(r11) DucNotes - Main - The Caboteria

I have a 2002 Ducati Monster M750S ie that I bought in December 2004 from a guy in Roslindale (see BuyingTheDuc).  Evidently he hadn't ridden it much because it had only 400 miles.

The Ducati Monster List web site (http://www.ducatimonster.org/) is full of interesting chatter about riding and modifying monsters.  It has one unpleasant side effect though - if you spend even a few minutes on the site you tend to get excited about making changes to the bike.  Things that you previously didn't even notice, now really _really_ bug you.  The [[#emissions_cannister]] for example

Spare parts catalog - http://www.ducati.com/bikes/catalogs.jhtml;MY=2002

---+ Hacks

---++ reflectors

Everyone removes the reflectors from the front forks.  I hadn't noticed until I read about it, and then sure enough they started to bug me.  They're nasty little plastic things stuck on with double-sided tape.  They're clearly tacked on at the last minute to meet some regulation or other.  The good news is that they're easy to remove with a hair dryer and a little elbow grease.  One almost fell off, the other needed a little convincing with a screwdriver.  Afterwards the forks needed a little cleanup with some alcohol to get rid of the crusty glue that the adhesive tape had left behind.

---++ gas tank stickers

Again, a little heat with a hair dryer and some careful peeling got the two gas tank stickers up.  A better idea than the hair dryer is to just leave the bike in the sun for an hour or two - I'd bet this will heat the tank more than the hair dryer.

I stuck the stickers on the inside cover of my owner's manual just so I have them for reference.

---++ emissions cannister

Purely cosmetic, but it's surprising how much better it looks when it's done.

http://www.ducatimonster.org/faq/faq_emissions.html

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jerseyjeffshinn/album?.dir=c233&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jerseyjeffshinn/my_photos

---++ exhaust

You can hack on the stock exhausts to make them louder: http://home.earthlink.net/~desmoduck/muffler_mod.html

Or you can pay someone to do it:
http://www.ducatipipemod.com/

---++ rear brake

http://www.tcmproducts.com/Ducati_Rotors.html will drill lots of holes in your rear brake rotor to make it lighter.

---++ Mirrors

http://www.dual-star.com/index2/Equipment/adjustable_mirror1.htm - inexpensive, mounts on the handlebar.
 Pix on a monster at http://www.ducatimonster.org/smf/index.php/topic,8750.0.html .

---++ Turn Signals

http://www.custombike.org/shock_racing_marker_lights.htm - LED's, about $25

http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=3&L2=&L3=&L4=&item=MRX_OI1_G - look like OEM, but smaller.  Bulbs.

---++ Horn

You can never be too loud.

http://www.ridesafer.com/page/mfc0/Home.html

---++ License Plate Lights


---+ Track Days

I'd like to ride the duc on a track sometime.

http://www.tonystrackdays.com/ - program for beginners, sounds good. <br/>
http://www.nesba.com/ - a group that runs track days.