How to install race fairings to your bike, part 2

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It was time to put ‘Cleopatra’ into her new War dress, but I was quite nervous about the fit. Back in Europe, I’ve installed a aftermarket fairing kit ones to a R1, and some of those mounting holes were half an inch away from its destination. That the ABS plastic seem easily crack-able added frustration. Now Cleo’s armor does not- by far- but the damn thang is heck of awesomely painted, that any additional drill would mess it up.  The preciseness of a Panigale fairing goes way beyond that point the term ‘tight fit’. The Italians put so much heart into it, so let’s see how it goes with the installation.

Straight up… it took me half a day just to mount the upper fairing. I took my sweet time to resize holes, but in the end it all fits and I didn’t crack anything. The fit is surprisingly close, but not as perfect as the holes sitting in a stock fairing. With patience and brain you’ll get it done, I promise. To be clear… I didn’t had to ‘ovalize’ those holes. Some were just too small or had to be cleared from the paint.

I’ve messed up the seat… yea, really! OK, there are those air flow ducts in the Panigale seat. I added some carbon pieces, but they didn’t cover the inside fairing piece at that point fully, so that there the viewer would have a direct view to lots of mixed colors. To make it look clean, I had to brush some matte black paint on the inside of those seat panels. To make that stick, I de-greased it with brake cleaner. Way to aggressive chemicals- and the paint got messed up a little. Not good! The same I had to do with the inside of the upper fairing, but good that men can learn by mistakes.

Actually it was planned to install with quick releases, but I run out of time since I have to pack up for a Track Drill coaching gig at Buttonwillow Raceway. Still no total pictures, but my plan is to put Cleopatra out on the start/finish line and shoot some for ya. So let’s get that Superbike-Coach logo on the bike and fill up the gas tank… Buttonwollow here we come :-)

Headcoach Can Akkaya

How to install race fairings to your bike, part 1

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Finally the race fairings have arrived, and I am highly impressed by the quality and paint job they did to it- exactly as I put it down to paper about one month ago. A fully customized paint job- clear coated on ABS plastics, including shipping to California for a total of $470 bux!!!

If you ever removed a stock fairing from a modern sport bike, then you might know that there are hundreds of puzzle pieces- but dealing with the preciseness of a Panigale fairing goes even beyond that point. But before I can go to install the kit there were things to do on the stripped bike.

To teach riders on the track, I need GPS/Satellite supported equipment. The challenge once more is the price and weight. I for sure don’t want to pay Ducati’s plug’n’play lap timer for about $700 (!)… but I wanted to have a device which plays along with the capable stock cluster gauge. For only $200 bux I even accept to splice 4 wires. In all honesty… I chicked out on this one, and asked my friend Steve Collins to do this for me. Steve is a highly capable technician and knows all about Ducati. We had a blast doing this together.

Back home I modified the upper triple clamp, which doesn’t allow much of a handle bar adjustment. Removing some notches does the job, and the difference is significant. Also, the installation of some radiator guards makes sense since this bike keeps rolling on public roads. Since California’s streets are not much better than ‘developing nation’ standards- a guard is recommended at least for the lower radiator.

Yes I know I won’t be able to repair ABS, but for that price I would say you go and stick to your glass fiber race fairing kit for 800 bux and to paint it poorly in your garage… while I just go and order another fully painted kit for a little more and have a showroom bike in my garage which nobody else has.

Headcoach Can Akkaya

How to make a Ducati Panigale more ride-able

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After doing an ECU flash (upgrade 9), I was still very unhappy withe the “city” riding abilities a Panigale comes up with. Disappointing, but that’s maybe the difference a customized map via dyno runs can make. But since even this isn’t a 100% solution, I was looking for alternatives- and I found a logic one. It turns out to be cheap and simple as well.

OK, I use to have almost no free-play in all my bikes, so that there is no fiddling around the point where/when the throttle valve opens up. That makes it more predictable at the brake to throttle transition around the apex, and for city riding, where you constantly operate the damn thing on that edge.

Before you refer to any manufacturers manual… let me tell you that I don’t give a shit about their purpose of such a big free-play in the throttle/cable- because it makes lots of things better and your right hand and nerve costume will thank you for it as well.

Now, a row 4 cylinder is almost a Lamp against the Panigale, which loves to open her heart at any occasion. There is much more torque to play with at that low throttle position, and that free play makes you sweatin’ like a dog, so let’s get this solved.

The Panigale, and many other modern bikes, are ‘fly-by-wire’. Means- the throttle is all electronically, and no more via cable operated. These $30 bux spacers (pics) eliminate the free play on the “Joystick” almost at a 100%, and they are super easy to install. I took it out on the street today and the difference is just amazing… almost from Mr. Hyde back to Jekyll

So… if you have cable… turn that free play out by let’s say 80%. If you are flying by wire… research for spacers. If you have Mr. Hyde dressed in Ferrari red sitting in the garage… then this is what you need to do!

Headcoach Can Akkaya

How to upgrade brake rotors

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I started doing the minor work at the front end first since I am still in the research for the ‘bottoming out issue’. I knew there was a wobble in one of the the brake rotors, which is why i didn’t even change the ‘street rider brake pads’ to do my track day back on 8/5/. Accordingly bad was my performance on the brake, especially into slow turns. Good arguments to change to fully floated (short expl.: the rotor centers between the pads) rotors and freaking ‘race brake pads’. 330mm in diameter should do a darn good job on Cleopatra.

A set of ‘ready to wire’ caliper bolts are on ebay for 25 bux. Also the bulky stock wheel spacers had to be replaced by black anodized aluminum spacers for about 30 bux.

That carbon front fender closes the work on the front wheel… wait… brand new Bridgestone Battlemax race tires are waiting already, but first I’m going to brake-in these bad ass looking rotors.

Side note: Race bike feel… ergo… race bike problems. Cleo is shaking and braking one bolt after another..

How to make a motorcycle a lightweight

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I pretty much rode Cleo like a raw egg at my track day on 8/5/. Too much going on to be focused. The track gig showed some issues which I’ll be working on in the next 3 weeks: brake rotor wobble, poor brake pads, real bad front end, carbon heat shield came off, GPS lap timer, to flash the ECU, and to change fairings/design.
I finally got rid of that super cheap and way to big looking tire huger. I was looking for a long time and found this one in Italy… of corse

Let me draw up an interim balance:
All the stuff you see on the last picture are parts which I could replace with carbon, aluminum or even titanium (again… I’ll keep the ball low). Even though I’ve measured differences of about 60% less- I will take only 40% off the scale to calculate fair. What you see on the picture makes 9.35kg on the scale, minus 40% = 3.74kg. Now lets look at the stuff I could just take out of the bike: license plate holder, everything what’s in the mufflers, and whatnot. The difference is significant: 4.8kg
The total weight loss until now is 10.41kg, which is about 23 American pounds!

That’s the weight I try to eat less in Pizza, but kinda not getting it done- so here we go :-)

Headcoach Can Akkaya