The Becoming of a Ducatista: Building a true Superbike for the Street

What better to start with than a base model, 170 horsepower 1198. Yes, this would be the next in line for my Ducati purchases. I was on the hunt for a low mileage 999s in gloss black to compliment the 749s, and I found one in San Francisco, almost 6 hours away. I drove up to take a look, and test ride it. It was the day the dealers were all presenting the Ducati Streetfighter for the first time. When I test rode the 999s I was surprised at how similar it was to my 749s. With the mods I had done, they felt almost identical. Yes the 999s was a little more of a beast, but not nearly as smooth as my 749s. There just wasn't enough of a difference to justify the purchase.

I looked at the Streetfighter. I looked at the 1198... 155 HP for the Streetfighter versus 175 for the 1198... Fairings versus no fairings... Clip-ons versus Riser Bar... the 1198 won that battle in every way! I purchased the 1198 on the spot, waited for prep completion, and rode it home stopping 6 times for gas, lol.

My relationship with ducatispot (now known as ducati.org ), and Ducati-Superbikes had truly begun. I needed to learn anything and everything I could about this bike, so the modifications could begin...

What does one start with first... for me, it had to be the exhaust. I needed to let this engine breathe! Fitted with some personal touches (modifications) this is where I would start to photograph the progress:

• Speedymoto 10 Y spoke Clutch Cover
• Speedymoto Clutch Springs, Caps, and stainless hardware
• STM Vertigo Clutch Plate
• Watsen Design turn signal modification (See Below)
• Acculign Rearsets
• Carbon Trader Rear "long" Hugger (about 1/3 down the webpage)

Exhausts are a very personal purchase. It speaks of one's desire to enjoy the sound and performance of their bike. After diligently searching, I settled on the Arrow Titanium Slip-ons. It was an easy way to get the sound and feel I wanted. Tuned with a Ducat Performance Slip-on ECU (designed for the Termignoni Slip-on), this exhaust would achieve far more than I expected.

The catalytic converters are located in the base of the stock exhaust cans. So just adding slip-ons makes a significant difference in sound and power. The challenge is the ECU, and the bypassing of the Oxygen Sensors of which there are two!

(2) Bung Plugs with crush washers would have to be purchased to replace the O2 sensors.

An ECU (shown above with part number) would have to be used to bypass their purpose, and the Fuel/Oxygen tune would be required for proper running (TPS reset/tune by your dealer). There is also the discussion of the "flapper valve" bypass. There was much debate about this particular modification, but in the end I realized it's sole purpose was to restrict air flow in neutral at low RPM's to allow for the bike to pass sound emission requirements regulated by my state. Does it have a significant effect on performance? According to all my research, no. It only works when the bike is in neutral, and opens and closes at start up, and in the 3-6K RPM's. For me the purpose of this modification was to remove the cables and motor which were superfluous to performance, and ugly to look at. The quickest fix? Just purchase one of these- Servo Eliminator

In consideration of the abundant power I already had, a full Termignoni system just didn't make sense. I left the option open because I had heard a rumor than a new Termignoni Exhaust was in development.

Once the exhaust was complete, the bike began to run quite well. The low-end troubles were gone and the engine was much smoother running than stock. Did I mention it was significantly faster? Wow, what a difference a little horsepower and torque can make!

As mentioned above I did a turn signal modification. I designed mounts behind the vents of the tail section with water heater straps to help locate the signals in the easiest visible portion of the vent. I used Watsen Designs Signals because they were by the brightest, and were machined from 6061 Aluminum before powder coating. Here's some shots of the designs and final product:

And a video of the signals in action:

Now that I had gotten rid of the signals I had to relocate the plate. I found this design, which was CNC'd and Anodized black. It used the stock Plate light, mount and hardware, and tucked nicely under the exhaust. Here are some images:

Before re-installing the exhaust, I decided to get it Ceramic Coated. I used a company called Engineered Applications. I coated directly over the bung plugs and all of the connections and threads were masked off for proper fitment. Here's a few photos with the Exhaust mounted:

I had many comments about legality and police, but CHP signed off on it, as it was quite visible and lit up nicely. I did get one ticket in 2 years of daily riding for it. The citation was a fix-it ticket, costing $25 (plus a stamp & sign off was free at the CHP station), and I put it back as it was. It also prevented me from getting a speeding violation as it gave the officer a lesser charge to cite me for.

The next purchase would be wheels. I considered many options, but came to only a select few as my final choices.

Option 1, BST 7 Spoke Carbon Wheels:

Option 2, Marchesini 1098s Forged Aluminum 5 Y-Spokes:

Option 3, Marchesini 1198s Forged Aluminum 7 Spokes (the latest wheel from Marchesini):

Or Option 4, Marchesini Forged Magnesium 5 Y-Spokes:

I ended up with the 7 Spoke Forged Marchesini. They were stripped and powder coated by HRE Performance Wheels. This was not something they would normally do but I had a friend who did a lot of business with them call in a favor. I chose the "textured black" matte finish:

I would wait to install them with numerous other small modifications including:

•   Ohlins Steering Damper
•   Driven 14/42 drive 520 DID conversion
•   Driven Clip-ons
•   Rizoma Grips
•   Ceramic Coated Exhaust
•   Speedymoto Upper triple Clamp
•   Speedymoto 7 spoke clutch cover
•   Speedymoto clutch spring/ caps/ & stainless hardware kit
•   STM Vertigo Clutch Playe
•   HID Headlights high & low beam
•   Watsen Design LED Rear Vent Signals
•   Competition Werkes Under Exhaust Plate Relocator (powder coated black)