As we prepare our new race bike for the season of WERA
racing we continue to highlight the weight savings efforts we are performing to
get down to fighting weight on our Ducati 1198S.
For sure we will make the normal racing improvements such as installing
a new exhaust system with race ECU, upgraded suspension components such as
Ohlins race shock and front-end valve kit, and other sort of standard items as
we prepare for Supersport racing.
For now though, let’s highlight these bit by bit pieces we
are swapping and/or eliminating to drop some excess weight in the most crucial
areas. As we reviewed last time
un-sprung weight is the first area of attack but also heavy items that are far
from the bikes center of gravity are good targets and usually a good bang for
the buck.
 Unless
you are a factory team with hardware bins full of titanium bolts, I’d go after
the big gains first and we went first with the rear sub-frame. This steel sub-frame is substantial enough to
support rider, passenger and the exhaust system. Swapping this over to an aluminum unit that
bolts right on is a simple and effective weight savings.
Removal and installation was easily performed and we got to
weigh the parts:
Stock: 6.6
lbs
Aluminum: 2.6 lbs
Savings 4.0 lbs
Freddie at Yoyodyne has always stocked the best brands of
performance and trick parts for sport bikes.
To save 4 lbs for the $460 that Yoyodyne charges is not only a great deal (dollar
per ounce), but a lighter rear sub-frame is good for mass centralization (since the sub-frame is so high and away from the center of mass).
Surely accelerating and stopping 4 lbs less is going to
increase performance, but the bigger reason for us is to make the bike easier
to transition from side to side. When going through a chicane a twin suffers due
to big motor parts like the giant crank, pistons etc spinning and creating
gyroscopic forces of their own. Any item
with big weight savings is on our list and certainly saving 4 lbs that is up
high and away from the motor had a Bulls Eye on it.
FUEL TANK- Next
in line was the fuel tank. Not only did
we want to protect the Stock body and tank for when the bike gets retired to
the street, but there are performance gains to be had:
·
Weight savings: 5
lbs less than stock (most tanks save 7+ lbs)
·
Fuel Cell Foam: eliminates
lbs of fuel from sloshing around
·
Billet Fuel Cap: no need for the key and heavy lock
·
Stronger and easier to repair than the stock
tank
John Harvey the owner of ETI FuelCel is genius when it comes
to composites, he was one of the leaders in watercraft composite technology,
and really knows his stuff.
The
Ducati tank was plastic stock and still we saved 5 lbs which is awesome,
especially so high above the motor. Once
again it is the attraction of saving POUNDS, not ounces, and where we are
targeting the savings. ETI Fuel Cel tanks
are made of Kevlar & Epoxy, so strong and light are the main attributes of its
construction.
Mounting is easy using the
front mount brackets and rear grommet along with the stock fuel pump so bolts
right on.
Finish
sanded and primed, it is one of the nicest components we’ve ever had to paint. The tanks have a warranty against leaking and
should you crash there is a repair service available.
Now
the price tag is not cheap at about $1,100 to $1,450 depending on the model
bike. However when you look at the cost
of a new tank should you throw you bike down the road plus the advantages it
makes sense for a serious rider/racer.
Before we move on, we should address the fuel cell foam. This is something we have used for years and
is common in airplanes and race cars as well.
Taking up about 3-4% of the volume of tank, this open cell
foam is designed to live in race gas.
Should a major crash occur, suppressing the fuel from flying all over is
a good safe thing. Most people are more
excited about eliminating the sloshing of the fuel.
Imagine 3 gallons or 21 lbs of fuel in you tank as you go
down the straight. Now slam on the brakes and imagine the fuel
slamming/splashing into the front of the tank.
Throwing the bike from side to side you can really feel the difference
once the foam is installed. This mod is
very affordable at only $50. and I highly recommend it.
 WHEELS - We
discussed in the previous article we detailed how un-sprung weight is the most
critical place to save weight. Wheels
one of the largest items in the un-sprung area and they are reciprocating
(spinning). Most OEM wheels are
aluminum, but cast aluminum. Forged
aluminum wheels are strong due to the process and much lighter. These are some wheel only weights we acquired
during our process:
Front
Rear
Cast Stock wheels: 9.76
lbs 13.3 lbs
Forged Alum 7.0
lbs 8.0 lbs
Magnesium 6.0
lbs 7.0 lbs
Carbon Fiber 4.88
lbs 7.0 lbs
All weights were done without wheel bearings, sprockets, tires
or rotors.
The choices for Sport bikes are all rather pricey when it
comes to after-market wheels but for my performance dollars I’ll take the
Marchesini Forged Aluminum wheels. We
saved 8.06 lbs by getting the Forged Aluminum, the biggest gains are there and
the cost is most reasonable. Moving up
to Magnesium or Carbon Fiber is a big step up in cost with smaller gains.
 REAR BRAKE ROTOR- While
looking good and getting more performance is pricey in most categories, the
final mod we’ve made is one which looks sharp, saves un-sprung reciprocation
mass and is affordable.
The front brakes do almost all the work on Sportbikes and they
are so good the rear brake is there almost as a safety measure. As a roadracer, I’d only look for the rear brake
if the front brake lever fell off!! The
reality is that losing a bit of rear brake rotor material is not a big loss in
terms of braking power.
We had mark of MarkBilt in Ridgewood, NJ
take our stock brake rotor to his CNC machine and return it with significant
weight savings.
Ounces
Stock weight - 36
After S-Works- 22
Savings 14 ounces – almost ONE LB!
It looks great and although the savings are not as big as on
the wheels, the cost is reasonable at about $200.
Total weight savings:
Sub Frame 4 lbs
Fuel Tank 5 lbs
Wheels 8 lbs
Rear rotor 14 ounces
TOTAL 17 lbs and 14 oz
Total Cost $4,360
Remember the old adage, “How fast you want to go? How much money you got?”
Keep checking here for our Race Reports and other bits
techno info as the season kicks off!
Suppliers:
Sub-Frame Yoyodyne
http://www.yoyodyneti.com/
Fuel Tank ETI Fuelcell http://www.eti-fuelcel.com
Wheels Hard Racing http://www.hardracing.com
Rear rotor MarkBilt 201-406-1921
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