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ILYC

2026-05-29T18:16:31Z

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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>Camera Stream (720p)</title>
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display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
height: 100vh;
margin: 0;
font-family: sans-serif;
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ILYC

2026-05-20T19:36:59Z

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2026-05-20T19:35:50Z

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851SPECIAL

2026-05-14T14:27:10Z

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<span style="color:#f7b304">[[IBenson:About|About]] | [[Motos|Two Wheels]] | [[Autos |Four Wheels]] | [[Trips |Trips]] | [[WideOpen |Home]]

==How this bike came to me==

(warning, 5 mile story)

When I was 16, a friend showed up one day with a Ducati. This was the first time I had ever seen a Ducati, or heard a Ducati and from the first of each, I was hooked and hooked in a really bad way. His name was Sergei Sikorsky and he was the grandson of the famed Igor who invented the helicopter. Sergei was a German Russian and had jumped all over the globe before landing in Newport due to his love to sailing and when he landed so did his love for 2 wheels.

The year was 1996 and the bike was a Paso 906 which had been crashed more times than one could imagine. Sergei would tell me that this one was stolen once, only to be driven only 1000ft before the perpetrator squeezed too much throttle assuming it was a Japanese inline 4, wheeling it right into a car (this was common on Ducati's back then). I immediately asked if he would sell it to me, he immediately said no. After a year harassment, Sergei said "OK, I give" but he said he was going to go and ask my parents if it was ok. He did, and my parents said "we can't stop him" and so there it was, my first Ducati: The ugly duc, The Paso 906.

Two years later I decided I was ready to graduate to a "real" bike and what I needed was a "superbike". I found an 888 in Arizona with my name on it and this was the start of my 4 valve affair with Ducati. On one of Sergei's and my many rides of the era, we swapped bikes and he had his first ride on an 888. When he got off he was speechless, honestly didn't talk much for a few weeks, the 888/851 had a way of doing that to people. Many years passed (5 or 6) and I get a call from Sergei who was living in Arkansas telling me he had never gotten the 888 out of his head from that ride and that he had tracked down an 851 with a troubled past, asking if I would look at pictures of the bike and advise if he should or shouldn't buy it. The bike was a 1992 851 Bi-posto and it had a rebuilt title due to a crash at some point but overall it was in good shape, a very good and solid "rider" of an 851, at the price they were asking I told him to buy it and he did.

Three or four years past and Sergei landed back in Newport, a little older and a little less stable, the later of these constants would be the one that got Sergei in the end. With him he brought a handful of bikes, one of which was the 851, now broken with what was likely a bad fuelpump. At the time I had a shop and took the bike in but never touched it as I was too busy building all the other bikes at the time. When I closed the shop, Sergei and I moved the 851 to a storage unit and that was the last I saw of the bike, or him for that matter. From that point, I moved away and started a family, Sergei moved to a boat and started to unravel. Two years later the call came from a friend that Sergei had passed away from a tragic event. The bottom line is that Sergei did it his way and this was the end that was always going to be. Saddened, I remembered the 851 and put it way way back in my mind for a later date because at the time I was having kids and bikes were far from my mind.

Fast forward almost 6 years and I had an itch to find Sergei's old 851 and do something with it. A few of my friends tracked down the guy Sergei gave the bike away to and I started asking to buy it, only to be told no repeatedly (just like with the paso, same story, different bike, kinda the same owner). Every year or so I would reach out to the gent that had it and the answer was ALWAYS no, until one year (4 later) the answer was Yes. I grabbed cash and went to get the bike I had not seen in ten years. Here is where a normal person would say: No one would ever buy a rebuilt title Ducati, nevermind an 851 which is a complex bird: No one would ever buy an unmaintained, non-running bike from a basement after sitting for over eleven years without running. I ran, I didn't walk.

My first sight of the bike, my mind said "What the hell have you done!!!" The bike was in a basement, which was not weather tight, not climate controlled and certainly not dry.

[[File:851SPECIAL-Ledger.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-Ledger.jpeg |700px]]

Here is the first sight, I took a pic of my kiddo sitting on it, he was happy, I was not. The bike was a mess, the frame was rusty, the engine was losing it's clear coat, who knew what shape the damn engine was in.

Regardless, I paid the man his free money for storing a free bike that he got for being at the right place at the right time. In the truck she went!

[[File:851SPECIAL-loaded.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-loaded.jpeg |700px]]

==The first thing you do is get it running==
With any basket case, you ALWAYS get it running before you do anything else. After wiring the fuel pump correctly, she started right up. Two things I forgot: How much I love the sound these bikes make and: How much I love old staintune cans!

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==Teardown==

One of the best parts of a project is the teardown process as it lets you see the state of things and on these old Ducatis, it also lets you see what parts they used from the parts bin to build these bikes. It is shocking how much and often things changed on these pre-916 bikes.

[[File:851SPECIAL-teardown1.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-teardown1.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-teardown2.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-teardown2.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-teardown3.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-teardown3.jpeg |700px]]

As you can see the bike was in bad esthetic shape, specifically the frame and motor casings and heads. The plastics were OK, In the end I only kept the tank, the nose and one side failing the rest was sourced from the used market.

==Frame replacement and Mockups==

The tail of two frames... As some might know, a rebuilt or salvage title carries with it a lifetime blackeye of holding a diminished "value" in the market and in most states, a rebuilt or salvage title means you cannot register the vehicle. In this case, the 851 came to me with a rebuilt title which with Ducati usually means the bike was laid down and the insurance company totaled the bike due to the cost of replacement plastics. Usually a bike goes from salvage, then is rebuilt and a certified rebuilder gets a new title on the bike.

For me to do the work I was planning to do on this bike, I was not prepared to do so with a title that was not clear. Luckily a friend had bought a frame 15 years ago so I gave him a call and bought it.

One thing that is important to know is that between 1991 and 1992 Ducati went to a new frame design for these bikes which later carried in to the 888, Monster and ST platforms. A few differences between them:
*1991 and earlier:
**Ugly dropouts for the rearsets. These were covered by the early 851 tail plastics
**Hand welded front tubes from the main frame to the steerer tube
**The tank mounting was not hinged and cliped
*1992 and newer:
**Pretty dropouts for the rearsets. This made the rearsets longer and less good looking but better looking overall and allowed for racing to mount the rearsets higher off the ground.
**Two cross member tubes on the lower frame rails that ran between the intake / throttle bodies.
**Bent front tubes from the main frame to the steerer tube

Below you can see the two frames side by side, the upper being the 1992 and the lower being the 1991. Neither looked great!

[[File:851SPECIAL-frames.jpg |link=File:851SPECIAL-frames.jpg |700px]]

The newer frames cost less to make due to the bent front tubes which were less stiff but they added some stiffness to the frame with the additional two lower cross members. My plan was to have a VERY stiff bike by having the old frame style with the welded front tubes and corner supports AND I added lower cross members. Below you can see the raw tubing on the lower section.

[[File:851SPECIAL-frame-modded.jpg |link=File:851SPECIAL-frame-modded.jpg |700px]]

Early mock up of the drive line with 5 spoke wheels and ohlins fork:

[[File:851SPECIAL-driveline.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-driveline.jpeg |700px]]

==Bodywork / Headlight Mockups==

Once the driveline was someone in order, it was time to work on the body. The body is fairly standard OEM other than the race tail which is missing the cut out for the taillight.

[[File:851SPECIAL-bodytest1.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-bodytest1.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-bodytest2.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-bodytest2.jpeg |700px]]

On the headlight front, I opted to make a carrier to allow me to mount a round light in a square hole (yes there is a joke in there). For this my friend Jesse designed this in CAD and we printed a few interactions before getting it right. I sourced a Purpose built moto 4" unit from Australia which JUST fit in the square of the OEM glass reflector.

[[File:851SPECIAL-headlight-v1.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-headlight-v1.jpeg |700px]]

== Engine Degrease and walnut blast ==

The engine had a lot of muck on it and a lot of the clear was coming off the metal. If I had the time I would have broken the entire motor down, blasted and re-cleared it but this was not that kind of job and I don't have that kind of time.

Dirty Engine:

[[File:851SPECIAL-dirtyengine1.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-dirtyengine1.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-cleanengine2.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-cleanengine2.jpeg |700px]]

[[File:851SPECIAL-dirtyengine2.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-dirtyengine2.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-cleanengine1.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-cleanengine1.jpeg |700px]]

[[File:851SPECIAL-dirtyengine3.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-dirtyengine3.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-cleanengine3.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-cleanengine3.jpeg |700px]]

==Engine masking, prime, paint and stainless bolt kit install==

Masked

[[File:851SPECIAL-maskengine1.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-maskengine1.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-maskengine2.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-maskengine2.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-maskengine3.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-maskengine3.jpeg |700px]]

Primed

[[File:851SPECIAL-primeengine1.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-primeengine1.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-primeengine2.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-primeengine2.jpeg |700px]]

Painted, unmasked and stainless bolt kit installed

[[File:851SPECIAL-paintengine1.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-paintengine1.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-unmaskedengine1.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-unmaskedengine1.jpeg |700px]]

==Pre-Powder coating, post powder coating and early build up==

One of my all time favorite thing to do is take a pre powder and post powder picture of a project. It shows a turning point in any project and moves you into a phase of fun, albeit a stressful one due to the fragility of working on something that has been freshly painted or coated. One thing to note is that I was running with an 851 rear rocker and hoop before I was able to source a proper 888 setup, so these pictures reflect that.

[[File:851SPECIAL-pre-powder.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-pre-powder.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-post powder.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-post powder.jpeg |700px]]

The early time during build up on these Ducatis is a lot of fun because all you see are the beautiful parts, not the ugly parts

[[File:851SPECIAL-driveline-post1.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-driveline-post1.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-driveline-post2.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-driveline-post2.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-driveline-post3.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-driveline-post3.jpeg |700px]]

Speaking of ugly, Here you can see what goes into these early EFI bikes. They are reliable and make great power but they have wires EVERYWHERE. Additionally the ECUs are quite large, in this case the 851,888 and early 916s were based on on the Weber / Marelli P8. Additionally you have the radiator, throttle bodies and Airbox to ugly things up.

[[File:851SPECIAL-wiring.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-wiring.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-throttlebodies.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-throttlebodies.jpeg |700px]]

Over time, you realize the fairings were good for lowering drag but ALSO for hiding all the ugly parts!

[[File:851SPECIAL-cockpit-post.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-cockpit-post.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-priamry-wiring.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-priamry-wiring.jpeg |700px]]

Here you can see the bike finally on two wheels (albeit temporary wheels!)

[[File:851SPECIAL-off-stands.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-off-stands.jpeg |700px]]

==Tail fender design / build==

One of the things I have always hated most about these bikes are the huge rear mudguard that the street bikes came with. These fought the tail cowl and muffler lines and ruined a great look, this is why race bikes always looked better.

My solution was to make a slim plate that would protect the underside and hold the ECU and Ignition modules.

