become available as well.... I'm still waiting, eagerly! The TTX showed up a couple of days later (super fast shipping!) and I began to plan for the install.
I had also been talking with Ted Duncan, of Duncan Moto about some Woodcraft rearsets and frame sliders.. as we were talking about what I had planned for the 848, Ted offered up a Heindl Swingarm Pivot Stand I could borrow to make the job easier. I've come to call Mr. Duncan "The Man" to just about anyone I talk to lately, as he has been nothing but overly kind, generous and helpful the past couple of weeks. Duncan Moto is currently building a shop in Brighton, MA and I can't wait to check it out... anyone local to Boston should do themselves a favor and pay Ted a visit. Another great guy I had the pleasure of doing business with... in fact, I'm nearly as pleased with the experiences I've had with vendors while I've been putting this bike together, as I've had riding the bike itself! It's nice to have such positive experiences while getting a bike sorted out for track duty, anyone who'se done it can attest it is no easy task getting everything just right, and having helpful professionals along the way goes a long way toward making the whole experience easier. Here's how the TTX looked installed along with the SATO racing ride height adjuster...
So my roommate who works down the road from Ted's shop stopped by and picked up the stand, rearsets and framesliders for me and later that night I got down to business. My best friend Geoff stopped over to wash his car and help out with the install, along with a couple of local guys with 848's who would be joining in my fall trip to VIR. Overall, the install went pretty smoothly, or as smoothly as can be expected considering one has to remove the exhaust system entirely, swear a lot, and generally struggle with getting access to many nuts and bolts to complete the job. Fortunately I'd done a shock installation on my teammate's 1098S before, which had prepared me for what to expect. The Heindl stand made the job SO much easier, and I enjoyed the stand so much I plan to buy it from Ted in the near future. That may have been part of his generous offer to let me borrow it all along... hmmm.After getting the shock and ride height adjuster in, I bolted up the rearsets and decided to call it enough wrenching for the night and go for a spin... I was pretty exicted to see what the bike felt like with it's new suspenders on....
I wasn't disappointed, as we rode down 93 into Boston to meet up with some local riders off the New England Street Riders forum, I was no longer getting tossed out of my seat over the expansion joints in the highway. The bike felt firm, but composed.. and my hesitations of getting the suspension done NOW quicky started to fade.
Fast forward a couple of weeks to being at the track and hearing of the trackday... I headed home after the race weekend and went back to settling into the new house (oh yeah, I had moved in the midst of all of this, and in the middle of a race weekend.... fun stuff.). I took some time to take off the wheels and head down to Jeff (from NESR)'s house and have some slicks mounted up. Jeff spoons on the sticky rubber and I'm back home in no time.... load up the trailer and gear and head to NH to spend the night at my mom's house, a mere 20 minutes from the track.
Falling asleep on Monday night, I could hardly control my excitement for the following day and my first chance to see the fruit of all of this labor.
Tuesday morning comes and I head out to the track, arriving about 7:45 am. I unload and start to prep the bike (I hadn't even had a chance to tape up lights, etc). I'm instructing in the morning's "follow-the-leader" sessions, and will have to wait a bit to get some fast laps in. This was likely a blessing in disguise, as I eased into the day. Starting with the beginner group at a very, very controlled pace... each successive group, and session saw the pace start to creep up. The 6th session of the day (2nd session for the Advanced riders) was the first open session, and I headed out eager to see what the bike could do. The motor was as intoxicating as I remembered, she steered ultra quick, and the suspension felt pretty much spot on. The quick steering is something that would have to be addressed, as the lean angle increased... my confidence in the front decreased proportionally. Something I expected from a bike with so little trail. I come back to the pits and take a full turn out of the ride height, grab some water, gas up the bike and head back out.
Much improved, but still quick and as I am attempting to get a knee down I am still without total confidence in the front end. Another turn of ride height comes out, and I decide to let Jesse from Seacoast burn a couple laps to see what he thinks. He comes to the hot pit where I'm standing (and looking on, anxiously...) and mentions the front feels fantastic, but the rear tire felt a bit greasy. I look at the tire and the wear looks great, so I head to the pits and check my presures while the tire is smokin hot (I had set cold pressures, but had not as of yet checked the hot pressures). Front is at 35, rear about 34... a weeeee on the high side. I drop things down to 31 front, 27 rear and head back out...
WOOOOOOOOW. THERE is the grip I've been looking for! The bike now almost feels truck-like dipping into the turns, and I fear I've taken out too much ride height while on incorrect pressures... and almost come in after a lap, but as I continue on my 2nd lap of the session.. the bike starts to turn in a bit easier. The tires have heat in them now, and this seems to make the difference. She feels like my old 748 racebike did, but lighter, easier to turn and a lot... a lot... faster.
Pretty soon I'm up to speed, and start to get a knee down... something that I haven't experienced in nearly 5 years. The grin on my face is so big, I would imagine one could see it through my dark-smoked visor! I start to enjoy turn 9 and getting my knee down regularly, which is soon followed by the same in turn 1... then turn 11.. then 2...
I'm having fun at this point, you could say.
I enjoy the next few sessions thoroughly, but at this point (3:30 pm) after instructing all morning and gradually pushing harder and harder in the afternoon... I start to get a bit tired. After all, it's been a few months since I've been on the track, and almost 5 years since I've been comfortable enough to start to push a bike while on track. I decide it's better to end the day early on my terms, than have my day ended early from a mistake.
I pack the bike up and can't stop smiling, and especially not when I think that in less than a month I'll be back out at Loudon and 2 weeks after that... will be heading back to VIR for two days on the North Course.
Sure there are some tweaks to be made, and some parts to be ordered (TRIPLES!!!), but the 848 is taking shape, and beating any expectations I had when I bought the bike.
I couldn't be happier.
