no subject necessary - this monster is that ridiculous

[The Mad King Pepe']

Very nice build, I like how the tail-tank-forks seem to flow together.

Now for the nit-picking: the belt covers, paint them you cheap bastard! Also it would really be nice to see a nice proper hossack front end instead of fairings or that confederate BS...

[junior varsity]

fyi, i found this one on the ducatimonsterclub.it forum.

[junior varsity]

I've never seen the fork fairings sold commercially, so fwiw, still kind of neat.   I think that "real" front end (on the confederate, for example) is neat - but only in a steampunk kind of way.   its got no business on a bike built for outright performance. (kinda like perimeter brakes, heeeyooo!)

[Dirty Duc]

Britten V1000... that is all.

[jaxduc]

http://www.bikeexif.com/britten-v1000
cool stuff

[jaxduc]

Maybe these?

http://www.bikeexif.com/renard-motorcycle

[jaxduc]

actually I really like this front end better... it would match the frame better. 

ok enough pictures..

[junior varsity]

Britten V1000... that is all.

That's not all...
The Britten design is cool and all, but that front end has been adopted by ... nobody ... in racing, even decades after it was implemented in his bikes.     For that matter, there's been lots of anti-dive contraptions fitted to the front end of bikes over the years with little to none making a lasting impression. This type of front end is a little bit like BMW's pioneering the telescopic fork long ago, then dropping it in favor of a front-shock setup.  Oops.  It ain't better, its just different for the sake of being different.

[Dirty Duc]

That's not all...
The Britten design is cool and all, but that front end has been adopted by ... nobody ... in racing, even decades after it was implemented in his bikes.     For that matter, there's been lots of anti-dive contraptions fitted to the front end of bikes over the years with little to none making a lasting impression. This type of front end is a little bit like BMW's pioneering the telescopic fork long ago, then dropping it in favor of a front-shock setup.  Oops.  It ain't better, its just different for the sake of being different.

I was refuting your point that a girder-style front end has no business on a performance motorcycle.  The argument that "no one else is doing it so it must not work" seems a bit strange on a Ducati forum.  Nobody else has adopted desmodromic valves in racing...

[junior varsity]

I was refuting your point that a girder-style front end has no business on a performance motorcycle.  The argument that "no one else is doing it so it must not work" seems a bit strange on a Ducati forum.  Nobody else has adopted desmodromic valves in racing...

The error in your logic is profound.     Ducati is a major manufacturer and is winning by landslides in racing worldwide, and has been doing so for quite a long time.    They sale tons of motorcycles yearly.  Their desmodromic engines are used in various other manufacturers' bikes as well.  With reference to the dry-clutch, every MotoGP bike uses this technology.  Ducati's desmodromic valve-train is a bit like looking at pneumatic valves and saying "must not work good, only Honda is using it".

meanwhile...: http://blogger.xs4all.nl/daisy/archive/2007/10/19/306816.aspx

Girder front ends have been adopted by no manufacturer whatsoever, even for racing.  Britten, himself, does not count as a manufacturer adopting the technology, he "went his own way".  His production numbers cannot be compared to even minor commercial motorcycle manufacturers.   

Moreover, Ducati did not pioneer desmodromics nor were they first to use them in racing.  Ducati put desmodromics in commercial motorcycles, and has continued to use them.  That's the difference.

Desmodromic engines are not that 'strange' of an implementation in motorcycles.  They are essentially identical to standard motors, with the addition of a lobe and a mechanical closer.  Getting ballsdeep in a ducati motor, splitting the cases and seeing what all the innards look like shows that its not that different from any other internal combustion engine.   People don't make that much of a fuss about push-rod engines, do they?

Race-use is important in determining whether something offers advantages: Good examples are brakes (carbon, perimeter, hub, etc) and chassis geometry (linkages, ratios, pivots, swingarm types, and so on).  Powerplants are also a great place for expirementation - a great example is the Norton Rotories for JPS - the clip where the two all-in-black riders blow by everybody like they are standing still is a great part of racing history.   Race-use tells a whole lot about one thing:  Traction (and the involved areas: suspension, tires, chassis/geometry, power delivery, braking, weight distribution). 

So, by contrast, where spring and girder front ends are used by BMW touring machines, retro-look cruisers, and by Confederate (a post-modern cruiser, or some other apt name), they are not used in racing (apart from essentially a single instance - much like many other front end 'anti-dive' technologies used in the 50's-70's). Even BMW, with ample springer/girder front end research and resources chose a conventional telescopic fork for their race bike, however.   (however it might be argued that one ought to not be too different from mainstream when trying to enter the market - buell sometimes gets that wrong and surprises/scares-off potential customers with the unveiling of tons of unproven technologies all at once)

[Dirty Duc]

you are right, j v.  You win.

[junior varsity]

i don't think there's a win/lose here - just some guy's monster in italy with a neato tail-tank integration and for some reason he bolted covers on top of stock forks.

[Dirty Duc]

We are just talking past each other... I think I understand what you are saying, I just disagree with it.  Since all that can come of this scenario is me sounding like an ass on the internet and spending a whole bunch of time researching something that has no bearing on the massive amount of research and writing I have to do for my other obligations...

I figured I would just concede to your points.  There is much to be discussed on this topic, but it's like carbon fiber frames.  Nobody is doing it because it is too hard to develop within even an astronomical MotoGP budget.

[junior varsity]

word.   either way, i still like the tank/seat integration.

[zooom]

lets settle on something we all like....


Boobies!