[[File:851SPECIAL-Tail-roughin.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-Tail-roughin.jpeg |700px]]

The same after paint

[[File:851SPECIAL-tail-paint.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-tail-paint.jpeg |700px]]

==888 rear suspension swap==

When I finished the bulk of the work on this build, I put it down on the wheels and found the tail height to be all wrong. It was low, flat and was never going to turn well. I did some reading and realized I have forgotten the difference between the 851/early monster and the 888 rear suspension setups. The 851/Monsters were less expensive and could handle Bi-Posto ride wights while the 888 was fully adjustable and was 3/4" taller by default. The search started and I was able to find a NOS rocker and hoop in Italy (for not a small price I might add). Once the parts arrived I pulled the thing apart and redid the rear suspension.

The 888 rocker and hoop. You can see the hoop has a centered stand off and mounts inside the rocker, on the 851, this is double tabbed and the rocker bolts inside the hoop. If you look above in this write up you can see the 851 parts before and after powder coating.

[[File:851SPECIAL-888-suspension.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-888-suspension.jpeg |700px]]

Here is the suspension installed with the rear mud guard / underplate.

[[File:851SPECIAL-888-suspension-installed.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-888-suspension-installed.jpeg |700px]]

==All the pretty parts come together==

There is nothing better than getting all the body parts, wheels and little bits that make a vehicle look great.

The body work came to me better than I had hoped. Here I went with the 851 race number plates with nothing on the tail. The nose was painted to match the side number panels. The color I chose was Audi's Nardo Grey, which I am very fond of.

[[File:851SPECIAL-pretty-parts.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-pretty-parts.jpeg |700px]]

The Wheels were a nightmare but came in perfect.

[[File:851SPECIAL-wheels.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-wheels.jpeg |700px]]

The headlight and carrier were painted / powder coated to fit into the number plate on the nose as best possible. Additionally you can see the effort we went to allow the headlight to use the OEM lens carrier and mounting.

[[File:851SPECIAL-headlight-front.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-headlight-front.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-headlight-back.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-headlight-back.jpeg |700px]]

==The Final Product==

After many months and a lot of $$$$, the bike was done and man, I was Happy with it. Still am to this day! (I wrote this a year after the build)

[[File:851SPECIAL-initial-complete-left.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-initial-complete-left.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-initial-complete-dash.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-initial-complete-dash.jpeg |700px]]

[[File:851SPECIAL-initial-complete-upper-right.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-initial-complete-upper-right.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-initial-complete-front.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-initial-complete-front.jpeg |700px]]

[[File:851SPECIAL-initial-complete-bottom-right.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-initial-complete-bottom-right.jpeg |700px]] [[File:851SPECIAL-initial-complete-top-left.jpeg |link=File:851SPECIAL-initial-complete-top-left.jpeg |700px]]

One of the best things on this project was how well the modern Honda front fender played with the old styling of the 851!!! Most don't see it but over the years, the front fender has changed a lot on the Ducati SBKs and it drives a lot of the aging of the bike (IMHO).

I love the look of these bikes at this angle. Very old school! Much better without the OEM undertail and you get to see that exhaust routing.

[[File:851Special-Side-stand.jpeg |link=File:851Special-Side-stand.jpeg |700px]]

==Radiator Swap 10/2024==
One of the things about 851/888s is that they ALWAYS run hot. Hot on the gauge, hot on your ankles, hot on the vent under the seat from the coolant rez! After looking for an eternity, I found a full aluminum replacement from china that was marketed as for 999 but was really for the 851/888 which I was stoked about. A full aluminum radiator has a higher cooling factor than the OEM unit. Additionally I needed a radiator for the 888LTD which is more of an OEM bike than the 851Special. Because of these facts I replaced this unit and waterfalled down the OEM unit to the 888LTD.

Here you can see the OEM and China nockoffs on the table. The China unit needed to modifying to allow the fan to mount and to allow the under triple mudguard but after some bending and cutting I was able to install it as expected.

[[File:851Special-radiator-swap-1.jpeg|link=File:851Special-radiator-swap-1.jpeg|700px]]

The final product was a lot better cooling and a lot better looking! China parts don't always work well but in this case I made out like a bandit.

[[File:851Special-radiator-swap-2.jpeg|link=File:851Special-radiator-swap-2.jpeg|700px]] [[File:851Special-radiator-swap-3.jpeg|link=File:851Special-radiator-swap-3.jpeg|700px]]

==Specifications==
Frame and subframe: 1991 851 frame, 1992 subframe, modded from bi-posto to mono-posto.
Engine: 1992 851, punched to 888
Tank: 1991 851
Front suspension: Ohlins 110MM radial mount from a Honda 1000RR Fireblade. OEM triples, lower bored.
Rear Suspension: Ohlins M900 with 888 hoop and rocker
Front Brakes: Brembo Radial master / Suzuki Hyabusa 110MM monoblock calipers / 748R/996R 15MM offset rotors.
Steering Damper: Ohlins Monster
Rear Brakes: Ducati 999 Master / Ducati 999 rear caliper
Clutch: Brembo Radial master / YoYoDyne Slave / Ducati performance 6 spring slipper
Wheels: Brembo 5 spoke aluminum
Exhaust: Silmoto full 50MM Spaghetti, carbon silencers
Tail: 1993 888 race
Nose and side fairings: OEM 851
Headlight: Custom carrier for Purpose built moto 4" LED

==Maintenance log==
All Maintenance work was completed after the complete build in the Spring of 2023.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|+ Logging of work
|-
! Date !! Description !! New / Used parts !! Notes
|-
| 10/08/24 || Radiator replacement || New || China crap. Better than old OEM!
|-
| 10/08/24 || Coolant replacement || New || Engine Ice
|-
| 10/08/24 || Slipper clutch install || Used || Duc perf with barnett clutch
|-
| 10/08/24 || Clutch pushrod || Used || Replaced due to leak from older double o-rings
|-
| 10/08/24 || Fairing bolt replacements || New || Anodized Alloy
|}

StolenS4

2026-05-14T14:27:02Z

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<span style="color:#f7b304">[[IBenson:About|About]] | [[Motos|Two Wheels]] | [[Autos |Four Wheels]] | [[Trips |Trips]] | [[WideOpen |Home]]

==There is a story behind every bike I own 12/2024==

Warning, 17mile story ahead.

Long long ago when I was building the 888LTD for Wally, there was a need for a set of 5spoke Marchesini wheels which many know are impossible to find for the 851/888 platform. My solution at the time was to find an S4 and buy it for the wheels which we did. I found a decent bike in upstate NY and drove out and paid cash for it (well, wally paid cash for it). The bike was your base model Monster S4, all stock, red, a good bike.

After stealing the wheels I was left wondering what fun could be had with a monster when left to my own devices and I think we found the way. I sourced a set of Sport classic wire wheels and a handful of other bits and started to goto work on the bike. The first thing to do was to paint the red away which I did with BMW's laguna sec blue (the same color as my race bikes at the time), then was the wheel swap, slipper clutch, power commander, clip ons and a saw to the exhaust.

The result was awesome: A loud, fun little run around with a decent amount of power. One of the biggest challanges was getting the gold line brakes to clear the spokes on the wire wheels (remember Ducati's solution to this was to use smaller, less brakes which I was having none of). My solution was to mill down the calipers until they cleared, the risk was blowing into the backs of the calipers and making a mess of my mill (this never happened luckly!)

The bike was totally stock when purchased, here it is in the back of the truck on its way to my shop in 2007

[[File:SSPX0048.jpg|link=File:SSPX0048.jpg|center|700px]]

I quickly took the bike apart, installed clip-ons, chopped the pipes, added wire wheels and a few other things

[[File:Monster3.jpg|link=File:Monster3.jpg|center|700px]]

I then painted the bike BMW Laguna Seca Blue which was my favorite. Here was the bike in 2008 when it was in my possession still

[[File:StolenS4-FrontRight.jpg|link=File:StolenS4-FrontRight.jpg|center|700px]]

[[File:StolenS4-RightRear.jpg|link=File:StolenS4-RightRear.jpg|center|700px]]

[[File:StolenS4-Left.jpg|link=File:StolenS4-Left.jpg|center|700px]]

[[File:StolenS4-Dash.jpg|link=File:StolenS4-Dash.jpg|center|700px]]

[[File:StolenS4-Front.jpg|link=File:StolenS4-Front.jpg|center|700px]]

Here you can see my mill work on the calipers to get them to clear the spokes. I know, Im nuts!

[[File:StolenS4-Caliper.jpg|link=File:StolenS4-Caliper.jpg|center|700px]]

At the time I lived with a very close friend who I trusted and who didn't have a bike. I offered the bike to him to use and was foolish enough to give him the title and let him register the bike, which he did. A time later he and I had a big falling out where I offered for him to keep the bike, only to be told "Fuck you and your bike, I don't want it". A few weeks later he moved out and the bike left with him which surprised me, after all "fuck me and my bike" right? Well, I tried for 6 or 7 years to get the bike back and was repeatedly told I could buy the bike back which I refused to do.

Time went on and the guy sold or gave the bike to a fellow, who sold or gave the bike to another fellow. Rumors of the bike being for sale floated around and I even tossed a number out there for the bike but it was far too high for what I knew the bike was worth, so I passed. My friend Rocket got a call from the guy who had the bike and was offered the thing at more than half what I was offered it (this happens to me a lot) and Rocket called me to get the bike. I was so pissed about the number that I told him to shove it (so that he would tell the guy who had it to shove it) and that was the end of it. So I thought.

==So there I was, a week before Christmas 12/2024==

Working around the house, doing shit. Im talking to my wife and I hear this noise, a noise that is hard not to recognize, and my wife's smile which is a "I got you" smile. I start laughing and walk out to find Rocket in the driveway, sitting on the S4 in 20degree wheather freezing his ass off but cracking up! She had bought me the bike! Her words were: "Now the collection is all back together". My wife is the shit but little did she know that this move was going to cost me a ton of cash!

Here she is when it was returned to me. The Black livery is questionable, the clip-ons have been removed and a lot of other bits had been changed but overall she was still the bike I had last seen her as.

[[File:Stolen-S4-first-delivered.jpeg|link=File:Stolen-S4-first-delivered.jpeg|center|700px]]

==The buying spree begins 1/2025==

Because I know this bike so well and also know the platform in and out, before even riding this bike I did two things:
*Registered it
*Sourced most of the hard to find parts before taking it apart

The first challenge was a known one. The RI title I had last seen for this bike had a typo where an I was written as a 1 (common in RI long ago). The previous fellow decided to register it in Vermont and not deal with this. I went to the DMV, played dumb and had them check pictures of the stampings and fix the incorrect VIN.

As for sourcing parts, I went a bit haywire (shocker right). I decided go big or don't do it:
*Ohlins SBK fork with Radial bottoms (1198)
*Brembo 1198 radial calipers
*Brembo Radial master clutch and slave
*Speedymoto Monster to SBK triples
*Helibar clipons with a slight rise
*Termi spaghetti system with high mount Ti cans (Japan sourced, I have never seen these in the States, ever)
*Termi Monster 1100S cans, to be modded to fit the spaghetti systems while retaining the two up riding ability.
*Ohlins rear shock from an ST4s

The bummer about all this is the loss of the wire wheels. One of my favorite parts of this build is a monster with SC wheels but if I want radial brakes, the wheels must go, so they go because I like my brakes more than I like spoked wheels!

