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It started with a good clean...

Tue, 10 May 2011

"So when's your first race" says Paul Sands, George White main mechanic.

"In 10 days' time" says I, wincing in anticipation of his response.

To his credit, he didn't flinch. A few minutes later all the fairings were stripped off along with road bits that won't be needed for racing.

I wanted to help out but felt fairly incompetent stood next to a pro. So I reverted to the place I felt happiest when I used to go and visit my brother (then a bike mechanic) when I was a young lad: out the back, with the bucket and sponge.

The 848 was in desperate need of a clean; there's nothing worse than working on a dirty bike. And let's be honest, when was the last time you saw a bike turn up to a BSB round that you couldn't eat your dinner off?

So what you're looking at on the right was our starting point. A base 848, sporting a few scars from its lowside in a former life as a Ducati UK press bike.

All it needs are: Accossato clip-ons, throttle cables, brake and clutch levers, rearsets, Skidmarx fairing, wiring adjustments, swing-arm guard, a new AFAM chain and sprockets, new Termignoni exhausts, bodywork fitting, lock-wiring everything with a thread on it, an oil change, new filter, fitting the HEL brake lines, fitting the control Pirelli Supercorsa tyres, replacing the coolant with water.

And then the small matter of ensuring it fires up.

So, not much to do then....


By Ben Cope


See also: Win a Ducati Diavel with Rizoma, George White & Visordown: 848 Challenge, Nuggets from Estoril.