[Group] SBF DUCATI Monster

[Wild 1]

Well gentle people, i have finally come to a painful decision to sell my Monster4. I am totally gonna miss her. If's anyone's interested, the ad is in the 'Used Bike' section.

 

Just a quick update....the bike is now 'reserved'.

 

And now i am really really sad.....sigh.

 

At least i know it's going to a new owner who has the capacity to look after her and gone are the days when i used to say i have a Monster in between my legs...heh heh.

[specialc]

Just a quick update....the bike is now 'reserved'.

 

And now i am really really sad.....sigh.

 

At least i know it's going to a new owner who has the capacity to look after her and gone are the days when i used to say i have a Monster in between my legs...heh heh.

 

I suspect Husaini's friend? Or Man the drummer? 8-)

[Wild 1]

I suspect Husaini's friend? Or Man the drummer? 8-)

 

Yeah i am. I met you once during a Vara outing at Simpang Bedok. I'm the bald dude. I was one of the pioneer vara riders a long time back...heh

 

Man, the drummer, riders a Vstrom and has long hair.

[specialc]

Yeah i am. I met you once during a Vara outing at Simpang Bedok. I'm the bald dude. I was one of the pioneer vara riders a long time back...heh

 

Man, the drummer, riders a Vstrom and has long hair.

 

Wild, I am referring to the buyer. Not u lah. I know who u r. Hus said his friend is interested and Man also asked me abt M4.

[Duke_Monster]

gone are the days when i used to say i have a Monster in between my legs...heh heh.

 

 

tht;s a nice tongue in cheek phrase. haha

[mazlanhasan]

Just in to say hello to fella on red Monster riding down KJE yesterday, exit Jln Bahar and into NIE. In case you are wondering, I'm the chap on a Phantom in front of you wearing a Harley D jacket. Had to carry stuff to work, hence the Phantom with the box, else it would have been a neat yellow and red monster rumbling into NIE. SWEET!

[technicolorhighway]

Just in to say hello to fella on red Monster riding down KJE yesterday, exit Jln Bahar and into NIE. In case you are wondering, I'm the chap on a Phantom in front of you wearing a Harley D jacket. Had to carry stuff to work, hence the Phantom with the box, else it would have been a neat yellow and red monster rumbling into NIE. SWEET!

 

 

 

to all,

 

any future sightings,horn twice ,raise left hand and give a peace sign (palm facing your self).lets start a trend today for duke riders!

 

 

cheer

[yohji]

to all,

 

any future sightings,horn twice ,raise left hand and give a peace sign (palm facing your self).lets start a trend today for duke riders!

 

 

cheer

 

Good idea! But palm facing inwards might look like giving the middle finger haha. I prefer to have my palms facing outside.

[hnn]

Good idea! But palm facing inwards might look like giving the middle finger haha. I prefer to have my palms facing outside.

Hi guys... Ducati still at shop. Wont make it for the Malacca ride if its this weekend. Bash bike also not ready. Sighs.. was so looking forward to this one. Perhaps another time..

 

PS prefer palm facing outward also.

[yappiez]

Good idea! But palm facing inwards might look like giving the middle finger haha. I prefer to have my palms facing outside.

 

palm facing in is NOT a good idea...

in UK, that hand sign means 'up yours'

short for 'up your arse'

 

 

 

[Troll]

Ducatians,

 

Good news for good ppl out there looking for a used M400.

 

I was @ Racewerks yesterday and learnt that they have 2 units of M400 for immediate sales..

 

1) 98 White/ orange- calling 5k + ( Condition 7/10)

2) 98 Black- calling 3-4k+ ( 3/10)

 

COE due by end mar 08..

 

Prepare to park 3-4k if you wants the bike to look gd...

 

Troll

[mazlanhasan]

to all,

 

any future sightings,horn twice ,raise left hand and give a peace sign (palm facing your self).lets start a trend today for duke riders!

 

 

cheer

 

But if I'm on a Phantom (like I was), duc riders not aware of this new ducati-riders public display of acknowledgement gesture and riderhood may think otherwise eh? It may even distract some... why is that Phantom guy waving at me? Do I know him? Is he trying to tell me something? Is there something wrong with my bike? Why is he showing me two fingers? Did he just scold me?

 

How about a thumbs up instead of a peace sign?

 

heheheh... paranoia at its best!

