elcome to Dr Louigi's tech pages, I hope you enjoy them. If you have any questions or need any advice regarding any of these articles then please feel free to email at louigi@ducatitrader.co.uk. Enjoy!

Anybody can ride a bike fast in a straight line, it's just the corners that slow us up, so why spend loads of money on tuning your engine to go even faster when you never really use all what you have on hand anyway? Shouldn't you be spending money on trying to get it to go faster around the corner when that is, say the slowest part of a race track?

Lightweight wheels will make your bike go around the corner faster due to less gyroscopic force. It will also give you a greater angle of lean enabling you to explore the bits of the tyre that don't normally get worn. Obviously the brand to have is Marchesini as they are Italian and you will save 7kg in unsprung weight, which even the slowest of riders would notice a big improvement. If you want to purchase something homegrown try a Dymag, they do a five spoke or a three spoke and if you have won the lottery you could have some carbon fibre ones.

More stopping power, a lot of time is wasted by braking too early so when you've got used to pushing your stock brakes to the limit, you could try a master cylinder upgrade and some decent brake pads. That will make a Ducati stop on a sixpence! Go for the 19mm master cylinder, either the Brembo Radial or AP, which do a whizzy fully adjustable job. As for brake pads, Carbon Lorraine suits my riding. If you have Steel discs try the SBK3 or if you have Iron discs try the A3, This year though I am trying some of those wavy discs and brake pads made by "Braking". Available from Talon 01935 471508 If you can't find any Carbon Lorraine phone CPK on 01788540606 and they will tell you your nearest stockist.

If your racing or doing lots of track days you will need to change your brake fluid regularly because that is usually the weakest link in a good brake system, racing fluid lasts longer and is also more expensive.

Gearing is also another factor that is often missed, do you really need to ride at 150mph? If you gear it to only pull 130mph, the acceleration will be phenomenal and certainly more useable on the track. And more fun on the road too! Renthal and Talon make a quick change sprocket carrier and selection of sprockets. B&C express can supply the Renthal stuff 01522791369. A good all round setup on a 748bp would be a two tooth larger rear sprocket and on a 916bp, one tooth smaller front sprocket and one tooth larger rear sprocket.

Suspension on a modern Ducati is pretty good but regular track use will make it limp, I found out last year when my rear spring lost its tension. After a fair bit of research and question asking I decided on the Hyper Pro spring kit 01392444465. Forks were stripped, cleaned and treated to 7.5 weight oil, because of my 70KG build, rear shock was rebuilt by the Ex 250 world moto cross champ Neil Hudson. To say I was impressed was an understatement the bike felt like it was on a rail. Neil Said the rear shock was perfect, so just changed the oil and gas, so the springs made the difference. This year sees the old 748 with some revalved front forks by MH Racing 01225811583.

Tyres, well I am not going to start a debate, use what you get on with. I prefer the Dunlop D207 GP but they aren't that stable in a straight line, but who cares about a bit of headshake, they are the best in the corners. I will be trying some Michelin slicks this year on the 748, so I will let you know what they are like.

A tip on Ducati rear suspension set up geometry for the 916 is to measure from the rear wheel centre to the swingarm pivot, try to get this as close to 500mm as you can for outright handling and stability. The 748 runs the standard roadgoing wheelbase at 1410mm, that equates to about 490mm, pivot to wheel centre. Add this to all the other data on rear end set up and you should have a well sorted Ducati.

So you have done all these mods to your pride and joy but how do you know if it's made any difference?

If you want to go this far, just do one alteration at a time, it will be easier to detect an improvement. Write down in a small book what you have done and compare it with lap times from before you fitted the part. The parts you have fitted may suit you better, which will give you more confidence, or they just make you feel like you are going faster because you have changed something. Learn to feel the difference, then you will know if it's better or worse.

You will know when you have got it right, it may take many sessions of testing and fiddling but when it's right you will be braking later than you ever thought possible, entering the corner at a speed that will suck your eyeballs out of their sockets and getting back on the gas, ready for the next corner while most other riders are still thinking about getting their knee slider to touch the black top.

» Expect to pay up to £1200 for some decent wheels.
» Dunlop D207 GP's can be between £220 to £265.
» A 10mm longer swinging arm will set you back the best part of a grand. (Secondhand) Plus
» you will also need the linkage to go with it.
» The rear sprocket carrier is made by a few companies now expect to pay up to £220.
» Sprockets will be another £47, you will probably need a longer chain as well.
» Good quality brake pads will set you back the best part of £50.
» Racing brake master cylinder will cost up to £325 plus another £60 if you haven't got braided
» hoses. Progressive springs for your suspension will cost £150.

All this is fine if you can do all the work yourself, you've most probably read in the comics of people spending fifty grand on their Ducati. I can relate to that figure, with the cost of after market parts and then having to pay somebody to fit them. So get a manual and a good tool kit and have a go yourself, you will get more feed back if you have done the job yourself and you will also be able to fix it when it goes wrong.

Louigi