==Teardown and playing 10/2025==
With this bike, I didn't need to get her running, she is a runner. Right into the teardown and with it starts the mockup.

Here she is up on the lift, still basically a bike

[[File:Stolen4-teardown-1.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-teardown-1.jpeg|center|700px]]

A little more extreme breakdown:

[[File:Stolen4-teardown-2.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-teardown-2.jpeg|center|700px]]

This teardown will be jumping between teardown and mockup so unlike many of my other builds, this bike will look a lot more together throughout its evolution.

==Frontend build and mockup 10/2025==
For this bike I thought the 1098 / 1199 Ohlins with radials would look cool (and ride fucking awesome), the old FG43 bottoms are rad and all but really stand for the 90s and early 2000s. With the monster and all its swooping curves, the interegal radials will have a good look with the rest of the bike (I hope), additionally the final OG monster (S4RS) had radial bottoms but where a non SBK fork.

Here you can see them being serviced at Superbike services44 in New Hampshire. It always cracks me up to see the cost savings for ohlins when they only plate in gold the bits you see and not the others

[[File:Stolen4-tubes.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-tubes.jpeg|center|700px]]

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? The same can be said as to how many parts make up a front fork.

[[File:Stolen4-internals.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-internals.jpeg|center|700px]]

When it came time to figure out the front end on this bike I was laser focused on an S4RS full front end but they were hard to find and not as good. I then remembered I had this fork in a pile but that it would require unique triples, lucky for me speedy moto dealt with this long ago and made a tripe for it. Im not a huge fan of the black anodizing but it is all I could get! Powder coating will resolve the black issue.

[[File:Stolen4-triples.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-triples.jpeg|center|700px]]

For clipons, I went with a set of Helibars that came to me in a bulk buy. They are NOS and give me almost an inch up which should be good for 2up riding which this bike will be used for. I am also toying with wire wheels or 999 wheels, here you can see the 999 option.

[[File:Stolen4-front-test-1.jpeg|link=SFile:tolen4-front-test-1.jpeg|center|700px]]

It is always funny to see a bike with no headlight and no fairing, everything looks wrong.

Next up I have to figure out the wheel situation. Running a 999 rear in the ST / S4 swingarm is going to be challenging and at the the same time running a wire wheel in the 1198 fork has brake clearance challenges. More to come there in the coming weeks. My pref is wire but they are heavier. I don't know..

==Driveline Mockup 10/2025==
My plan was to run 749/999 wheels on this bike to allow for radial from calipers but much to my delight, the SC wire wheel spokes JUST clear the calipers, I will be milling them a tad just to allow for some more room.

Sticking with the wire wheels on this build makes me very happy, for some reason I have always loved the look of the SC aluminum hub / rim wheels along with road tires (which are not what are on these wheels right now). I have another set of wheels that are un-used that will be getting a set of road tires mounted in the coming weeks.

Monsters look funny without the big ass rearsets installed as you can see. I was thinking about doing away with them for the aesthetic but I want this bike to be good for two up riding so they will be sticking around.

[[File:Stolen4-driveline-mock-1.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-driveline-mock-1.jpeg|center|700px]]

The ST4S rear shock mounted well and the rez plumbing clears the frame the way I had hoped. Here you see the rebound adjuster
[[File:Stolen4-driveline-mock-2.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-driveline-mock-2.jpeg|center|700px]]

On the other side you see the compression adjust / rez with the line fitting well in the frame.
[[File:Stolen4-driveline-mock-3.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-driveline-mock-3.jpeg|center|700px]]

Im testing the OG cast iron floating rotors on one side to see how the clearance is, which is perfect. For some reason I love these Tron looking rotors and am happy to have a bike I can run them on (6 bolt with the correct offset), all my other bikes are so modified I had to go other directions.
[[File:Stolen4-driveline-mock-4.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-driveline-mock-4.jpeg|center|700px]]
==Body work planning 11/2025==
Talking about bodywork on a monster is the wrong way to put it but I had to come up with something. Those that know the monster know it's entire market is based on the lack of bodywork but here we will talk about the three major parts:
Tank: Monster S4RS
Front fender: Monster 1100S
Seat cowl: Monster S2R

To start I always like to switch it up with the front fenders on these builds so after poking around, I settled on a very modern looking 1100S monster fender, My fingers are crossed here. The Tank is from an S4RS so it is plastic and has a modern internal, removable pickup / pump unit and the cowl is a standard monster unit which I have always had a thing for.

The plan is to have a deep blue base, with a frame matching green center section on all three items, the line on the tank will only goto the fuel fill cap. The Ducati name will come from yellow late 60s ducati stickers.

[[File:StolenS4-Body-pre-paint.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Body-pre-paint.jpeg|center|700px]]
==Brake mod to clear the spokes==
The wire wheels on from the Sport Classic are very well built and therefore the spokes come off the very wide hub to get to the Rim, this made clearance a problem from the beginning. Ducati's solution was to use smaller, less good brake calipers which cleared the spokes and used an adapter. On my first go around I milled the calipers to clear the spokes which was required and which gave me proper braking at the time.

This time I was rather surprised to see that the SBK 100MM radial calipers "mostly" cleared the spokes, which the goldline calipers didn't at all. Regardless, I wanted more clearance incase a rock or a piece of a car gets in there, I don't want it to stop the from wheel.

Here you can see the caliper before being milled:

[[File:StolenS4-Caliper-pre.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Caliper-pre.jpeg |center|700px]]

And after being milled:

[[File:StolenS4-Caliper-post.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Caliper-post.jpeg |center|700px]]

These will be powder coated bright yellow which I am excited to see.

==Parts off to Powder 11/2025==
I have always loved taking this picture but I love taking the picture of the parts once they are returned far more.

We will have a a aqua frame and light bucket while having a aluminum silver swingarm, triples, clipons, rearset frames and highlight surround. We will also have yellow suspension link and calipers all around.

[[File:StolenS4-Pre-powder.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Pre-powder.jpeg|center|700px]]

Once again those purists out there will hate this thing but fuckem, its my bike and my wife bought it back for me and these are her favorite colors.

==Flywheel swap and a surprise 12/2025==
One of my favorite mods to these bikes is to ditch the flywheel. Lucky for me one popped up and I bought it. Pulling the stator cover off to install the flywheel, I was surprised to find and to remember the time I tossed a chain on this bike. It cracked the stator cover and luckily not the case.

[[File:Stolen4-statorcover.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-statorcover.jpeg|center|700px]]

Here is the OE flywheel and my non-flywheel which is just big enough to hold the stator Mag and the starter bearing. While the flywheel mod makes the bike much more responsive, it can suffer around town at low revs, I don't love low revs so off it goes.

[[File:Stolen4-flywheels.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-flywheels.jpeg|center|700px]]

Installed, you can hardly see the flywheel now.

[[File:Stolen4-flywheel-install.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-flywheel-install.jpeg|center|700px]]

Prepping the replacement stator cover, next to original unit to the right.

[[File:Stolen4-statorcovers.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-statorcovers.jpeg|center|700px]]

==Engine Degrease 12/2025==
After years of use and storage, these motors get pretty nasty and cleaning them up is a PITA. After plugging all the holes, you drag them outside, spray them down with degrees a few times, scrape and brush, then power wash the hell out of them.

Before starting:
[[File:Stolen4-engine-dirty-1.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-engine-dirty-1.jpeg|center|700px]]

[[File:Stolen4-engine-dirty-2.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-engine-dirty-2.jpeg|center|700px]]

After a lot of scrubbing and spraying and scrubbing and spraying:

[[File:Stolen4-engine-clean-1.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-engine-clean-1.jpeg|center|700px]]

[[File:Stolen4-engine-clean-2.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-engine-clean-2.jpeg|center|700px]]

[[File:Stolen4-engine-clean-3.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-engine-clean-3.jpeg|center|700px]]

Next up is sanding, masking and painting.

==Back From Powder 12/2025==
It is always the best time when you get your parts back from being coated. All was well but there was an issue with the lower triple so that had to stay and be re-coated, which I will grab in the new year.

When I dropped the parts off I decided to go more teal than blue on this build and I am happy that I did. I think the Teal, Dark blue and Yellow will all play nicely with one another. My wife bought me this bike (but not all the parts and the rebuild!) so I think it is only suitable that the colors been in her color wheel.

[[File:StolenS4-Powder-Parts-1.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Powder-Parts-1.jpeg|center|700px]]

[[File:StolenS4-Powder-Parts-4.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Powder-Parts-4.jpeg|center|700px]]

Two things I really dislike on bikes are the colors black and chrome, because of this I coated all the aluminum parts and the headlight ring an aluminum like silver, here I wanted to see how the bucket and rim would play and I think it worked out nicely.

[[File:StolenS4-Powder-Parts-2.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Powder-Parts-2.jpeg|center|700px]]

Finally here is Ledger smiling ear to ear checking out his bike that we are building, he is excited because it holds two people..

[[File:StolenS4-Powder-Parts-3.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Powder-Parts-3.jpeg|center|700px]]

==Body back from paint 02/2026==
After getting all the body work prepped, I was able to get them to Sean ad SR customs to take it away. On the color front I went a little wild and chose colors my wife would like, in fact we copied a shampoo company who's colors we liked.

I had to toss the yellow in there, I wanted a little flare on this bike on top of the loud colors, this brought the coating of the calipers and suspension link, live a little I say.

This is also the first time I have ever used the 60' Ducati livery, I don't know why this time but thought it would play well with the roundness of the Monster tank. I do love the ducati double lines of the 70s but sometimes you need to do something new..

'''First thing to know is that this bike is not going to have a black seat (brown), just have the seat here to place parts on parts!'''

[[File:StolenS4-Body-left.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Body-left.jpeg|center|700px]]

Lots ohh parts!
[[File:StolenS4-Body-front.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Body-front.jpeg|center|700px]]

As you can see, I wanted to have some fun with the front fender, hoping it plays out!
[[File:StolenS4-Body-right.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Body-right.jpeg|center|700px]]

Wings and things...
[[File:StolenS4-Body-tank-right.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Body-tank-right.jpeg|center|700px]]

The monster tail will always be one of my favorite pieces of body work every to leave Bologna. Yuck to that seat!
[[File:StolenS4-Body-tail.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Body-tail.jpeg|center|700px]]

Finally you can see Sean's ability to match paint to powder. Very impressive.
[[File:StolenS4-Body-front-left.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Body-front-left.jpeg|center|700px]]

==Wheels and tires 02/2026==

I flipped back and fourth on the wheels for this bike, mainly because I assumed I could not make the 1098 radials clear the spokes. Before trying I bought 749 wheels and assumed that was my route. For the hell of it I tried the wire wheels and the radials and as you have seen posted above, they did in fact work!