[technicolorhighway]

But if I'm on a Phantom (like I was), duc riders not aware of this new ducati-riders public display of acknowledgement gesture and riderhood may think otherwise eh? It may even distract some... why is that Phantom guy waving at me? Do I know him? Is he trying to tell me something? Is there something wrong with my bike? Why is he showing me two fingers? Did he just scold me?

 

How about a thumbs up instead of a peace sign?

 

heheheh... paranoia at its best!

 

palm facing in or out....shuld be ok...thumbs up also can.just do it and b carfull cause while riding this can be cumbersome...anyway so long we noe that the sign symbolises `V' TWIN.let this be a duke thing.

 

cheers.

[technicolorhighway]

Hi guys... Ducati still at shop. Wont make it for the Malacca ride if its this weekend. Bash bike also not ready. Sighs.. was so looking forward to this one. Perhaps another time..

 

PS prefer palm facing outward also.

 

 

mine too.i would also like to suggest a spot where other riders go for night ride...near Tanjong Pelepas.

 

nice spot to chill and eat seafood.

[Grant]

Vee Sign

Palm facing in is a sign off insult meaning F*#k Off.

Sign was supposed to be first used by English archers in the Hundred Years War, 14th/15th century. If captured the archers had their bowstring fingers cut off by the French. So to show defiance and taunt/insult the French the archers showed them their fingers!

[technicolorhighway]

Vee Sign

Palm facing in is a sign off insult meaning F*#k Off.

Sign was supposed to be first used by English archers in the Hundred Years War, 14th/15th century. If captured the archers had their bowstring fingers cut off by the French. So to show defiance and taunt/insult the French the archers showed them their fingers!

 

 

hmm....slurping yur soup in the west is seen as rude though on the flipside its a praise to the host.

 

Well ok.since sg is a melting pot of many races and nationality signing V sign seems to be a no no,i shall then do a V sign left hand salute (cause right hand is on the throttle) to any dukes outt there.

 

jus hope he or she is not english.

 

sorry in advance if this action may cause insult.

[JustRider]

hmm....slurping yur soup in the west is seen as rude though on the flipside its a praise to the host.

 

Well ok.since sg is a melting pot of many races and nationality signing V sign seems to be a no no,i shall then do a V sign left hand salute (cause right hand is on the throttle) to any dukes outt there.

 

jus hope he or she is not english.

 

sorry in advance if this action may cause insult.

 

"V" with palm facing out is "peace", palm facing in is "up yours" in England. Why not just nod your head at each other in respect like all other riders? That is what I see the big bike riders do when they stop at lights.

[technicolorhighway]

"V" with palm facing out is "peace", palm facing in is "up yours" in England. Why not just nod your head at each other in respect like all other riders? That is what I see the big bike riders do when they stop at lights.

 

 

yup...b4 they do a 1/4 mile sprint in America....oh no here too!lol!

[blackreplica]

ok guys sorry for this but i need to rave

 

I just collected my bike today, with both the high compression pistons and my open clutch cover fitted.

 

Since i don't know of anyone in singapore using high compression pistons i thought some information i gained researching it before i bought it and my test ride experience would be good to post here.

 

Basically high compression pistons do not change the displacement of the engine. these pistons,instead have a little dome on the top which increases the compression ratio of the engine. Since displacement (i.e. bore/stroke) are not altered, the pistons are a drop in upgrade. you dont even have to remove the engine from the frame to put them in, you just open up the top, remove the cylinders below the heads, remove the old pistons, put the new ones in, and put it all back together again. The ones i bought are the JE ones on selling at cycleworks. they cost 289USD if i remember right.

 

Why high compression and not big bore? Well i did some reading up and apparently what i've learned was that when one uses a big bore kit, the included pistons are actually high compression ones as well. There is no big bore kit i know of for the M900 which actually leaves compression ratio unchanged.

 

Here's an interesting fact: Compression = torque. 95% of the benefit of the big bore kit comes about from increased compression, rather than the increase in displacement. Here are some interesting dyno charts & opinions which show this

 

First a before-after of a largely stock monster with high compression pistons:

 

http://www.moto-one.com.au/performance/900carbhighcomp.html

 

as you can see, a VERY nice increase in power even from low RPM. Bear in mind the kit tested here only increase compression to 10.5:1. The ones i installed are 11:1. 12:1 pistons are availiable too but i didn't get those because not many have used them and i didnt want to put too much stress on the engine since it is a streetbike after all. Note: the M900 stock compression is 9.5:1 IIRC

 

here is a test from the same site of a monster 944 big bore kit (which includes higher compression as well). the author also surmises the benefit mostly comes from increased compression, with negligible benefits from increased displacement.

