It might be a good time to mop up a few details you may have spotted in earlier posts.
I wasn't that keen on the later Gen 5 ZX10R guard to go with the Gen 5 forks, finding all the angled planes unnecessarily fussy. I'd been looking for the previous Gen 4 BPF guard in carbon, it's just simpler and more attractive for it to my eye, but when a nice condition carbon Gen 5 BFF guard showed up at the right price I admitted defeat:
Except the seller was somewhat less than generous with the details in their description:
To be fair they were good about refunding some of the $$$ (wasn't worth shipping it back for a full refund), but it was still a lot more work than it was supposed to be. As per the directive from the "Centre for Public Policy on Carbon Fibre" I've toned down the glam when making the repair:
Next up, that irritating/embarrassing oil filter pre-screen leak had to be dealt with once and for all. This is the problem-child right here (note the raw sand cast finish on the RS sump, vs the smooth painted finish on OEM road 'cases) :
The "deep sump" is another productionised race refugee: the earlier shallow sump was fine for road use, but oil surge under acceleration/wheelies, was an issue for racing. This was an era where these things were making +180hp, weighing 148kg (see below), so that front wheel got plenty of air-time! The Corse solution was a magnesium sump extension that bolted to the bottom of the 'cases. The production deep sump 'cases mightn't have the cache of magnesium but really are a simpler/stronger/stiffer solution....
You can see the extension here on Sean Emmett's BSB Reve Redbull 996RS:
...but that lil' cover above is a pain the arse! The cylindrical pre-screen on the shallow sump 'cases is installed horizontally, located/sealed by a large threaded plug; on the deep sump 'cases the screen is vertical and they use this mongrel cover which is sealed by a rubber coated metal gasket. The cover sealing flange seems to deform ever so slightly over time/tightening and soon thereafter oil meets concrete, much to the owners embarrassment.
There are a few aftermarket options but this very clever gentleman (and super nice guy) makes a range of incredible CNC parts and his solution is the best I've seen, the ribs not only strengthening the cover but also acting like tiny lil' radiator fins:
Seen here against the problem child:
Like finally scratching an itch, the best 5 minutes I've spent in a long time (apologies to my good lady, sorry love!):
But you didn't really expect me to mention Reve Redbull Ducati and not post more photo's/info on such an iconic BSB bike, with what is among the best racing liveries ever, did you? So here you go:
It's kinda hard to put these things into context nowadays, we've been looking at the 916 shape for nearly 30 years, and we've seen far too many truly shit Chinese or home-made copies....it's hard to describe...it's like all the Elvis or Marilyn Monroe impersonators have corrupted the memories of the real thing...until you see an old movie with one of them in it and you are reminded just how special they were.
It was looking for a good shot of a Mg sump extension that I found this info, and the penny dropped on something completely unrelated. Hang on a minute.....the shape of that tank looks familiar:
Waddayarekun? The 996RS tank is carbon vs mine in alloy, but I'm thinking mine is probably a modified 996 unit rather than one originally intended for a 999? Makes no real difference, I'm happy enough, but the back-story sure has me curious.
But back to the awesome 996RS, there are some great detailed photo's and you can read most of a contemporary article here:
As mentioned in the link above, it took some serious coin to buy one of these from Ducati Corse back in the day, but you certainly got your money's worth: 207mph recorded at Daytona, and in 2002 the late great Steve Hislop ran a 998RS (same bike with a Testastretta engine vs the Desmoquattro in the 996RS) around Donnington faster than Valentino Rossi on a million-dollar RC211V. Glory days indeed, when BSB was basically WSB spec, and the BSB boys handed out whoop ass by the bucket-full when WSB showed up.
Lastly, I better tidy up a discrepancy in the above photo: did you notice the radiator? And why is that bloody "Jaws" music getting louder.......?
So the tiny-house/F06 fairings turned up midway through the airbox construction and I could finally trial an inlet air-duct against it. Working on the LH side of the bike it was obvious I needed to re-contour the airbox to suit the duct flanges, which I set about doing.
I'd also made some enquires about the correct RS air ducts, now that I'd confirmed the included ducts were Ducati Performance-style, not Corse WSB, and wouldn't fit the fairings. Tom Kegeleers at "TK21 Parts" makes some fantastic replica race parts, both carbon fibre and CNC machined. He had a set of genuine NOS RS ducts he'd taken a mould off and they were soon ensconced in a Business Class seat, getting liquored up, as they winged their way towards me.
You can see more of his lovely work here:
The "Jaws" music reached a deafening crescendo as I unwrappped the RS ducts, and the shark swam into sight when I stepped around to the right hand side of the bike, duct in hand, slipped it into position and....
...discovered the radiator cap on the CDR radiator was right where the duct needed to pass through.
In the space of 10 seconds I went from feeling like Road Runner escaping in a cloud of dust ("Meep! Meep!") to Wile.E.Coyote snatching defeat from the jaws of victory:
Yup, ol' Wile.E's expression as the penny/he drops looks awfully bloody familiar (sigh).
Shit! I'd been so chuffed with the capped radiator setup, thinking I'd dodged a bullet when the Corse water "tank" didn't fit the fairing brace etc. But it was now abundantly clear why Ducati Corse had done way with the cap on the radiator, made the water tank part of the pressurised cooling system and fitted the cap there instead. And if anything, because of the greater cross sectuional area the RS duct was even further away from fitting than the relatively slim-line (but still over-sized) DP unit.
So I did what Wile.E would do and reached for the Acme Industries Performance manual...and just like Wile.E I found myself with yet another half-arsed solution. I'd only just tucked away a "proper" MB Motorsport RS radiator which was "au naturale": minus the cap:
Ok, "half-arsed solution" might be a bit strong, but it's definitely only half a solution because while they are both MB Motorsport, both genuine RS, both have the right core components, they are from different years and the bloody brackets don't match up: GAAAAH! It's the tale of Wile.E's life: "Missed by that that (holds fingers a fraction apart) much!"
I could always just cut and patch the CDR radiator, but I'm thinking a conventionally capped radiator might be handy down the track. So will investigate modifying the brackets, the poor battered oil cooler isn't anything flash so is looking like it will have to take one for the team. And being genuine RS with the push-fit oil line connectors I'll have to knock up another couple of adapters. I can see more beer is going to be required....