One of my other favorite things Ducati has ever done was to introduce the Sport Classic line with Aluminum rimmed spoked wheels of a normal, modern street bike tire size. 20 years ago I bought two sets of these, one went on the Monster and other to storage. The monster wheels showed signs of age and salty air on the spokes. The second were brand new but have some tarnish on the clear I hope to clean up. I decided to go with the NOS units I had and wrapped them with killer Pirelli's. Is there anything better than a SBK tire on a wire wheel set? I don't think so.

[[File:StolenS4-Body-wheels.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-Body-wheels.jpeg|center|700px]]

==Engine Mask and paint 02/2026==
Once again, a purist would break down these engines, sandblast and repaint. I opted to clean, sand and re-paint as it gives great results with a lot less time spent on an fine running motor.

Masking is a labor of love but one that you must take your time on. Remember I had to replace the side cover from the previous chain loss, this motor was all silver (as all were in this year) but the cover I used was from an earlier motor which still used the green color.

[[File:Stolen4-engine-mask1.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-engine-mask1.jpeg|center|700px]]

[[File:Stolen4-engine-mask2.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-engine-mask2.jpeg|center|700px]]

During the worst winter in 50 years in Rhode Island, it took weeks to get a window of time where I could paint where the temp was warm enough for the paint. Primer is laid down first, followed by color.

[[File:Stolen4-engine-primed.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-engine-primed.jpeg|center|700px]]

Color

[[File:Stolen4-engine-painted1.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-engine-painted1.jpeg|center|700px]]

Finish

[[File:Stolen4-engine-painted2.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-engine-painted2.jpeg|center|700px]]

[[File:Stolen4-engine-painted3.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-engine-painted3.jpeg|center|700px]]

The next step in the prettying up of an old motor is a stainless bolt kit which will be done later.

==Initial Build 02/2026==
The second you bolt the frame back onto a Ducati motor, you are hyped for the second you get to ride the bike. At this point you know you are headed toward that day, a turning point if you will in the process of a rebuild. This is when parts start going back on. It took weeks, months and years to get to this point.

[[File:Stolen4-initial-build1.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-initial-build1.jpeg|center|700px]]

[[File:Stolen4-initial-build2.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-initial-build2.jpeg|center|700px]]

[[File:Stolen4-initial-build3.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-initial-build3.jpeg|center|700px]]

[[File:Stolen4-initial-build4.jpeg|link=File:Stolen4-initial-build4.jpeg|center|700px]]

The downside is that every day you work on the bike is another day you ugly it up with all the required shit the bikes needs to run. Intake, airbox, radiator, wiring harness. It all adds up but these things are needed!

==Rolled out to see the light of day 03/2026==

With me running off for a few weeks for springbreak, I took the opertunity to get the bike rolling and activated the front braking system so that I can safely transport the bike to the Silas at Revenant Auto to fabricate the exhaust system for the bike.

It was very nice to see the bike in the daylight allbeit without all the ugly parts on it (airbox, wiring, radiator and cooling). Excuse the orange tow straps on the fork, this was just before loading to go.

[[File:StolenS4-outside.jpeg|link=File:StolenS4-outside.jpeg|center|700px]]

==Specifications==
Frame: 2001 Monster S4
Engine: Monster S4 916, No flywheel, Power Commander
Tank: 2006 Monster S4RS
Front Suspension: Ducati 1198 Ohlins SBK fork with 100MM radial mount. SpeedyMoto billet triples
Rear Suspension: Ducati ST4S Ohlins
Steering Damper: Ducati Monster Ohlins
Front Brakes: Brembo Radial master / Ducati 1098 monoblock calipers / Brembo Supersport Floating rotors (6 bolt).
Rear Brakes: Ducati 999 Master / Ducati 999 rear caliper
Clutch: Brembo Radial master / Ducati 996 Slave / Ducati 748R Ramp slipper, aluminum basket and pressure plate
Wheels: Ducati Sport Classic Wire wheels
Exhaust: Ducati Monster S4 Speghetti headers modded for low mount, Monster 1100S termi cans

==Colors==
Frame: Prismatic powders Navaja Nugget
Swingarm / Rearsets / headlight ring: Prismatic powders Porsche silver with Clear
Suspension Link / Calipers : prismatic powders RAL 1003
Body: 1936 Ford Motor Washington Blue

BRITDUC

2026-05-14T14:26:51Z

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==The 1998 Ducati 916SPS is a unicorn 04/2024==
Every bike has a story...

As some might know, the 916SPS was the first 916 with an 996 motor and was homogenized for the SBK race series of the day. Ducati sold most of these bikes to race teams but few were sold to private entities, this bike was one of said few. When I was getting into Ducati's there was a fellow in my town that was racing Ducati's at LRRS in NH (the series I later ran in) and he would have his bike serviced at a friends shop which I would frequent. On a few occasions I would see his 1996 916 and later his 1998 916SPS and would essentially sit and stare at the bike.

Much like the 851Special, this gent became a friend and the bike later came to my shop for a possible rebuild that I never had the time to do. Over the years I figured this fellow had these bikes still stashed somewhere and that old itch came back and would not leave me alone. Much of this was that it was fun to build the 851special because it was owned by a friend, this bike carried that same story and they both were in my shop together 15 years before but both were neglected by me as my priorities changed.

One day I was at my Mother's home and was chatting with another old friend who was there looking over some house project's he had been hired to tackle. In passing I asked if he had any new projects, knowing this gent is always playing with old cars and bikes and he said: "not much really, I do have a few old Ducati's I am playing with". I looked at him and told him whos they were and what they were and he was struck by my connecting the dots. He had bartered contracting work with the original owner (my old friend) for the bikes toward contracting work. After a few minutes of laughing, I told him he should sell me the SPS, because no one else in their right mind would ever want it.

Like the 851, a year passed of me pestering him on selling me the SPS and finally he gave in, knowing I was the only dumbass in the world that would want such a neglected old racebike. I paid him more than the bike was worth in parts and we moved it over to my shop, where once in private I said: "what the hell is wrong with me". When we settled on this deal, the original owner came to my friend's shop to see it off, on its way to my place. There he explained that the SPS was his last shot at getting faster, he had maxed out his lap times on the 916 and hoped the 996 motor would get him going quicker. As he explained it, he did a few races on the SPS and crashed too much and this is when he shutdown his racing career. The SPS then sat with next to no miles for the next 23ish years.

Here are the 916s when I first went to see them:

[[File:BRITDUC-pickup.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-pickup.jpeg |700px]]

This pic makes these bikes look a LOT better than they were. Once home, My son Ledger didn't waste a second to hop on her and give a big smile, at least someone was happy!!

[[File:BRITDUC-Ledger.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-Ledger.jpeg |700px]]

==The first thing you do is getting it running! 04/2024==

After replacing the tank on the bike, including a new pump / filter unit, this bike started right up (it helped that it was stored for 30 years with race gas!). Once she got upto temp (or so I hoped) I started adding water to the cooling system, only to find a freeze plug was blown... For anyone out there that has worked on old stuff, this is a kiss of death. A blown freeze plug means the bike has frozen and likely didn't have antifreeze in it (as a racebike it was not allowed to have antifreeze in it!). To make matters worse, the engine ended up with water in the oil.

After my run tests, I stopped trying to shore up the motor and moved on. Full motor build is on deck....

She sure sounded good for sitting for 30 years!! Nothing is better than 1000CC running through a full 50MM race exhaust.

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==Teardown 06/2024==
The teardown process is fun, you never know what you are going to find from Ducati on these pre 2000 bikes (as mentioned on the 851Special). You also see all the bad news!! This bike had a lot of it.

A short list of issues found:
*Dented frame from clipons hitting
*Scraped swingarm from racetrack crash
*Failed metal in the tank
*Exhaust mid pipe dented from rearset tabs bending from a race crash.
*As mentioned above, water in the oil so we have a crack in a head, a jug or both!
*A shit ton more.

As you can see, the motor was covered in fuel from the tank failing.

[[File:BRITDUC-teardown.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-teardown.jpeg |700px]]

This motor has about 300 miles on it, sure does not look it!!

[[File:BRITDUC-nasty-996.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-nasty-996.jpeg |700px]]

Here the engine is outside getting degreased, man it was a mess! The tank had race fuel in it, leaking down onto the engine's clearcoat it just turned to a nasty brown muck.

[[File:BRITDUC-nasty-996-2.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-nasty-996-2.jpeg |700px]]

==The tail of two frames and a great looking swingarm 06/2024==

As mentioned, this SPS was never titled, only a certificate of origin (that I never got my hands on) which meant I was never going to be able to register it. Because of this (and the dents from the Woodcraft clipons!), I didnt waste time trying, I sourced a new 2001 996 mono frame. While I was at it, I decided to really shoot myself in the eye and do a monster single sided swingarm conversion like I had on the Docr.

[[File:BRITDUC-frame-swing.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-frame-swing.jpeg |700px]]

Making the Monster Swingarm work on the SBK frame is a lot of work. First you need to trim the width of the forged pivot of the swingarm.

[[File:BRITDUC-swing-machining.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-swing-machining.jpeg |700px]]

From there you then need to make a rocker that allows the SBK frame rocker position to align with the monster shock and link mounts. This is no small feat and most who do these conversions don't even try, they just cut and weld the SBK frame to fit, I prefer to keep the frame as it was from the Italians. Here you can see the rocker from the DocR (right) that I then went ahead and copied (left). This rocker runs the same exact spring rates because it uses the same dimensions as the OEM rocker, simple shifting the mounting positions and sandwiching all the elements to make a very strong (better than OEM) setup.

It was fun to remake a piece I designed and made 15 years earlier, I remembered very little of it but was able to pull it off. Remember, I machine parts like an idiot, by hand not by computer but I think this goes well with the Italian way of building these bikes back in the day, a little of this and a little of that works just write.

[[File:BRITDUC-rocker.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-rocker.jpeg |700px]]

==Suspension rebuild 07/2024==

While in here, I decided to rebuild the rear shock from the DocR and the New 999 ohlins for the BritDuc as well as it's steering damper. Tim@Superbike services does a great job and made quick work of this. I decided to replace the rez barrels to boost the "I Like Gold" aspect of ohlins. Why not..

Here are the rears off the DocR and Britduc, off to SBKSVC

[[File:BRITDUC-ohlins-before.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-ohlins-before.jpeg |700px]]

Here are the FG43s for the Britduc and the Rear for the StolenS4, off to SBKSVC

[[File:BRITDUC-Suspension.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-Suspension.jpeg |700px]]

The rears came back in quite good shape. Replaced the Canisters while they were there.

[[File:BRITDUC-ohlins-after.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-ohlins-after.jpeg |700px]]

For the fork. Tim went trough the entire setup, even dyno'ing them for performance. Pretty wild to see all the bits!

[[File:BRITDUC-FG43-parts.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-FG43-parts.jpeg |700px]]

==Initial Mockup 06/2024==

I love mocking up bikes, well really I love and hate it. I end up going down crazy roads and start buying all sorts of shit to try, much of which never works and gets put in a pile!

