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Chapter 4
After the shocking, although absorbing problems of chapter3 the now newly extended See Photo………4.A
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4A |
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Ohlins unit was suffering from too much static sag, ie the amount that the bike dips under its own weight , when taken off the stands or jack !. The actual sag was in the region 30mm, far too much for it’s own good.
A quick call to UK Suspension and they confirmed that for the ELEFANT the correct amount should be ; 5-10mm with a heavy rider or two up and approx 10-15 mm solo. Now I am not about to divulge my weight but lets just say that I have set the static sag for 5 mm on the Lucky 944, and I am more with the way that it handles and in order to mimic this on the 888 Fant a new, harder coil spring was required. U K Suspension quoted 3-5 days, but as I missed the ‘window’ before the race season they have had it 5 weeks and counting!!. News update …..they eventually had it for 7 weeks!!
All of a sudden I am the wrong side of the race season, to go with the wrong side of 40, along with the wrong side of 18 stone and the wrong side of 6ft.
The exhaust was given to Pete Gibson of Gibson Exhausts who promptly re jigged the standard 916 stainless steel manifolds and re welded them to exit the Elefant way rather than centrally as per the Ducati 888 and the 916.See Photos….4.B &4.C….
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4C |
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The actual exhaust had to have a new transformation sections made prior to being welded in the final position. I had the notion of having the exhausts exiting both out one side a la the Honda RC45 but after talking to Mr Gibson and being advised of his ever extending waiting list … decided that, as time marches on then, the Fant 888 would exactly mimic the standard Elefant route. The fabrication work done is both expert, subtle and very pleasing on the eye and everything fits as it should including the Bash Plate. ………………… See Photo 4.D…………
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4D |
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With the exhaust now completed the next step was to finalise the injection and airbox unit. The airbox , as it stands just now ,is merely a GRP/Foamex base plate , but after the injectors have been synchronised the whole inner section of the frame is to be sealed off and mated to the GRP base plate. All air, will then be fed into this open GRP box via the open frame top, under the fuel tank, and also by ‘ram air’ ducting running from the front of the bike .The open GRP airbox currently houses the sensors namely the pressure and temp brass units from the original Fant airbox.
See Photo……4.E & 4 F ……………...
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4E |
4F |
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The ducting that will feed the airbox are the standard Ducati 888 air tubes mounted to some kind of GRP and foamex air scoops or spout under the beak. The actual arrangement can’t be explained as I don’t yet know what’s going to work best but I am currently studying all large Kawasakis.
The tyres, Michelin T66’s were taken off the Lucky 944 and then put on the Fant 888 as I now know their road characteristics and therefore , should be able to set the 888 up to the same kind of standard as was enjoyed by the 944. Photo 4.G …shows the regular T66’s complete with their blue tinge and the new Annakee’s
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4G |
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As for the Lucky, it got a set of the new Michelin Annakees and for the first time, I ground the right hand foot peg whilst practising on the local roundabout circuit!!
The Annakees are definitely stickier than the T66s and don’t fishtail or allow themselves to be backed into roundabouts in the same manner as the T66s do!.
A lesson that I learned all too well when the newly shod Lucky 944 didn’t drift as before and thus totally cocked up the entry to a bend, only to totally overshoot the exit.
Lesson learned and I promise to never do it again!!
The Annakees are superb and really worth the money. The tyre itself is of a more rounded less triangular profile and certainly compliments the Elefant riding position and style. Moreover, they are definitely more confidence inspiring than any other tyres fitted previously.
Question: When did you last grind the pegs on a Fant?
Answer: Never…………. .well.. not without crashing!
The Fant 888 is now shod with the slightly worn T66s and also had it’s gearing reduced/increased from the standard 15 X 36 of the standard road going 888 to the now 15 X 42 . Standard tyre size is up from 180/55 x 17 to 140/80 x 17 ….which all things being equal should mean that if the Ducati 888 was good for 152/155 mph then the Fant 888 would be geared for 123/125 allowing for the bigger profile tyre.
The best that the Lucky 944 has ever recorded is 190/195kph or 115/117 mph in old money ! This was achieved using non standard 15 x 46 gearing with the engine registering 1000 rpm shy of the redline, so in real, actual speed it was probably 108/111 mph, certainly more than enough to make a fool of yourself.
But actual top speed is not the be all and end all , the real issue is how it gets there. The days of sitting at 110-115mph are few and far between, much better is the 60-90 and 80-100 mph blasts that these bikes can achieve and indeed excel in.
