Canyon Stan's Ducati 749 Site

A ride with Jeff

Today, I took a ride with a co-worker, Jeff. He owns a a sweet White & Silver GSXR 1000.
.

We took a ride up Hwy 9 and did a few other roads in the Santa Cruz mountains before we made our way back down Hwy 17. When we stopped to get some coffee, he suggested that go over to Sport Tech Cycles 1st Annual Pre-Summer Kick-off.

There were a few vendors there, a DJ, a (weak) BBQ and the center of attention . . . a Stunt show.



Needless to say, the place was crowded with the Stunt crowd . . of which I am not. Not that I don't like watchin, but I'd rather drag my knee than a wheelie bar.

All in all, a fun day. The stunt show made me appreciate owning a Ducati even more because I didn't spot a single one in the parking lot. Lots of chromed out Japanese machinery though.
Stan on 04.25.09 @ 11:56 PM PST [link]

9th Mod: Carbon Fiber Exhaust Cover

My 9th mod took about 30 minutes to install. I bought a Carbon Fiber Exhaust Cover made by Pit-eck. It's beautifully crafted and looks great on the Duchess:


Tomorrow, I should be getting a Carbon Fiber Hugger . . so stay tuned.
Stan on 04.22.09 @ 10:11 PM PST [link]

8th Mod: Fork Preload Adjusters

My 8th mod took almost no time to install. I won a set of Podium Racing Motorcycle Supplies Showa Fork Preload Adjusters off Ebay.


I like it when the install is this easy
Stan on 04.21.09 @ 05:55 PM PST [link]

7th Mod: License Plate Relocator

My 7th mod was quite easy to install. After seeing it on a bike on the Ducati Spot, and considering the price, I went ahead and ordered the Evoluzione Cyclesports Licence Plate Relocator.
.

The instructions were straight forward and it cleans up Duchess back end quite nicely
Stan on 04.15.09 @ 08:15 PM PST [link]

6th Mod: Carbon Fiber Front Fender

My 6th mod was quite a bit harder to install than I thought it would be. I won an auction on Ebay and got a vented Carbon Fiber front fender made by Pit-eck. It's beautifully crafted and looks great on the Duchess:


The reason it was harder than I thought is because I didn't know I was going to have to take the front wheel off to do it. This requires a 28mm socket. I had to go to 4 different stores to actually find one. I went to Lowe's, Home Depot, Kragen and finally AutoZone had them.

Once I finally got the socket, it was all pretty straight forward after that. I also discovered my front wheel stand actually obstructs the front axle from going all the way in. With a few tricks, I was able to finally get the axle in, but in the future . . I'll probably just want to get a different front wheel stand.
Stan on 04.14.09 @ 11:48 PM PST [link]

5th Mod: Adjustable Rearsets

My 5th Mod, took a lot longer to install than it should have to install, but not because I'm mechanically challenged. It's because they came completely disassembled with no instructions. Also, one of the bolts for the actual pegs wasn't completely "finished" (the hole for the hex wasn't a complete hole). So, I had to run out and find a place that had a "finished" one.

I bought a set of Ottimoto Adjustable Rearsets off of Ebay. They looked like one of the best sets I could find (in haste granted) that would give me the extra bit of leg room I needed. Most rearset for the 749 seemed to move to up higher, but I need them a bit lower.

Once I figured out how to assemble the Ottimoto's (based purely off a picture on Ebay), I discovered that I could flip the mounting plate over to allow me to lower the pegs. I found that I couldn't really lower it too much or the shift linkage would hit the fairing.

So, this is what I came up with:


It has given me the little bit of extra room I need to be that much more comfortable.
Stan on 04.13.09 @ 11:13 PM PST [link]

Easter ride with SBR

So, after getting the PowerCommander installed, I was ready to do a ride. So, I logged on to SBR Forum, went into the Group Rides section and decided to see what was going on for Sunday.

Rene had posted up a 'Mellow Group Ride' for Easter Sunday. I decided I would join in.

This turned out to be one of the biggest group rides I've every been on.
51 riders in total, 6 different groups:
Fast
Kinda Fast
Medium Fast
Medium
Medium Slow
Slow Pokes

I was going to ride with the Kinda Fast group, but a few guys I'd ridden with before suggested I join them in the Fast group. I'm glad I did.

Not going to describe the route here because, it's better if less people know. If you really want to know email me and I'll tell ya.

Here are some pictures from the ride:




It was great to get out, meeting some new people and ride some new roads.
Stan on 04.12.09 @ 09:13 PM PST [link]

4th Mod: Clutch Pressure Plate & Spring Kit

My 4th mod is really a continuation of the my 3rd mod. Ya see, after I put on the trick looking Clutch Cover, I realized that underneath it didn't look so trick.

So, I went online and saw that I would have to get the Clutch Pressure Plate and Spring kit in order to get the look I was going for. So, after reading through Rob's Installation Guide I felt perfectly capable of pulling this off. I decided to order the parts from my friends at Desmo Porsche because they had competitive prices and fast delivery.

A picture is worth a 1000 words so:


Now, that's what I'm talking about.
Stan on 04.11.09 @ 09:08 PM PST [link]

3rd Mod: Aftermarket Clutch Cover

My 3rd mod took a little longer to install than my 1st and 2nd.
I ordered the Mad Duc Black Aluminum 'Strada' Clutch Cover.


Most of the time was spent trying to figure out how to line up the bolt holes correctly. The stock clutch cover has 6 holes while the one I got only had 4, plus 2 indentations for the other bolts to rest in. I almost thought it wasn't going to fit, but after another couple of minutes of rotating it around . . I found out it fit nicely and looks trick too
Stan on 04.10.09 @ 12:13 AM PST [link]

2nd Mod: Carbon Fiber Heat Shield

My 2nd mod took all of 10 minutes to install. I order a Desmo Porsche Carbon Fiber Side Heat Shield.

Stan on 04.09.09 @ 10:56 PM PST [link]

1st Mod: Swing Arm Spools

The 1st modification I had to make to Duchess, since she was bone stock, was I needed to add some swing arm spools so I could do basic maintenance (like lubing the chain).

I decided to run over to the Ducati dealership to see if they had anything. Turns out they were completely out of stock, so I ran over to another motorcycle shop close by and found a set of Pro-Tek black aluminum swing arm spools.

The guy behind the counter wasn't sure if they would work because the package said it was for GSX-Rs. I basically just made sure the bolts were the right size (8mm) and screwed them in. They work like a champ.

No picture this time, if you're here then you've seen swing arm spools before.
Stan on 04.03.09 @ 10:03 PM PST [link]

I finally got a Ducati

mood: Happy

We'll this is my first entry for Duchess. I decided it was finally time to get something with a little less engine displacement. Let's face it, you don't need 150+ RWHP motorcycle for the streets . . or even some tracks. So, I traded the R1 in for a 2006 Ducati 749.

So far, I've been quite impressed with the handling of the Ducati. It's got to be the best handling bike I've ever owned.

For reference, here are the bikes I've owned in the past:

Here are some pictures of my last bikes:

Old '98 Super Hawk

Old '03 CBR600RR

Old '05 R1

Old '82 SECA 750 My 1st bike

Old '01 ZR-7s

Old '02 FZ-1 StreetFighter

Old '01 CBR600 F4i

Stan on 04.01.09 @ 10:02 PM PST [link]