Here we start seeing the bike with 1098 Ohlins forks (temporary), Modern HymperM forged wheels and that new frame.

[[File:BRITDUC-early-mockup.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-early-mockup.jpeg |700px]]

On the DocR I ran an 848 tail and I was about to do the same with the Britduc but I backed out and stuck with the 916 tail, mainly because the P8 ECU is GIANT and I could not find any where to put it on the 848 tail! I also decided to go with 1098 Arrow Aluminum cans on this bike, which will hang out a tad on the tail but I like this because with the longer swingarm, the wheel will be out further as well.

Its funny, the shock is in the wrong position here, the reservoir needs to be internal, not external as you see in this pic:

[[File:BRITDUC-mockup-1.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-mockup-1.jpeg |700px]]

==Off to powder! 08/2024==

My favorite days are bringing shit to the powder coater and picking it up from them (TAKE MY MONEY).

[[File:BRITDUC-pre-powder.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-pre-powder.jpeg |700px]]

Hey db, the 80s called, they want their colors back!!

[[File:BRITDUC-post-powder.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-post-powder.jpeg |700px]]

==Early Drive Line mockup 08/2024==

It is hard to get one of these bikes rolling without a motor (actually the SBK is easy but with my swingarm it is harder).

[[File:BRITDUC-inital-mockup.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-inital-mockup.jpeg |700px]]

==Engine parts 08/2024==

Due to the water in the oil thing, I have had to take on a full rebuild of this SPS motor. These motors were special, so it is worth putting the time in but the cost sucks. With water in the oil on these motors, there are only three places to look: Heads, Jugs or waterpump / stator cover. I decided to replace all of them so that I didn't have to chase down one or other other constantly.

Here you can see the original SPS heads (which have more radical SPS cams) and 996 Heads (you can see these with the lighter cam bearing and valve covers) that I sourced. I acutually bought another set of 996 heads and between the three sets, have built a set of good SPS camm'd heads Thanks to Clinton Duffy's help (I don't love doing heed work).

[[File:BRITDUC-headjob.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-headjob.jpeg |700px]]

==Bodywork 11/2024==

On this build, unlike the Doc I wanted full bodywork. Saldy the bike came to me with ZERO body work! Over 6 months I tracked down all the bits, all OEM and a perfect tank (I cringe to admit what this endeavor cost me). Like the 851Special, I am using Sean over at SR customs as he knows just what I am going for and his attention to detail is at the OCD level. He is also willing to do what I ask and does not judge me for being nuts!

Here are the bits headed off to paint. One thing to note are the weird pieces in the bottom right corner. These are parts from a satellite dish that I had powdered so that Sean can color match the colors on the body. Small details!

[[File:BRITDUC-body-pre-paint.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-pre-paint.jpeg |700px]]

The plan is for this bike to be a deep dark blue with yellow number panels which I hope will chill the wheel / frame colors and channel the Britten V1000 a tad which make the 80s kid in me happy as hell.

The return of the body work!

One of the best days is picking up newly painted body panels, one of the worst is the day you first buy and then pay to have it repainted..... Anyway, I love the way this turned out. The 1098 fender, like on the 851special is the lair in the crowd but plays really well with the rest of the bike. I have always felt that Ducati's fenders are what age the bikes the most.

[[File:BRITDUC-body-post-paint-1.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-post-paint-1.jpeg |700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-body-post-paint-2.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-post-paint-2.jpeg |700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-body-post-paint-tank.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-post-paint-tank.jpeg |700px]]

My painter asked me if I am a Michigan Fan. I don't follow sports but I suppose I need to get used to this question...

==Bodywork dry run 11/2024==
After spending so much time and money on this project, I was jonzing to see if the color scheme I had drummed up would work as I had hoped. Only an ass would take perfectly painted bodywork and mount it on an unfinished bike but I had to do it.

I am VERY happy with my choices (and don't care what anyone else thinks!)

[[File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-front-right.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-front-right.jpeg |700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-back-right.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-back-right.jpeg |700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-nose.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-nose.jpeg.jpeg |700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-tail.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-tail.jpeg |700px]]

==Engine Build 01/2025==

This motor had been touched long ago. Inside we found ti-Rods, no flyhweel and a few other mods. As mentioned, I sourced new Jugs, pistons and heads in an effort to work around the leaking coolant issue I found when first starting the bike after 30 years. The heads were built up for my by Clinton Duffy making use of a lot of parts, keeping the SPS cams. The Jugs were sent to Millennium Tech for Nikasil coating exactly matched to each Piston (you send the pistons to them as part of the process)

Honda bond and LiquidMolly reassembly lube are your friends when working on these old things.

[[File:BRITDUC-motor-parts.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-motor-parts.jpeg |700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-V-piston-side.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-V-piston-side.jpeg |700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-V-piston-front.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-V-piston-front.jpeg |700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-H-piston.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-H-piston.jpeg |700px]]

==Mask and paint 02/2025==

A lot of people will judge me for painting these motors the way I do and I can't blame them. I would love to have the time to break these things all the way down, blast and clear coat them and the build but I don't have the time. Additionally on this build, I wanted more flare so the engine has to be a color. I also expect to be back in these motors later so the side casings will likely be repainted later.

Masking is a lot of work but it turns out better that way!

[[File:BRITDUC-Masking.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Masking.jpeg |700px]]

Primer

[[File:BRITDUC-primer-left.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-primer-left.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-primer-right.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-primer-right.jpeg|700px]]

Paint!

[[File:BRITDUC-paint-left.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-paint-left.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-paint-right.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-paint-right.jpeg|700px]]

==Frame meets Engine 03/2025==

After 6 months of waiting, The engine and the frame are connected and all the fun starts! Well, its fun but this is also where you have to start buying all the little shit you need to finish the project, which can get quite annoying.

[[File:BRITDUC-motor-in-left.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-motor-in-left.jpeg|700px]]

God bless ohlins billet lower triples.

[[File:BRITDUC-motor-in-front.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-motor-in-front.jpeg|700px]]

Belts installed sans backing plates, all bolts replaced.

[[File:BRITDUC-motor-in-right.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-motor-in-right.jpeg|700px]]

==All the other crap starts 03/2025==

At this point, all the ugly stuff starts to show up on the bike: Wiring, cooling, so on. I did source a cool speedymoto top triple that I thought would play well with the rest of the bike.

[[File:BRITDUC-Speedymoto-triple.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Speedymoto-triple.jpeg|700px]]

Throttle bodies and coolant hosing starting to show up here

[[File:BRITDUC-Hoses.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Hoses.jpeg|700px]]

A step back shows we are moving in the right direction!

[[File:BRITDUC-pre-harness.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-pre-harness.jpeg|700px]]

After 5 more hours in the machine shop making the rest of the parts for the swingarm conversion, the rear suspension is installed and ready to roll.

[[File:BRITDUC-Left-rear-suspension.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Left-rear-suspension.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-right-rear-suspension.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-right-rear-suspension.jpeg|700px]]

==Electrical and Cooling to ugly it all up 03/2025==

Now the bike stars to get complicated and ugly with cooling and electrical but this is life. It is fun ti see the air runners, wheels and Vee in the same obnoxious blue. I went with red samco hoses for two reasons, One I got a deal and two, they will never be seen! Whats one more color on this thing anyway.

[[File:BRITDUC-Cooling-side.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Cooling-side.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-Cooling-front-side.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Cooling-front-side.jpeg|700px]]

I am very excited to get the exhaust on this thing wrapped up. Can't wait to hear 1098 cans on SPS cams

[[File:BRITDUC-exhaust-staging.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-exhaust-staging.jpeg|700px]]

Coming along well, all the little bits are killing progress but I hope to start it in April. Fingers crossed. Testing front fender fitment (1098 Fender).

[[File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Front-Right.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Front-Right.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Front-Left.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Front-Left.jpeg|700px]]

The fender mounts for on these online were no good, badly made and hung the fender far too high off the tire, as you can see in these pics. I ended up having to mill a set as ohlins stopped making these over 20 years ago.

[[File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Back-Left.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Back-Left.jpeg|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Electrical.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Electrical.jpeg|700px]]

==Outside it goes, and runs! 04/2025==

After traveling for a month I was able to get a few hours in the garage. The nice thing about traveling while working on projects is that when you return, there is a pile of parts waiting for you!

Rolling her out into the daylight felt pretty good and a tad scary. The colors loved the outdoor light which made me very happy. The Monster tubular swingarm on a SBK chassis is going to look better than I expected.

[[File:BRITDUC-firstrun-outside-left-back.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-firstrun-outside-left-back.jpeg|700px]]

The air runners need some modding so I removed them for this run. I hate it when they are not there, I like the bright blue against the tanks dark blue.

[[File:BRITDUC-firstrun-outside-left-front.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-firstrun-outside-left-front.jpeg|700px]]

So a few things on this first start.
*I was losing sleep over all the things I changed. Anyone who knows anything would tell you "small moves" when making changes to engines like this. Because of the water in the oil thing, I was forced to make a lot of big moves on this bike.
**I made one set of heads out of three. All of the parts were used other than shims / gaskets, so on.
**I sourced new jugs in an "unknown state". When they were coated they were checked but still..
*New fuel tank, pump, filter so on. This is never a fun part of these bikes. If the seal on the tank is not right or the o-rings on the quick release fittings are bad you end of with gas pouring all over the vertical cylinder and exhaust manifold. Hence the fire extinguisher...
*A full rebuild typically had a flipped coil lead or relay mixup.

After a few minutes of her turning over and hearing nothing I stopped and started to think why she would not run. For yucks I gave it a few more turns and I heard a kick!! I kept at it and sure enough, she started right up. I was shocked. I expected a decent failure on this build, it could still be out there! Lets hope not.

Here she is running, without headers and exhaust these bikes sound like harleys! Exhaust is coming very soon!

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==Exhaust is done and I'm stoked 07/2025==
When it came to the conversion of the SBK to monster swingarm, the hardest and most expensive part of the plan is the exhaust. In this case I really wanted to have a clear view across the bike and because of this I opted to NOT have a crossover which will cost me 5% of power but the turn out of the look is epic (I also again decided not to care about header length like I had on the DocR).

Silas at Revenant Motorsport took on the job, this was his first big solo project and he really did a great job, he was also willing to tolerate me pushing him for what I wanted for a final product.

Very happy.

[[File:Brittduc-pipes.jpeg|link=File:Brittduc-pipes.jpeg|700px]]

The sound does not come over well but she is throaty, deep and loud which is perfect for this bike.

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The final fitment included a few tweaks to the pipes as well as proper mounting of the undertail heatsheild which required some mods for the 999 shock. At the same time I mounted the plate holder to the undertail and modified the plate mount to hold the plate as close as possible to the cans.

[[File:BRITDUC-cannns.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-cannns.jpeg|700px]]

I am very happy with the outcome, I consider the feed tubes to be something like antlers of a ram and love how they route around the shock.

