Is a Ducati a PITA track day bike?

[marty]

I am looking to either switch my street 748 over to a track day bike or maybe look for something that is already set up a an older race bike (748,916, 996) but at the same time I am trying to get a track day bike that I don't need to bring a trailer full of sh*t to go riding for a trackday.

So I guess my question is, how much of a pain is an older Ducati to keep running compared to a GP bike? I don't mind learning to change/adjust the valves, belts, and rockers unless it is an expensive to replace them everytime. Currently a RS125 piston is over $200 ( and good for 300 miles ) and cranks are in the $500 range ( and good for 1200 miles ).

Is there another option I should look at? Aprilia, Buell, Bimota or Triumph that could be cheaper and less work for a trackday bike? I don't really care if it is a small or large displacement bike. Just mainly looking for a narrow bike that handles well out of the box that is not over a couple grand to get into ( as low below $4 or $5K as possible ). Oh yeah, and it has to be some sort of odd ball bike, don't know why, it is just what I am used to :D

[cjmagnuss]

Triumphs!

[rybo]

Hey Marty-

It's certainly no more work than your GP bikes were. The cranks and pistons last LOTS longer. The service required is more complicated than your GP bikes, but happens at a much longer interval and can almost certainly be accomplished in the off season. Belts and valves are the primary service requirements.

On your bike there are a few things to look out for:

1) The chrome on the rocker arms is known to flake off in model years (about) 1999-2001. The ones that you replace them with tend to be good, but expensive (about the cost of your piston). Once you do them, they are done and you generally won't have the problem again. There are a number of aftermarket folks with solutions to this problem as well.

2) The coolant tank that sits just under the front of the gas tank is known to fail. The plastic gets old and the constant heating and cooling causes it to eventually let go near the seam where the top and bottom of the mold came together during manufacturing. The bike will overheat and it will initially be hard to sort out why, because by the time you get to looking at it things will have cooled down and seem to be "normal" again. It's almost always the coolant bottle. This is a part that I just kept a spare of with me all the time. A few years back there were some folks making them out of aluminum. I made one at the shop I used to work at, but quit racing the bike before I installed it. If I can dig it up I'll give it to you.

3) The hoses on the fuel pump inside the tank sometimes come off and it makes the bike run out of gas. The bike just flat out quits running. When it happened to me I thought it was an ignition problem because it shut down so quickly. Again, not hard to diagnose if you know that it's a problem. Keep a spare O-ring for the fuel pump and I can almost guarantee this won't happen to you. The o-rings are very difficult to re-use as they seem to get stretched out a bit when you install them. Using a little grease during installation really helps a lot.

4) The stock rear sprocket carrier bolts are prone to backing out and they eventually run into the hub causing a bad day. This is easily solved with an aftermarket sprocket carrier, which is preferred anyways because the stock rear sprocket is a real bugger to change. The aftermarket ones make rear sprocket changes easy.

5) The fuel tank fittings (fuel line) are plastic and prone to damage if you aren't a little gentle with them. I never had a problem with mine, but know people that have. There are replacement metal fittings available, but I never really needed them.

6) The engine builds a fair bit of crankcase pressure when run at track pace. As a result running the oil on the low end of the range keeps the breather from sending a bunch of oil back up into your air box.

The 748 is a touch underpowered in stock form, but a real joy to ride. The chassis is really good, stable, forgiving and the bike is reasonably easy to work on. The stock suspension is worthwhile and tunable kind of as it sits. If you wanted to put some good 20mm valves in the forks, it's a worthwhile upgrade. The stock showa shock is also OK - no need to spend a ton of money if you don't want to.

Please feel free to ping me directly if you have any other questions - I raced my 748 for the better part of 7 seasons, so know the ins and outs of it pretty well.

-Scott

[marty]

Well Chris there is a certain Triumph that I may have my eye on ....

Thanks Scott, that is a lot of the stuff I was curious about.

Are the rockers $200 ish a piece or $200 ish for a set?

I have had the coolant tank already let go and I if you have an aluminum one laying around I would be very interested in it. Thanks for the offer!

Did you ever run a 916, 996, or 998? I kind of like the fact that the 748 is slow but something a bit faster could be fun too. Would you think a stock 748 is around the same acceleration as a TZ on the track?

Hopefully if I don't convert mine I can find a good track day beater that already has some suspension components for a good low price

[sheispoison]

Lease a Triumph from a friend.

[bcmoore]

Lease a Triumph from a friend.

Isn't that triumph "accounted for" durring one of the rounds?? :-)

[Fastt Racing]

So basically Ducati's are ummmmmm a not so low maintenance track day machine, and vaguely function correctly on a good day. Aprilia RSV or Triumph or Jap bike!

[marty]

So basically Ducati's are ummmmmm a not so low maintenance track day machine, and vaguely function correctly on a good day. Aprilia RSV or Triumph or Jap bike!

umm have you seen the 20ft trailer I show up with to keep a 160lb baby motorcycle running :D

I think a 996 conversion may at least be in order and if can get the hang of riding a normal sized bike....then I a Trumpet leased from a friend will hopefully be in the works

[rybo]

Marty -

I found the coolant tank we talked about along with a spare rear shock. If you do a 748/996 bike let me know and we'll get you set up.

Scott

[marty]

pm sent

[snowblaze506]

Marty
I've got 3 Aprilias, 02 RSV or either 07, you can have for under $4500. Come take your pick. The bikes are reliable and competitive in 4-5 classes still. The motors were built to do 80k on the street to combat Ducati's reputation at the time. The chassis works well with Aprilias racing background and small details like inexpensive pieces that break first to save the larger more expensive ones in a crash. I have dropped the Aprilia a couple times, with frame sliders, and have only replaced broken control levers and $6 mounting fasteners that saved the oil tank.
I've got 2year old twins and travel for work. So, reliability and easy of ownership were big factors in my purchase. And I like different. I was the only one in Utah and one of 2 in Colorado's club, at the time. There should be 3-4 others this season. Many of the 'crash consumables' are used by other bike companies and can be found in the pits. Outside of that, there is a healthy online forum with knowledgeable folks and good parts availability.

Casey
MRA #75