Tifoso 996 C-Racer

Now before i go on with 996 C-Racer, i must deal with one more thing. Every company must have an advertisement. I was on the net the other day and i saw this advertisement from 1973.

I thing i can hear the photographer saying: " It's ok Monica, you can loose those cheeks now." Those were the days, when the girls were chubby and the bikes skinny. Not like today, that the girls are skinny and the bikes chubby.

Anyway, having that in mind, i decided that i need an advertisement. I also realized that women often starring in motorcycle advertisements. For some reason that i can't understand, dressed like porn stars ready for the word "Action". 

Now seriously what is this?

How can this girl be related to that bike? I am 45 and never, not once none of my girls did that to my bikes. In what universe can this thing happen?  I know what you thing. In a parallel one. Maybe, but not this one. And by the way has anyone noticed the word Honda? Cause i haven't. 

This one none of my girls did either.

Pirelli. Delivers that much information, that you will never touch anything with hands again. 

And it's not just bikes.                   

                            It's tyres, 

                                                                   
                             leather suits,

                                                             
                             helmets and boots,

    tyres,

    energy drinks,

    lubricants. I can understand that one.

               And of course, it's the reverse cowgirl.

Now, the only connection i can see between girls and products, is the following. We are primate mammals, and good weapons will ensure our reproduction. He who has the wright weapon, has the wright mate. Young, pretty and ready to mate.

So with my advertisement, i will also aim on this prehistoric reflex. 

And now let's move on to the ST4s project. This project was in my mind from the day i saw the ST2 SC live. What a unique bike would be, if underneath the Sport Classic body was hidden a SuperBike. I was planning to build this bike for myself, that's a keeper, but then a client came along and made me an offer i couldn't refuse. "Make me this bike, or i'll kill you".
In my opinion this is not just the ultimate cafe racer. It's the ONLY cafeRACER. Cause the ST4s is a true racer. SBK specs frame, SBK specs engine, SBK specs suspension.
Tonight, that i'm writing those lines the bike is not ready yet, i haven't see it, or drive it yet, but i'm hell sure it's gonna be the most amazing bike ever.
Now on with the project. The bike we are about to transform is a 07/2002 ST4s. The new owner is the third one and the previous was a Ducati authorized technician. So the bike is in excellent working condition. These are some pics i took from her with her old suit.

Treasure!

Treasure!

And some interesting details. The switch on the right side of the tachometer is a second radiator fan and behind the brake reservoir you can see a white counter full of glycerine. It's an oil pressure meter.

Now the bike came to me like that. The previous owner wanted to make some extra euros selling the fairings and the new owner wanted to save some euros that could use them more appropriately in his new bike.

Well not exactly like that, the seat was on. So i went on with the stripping process and the bike ended like that before the surgery.

 

























The exhausts needed some good work both on the pipes and the mufflers. They are one Termi and one Remus. The Termi is lighter but the Remus has a more beautiful carbon pattern.

 And there are some details that make you enjoy the otherwise boring sand paper rub.

 Here, a part of the sub frame is removed and the trellis tube is drilled and ready for the custom loop.

And here with some photoshop help is the expected result.

Waiting for the machinist to make the custom loop, i'm almost done with the wiring. We have a new place for the battery and the ECU. Pictures of them when they are complete. The exhausts are also ready. If everything goes according to plan, that of course is something that never happens (Murphy's law), Sunday i may have it out for a test drive. So,

To be continued.
If i'm correct, it was Umberto Eco who said that "Even God needs to advertise, that's why the bells are wringing. So...
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Another Photo Story

In my post of April 26, i say that the Ducati Paul Smart 1000 LE is the hottest motorcycle ever. Well that was true until the day i saw in flesh the 944 CS (Cafe Sport). Whether it is hot for anybody else i can't tell. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Although i had a clue, when i saw the reactions of people in the streets or whenever parked. Those reactions made me decide to move on to the Tifoso Customizing Company. Because the bike is no longer in my hands and since i'm moving on to the project Tifoso 996 CRacer, i want to release some photos that i have never published before and i believe that they deserve to be on air. Enjoy!

And please mark this day in your calendar. May 15.

                                                                     Together with the GT 1000 of the editor of the caferacers.gr

Photo Story

This one is a tribute to the Ducati 900SS, a bike so controversial as a design and as a concept. It was supposed to be a Super Sport, but it had just 73hp and was only a two seater. Unlike the pre '98 SS, Ducati  never bothered to make a monoposto version like the 900SL. Just a rear seat cover from the performance parts. Like most of Terblances designs its shape was outdated. It looked contemporary the day the production stopped. Like the 999 that looks contemporary today. Put it alongside the 1199 and you can say that they are same year - different model.

These are some photos that i have collected over the years from the net, just to look at them. What a bike! Enjoy.                                                                                                         

    Of course it was my bike which, as it is obvious, i was considering the most beautiful SS in the world.

 And since i've lived with the bike for three years making some 20,000 km with it, 4,000 of them on track, i must say. It was a delight driving it at speed. Steady as a rock when braking, could stay leaned all day without the slightest effort and with a front end that was connected to the central nerve network of the driver, delivering information as if you were touching the tarmac with your palm. 

It had a perfect riding position for my 1.85m height and although i don't have the notes anymore, i can  remember that the rear set up was the stock with two more turns at the preload but the front was rather strange. I gave one more line at the preload (that is five visible lines), compression 4clicks from far right and rebound two clicks left from stock. With that set up my 80kgs could lean from side to side effortless for hours. These pictures were taken in Serres racing circuit, the only descent circuit we have in Greece. Well this is a 73hp bike and could lap at 1:34 with a good privateer (in my hands 1:38), when the 1198s can lap in 1:25 in the hands of the best racing driver with racing tires. A racer with an asthmatic engine, but still a racer.

In case you are a Ducatista and you have never owned an SS (900 or 1000), you owe it to yourself. Go and find a good one, red please, have the monoposto seat cover, paint it like that,

or like that.

 If you do the monoposto paint scheme you need the 2in1 exhaust, otherwise the bike will be historically incorrect and you will miss one of the best exhaust sounds ever. The two cylinder engine has a totally different sound when it exhales through one pipi, sorry pipe.

It's unbelievable how much respect this bike receives from every street user, including the owner.