==Gauge mount and bringing it to life 08/2025==

When it comes to gauges on this build, I was very limited in options. I would have loved to go with the OEM guages but with a 5 bolt wheel conversion, you lose the opportunity to have a mechanical speedo drive, so digital was my only way forward. In the past (DocR) I went with a motogadget and I was impressed with the product (still am to this day). The issue with these gauges is mounting and wiring, mounting is the bigger lift. In this case I went with a classic look: center line on the bike.

Anyone who has done this before will tell you to use cardboard or wood before metal, here I am trying to feel out the design before getting in front of a milling machine. As you can see, there is a lot of room for creativity. I wanted a look that kept with the old but also used the OEM mounting holes.

[[File:BRITDUC-Guage-cardboard-1.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-cardboard-1.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-Guage-cardboard-2.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-cardboard-2.jpeg|700px]]

The Next challenge was a circular cut which to be honest, I have always successfully avoided. Here I had no choice but to learn how to do it on a dividing head or rotary table vice (the latter in this case). I would say I did an OK job on this job, if I have a lot of free time I will do it again and better but for those who know me, I like things a little human and not CNC perfect.

[[File:BRITDUC-Guage-rough.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-rough.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-Guage-rough-2.jpg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-rough-2.jpg|700px]]

Before finishing it all off, I always dry run things. In this case I had to make a few small tweaks but I am happy with the outcome. Again, not perfect but 100%speed.

[[File:BRITDUC-Guage-dryrun-1.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-dryrun-1.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-Guage-dryrun-2.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-dryrun-2.jpeg|700px]]

With the gauge mounted, we can make sure it seats correctly in the bracket, bolts are flush and not in the way, wire routing is clear.

[[File:BRITDUC-Guage.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage.jpeg|700px]]

With the gauge in and the vee mount support in place, I was able to see where this was all going. Can't wait to get the nose installed to see how it is in the cockpit.

[[File:BRITDUC-Guage-installed-back.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-installed-back.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-Guage-installed-front.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-installed-front.jpeg|700px]]

==Final assembly and seeing the light of day 09/2025==

After a year and a half, I was finally able to get the body work mounted, gauge wired, oil swapped, headlight mounted and plate installed on this thing. Seeing it as one piece is a ton of fun for me, the paint was a risk and in the end I am very happy with the choices I made. As crazy as they may be, I love the entire package as one.

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-1.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-1.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-8.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-8.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-3.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-3.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-4.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-4.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-5.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-5.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-10.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-10.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-7.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-7.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-2.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-2.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-9.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-9.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-6.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-6.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-11.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-11.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-12.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-12.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-13.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-13.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-14.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-14.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-15.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-15.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-16.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-16.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-17.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-17.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-18.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-18.JPG|700px]]

Regardless of the colors, the layout of the bike is just what I was going for. The longer swingarm, while better looking, it is also better riding due to its extra length over the original SBK swingarm. The suspension is amazing (duh, ohlins), the braking is amazing (duh, brembo). The power is atrocious, albeit annoying on the street due to the close ratio transmission. The SPS Cam power band, the Ti rods and no flywheel all add up to a very light, well balanced machine. There is a lot of little things to pick away at this winter. Until those cold days take over, I will be getting out on this as often as I can.

==Specifications==
Frame and subframe: 2001 996 frame, 1998 SPS aluminum mono subframe, Monster S4R swingarm
Engine: Cases 916SPS, close ratio trans, Ti Rods, lightened crank, Jugs 996, Heads 996 with 916SPS cams
Tank: 2002 998
Front suspension: Ohlins FG43 SBK fork with 100MM radial mount. Ohlins billet lower triple, speedymoto billet upper
Rear Suspension: Ducati 999 Ohlins
Steering Damper: Ducati 996 Ohlins
Front Brakes: Brembo Radial master / Ducati 1098 monoblock calipers / 749/999 15MM Brembo Full floating.
Rear Brakes: Ducati 999 Master / Ducati 999 rear caliper
Clutch: Brembo Radial master / Ducati 996 Slave / Ducati Performance 6 spring Slipper
Wheels: Ducati HyperM Marchesini forged wheels
Exhaust: Ducati 1098 Arrow Aluminum slipons, custom headers
Tail: 916 mono
Nose and side fairings: OEM 916/996

==Colors==
Body: Porsche Albert Blue
Number plates: RAL 1003 (Prismatic Powders)(matching rocker and link powder)
Rocker / Link: RAL 1003 (Prismatic Powders)
Frame: Passion Pink (Prismatic Powders)
Wheels, air runners, Vee: Skiers Blue (Prismatic Powders) and paint to match.

==Maintenance log==
All Maintenance work was completed after the complete build in the Fall of 2025.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|+ Logging of work
|-
! Date !! Description !! New / Used parts !! Notes
|-
| 09/14/2025 || Radiator replacement || New || China Ebay. OEM leaked. Cooling from China unit is far better.
|-
| 09/14/2025 || Oil / Oil Filter swap || New || First round of oil dumping post engine build / breakin. MobileOne
|-

|}

Tamburini

2026-05-14T14:26:34Z

Db:

Tamburini

2026-05-14T14:26:26Z

Db:

BRITDUC

2026-05-14T14:26:12Z

Db:

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<span style="color:#f7b304">[[IBenson:About|About]] | [[Motos|Two Wheels]] | [[Autos |Four Wheels]] | [[Trips |Trips]] | [[WideOpen |Home]]

==The 1998 Ducati 916SPS is a unicorn 04/2024==
Every bike has a story...

As some might know, the 916SPS was the first 916 with an 996 motor and was homogenized for the SBK race series of the day. Ducati sold most of these bikes to race teams but few were sold to private entities, this bike was one of said few. When I was getting into Ducati's there was a fellow in my town that was racing Ducati's at LRRS in NH (the series I later ran in) and he would have his bike serviced at a friends shop which I would frequent. On a few occasions I would see his 1996 916 and later his 1998 916SPS and would essentially sit and stare at the bike.

Much like the 851Special, this gent became a friend and the bike later came to my shop for a possible rebuild that I never had the time to do. Over the years I figured this fellow had these bikes still stashed somewhere and that old itch came back and would not leave me alone. Much of this was that it was fun to build the 851special because it was owned by a friend, this bike carried that same story and they both were in my shop together 15 years before but both were neglected by me as my priorities changed.

One day I was at my Mother's home and was chatting with another old friend who was there looking over some house project's he had been hired to tackle. In passing I asked if he had any new projects, knowing this gent is always playing with old cars and bikes and he said: "not much really, I do have a few old Ducati's I am playing with". I looked at him and told him whos they were and what they were and he was struck by my connecting the dots. He had bartered contracting work with the original owner (my old friend) for the bikes toward contracting work. After a few minutes of laughing, I told him he should sell me the SPS, because no one else in their right mind would ever want it.

Like the 851, a year passed of me pestering him on selling me the SPS and finally he gave in, knowing I was the only dumbass in the world that would want such a neglected old racebike. I paid him more than the bike was worth in parts and we moved it over to my shop, where once in private I said: "what the hell is wrong with me". When we settled on this deal, the original owner came to my friend's shop to see it off, on its way to my place. There he explained that the SPS was his last shot at getting faster, he had maxed out his lap times on the 916 and hoped the 996 motor would get him going quicker. As he explained it, he did a few races on the SPS and crashed too much and this is when he shutdown his racing career. The SPS then sat with next to no miles for the next 23ish years.

Here are the 916s when I first went to see them:

[[File:BRITDUC-pickup.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-pickup.jpeg |700px]]

This pic makes these bikes look a LOT better than they were. Once home, My son Ledger didn't waste a second to hop on her and give a big smile, at least someone was happy!!

[[File:BRITDUC-Ledger.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-Ledger.jpeg |700px]]

==The first thing you do is getting it running! 04/2024==

After replacing the tank on the bike, including a new pump / filter unit, this bike started right up (it helped that it was stored for 30 years with race gas!). Once she got upto temp (or so I hoped) I started adding water to the cooling system, only to find a freeze plug was blown... For anyone out there that has worked on old stuff, this is a kiss of death. A blown freeze plug means the bike has frozen and likely didn't have antifreeze in it (as a racebike it was not allowed to have antifreeze in it!). To make matters worse, the engine ended up with water in the oil.

After my run tests, I stopped trying to shore up the motor and moved on. Full motor build is on deck....

She sure sounded good for sitting for 30 years!! Nothing is better than 1000CC running through a full 50MM race exhaust.

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==Teardown 06/2024==
The teardown process is fun, you never know what you are going to find from Ducati on these pre 2000 bikes (as mentioned on the 851Special). You also see all the bad news!! This bike had a lot of it.

A short list of issues found:
*Dented frame from clipons hitting
*Scraped swingarm from racetrack crash
*Failed metal in the tank
*Exhaust mid pipe dented from rearset tabs bending from a race crash.
*As mentioned above, water in the oil so we have a crack in a head, a jug or both!
*A shit ton more.

As you can see, the motor was covered in fuel from the tank failing.

[[File:BRITDUC-teardown.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-teardown.jpeg |700px]]

This motor has about 300 miles on it, sure does not look it!!

[[File:BRITDUC-nasty-996.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-nasty-996.jpeg |700px]]

Here the engine is outside getting degreased, man it was a mess! The tank had race fuel in it, leaking down onto the engine's clearcoat it just turned to a nasty brown muck.

[[File:BRITDUC-nasty-996-2.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-nasty-996-2.jpeg |700px]]

==The tail of two frames and a great looking swingarm 06/2024==

As mentioned, this SPS was never titled, only a certificate of origin (that I never got my hands on) which meant I was never going to be able to register it. Because of this (and the dents from the Woodcraft clipons!), I didnt waste time trying, I sourced a new 2001 996 mono frame. While I was at it, I decided to really shoot myself in the eye and do a monster single sided swingarm conversion like I had on the Docr.

[[File:BRITDUC-frame-swing.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-frame-swing.jpeg |700px]]

Making the Monster Swingarm work on the SBK frame is a lot of work. First you need to trim the width of the forged pivot of the swingarm.

[[File:BRITDUC-swing-machining.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-swing-machining.jpeg |700px]]

From there you then need to make a rocker that allows the SBK frame rocker position to align with the monster shock and link mounts. This is no small feat and most who do these conversions don't even try, they just cut and weld the SBK frame to fit, I prefer to keep the frame as it was from the Italians. Here you can see the rocker from the DocR (right) that I then went ahead and copied (left). This rocker runs the same exact spring rates because it uses the same dimensions as the OEM rocker, simple shifting the mounting positions and sandwiching all the elements to make a very strong (better than OEM) setup.

It was fun to remake a piece I designed and made 15 years earlier, I remembered very little of it but was able to pull it off. Remember, I machine parts like an idiot, by hand not by computer but I think this goes well with the Italian way of building these bikes back in the day, a little of this and a little of that works just write.

[[File:BRITDUC-rocker.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-rocker.jpeg |700px]]

==Suspension rebuild 07/2024==

While in here, I decided to rebuild the rear shock from the DocR and the New 999 ohlins for the BritDuc as well as it's steering damper. Tim@Superbike services does a great job and made quick work of this. I decided to replace the rez barrels to boost the "I Like Gold" aspect of ohlins. Why not..

