[PiZdETS]

DB4 Mods
Before buying this little beast I had done enough research to know that most Bimotas needed some initial "tuning"; they often came with "issues". The Db4's in particular had some low-speed, small throttle opening roughness and the stock Mikunis were noted for not keeping synch. In addition, the stock "shotgun" exhaust was a major cork in knocking a large chunk of top end off the all-but-stock 904 Ducati mill. I had ordered some flatslide Keihins, as well as a Moto Corse full titainum system which not only increases drivabilty, but has the added benefit of knocking off almost 30 lbs of weight (over 20 lbs saved on the exhaust, plus the airbox, evap canister, and a couple other bits go bye-bye. I also chucked the heavy cast folding footpegs and saved a few more ounces with some billet items.) The old rubber hydraulic lines went in the can, replaced by stainless braided.

The new flatslides have no choke or enrichner circuit, so starting is accomplished by turning on the fuel petcock (yep), waiting a few seconds, and then cranking a few turns on the throttle to actuate the accelerator pumps. Turn the key and the motor fires right off, hot or cold.

The Corse system is mellow on the bottom and midrange, and, as the motor is still in break-in, I don't know how the top end will sound, but if a couple of half-throttle short bursts are any indication, it should howl. It's raspy, but the tone doesn't have the hard edge that my old ST2 with the Duc carbon cans had...that thing could be downright embarrassing in town. This has more of a mellow Harley chuff on light throttle.

The clutch feel is "relatively" light (for a Duc motor, Bimota changed the piston ratio on their master cylinder)) but has the characteristic "jangle" when disengaged. Shifting is very smooth, and requires barely a touch, a welcome change from the stiff shifter on the Ducati.

First gear is VERY tall, requiring a bit of throttle to get things moving, but once the tach is over three grand things get busy IN A HURRY; although, with 9 or 10 year old tires, the amount of playing around I was willing to do was minimal, putting this thing on its side with less than 50 miles on the clock was to be avoided. Stock, the 904 mill makes horsepower in the mid 80's...the carb and exhaust changes are worth about 8-10 hp...not much by todays hyperbike standards, but then, not many hyperbikes weigh-in in dirtbike range, either. The end result is a reasonable amount of horsepower in a very light package. The big bonus is the torque...gobs and gobs of it from right off the bottom.

Suspension is on the very firm side; the owners manual doesn't even address the 5 way adjustable forks or the 4 way shocks...Paoli supplies a separate manual for the forks and addresses service and rebuilding, but doesn't even mention the adjustments, so I'm going to have to do some research once I'm through break-in and put some decent tires on it.

Brakes are Brembos...and they stop right NOW. Its the same system used on my old 150lb heavier ST2, so there is more than enough power to stand it on its nose with two fingers....and on the other end is this teeeny 'lil 8 inch disk and two-pot setup, with just enough oomph to settle the suspension going into a turn, but very little slowing capability at all.

So, what we have is a small, light 900cc bike, with a wheelbase 1.5 in shorter than an R-6, double the torque, and weighing in twenty lbs less than an RD350 Yamaha....even with the hard tires, exiting ANY turn with more than 1/4 throttle nets you a little headshake as the front tire first patters over the road and then loses contact entirely as the front heads skyward. Interesting. Looks like a steering damper is in order......ohh and look, under the left fairing shroud is a bracket already in place for an Ohlins unit.

The bike flicks into a turn with no effort; steering is neutral and solid, not nervous feeling like you'd expect such a teeny bike to feel. Even on some of the choppy pavement up in wester Md, hitting bumps mid-turn never unsettled the bike. Very confidence inspiring even with the dicey tires.

A little more work with some good tires, maybe some titainiam or carbon bits, and maybe send the seat out to Sargent this winter for some real padding and I'll be there.

---------------------------------------------------------------

It's the seller, silly.......
Motorcycles, riding habits and service, and what to expect from that used bike.

The fact of the matter is, is that odo milage is about the least reliable indicator of a bikes INTERNAL condition. Face it, according to latest industry figures, the AVERAGE motorcyclist rides less than 2000 miles per year. At that rate, most bikes should outlast their owners!

How many videos do we see on here with guys (and girls) clamping on the front brake while they hammer the throttle at redline smoking the tire in a big blue cloud? How many post vids of them and their buddies with the front tire in the air and the oil in the back of the sump while the motor screams at 10 grand? ....and then slam the front back down, and segue into a series of suspension-bottoming stoppies?

How many of your buddies start their bikes up and then zing the tach up to 10 grand to impress everybody with the sound of their new pipe, all while the oil is still cold?

How many of your buddies have NEVER cracked open the owner's manual to check what the service intervals should be, or what weight oil or what tire pressures should be used? Or even how to check the oil level!

I buy (and ride and resell) an average of three used motorcycles per year. I physically inspect and look at 20-30 bikes to get the two or three I'm interested in, after culling through literally hundreds and hundreds of newspaper and internet classifieds to arrive at the few I even want to look at.

And after all that, the number one indicator about what kind of reliable service I can expect from a given motorcycle, barring a design or manufacturing problem, is going to be the attitudes of seller.

I must admit that I fib a lot during the "interview"; I usually tell the seller that I'm kinda new to this game, and so I ask a lot of questions, like what kind of power does it have, why is the middle of the tire flattened with no tread, but the sides are like new; how much does a tuneup cost, and can I do it myself, and THEN I SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO WHAT THE SELLER TELLS ME.

If he tells me about the fantastic power and the 4th gear wheelies he's done for hundreds of yards, and how that dent up on the tank is when he rammed the family jewels on it during the HUGE stoppie he did,; well, I say "thanks for your time" and move on.

If he can't show me the sight glass and the oil fill and doesn't know the last time the plugs were changed, I say "see ya".

By the same token, if he opens up his garage and it's well stocked with tools and stuff, and he tells me that he's still got a 1/2 case of Golden Spectro Synthetic that goes with the bike, and he's just put a new filter in it, and apologises that the brake fluid is a little dark, but that he 's got a fresh can of DOT 4 that he want's to flush the system with before I pick it up; well, he and I will do some talkin'.

Over the last few years, I've bought, ridden and sold a lot of bikes, and I ride with a number of the guys I sold bikes to; a lot of them are up there in milage now ( for those of you still skeptical about longevity of THE NEW Brit bikes; I sold my best friend my used 955i Daytona last year with 5k on the clock.....he now has 40,000 + miles on it with nothing but standard service like oil, plugs, tires and a chain or two) and all of them still run GREAT.

Want to know how long that bike will last?

Look first to the seller, and then look in the mirror.