The actual criteria was originally Style and Engineering as opposed to Speed and Raw power and I am not even prepared to mention Shock and Awe ! Admittedly I would be lying if I were to say that the thought of a fire breathing rip snorting 888 Fant wasn’t of any interest. But on this bike actual power will probably be around the 85-90 bhp mark and should slot the bike and its performance aspects somewhere between the ..Aprilia Caponord and the Cagiva Navigator.
Certainly good enough for the Sunday breakfast run to Burnham on Crouch with my mate Tony on his Honda Blackbird.
Before the Blackbird, he had a 1994 CBR1000 and it couldn’t shake or embarrass the 944 Lucky. But once he bought the Blackbird…………….…a very different league!!
Maybe the Fant 888 might re address the balance….. anyway back to the story………
The previous owner of the donor Yellow Fant had grafted on twin cast iron discs and 4 pot Brembos from a Ducati 916 and I wasn’t about to change them although I did add a set of matching 916 clutch master cylinder units to handlebars , just for styling purposes!!!!. So a quick overhaul and clean down along with a change of fluids and now we are ready to brake dance. See Photo…….4.H…………………………
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4H |
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Next up was the fuel tank…….the standard one didn’t fit as it fouled the 888 heads and the fuel outlet cocks hit the new water pipes! The answer seemed to be to follow Honda’s route as on the CBR 600 and using a dummy tank therefore allowing the fuel tank to be positioned wherever was suitable.
Thankfully one of the advantages of living on an island ,even if it is 28 miles down the river from London, is the local boatbuilders! A long chat, proved the point, that the standard tank could act as a mould and allow another GRP copy, albeit just a shell, to be fabricated. However the fixings and threaded inserts would have to be added by me once the unit was complete.
This method allowed the actual tank to be mounted under the seat a la BMW Fundro or half under the seat and half out as used by the actual pukka P-D race bikes…either way seemed suitable and I set about sourcing fuel fillers and fuel cocks. All that I had to do now was to decide on which material to use for the under seat tank. Then just as I am finalising the GRP mould price a Cagiva 900 fuel tank makes itself available for sale via the BTBC website! A frantic bout of emails follow, and two days later, I am the owner of a 1997 Fant tank complete with cocks and fuel filler for £150!!
So, no need to make a mould then …just cut the tanks under belly to fit…. whilst utilizing the already fitted threaded inserts in the tank to bolt the rest of the body to!!
Next stop, the real fuel holding tanks…..
This fuel tank was still being mounted under the seat and made in either a Plastic and GRP lamination or from Aluminium. When a chance discussion with a Plastic fabricator, someone who makes chemical tanks and acid vats for a living threw some light on the murky world of plastics and polythenes.
After explaining my project ; the Ducati 888 engine in a Fant frame and related engine to underside of the tank clearance problems, he indicated that a wooden shoe strategically applied on a nearly molten and therefore very soft and pliable section of polythene or nylon can stretch and re mould the stubborn section!!.
Did l have a spare tank that he could practise on??
Er …..yes…… and one week later the standard Fant tank now cleared the 888 engine.
So there you have it, firstly a GRP moulded tank cover…. then a ali or plastic under seat fuel cell before returning finally back to the standard, albeit slightly remodelled Fant fuel tank!!!!!. Photo …..4.I ..shows the now modified standard Fant tank along with the proposed positioning for the original Fant oilcooler
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4I |
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Many…. many…. days of backwards and forwards… .costings and vague ideas…….. problems and what if solutions……. just to end up back at the same basic tank format! Over a month was spent looking at options and exploring possibilities of different layouts and designs. Can you believe it!
So, it is that time again.
What’s gone wrong? Well the seat sub frame is now 28mm too low for the seat!!
Which means that the seat blocks, under the seat, have to thickened by 28mm and the side panels mounting position at the rear of the bike have to be moved up 28mm to keep the line or flow from the tank to the seat to the side panels!
How did this happen ? In reality, the top and bottom sub frame lugs should have been raised 28mm prior to cutting and shortening the sub frame, rather than leaving the bottom lugs in place and then re working the top set only.
This means that the exhaust silencer is now lower than before in relationship to the seat, but not in relation with the ground, which therefore also means that the seat is now 28mm higher than standard !
There are two ways around this problem….. one of which involves the shock absorber!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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4J |
4K |
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And the other ?
Does this mean that platform boots are back in fashion? Probably not ….but in the words of Gary Glitter…………
Come on, come on…. come on, come on,……
You want to be in my gang.. my gang, my gang,
You want to be in my gang …..Oh yeah……
Photos ….4.J & 4.K ……….show the two differing heights of the Cagiva Elefant.
Chapter 5 …………Sometime in late June as we have just about caught up with all of the work to date as I finish this chapter on the 25 th of May 2003
PS ……..Exactly where can you buy platform cowboy boots !!
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