Here are the rears off the DocR and Britduc, off to SBKSVC

[[File:BRITDUC-ohlins-before.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-ohlins-before.jpeg |700px]]

Here are the FG43s for the Britduc and the Rear for the StolenS4, off to SBKSVC

[[File:BRITDUC-Suspension.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-Suspension.jpeg |700px]]

The rears came back in quite good shape. Replaced the Canisters while they were there.

[[File:BRITDUC-ohlins-after.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-ohlins-after.jpeg |700px]]

For the fork. Tim went trough the entire setup, even dyno'ing them for performance. Pretty wild to see all the bits!

[[File:BRITDUC-FG43-parts.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-FG43-parts.jpeg |700px]]

==Initial Mockup 06/2024==

I love mocking up bikes, well really I love and hate it. I end up going down crazy roads and start buying all sorts of shit to try, much of which never works and gets put in a pile!

Here we start seeing the bike with 1098 Ohlins forks (temporary), Modern HymperM forged wheels and that new frame.

[[File:BRITDUC-early-mockup.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-early-mockup.jpeg |700px]]

On the DocR I ran an 848 tail and I was about to do the same with the Britduc but I backed out and stuck with the 916 tail, mainly because the P8 ECU is GIANT and I could not find any where to put it on the 848 tail! I also decided to go with 1098 Arrow Aluminum cans on this bike, which will hang out a tad on the tail but I like this because with the longer swingarm, the wheel will be out further as well.

Its funny, the shock is in the wrong position here, the reservoir needs to be internal, not external as you see in this pic:

[[File:BRITDUC-mockup-1.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-mockup-1.jpeg |700px]]

==Off to powder! 08/2024==

My favorite days are bringing shit to the powder coater and picking it up from them (TAKE MY MONEY).

[[File:BRITDUC-pre-powder.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-pre-powder.jpeg |700px]]

Hey db, the 80s called, they want their colors back!!

[[File:BRITDUC-post-powder.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-post-powder.jpeg |700px]]

==Early Drive Line mockup 08/2024==

It is hard to get one of these bikes rolling without a motor (actually the SBK is easy but with my swingarm it is harder).

[[File:BRITDUC-inital-mockup.jpeg |link=File:BRITDUC-inital-mockup.jpeg |700px]]

==Engine parts 08/2024==

Due to the water in the oil thing, I have had to take on a full rebuild of this SPS motor. These motors were special, so it is worth putting the time in but the cost sucks. With water in the oil on these motors, there are only three places to look: Heads, Jugs or waterpump / stator cover. I decided to replace all of them so that I didn't have to chase down one or other other constantly.

Here you can see the original SPS heads (which have more radical SPS cams) and 996 Heads (you can see these with the lighter cam bearing and valve covers) that I sourced. I acutually bought another set of 996 heads and between the three sets, have built a set of good SPS camm'd heads Thanks to Clinton Duffy's help (I don't love doing heed work).

[[File:BRITDUC-headjob.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-headjob.jpeg |700px]]

==Bodywork 11/2024==

On this build, unlike the Doc I wanted full bodywork. Saldy the bike came to me with ZERO body work! Over 6 months I tracked down all the bits, all OEM and a perfect tank (I cringe to admit what this endeavor cost me). Like the 851Special, I am using Sean over at SR customs as he knows just what I am going for and his attention to detail is at the OCD level. He is also willing to do what I ask and does not judge me for being nuts!

Here are the bits headed off to paint. One thing to note are the weird pieces in the bottom right corner. These are parts from a satellite dish that I had powdered so that Sean can color match the colors on the body. Small details!

[[File:BRITDUC-body-pre-paint.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-pre-paint.jpeg |700px]]

The plan is for this bike to be a deep dark blue with yellow number panels which I hope will chill the wheel / frame colors and channel the Britten V1000 a tad which make the 80s kid in me happy as hell.

The return of the body work!

One of the best days is picking up newly painted body panels, one of the worst is the day you first buy and then pay to have it repainted..... Anyway, I love the way this turned out. The 1098 fender, like on the 851special is the lair in the crowd but plays really well with the rest of the bike. I have always felt that Ducati's fenders are what age the bikes the most.

[[File:BRITDUC-body-post-paint-1.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-post-paint-1.jpeg |700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-body-post-paint-2.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-post-paint-2.jpeg |700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-body-post-paint-tank.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-post-paint-tank.jpeg |700px]]

My painter asked me if I am a Michigan Fan. I don't follow sports but I suppose I need to get used to this question...

==Bodywork dry run 11/2024==
After spending so much time and money on this project, I was jonzing to see if the color scheme I had drummed up would work as I had hoped. Only an ass would take perfectly painted bodywork and mount it on an unfinished bike but I had to do it.

I am VERY happy with my choices (and don't care what anyone else thinks!)

[[File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-front-right.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-front-right.jpeg |700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-back-right.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-back-right.jpeg |700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-nose.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-nose.jpeg.jpeg |700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-tail.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-body-dryrun-tail.jpeg |700px]]

==Engine Build 01/2025==

This motor had been touched long ago. Inside we found ti-Rods, no flyhweel and a few other mods. As mentioned, I sourced new Jugs, pistons and heads in an effort to work around the leaking coolant issue I found when first starting the bike after 30 years. The heads were built up for my by Clinton Duffy making use of a lot of parts, keeping the SPS cams. The Jugs were sent to Millennium Tech for Nikasil coating exactly matched to each Piston (you send the pistons to them as part of the process)

Honda bond and LiquidMolly reassembly lube are your friends when working on these old things.

[[File:BRITDUC-motor-parts.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-motor-parts.jpeg |700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-V-piston-side.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-V-piston-side.jpeg |700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-V-piston-front.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-V-piston-front.jpeg |700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-H-piston.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-H-piston.jpeg |700px]]

==Mask and paint 02/2025==

A lot of people will judge me for painting these motors the way I do and I can't blame them. I would love to have the time to break these things all the way down, blast and clear coat them and the build but I don't have the time. Additionally on this build, I wanted more flare so the engine has to be a color. I also expect to be back in these motors later so the side casings will likely be repainted later.

Masking is a lot of work but it turns out better that way!

[[File:BRITDUC-Masking.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Masking.jpeg |700px]]

Primer

[[File:BRITDUC-primer-left.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-primer-left.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-primer-right.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-primer-right.jpeg|700px]]

Paint!

[[File:BRITDUC-paint-left.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-paint-left.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-paint-right.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-paint-right.jpeg|700px]]

==Frame meets Engine 03/2025==

After 6 months of waiting, The engine and the frame are connected and all the fun starts! Well, its fun but this is also where you have to start buying all the little shit you need to finish the project, which can get quite annoying.

[[File:BRITDUC-motor-in-left.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-motor-in-left.jpeg|700px]]

God bless ohlins billet lower triples.

[[File:BRITDUC-motor-in-front.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-motor-in-front.jpeg|700px]]

Belts installed sans backing plates, all bolts replaced.

[[File:BRITDUC-motor-in-right.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-motor-in-right.jpeg|700px]]

==All the other crap starts 03/2025==

At this point, all the ugly stuff starts to show up on the bike: Wiring, cooling, so on. I did source a cool speedymoto top triple that I thought would play well with the rest of the bike.

[[File:BRITDUC-Speedymoto-triple.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Speedymoto-triple.jpeg|700px]]

Throttle bodies and coolant hosing starting to show up here

[[File:BRITDUC-Hoses.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Hoses.jpeg|700px]]

A step back shows we are moving in the right direction!

[[File:BRITDUC-pre-harness.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-pre-harness.jpeg|700px]]

After 5 more hours in the machine shop making the rest of the parts for the swingarm conversion, the rear suspension is installed and ready to roll.

[[File:BRITDUC-Left-rear-suspension.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Left-rear-suspension.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-right-rear-suspension.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-right-rear-suspension.jpeg|700px]]

==Electrical and Cooling to ugly it all up 03/2025==

Now the bike stars to get complicated and ugly with cooling and electrical but this is life. It is fun ti see the air runners, wheels and Vee in the same obnoxious blue. I went with red samco hoses for two reasons, One I got a deal and two, they will never be seen! Whats one more color on this thing anyway.

[[File:BRITDUC-Cooling-side.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Cooling-side.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-Cooling-front-side.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Cooling-front-side.jpeg|700px]]

I am very excited to get the exhaust on this thing wrapped up. Can't wait to hear 1098 cans on SPS cams

[[File:BRITDUC-exhaust-staging.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-exhaust-staging.jpeg|700px]]

Coming along well, all the little bits are killing progress but I hope to start it in April. Fingers crossed. Testing front fender fitment (1098 Fender).

[[File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Front-Right.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Front-Right.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Front-Left.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Front-Left.jpeg|700px]]

The fender mounts for on these online were no good, badly made and hung the fender far too high off the tire, as you can see in these pics. I ended up having to mill a set as ohlins stopped making these over 20 years ago.

[[File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Back-Left.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Back-Left.jpeg|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Electrical.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Final-Build-Electrical.jpeg|700px]]

==Outside it goes, and runs! 04/2025==

After traveling for a month I was able to get a few hours in the garage. The nice thing about traveling while working on projects is that when you return, there is a pile of parts waiting for you!

Rolling her out into the daylight felt pretty good and a tad scary. The colors loved the outdoor light which made me very happy. The Monster tubular swingarm on a SBK chassis is going to look better than I expected.

[[File:BRITDUC-firstrun-outside-left-back.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-firstrun-outside-left-back.jpeg|700px]]

The air runners need some modding so I removed them for this run. I hate it when they are not there, I like the bright blue against the tanks dark blue.

[[File:BRITDUC-firstrun-outside-left-front.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-firstrun-outside-left-front.jpeg|700px]]

So a few things on this first start.
*I was losing sleep over all the things I changed. Anyone who knows anything would tell you "small moves" when making changes to engines like this. Because of the water in the oil thing, I was forced to make a lot of big moves on this bike.
**I made one set of heads out of three. All of the parts were used other than shims / gaskets, so on.
**I sourced new jugs in an "unknown state". When they were coated they were checked but still..
*New fuel tank, pump, filter so on. This is never a fun part of these bikes. If the seal on the tank is not right or the o-rings on the quick release fittings are bad you end of with gas pouring all over the vertical cylinder and exhaust manifold. Hence the fire extinguisher...
*A full rebuild typically had a flipped coil lead or relay mixup.

After a few minutes of her turning over and hearing nothing I stopped and started to think why she would not run. For yucks I gave it a few more turns and I heard a kick!! I kept at it and sure enough, she started right up. I was shocked. I expected a decent failure on this build, it could still be out there! Lets hope not.

Here she is running, without headers and exhaust these bikes sound like harleys! Exhaust is coming very soon!

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==Exhaust is done and I'm stoked 07/2025==
When it came to the conversion of the SBK to monster swingarm, the hardest and most expensive part of the plan is the exhaust. In this case I really wanted to have a clear view across the bike and because of this I opted to NOT have a crossover which will cost me 5% of power but the turn out of the look is epic (I also again decided not to care about header length like I had on the DocR).

