The Panigale Files

[toratora]

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of work on the 899, and I wanted to have a place to document my effort. Yeah it doesn’t truly fit in the spirit of this foro, but that’s one of the benefits of running your own show—you can break the rules when the need arises.

[toratora]

First I had to set up the work space, and since it was a sunny day I would be in need of the Umbrella Girl.


The bike was running strange. There was a weird vibration in the right peg, and the sound was off. It sounded like it was coming from the lower cylinder’s exhaust area. I removed the panels to inspect the area. I found nothing to be loose or leaking. I then rode over the Kent’s to see if he knew what was up. He didn’t know either. Which didn’t surprise me since he hasn’t worked on these bikes either. Since I was in the area I visited the local Taco Bell.


When I got home I did some research. I found that some people had a similar problem with an issue of a stuck butterfly valve at the Y pipe of the exhaust. I decided to perform an inspection. There weren’t really any decent photos so I was somewhat on my own to figure it out. People had said that it was a 30 second fix.

I did find it, and sure enough it was stuck in the closed position. The valve is spring loaded so just by applying a small amount of force freed it up, and the valve opened. It probably seized up due to riding the bike in the rain this season. We’ve had a lot of rain, and the 899 has been my only available transportation for most of the year.


Further research yielded that most folks removed the cable from the servo motor that actuated the valve. I decided that since the sole purpose of this valve was to pass some noise regulations that I would disconnect the cable. Basically the bike would be slightly louder at idle, and low RPMs. I haven’t noticed it to be louder, but the tone has changed to a deeper throatier sound.


Then it was time for a test ride. Oh mai!! My Ducati was back. I couldn’t believe how much better it was running. It was so nice to have my bike back. This inspired me to do some much needed maintenance that I had been putting off due to my car situation (it was lent out). I figured since the skirts were already off the bike it wouldn’t be that much more effort to swap out the plugs. I was totally incorrect on this prediction!!

I needed a proper plug socket since the 899 employs a 14mm spark plug. I went over to visit Catherine at Daly City Tool Mart. She had just what I needed, but it was too late to continue wrenching, and further wrenching would have to wait until another day.

[toratora]

The next step in the process was to take apart much of the bike. I took a lot of photos to document this process.

[toratora]

More decomp action. I ran into a difficult issue when the T40 torx bit started to crumble. This was with just a standard 3/8ths ratchet with very little pressure. I would solve this problem by visiting Catherine at the Daly City Tool Mart where I picked up an impact level T40 bit. Previously I went there to pick up a 14mm spark plug socket. The orifice to the plug was just barely large enough to fit the socket. With the price tag on the socket it would not fit down the hole!

The plugs looked okay, but clearly needed to be replaced as they had developed a cone shape rather than their normal cylinder shape. The horizontal cylinder’s plug look to be a bit dirtier than the vertical cylinder’s.

[toratora]

With the plugs installed it was time to get to the air filter. The bike already had a K&N, but I used the new one anyway. I can clean the old filter out for the next service, and then rotate them as needed. Inside the air box was quite a large number of bees. It looks like they were trying to nest in there. There were also quite a number of small rocks. This was going to be a real pain in the ass to clean out.

This was also a good time to start mocking up the 1199 subframe. The tank mounts for the 899 and 1199 are quite different. However, it looks like the 899 tank can be mounted with the 1199’s system. Thankfully the subframe I bought came with all the hardware. This was a real boon.

[toratora]

Cleaning out the air box took a long time. It probably would have been best to do it with a shop vacuum. The bike was really dirty from riding in the rain. Slowly things are getting cleaned up properly. It is a process.

[toratora]

Yesterday I ran into a bit of a show stopper. I wanted to test things before I began the actual assembly. So I put the subframe in place, mounted the tank (with out bolts), connected the various wires, and the Black Box. Inserted the key, and nothing. I looked about, and didn’t notice anything amiss. I figured it might be a fuse, but nothing jumped out. I then started doing some online searching, and posted to one of the Panigale faros for help.


