Yesterday, I stopped by my local Ducati, Triumph, Kawasaki shop
http://www.kissellmotorsports.com/default.asp to talk about dyno testing my bike. They just built a special dyno booth that is state-of-the-art. It is fully enclosed, it exchanges the air three times every 30 seconds and can be atmospherically altered to simulate different altitudes, humidity levels, etc. It is really cool.
Anyway, I got a private tour of the facility and we talked about air/fuel mapping and how my new engine will be set-up. Casey, the head tech, told me that we will do several runs on the dyno at varying throttle pulls under different load levels (the dyno has the ability to put the bike under simulated load i.e. hill climb, rolling hills, head wind, etc.). He will print the results and then make recommendations on jetting the CR carbs. He told me that if I was willing help make the necessary changes that he wouldn't charge me a single dime for labor. Casey had a bike on the dyno, a modified 2006 Thruxton. He fired it up and showed me how he would progress with the testing. He noted where the bike was experiencing trouble and why. He showed me that the modified bike was actually making less top end power than the stock version because the air/fuel mixture was incorrect with the new mods that the owner made. After about 35 minutes of carb work and timing, he ran the tests again and the top end power improved, but it was still a bit lean because of the airbox. Off came the airbox and he adjusted the way the air entered the box (Air Injection Removal Kit). Another dyno run and bam, near perfect air fuel mixture from idle to redline. The stock Thruxton makes 69 HP the modified version was making 82.8 HP or 20% more power.
After the dyno lesson, I was looking around the showroom and saw the new 1098 Ducati. The new rear swing arm is made of cast and fabricated pieces that are welded together:
Well, the welds were horrible IMO. They were all snotted up - large and bumpy in some areas and off line in other areas. It looked like a first time welder did the job. I was unimpressed. I expected better from Ducati.
Sparty
