Tank Slap - Motorcycle Forum

That looks like they've caught a shark and turned into a bike.

I love it.

Nice but I think I would have to have a red one.

That exhaust heat shield is fulgy

It is fugly.

I keep looking at threads on Ducati forums about how to improve the things that need improving on the 1199.

Exhaust heat is one of the problems but it seems that a ceramic coating on the under seat section of exhaust, thermal covering to the underside of the seat and possibly also a remap will reduce it dramatically.

Also read today that fitting this year's bike head bearings changes the rake to the same as the 2015 bikes.

I'm very undecided about what to do next year at the moment.

Tbh when I test rode one the heat was a real issue. So bad I considered abandoning the test ride and phoning them to collect me and the bike in a van. I'm not kidding it was that bad and very painful. Really put me off buying the bike tbh.

Ducati are sending it out unfinished imo. The mods you have listed for heat reduction should be applied as standard.

How do the bearings alter the rake ?

Kwacky wrote:That looks like they've caught a shark and turned into a bike.....

This.^^

Blade wrote: How do the bearings alter the rake ?

I wondered that.
The 899 was pretty hot in the underseat area too. I only found it got bad stopped or in traffic. As soon as you were moving it was OK.
The main thing I remember from 1199 reviews were that it tied itself in knots but I don't remember why. I would assume suspension tuning and a remap would help? You get A LOT of bike for your money with an 1199.
I know the 899 shares body panels with the 1199 so does that mean they are more or less the same bike or are there other differences? Seems strange that the 1199 had reviewed comparatively badly and the 899 so well.

The 899 has different geometry which the 1299 now shares Andy and this has made it a better road bike compared with the lively 1199.

No idea how bearings could change the rake. You would need different yokes or an eccentric adjuster I would have thought. Not saying it's not possible just don't understand how it would work so hopefully Duke maybe able to shed some light on the subject as very little he doesn't know about Ducatis.

Regards the heat I know these bikes are used little in towns but you have to use towns to get to the twisties so it's unavoidable really.

Headrace bearigs that are eccentric perhaps.?
That way, as the bars were turned the rake would also be altered.
Just a thought.

I hadn't see those StMarks.

Makes sense now. Cheers for the explanation.

Blade wrote:I hadn't see those StMarks.

Makes sense now. Cheers for the explanation.

Woah guys, it was just an idea.!!!

NOT a definitive answer.

Deegee, or some other engineering guru, will probably be along shortly to point out that my suggested explanation is; " crackers because........."

I'll find out a bit more from the guy who fitted them. He's featured in PB mag this month as the man who brought his 1199 to their free Rockingham track day. Thrashed it in the morning, crashed it, fixed it over lunch and was back out on track later in the afternoon.

Ive kind of had pipes ceramic coated. Not cheap, butvthen wasnt my bike. I know some contacts if you ever want them just pm me.
You can ceramic the outside or inside. The ceramic can be different colours. The best stuff (plasma applied ceramic) is very rough though in texture.

I've looked into that in the past.

Iirc Ducati have used adjustable rake on both their race bikes and some of the road homologation "R" models, so it's not a new idea to vary the rake in that way afaik. I can't see how it would vary the rake if the bars were turned, but you'd only have two options of rake from what I can see, anything other than adjusted fully forward or back would result in the steering head / forks being at an angle to the vertical axis of the frame - the forks would look p*ssed in other words.
Mind you, theres still the question of what happens when the internal bores of the bearings aren't aligned, perhaps they are spherically floating bearings - similar to a rose joint.

Oh and if you adjust both top and bottom bearings together fully forward or back you could adjust the steering offset. If you really wanted to of course..... My brain hurts now.
Pic nicked from Ducati.org btw.

My 748 has an adjustable steering head.

Love the look of that. Very stealthy. But is it me or do you expect to see Batman riding it?

Saw Rockets 899 today fir the first time and was blown away.

It really us a special bike. Looks and sounds fantastic and it draw a lot of attention on the cat and fiddle car park.

Absolutely stunning bike

The swing arm pivot is 5mm lower on the 1299

It would seem that most of the chassis improvements made to the 1299 can be transferred to the 1199.

The 1199R has an adjustable swing arm pivot point that can be retro-fitted to the earlier 1199 bikes.

I like this sort of playing, fiddling, adjusting and improving which is why an 1199 has become of interest again.

That said I went out on the 748 for a short blast this morning and that bike runs so beautifully after all the adjustments I have made and the work Mike has done at MES, it probably cannot be bettered as a bike that's a pleasure to ride hard.