First ride on a twin.

Mostly my riding has been limited to in line fours but I got a run on a 996
at the weekend.

Bike had carbon termi's (chipped for) and other than fancy bolty on stuff
was standard.

Good bits: How it handled and stopped, wasn't as uncomfortable as I
expected, felt so narrow and race bike like (Not that I'd know what a race
bike feels like)

Bad bits: The massively high gearing. Aren't twins supposed to be famed for
their torque? This bike would stall if going slowly in 2nd (At a junction
for example) It was flat and choking itself unless it was kept well up in
the revs. Not in the least what I expected. They all like this?

Tullyhubbert

 

Yes. They use a 15t front sprocket which is, as you say, massively
over geared for riding it on the street. Paying £12 to Ducati and
swapping it for a 14t front is a common mod and transforms the
bike no end.

 

You mean no.

The OP was asking about big twins generally, not Ducatis.

 

I meant yes.

That was this bit I missed ;-)

PS. Did you box arrive?

 

"antonye" wrote in message

Interesting, its a friend's bike who has just came back to biking after a
8yr break. His previous bike was a Blade but he fancied a twin this time as
he'd read all about the low down torque available. The 996 doesn't do low
down torque or there's something wrong with it.

Last year I was tinkering about with my Blade's gearing and dropped the
front sprocket a tooth. Job was a goog un only it had the annoying side
affect of making the speedo and milometer read high as the pick up is
internal off a gear shaft somewhere. Is the Ducati the same or is the pick
up somewhere on the final drive? Its sounds like it would make the bike much
easier to ride on the road.

Tullyhubbert

 

It's a deceptive bike and I doubt you'd tell unless you rode it
back-to-back with something like the Blade. The fact that it's
a twin makes it feel like it's a lot slower than an IL4, but keep
an eye on the speedo and you may be surprised.

The pickup is on the front wheel, so it doesn't affect anything. The
996
uses a 525 chain which is a bit of an arse to get off the front
sprocket
with it's limited clearance, so you're best to slacken off the chain
tension fully first, then take the front sprocket off.

Remember that the rear hub uses an eccentric to tighten the chain, so
you need to be careful of where it is (ideal is between the 12 and 3
o'clock positions) as it will affect ride-height (hence the adjuster)
and if you pass the 3 o'clock position you'll be loosening the chain
and not tightening it!

It's the best, cheapest and most popular mod for the Superbike range
and well worth the £12-or-so it costs for a new sprocket. Just make
sure you/he rides it carefully as it tends to pick the front wheel
up a lot easier once you've changed it.

 

Not yet...

 

"antonye" wrote in message

The pickup is on the front wheel, so it doesn't affect anything. The
996
uses a 525 chain which is a bit of an arse to get off the front
sprocket
with it's limited clearance, so you're best to slacken off the chain
tension fully first, then take the front sprocket off.

Remember that the rear hub uses an eccentric to tighten the chain, so
you need to be careful of where it is (ideal is between the 12 and 3
o'clock positions) as it will affect ride-height (hence the adjuster)
and if you pass the 3 o'clock position you'll be loosening the chain
and not tightening it!

It's the best, cheapest and most popular mod for the Superbike range
and well worth the £12-or-so it costs for a new sprocket. Just make
sure you/he rides it carefully as it tends to pick the front wheel
up a lot easier once you've changed it.

Cheers, I'll pass that on when he gets back from his hols. I'm sure he'll
being willing to try it.

Tullyhubbert

 

antonye wrote about reducing the front sprocket by a tooth:

That old chestnut again.

If you can't give it full throttle in first 'cos of the wheelies
and you have to change up at a lower speed as you've geared it down,
it's not going to improve anything about the bike.

 

Utter, utter tosh.

My GSX-R 1000 will flip in first if you gave it full throttle to the
red line, as would most of the current crop of superbikes. As would
most MotoGP and WSB machines. Are you suggesting they should have
taller overall gearing?

 

ITYF it'll improve the acceleration which in turn makes it feel more
responsive & leads to bigger grins. And there's nothing wrong with
having to change up earlier. Red line in 1st on the Senna with standard
gearing is 94mph - a little daft for road use, hence my 1 tooth smaller
front & 1 tooth larger rear. It's a common 'mod' on MVs, & on Ducs too
by the sound of it.

 

This is your knowledge accumulated from working as a factory
technician setting up racebikes with different gearing options?

 

Eiron fumbled, fiddled and fingered:

Fit shaft drive that'll cure it ;o)

--
Steve Parry
K100RS SE & F650
and a 520i SE Touring for comfort

(not forgetting the SK90PY)

http://www.gwynfryn.co.uk

 

"Your item with reference <snip> was delivered from our
CHELTENHAM Delivery Office before 11:44 on 29/03/05."

 

Well, I dunno about you, but I was at work at 11:44. But it'll be
waiting for me when I get home.

 

You mean the butler doesn't phone you when the post arrives?

 

You laugh, but my building does in fact have a porter who can sign for
parcels. I'm sure he would phone me if I asked him to.

 

I know we're talking a different league here, but that's just what I
found when I swapped form a Bandit to the SV. It didn't *feel* like it
accelerated as fast, but the speedo, and overtakes etc said otherwise.

Why is that?

--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked

 

That's a pretty posh place then - or when you say porter, do you
actually mean warden? It's just I've never heard of retirement homes
having porters...

--
Veggie Dave
UKRMHRC#2 BOTAFOF#08
IQ 18 FILMS http://www.iq18films.com
Extreme Racing http://www.veggie-dave.co.uk
Toxic Shock Syndrome Gets More Girls Than Me

 

antonye says...

Don't go any smaller than a 14 tooth front though, or you risk taking
huge chunks of metal out of the swingarm in the pivot area.