 

http://www.moto-one.com.au/performance/900sscarb944.html

 

So i was thinking why go through the bother? I went with high comps and left the cylinders stock. this way i save huge money on the kit, huge money on the install, and have the flexibility to go back to a stock engine whenever i want.

 

not that i ever will!!!!

 

The pistons are amazing! I just can't believe the difference. Crack the throttle open just a hair, release the clutch, and the bike just SURGES forward. GONE is that laziness you get from the monster at low RPM, the sluggishness i was complaining about before. in fact it's gone almost too far in the other direction, the bloody thing has so much power moving off from standstill i had a really hard time controlling it. With the throttle just a hair open, it takes some pretty delicate work to keep the bike from either rocketing forward, or stalling. The best way to describe it, is like when riding a high displacement single cylinder scrambler, thats the kind of response i'm getting moving off from standstill, only without that absolutely shitty scrambler midrange/top end performance!!

 

Acceleration, likewise, has improved a lot. Its like the standard torquey style surge, only on steroids. It just pulls like a frieght train, and i have to physically force myself not to go anywhere near the redline (pistons are still running in) because the acceleration is just so addictive

 

OK so here's why i love it. the pistons cost me about 400 bucks, with another 400 or so to install it. Thats in total, 3/4 the price of a pair of exhaust pipes. I say screw the exhausts! Cosmetic factors aside, there is NO way any exhaust can give you this kind of difference in terms of performance, not even close. so you get much much more power/$ than you would ever get on a set of aftermarket cans. this mod has now become my number 1 recommended mod for any monster owner, yes even before aftermarket pipes, but still after a gearing change.

 

The pistons change makes EVEN more sense when a guy buys an old second hand monster. the piston is probably old, and the rings are worn, and you would have lost some power from the day it came out of the showroom brand new. assuming the cylinders are ok, a piston change like this one makes a person feel a lot better about the state of his engine

 

Its also kinda made me want to sit back and re-evaluate whether i want to move on to keihin FCRs or not. Theres just so much power the way it is, and its getting harder and harder to control the bike. sure more power is always better but i don't want a bike where i need 100% concentration to keep from wheeling and flipping over all the time.

 

All in all, plenty of fun, and highly, highly recommended for any 900 monster.

 

The only questions left to answer are long-term related like reliability, fuel consumption, etc. I'll ride the bike around for a bike and if anything happens with long term use, i'll let you guys know

 

Just some additional notes: With higher compression ignition timing will need to change and/or, you will need to use higher octane fuel to prevent pinging i.e. detonation. Detonation puts tremendous stress on the engine and piston because of the pressure surge (well beyond an engine's design limits) and will blow holes in your piston, cylinder or both if it is severe. People on ducatimonster.org recommend retarding ignition by 2 degrees so the engine doesnt ping (those americans use some pretty crappy fuel though, from what i read they can't get better than 91 octane or something ridiculous like that). I passed on the info to mike and he told me he knew what to do. i'm not sure if he retarded the timing but it works fine, no pinging. I run Shell 98 fuel all the time. No problems at all. Based on the throttle response i don't think a rejet of my carbs is strictly necessary, i am noticing very very occasional backfire from the exhaust when riding aggressively then suddenly closing the throttle (it did that once one my journey home) but i personally think its because my jettings have always been very lean, and who cares, it sounds awesome, and won't cause any damage. On a slightly richer (i.e. more normal) mixture there shouldnt be any issues. I'm saving the rejetting for when i've decided which direction i want to go with my carbs. I'm really thinking hard whether to go with FCRs now or just the factory pro jet kit (any opinions to help me out most welcome)

[blackreplica]

took the bike out for a short ride this evening. second opinions: bike is harder to control, but getting used to it. no heat issues with the engine, seems to be running just as cool as it used to. will try and stress test it tomorrow with a ride through some traffic jams in the middle of the afternoon. no backfiring but i wasnt riding super aggressively. not being able to redline sucks. still loving the way it pulls. open clutch cover makes the sound of the dry clutch almost deafening and drowns out the exhaust note: not sure if i want to keep the bike this way although the open cover and the visible spinning pressure plate underneath sure looks awesome. exhaust note seems to have changed slightly too, compared to before, sound is a little deeper, maybe a little closer to the way a ducati superbike sounds, i dunno, its hard to put into words. overall feel is that the bike is much more willing, eager, and monstrous (pardon the pun). Still very very happy with it!

