Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127150
'the front. The original crankcase breather fitting on top of the transmission has been plugged and a new breather cap made for the oil filler cap. The breather now goes through a reed val ve into a catch bottle instead of directl y into the ai rbox. Thanks to a new, more compact wiri ng harn ess, the black box has been moved fro m the tailsection to the front of the bike, a nd the ba tter y to the righ t of the engine. The new harn ess weighs a litl e less but , more impor tan tly, the redecorating makes for a 50/ 50 weight distri bu tio n. The massive rear subfram e was discarded 'and a new one was fabr icated fro m sma ll ,diameter chrome mo ly tubing . Abo u t $700 worth of a lu min um and titan ium nu ts a nd bol ts rep lace the steel originals, shaving off a few more pounds. These parts are available from FBF: There is also an en~i ne lighte n ing kit , co nsisting of a lighter flywh eel , and cI utch bask et as well as a smaller, lighter alternator. These parts all ow the bike to rev a little easier, and th e smaller alternator probably requires less horsepower to tum. At $5000 a ' copy , the kit will make 'the owner a bit ligh ter as well. The whole dog and pony show is available from Ducati. Stop th is. I sayl , The 280mm brake discs have been swapped for 300mm un its. The en tire stopping system is standard Brembo Gold Line goodies. The wheel s are Michel in -shod Marvi cs, just like everyo ne else uses. And th e chassis is stone stock. All th is is very exhausting Each exha ust valve ' has its ow n , header pipe; the two short pipes siamese together a short ' distance , from the head . Following the advice of In genere Bordi (Duca ti factory R&D), Ferracci cut and rewelded th e head pipes to give a softer radius to the bends. T hese p ipes intersect under the engine (making an " X" ) a n d sp li t off in to two sep ara te mufflers. T he sharp bends aro und the " X' have been cu t ope n and rewelded, making a less tortured pa th for the exha ust ga ses. T his work' IS plainl y' visibl e and ca n be cop ied by 'anyo ne who can cut and weld tubing. Although Ferracci has made a freer flow ing exha ust, th e bike has been faster at every track with the stock mufflers. . Nothing in here but us stock parts With the excep tio n of pulling off the top end after every race , the engine has been left alone. According to the factory , the bo tto m end should be good for 5000 racin g miles. Fera cci sees no reason to doubt them. Ever- : ythi ng in the engine is as it came fro m th e facto ry, and som e serio us ligh teni ng and polish ing co u ld still be don e to 't he valve train. The engine 's ma in cla im to fame is that th e ports are almost stra igh t a nd have a steep downdraft angl e. Vile gossip and idle speculat ion P rob abl y the most speculat ion a bout wha t mak es Dale go has to do with the fuel injec tion. The fun ny thing is, the injectio n system o n the bike is pro bab ly on e of the worst fuel ' injectio n system s o n the market. Compared to the la test and greatest that Bosch has to offer, the Weberl Marelli has all the precision of a bl in dm an throwing buckets of water toward wh ere he thi nks so m e un kn own quantit y of people might be thirs ty. The system lacks a n ai rflo w sensor, relying on th e position of the throttle butterflies to determ ine air mass (no t ter ribl y , , . The brain of t he 'electronic management system has been moved from the tail section up to behind .t he fairing. Cool air scoops feed the airbox . At some tracks. Quarterley turned quicker laps on the Fast By Ferracci Ducati than on his Suzuki Superbike. Water temperature sensors for the Weber/Marelli EMS are positioned adjacent to the water pump. Does it also need an airflow meter? Battery has been relocated to right side of engine. making for 50/50 weight distribution. Hand-fabricated bracket is visible in the above photo.