This morning there was a post suggesting a fuse that wasn’t easily seen. I went out to check it. I didn’t find the fuse, but what I did see is that by removing the battery box in order to remove the radiator support I had disconnected the ground strap from the engine. I laughed pretty hard at that one. Connected things up, and the bike turned on. All a part of learning a new bike.


After testing the connection with a quick start of the bike it was time to drain the radiator. With the coolant out I opened up the inlet. I found this near clay like pink substance the had developed on the cap. It was also blocking the outlet to the overflow tank. It took quite a bit of effort to clean this out, and return the overflow tank to a state where it will be functional again.


Then I started to fill the radiator up with the Engine Ice. The service manual has a procedure that basically states to add coolant, start the engine and bring it up to temp. This helps to remove air in the system. Then let it cool, repeat. I’m fairly confident that the system is properly bled. But thankfully I didn’t try to refill things from the overflow tank as suggested by the service manual, because that would have resulted in an engine without coolant!


I also got a few more parts washed. There’s still plenty of washing to perform. I also was able to get the radiator support installed, and a number of other little items. As is always the case no matter how many photos you take there’s also something that was missed. So I had to figure a few things out with the wrenching sleuth detective action. Then I took some more photos. Later I was to find that Ducati posts the parts manual online, and I was able to verify that I had correctly assemble things.


Over all the bike is coming together swimmingly. It is taking a fair amount of time, but that has been a worth while investment, because it has also revealed a number of things that also needed attention.

[toratora]

This has been a lot of work, but I really don’t think the bike has run this well since I got it—I am really pleased with how well it is performing.


Almost the entire day was Ducati action. First I had to procure some oil, and bolts. My local hardware store was closed so it was off to the Home Depot where I found some 60mm M8 socket heads. Sadly they didn’t have stainless so I’ll have to replace these bolts before too long, and they were quite expensive too!

For oil I ended up getting the Lucas synthetic 20-50. From what I had read it is right up there with the Motul, and I could buy it just down the street.


Then it was the drain fest, and exchanging out the oil filter. Again I went with K&N. The oil cover is rather neat. Two M6 bolts hold it in place, but the cover is threaded with M8s, which are used like a puller because the two o-rings keep the cover from popping out.




With the oil handled I could get back to the assembly. Starting out with the subframe, and the Home Depot bolts. I had look through the parts manual to figure out the length of these bolts, but it wasn’t listed. So I ended up measuring how deep the subframe was, and how far out the old bolts were on the old subframe. This came out to 60mm, and that’s how I knew what size to purchase.


After that was more cleaning (there’s always more to clean!), and figuring out how to assemble the tail section. For the most part it’s the same as with the 899 subframe. Thankfully the 1199 subframe came with a bunch of hardware. This made it nice since I would have plenty of bolts and such.


One difference was the connectors for the plate light. On the 1199 they employed a multipin connector, and on the 899 they used the single pin connectors. This meant that I had to fish out the 1199 harness, and replace it with the 899 harness. Once that was worked out I could properly secure the tank.


From there the tail section quickly went together. Quite a few pieces to that puzzle!




Then more cleaning, and finally putting on the skirts.


Finally time for a test ride! I did the usual loop stopping to visit with Jeff for a bit since he was doing some late night wrenching. Then a stop at the Target to procure some weekly supplies. The bike is running fantastic. The throttle response is great. Acceleration is better than it has been since I got the bike. Really this was a lot of work, but totally worth the improvements.

[Berkeley]

Hey Tora,

Great to see work carried out on the Panigale. Nice to see some big bike stuff as well!

[toratora]

Thanks. It was work that I should have gotten to much sooner, but just wasn’t able to do so. I went for a little ride again today. It really is a fun bike. Way way way too much power!!

There are a few more things I want to do for this bike. Hopefully they wont take as long to get to like I did with the subframe.