[seraphx]

took the bike out for a short ride this evening. second opinions: bike is harder to control, but getting used to it. no heat issues with the engine, seems to be running just as cool as it used to. will try and stress test it tomorrow with a ride through some traffic jams in the middle of the afternoon. no backfiring but i wasnt riding super aggressively. not being able to redline sucks. still loving the way it pulls. open clutch cover makes the sound of the dry clutch almost deafening and drowns out the exhaust note: not sure if i want to keep the bike this way although the open cover and the visible spinning pressure plate underneath sure looks awesome. exhaust note seems to have changed slightly too, compared to before, sound is a little deeper, maybe a little closer to the way a ducati superbike sounds, i dunno, its hard to put into words. overall feel is that the bike is much more willing, eager, and monstrous (pardon the pun). Still very very happy with it!

 

I'm not sure if this will apply to Monsters per se.. But here is my opinion.

 

IF in the event that you are out looking for high compression pistons, do take note that there are many bike shops out there in Singapore that have absolutely no idea what kind of piston they are selling.

 

Now in my experience and understanding from my mechs, a high compression piston means:

 

1) Slightly rounder head (to compress the mixture more, hence, more violent combustion.)

 

2) High compression rings (these are the things that actually do most of the work, trapping the compressed mixture where it is supposed to be.)

 

AND! If in the event you are looking for these pistons, my suggestion is to find something, that is similar to the weight of the orginal piston, or lighter. Most shops in Singapore that bring in these pistons, claim that a heavier piston is good, or that high compression pistons are designed like that. THAT IS NOT TRUE..

 

They just want to make a larger profit margin and hence, buying cheaper, but heavier pistons and selling them here.

 

So do take care when you are selecting your Hi-Comp pistons..

 

Cheers..

=)

[blackreplica]

I'm not sure if this will apply to Monsters per se.. But here is my opinion.

 

IF in the event that you are out looking for high compression pistons, do take note that there are many bike shops out there in Singapore that have absolutely no idea what kind of piston they are selling.

 

Now in my experience and understanding from my mechs, a high compression piston means:

 

1) Slightly rounder head (to compress the mixture more, hence, more violent combustion.)

 

2) High compression rings (these are the things that actually do most of the work, trapping the compressed mixture where it is supposed to be.)

 

AND! If in the event you are looking for these pistons, my suggestion is to find something, that is similar to the weight of the orginal piston, or lighter. Most shops in Singapore that bring in these pistons, claim that a heavier piston is good, or that high compression pistons are designed like that. THAT IS NOT TRUE..

 

They just want to make a larger profit margin and hence, buying cheaper, but heavier pistons and selling them here.

 

So do take care when you are selecting your Hi-Comp pistons..

 

Cheers..

=)

 

Didn't buy the pistons in singapore but definitely good advice.....pistons can be found here:

 

http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/shop/catalog/ducati/engine.html

 

E 11.1:1 92mm drop-in piston kit.....269USD

 

having held both pistons i can safely say the high comps definitely weigh less than the stockies. by how much i'm not sure, but its a noticable difference.

 

pic: http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/shop/catalog/ducati/img/je_kit.jpg

 

piston rings and gaskets are included. made in USA

[Wild 1]

Didn't buy the pistons in singapore but definitely good advice.....pistons can be found here:

 

http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/shop/catalog/ducati/engine.html

 

E 11.1:1 92mm drop-in piston kit.....269USD

 

having held both pistons i can safely say the high comps definitely weigh less than the stockies. by how much i'm not sure, but its a noticable difference.

 

pic: http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/shop/catalog/ducati/img/je_kit.jpg

 

piston rings and gaskets are included. made in USA

 

Nice Meeting you that day at KC dude. I love what you have done to your bike so far.

[coolcat]

Great info on the hi-comp pistons ... very educational.

 

Thanks

 

Cheers

 

Cat

[z3r0k3wL]

Hello,

Anyone has any idea if this will fit a 98 monster? More specifically Randy's bike.

Link