Silas at Revenant Motorsport took on the job, this was his first big solo project and he really did a great job, he was also willing to tolerate me pushing him for what I wanted for a final product.

Very happy.

[[File:Brittduc-pipes.jpeg|link=File:Brittduc-pipes.jpeg|700px]]

The sound does not come over well but she is throaty, deep and loud which is perfect for this bike.

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<source src="https://db.ibenson.com/images/9/97/Brittduc-exhaust.mov" type="video/quicktime">
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The final fitment included a few tweaks to the pipes as well as proper mounting of the undertail heatsheild which required some mods for the 999 shock. At the same time I mounted the plate holder to the undertail and modified the plate mount to hold the plate as close as possible to the cans.

[[File:BRITDUC-cannns.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-cannns.jpeg|700px]]

I am very happy with the outcome, I consider the feed tubes to be something like antlers of a ram and love how they route around the shock.

==Gauge mount and bringing it to life 08/2025==

When it comes to gauges on this build, I was very limited in options. I would have loved to go with the OEM guages but with a 5 bolt wheel conversion, you lose the opportunity to have a mechanical speedo drive, so digital was my only way forward. In the past (DocR) I went with a motogadget and I was impressed with the product (still am to this day). The issue with these gauges is mounting and wiring, mounting is the bigger lift. In this case I went with a classic look: center line on the bike.

Anyone who has done this before will tell you to use cardboard or wood before metal, here I am trying to feel out the design before getting in front of a milling machine. As you can see, there is a lot of room for creativity. I wanted a look that kept with the old but also used the OEM mounting holes.

[[File:BRITDUC-Guage-cardboard-1.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-cardboard-1.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-Guage-cardboard-2.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-cardboard-2.jpeg|700px]]

The Next challenge was a circular cut which to be honest, I have always successfully avoided. Here I had no choice but to learn how to do it on a dividing head or rotary table vice (the latter in this case). I would say I did an OK job on this job, if I have a lot of free time I will do it again and better but for those who know me, I like things a little human and not CNC perfect.

[[File:BRITDUC-Guage-rough.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-rough.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-Guage-rough-2.jpg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-rough-2.jpg|700px]]

Before finishing it all off, I always dry run things. In this case I had to make a few small tweaks but I am happy with the outcome. Again, not perfect but 100%speed.

[[File:BRITDUC-Guage-dryrun-1.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-dryrun-1.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-Guage-dryrun-2.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-dryrun-2.jpeg|700px]]

With the gauge mounted, we can make sure it seats correctly in the bracket, bolts are flush and not in the way, wire routing is clear.

[[File:BRITDUC-Guage.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage.jpeg|700px]]

With the gauge in and the vee mount support in place, I was able to see where this was all going. Can't wait to get the nose installed to see how it is in the cockpit.

[[File:BRITDUC-Guage-installed-back.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-installed-back.jpeg|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-Guage-installed-front.jpeg|link=File:BRITDUC-Guage-installed-front.jpeg|700px]]

==Final assembly and seeing the light of day 09/2025==

After a year and a half, I was finally able to get the body work mounted, gauge wired, oil swapped, headlight mounted and plate installed on this thing. Seeing it as one piece is a ton of fun for me, the paint was a risk and in the end I am very happy with the choices I made. As crazy as they may be, I love the entire package as one.

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-1.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-1.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-8.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-8.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-3.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-3.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-4.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-4.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-5.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-5.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-10.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-10.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-7.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-7.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-2.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-2.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-9.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-9.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-6.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-6.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-11.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-11.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-12.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-12.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-13.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-13.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-14.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-14.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-15.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-15.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-16.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-16.JPG|700px]]

[[File:BRITDUC-FE-17.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-17.JPG|700px]] [[File:BRITDUC-FE-18.JPG|link=File:BRITDUC-FE-18.JPG|700px]]

Regardless of the colors, the layout of the bike is just what I was going for. The longer swingarm, while better looking, it is also better riding due to its extra length over the original SBK swingarm. The suspension is amazing (duh, ohlins), the braking is amazing (duh, brembo). The power is atrocious, albeit annoying on the street due to the close ratio transmission. The SPS Cam power band, the Ti rods and no flywheel all add up to a very light, well balanced machine. There is a lot of little things to pick away at this winter. Until those cold days take over, I will be getting out on this as often as I can.

==Specifications==
Frame and subframe: 2001 996 frame, 1998 SPS aluminum mono subframe, Monster S4R swingarm
Engine: Cases 916SPS, close ratio trans, Ti Rods, lightened crank, Jugs 996, Heads 996 with 916SPS cams
Tank: 2002 998
Front suspension: Ohlins FG43 SBK fork with 100MM radial mount. Ohlins billet lower triple, speedymoto billet upper
Rear Suspension: Ducati 999 Ohlins
Steering Damper: Ducati 996 Ohlins
Front Brakes: Brembo Radial master / Ducati 1098 monoblock calipers / 749/999 15MM Brembo Full floating.
Rear Brakes: Ducati 999 Master / Ducati 999 rear caliper
Clutch: Brembo Radial master / Ducati 996 Slave / Ducati Performance 6 spring Slipper
Wheels: Ducati HyperM Marchesini forged wheels
Exhaust: Ducati 1098 Arrow Aluminum slipons, custom headers
Tail: 916 mono
Nose and side fairings: OEM 916/996

==Colors==
Body: Porsche Albert Blue
Number plates: RAL 1003 (Prismatic Powders)(matching rocker and link powder)
Rocker / Link: RAL 1003 (Prismatic Powders)
Frame: Passion Pink (Prismatic Powders)
Wheels, air runners, Vee: Skiers Blue (Prismatic Powders) and paint to match.

==Maintenance log==
All Maintenance work was completed after the complete build in the Fall of 2025.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|+ Logging of work
|-
! Date !! Description !! New / Used parts !! Notes
|-
| 09/14/2025 || Radiator replacement || New || China Ebay. OEM leaked. Cooling from China unit is far better.
|-
| 09/14/2025 || Oil / Oil Filter swap || New || First round of oil dumping post engine build / breakin. MobileOne
|-

|}

IBenson:About

2026-05-14T14:25:40Z

Db:

IBenson:About

2026-05-14T14:20:53Z

Db:

[[File:header4.jpg|link=WideOpen]]

<span style="color:#f7b304">[[IBenson:About|About]] | [[Motos|Two Wheels]] | [[Autos |Four Wheels]] | [[Trips |Trips]] | [[WideOpen |Home]]

<span style="color:#f7b304">'''db.ibenson.com'''</span> is a site that documents the projects, travel and efforts of Dan Benson. While I don't travel much these days, I have started building again. Building / making "things", anything is the most rewarding thing in the span of our race, I only wish more people understood this. Work with your hands as often as you can.
I have never been in the business of building cars, motorcycles or bicycles for profit. This is something I do with / for friends or for myself, these days more for myself. Money has its place but for me, it is not in building or making objects. This fills a part of my being in a way that is far beyond money and therefore I don't mix the two.

<span style="color:#f7b304">'''Bio:'''</span> Dan was born in Newport RI into a long line of Newporters and is actively raising three boys with his wife, in wouldn't you know it, Newport RI. Dan has worked as a network / systems engineer for the bulk of his career and is currently employed with a global satellite communications company where he is the VP of Service engineering.

WideOpen

2026-05-14T14:20:20Z

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2026-05-14T14:20:03Z

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2026-05-14T14:19:58Z

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2026-05-14T14:17:59Z

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2026-05-14T14:17:51Z

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2026-05-14T14:17:34Z

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WideOpen

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IBenson:About

2026-05-14T14:17:00Z

Db:

[[File:header4.jpg|link=WideOpen]]

<span style="color:#f7b304">[[IBenson:About|About]] | [[Motos|Two Wheels]] | [[Autos |Four Wheels]] | [[Trips |Trips]] | [[WideOpen |Home]]

<span style="color:#f7b304">'''db.ibenson.com'''</span> is a site that documents the projects, travel and efforts of Dan Benson. While I don't travel much these days, I have started building again. Building / making "things", anything is the most rewarding thing in the span of our race, I only wish more people understood this. Work with your hands as often as you can.

I have never been in the business of building cars, motorcycles or bicycles for profit. This is something I do with / for friends or for myself, these days more for myself. Money has its place but for me, it is not in building or making objects. This fills a part of my being in a way that is far beyond money and therefore I don't mix the two.

<span style="color:#f7b304">'''Bio:'''</span> Dan was born in Newport RI into a long line of Newporters and is actively raising three boys with his wife, in wouldn't you know it, Newport RI. Dan has worked as a network / systems engineer for the bulk of his career and is currently employed with a global satellite communications company where he is the VP of Service engineering.

IBenson:About

2026-05-14T14:16:52Z

Db:

[[File:header4.jpg|link=WideOpen]]

<span style="color:#f7b304">[[IBenson:About|About]] | [[Motos|Two Wheels]] | [[Autos |Four Wheels]] | [[Trips |Trips]] | [[WideOpen |Home]]

<span style="color:#f7b304">'''db.ibenson.com'''</span> is a site that documents the projects, travel and efforts of Dan Benson. While I don't travel much these days, I have started building again. Building / making "things", anything is the most rewarding thing in the span of our race, I only wish more people understood this. Work with your hands as often as you can.

I have never been in the business of building cars, motorcycles or bicycles for profit. This is something I do with / for friends or for myself, these days more for myself. Money has its place but for me, it is not in building or making objects. This fills a part of my being in a way that is far beyond money and therefore I don't mix the two.

<span style="color:#f7b304">'''Bio:'''</span> Dan was born in Newport RI into a long line of Newporters and is actively raising three boys with his wife, in wouldn't you know it, Newport RI. Dan has worked as a network / systems engineer for the bulk of his career and is currently employed with a global satellite communications company where he is the VP of Service engineering.

IBenson:About

2026-05-14T14:16:46Z

Db:

[[File:header4.jpg|link=WideOpen]]
<span style="color:#f7b304">[[IBenson:About|About]] | [[Motos|Two Wheels]] | [[Autos |Four Wheels]] | [[Trips |Trips]] | [[WideOpen |Home]]

<span style="color:#f7b304">'''db.ibenson.com'''</span> is a site that documents the projects, travel and efforts of Dan Benson. While I don't travel much these days, I have started building again. Building / making "things", anything is the most rewarding thing in the span of our race, I only wish more people understood this. Work with your hands as often as you can.

I have never been in the business of building cars, motorcycles or bicycles for profit. This is something I do with / for friends or for myself, these days more for myself. Money has its place but for me, it is not in building or making objects. This fills a part of my being in a way that is far beyond money and therefore I don't mix the two.

<span style="color:#f7b304">'''Bio:'''</span> Dan was born in Newport RI into a long line of Newporters and is actively raising three boys with his wife, in wouldn't you know it, Newport RI. Dan has worked as a network / systems engineer for the bulk of his career and is currently employed with a global satellite communications company where he is the VP of Service engineering.