mono motorcycles & vehicle security have the pleasure of servicing, maintaining & restoring part of the Ducati dynasty: the Ducatisti have arrived.

mono motorcycles & vehicle security, Havant strive for diversity & excellence in the services they provide. We relish the opportunities brought to us by our valued customers & thrive on the positivity the mono motorcycles community brings to us. In our first year of trading we have seen a lion share of Ducati’s come through our door. From the restoration/rebuild of the  Ducati 916 Senna 3 (SN 197) which Mark Linley brought to us in pieces, to the Ducati Superleggera we gently serviced & put her back in her private collection. These giants of Italian engineering hold a very special place in their  Ducatista owners & they are honoured to call themselves part of the Ducatisti dynasty.

The fall & rise of Ducati 916 Senna 3 (SN 197)

Mark being a lifelong Ducati fan and having owned an impressive back catalogue of 600ss, 750ss, 900ss, 748ss, 916 and 999; had always aspired to own a Senna 916. However, three children and a mortgage forced him to sell his 999 and buy a conservatory instead!

Fate finally brought Mark and his Senna 3 (SN 197) together in August 2015 (MCN photos were taken prior to her being sold). He paid a meagre £10,500 for her, as by this point she was beginning to look a little tired and unkempt. Mark wanted to give her back her lustre and modify her by utilising more carbon components. This was to reflect the carbon airbox and front mudguard, which was already standard on the Senna 3. Mark was given a recommendation for a local bike mechanic, who had produced some beautiful results in the past. However, this decision would cost Mark dearly and over the next twelve months his beloved 916 was all but destroyed by a charlatan masquerading as a restoration specialist.

From beginning to end, the process left a bitter taste in Marks mouth. Not only did the mechanic take thousands of pounds off Mark, (money allegedly all destined to source and supply parts and components) but excuse followed excuse as to why she was not complete. Mark was understandably frustrated, but had invested so much time and money in the 916, that he felt bound by the mechanics promises.

After months of excuses, the unthinkable happened. The mechanics garage was raided by Police in the Summer of 2016 and they removed a large selection of stolen motorbikes. They scooped them up and deposited them unceremoniously on the concrete floor of an impound. Amongst the carnage, Ducati 916 Senna (SN 197).

Once Mark had been notified of his beloved 916’s fate, he was then able to recover her shattered body to his home. She was in pieces. A husk, a simple shell, with boxes of bits which wouldn’t have looked out of place in an auto jumble bargain bin. The technician had striped her of her glory, sold many of her unique components never to be replaced and what Mark bought back from the impound, was a mangled skeleton of a bike.

Marks trust was destroyed and therefore when a chance encounter with Daniel Morris of mono motorcycles presented itself, he was understandably cautious. However, Mark could see that Daniel was a man of integrity and having seen some of his previous work; he knew he was the right man to undertake the 916 restoration.

Daniel was entrusted with the task of restoring the 916 and collected the Ducati jigsaw in October 2016. Daniel said “When I went to collect her and opened up the garage door, I found a broken classic lying amongst her scattered component parts. It was a truly heart-breaking moment”.

Daniel started the task of painstakingly bringing the 916 back together. He worked through box after box of random parts, looms, components and body work; finding everything from Ducati to KTM all mixed together. Daniel said “One of the biggest challenges was, that we simply didn’t know what we had. We knew we had the bones of the 916, but the rest was a mystery. One thing I did know right from the start was that we were no longer building a standard motorbike. With Marchesini lightweight 5 spoke wheels, Ohlins fork internals  and a host of carbon components; this 916 was being dragged kicking and screaming into 2017”.

Mark entrusted the paintwork to Steve Barber of Swallow Fabrications, Windsor and over the next few months Daniel worked diligently and patiently, matching parts to found schematics, fixing carbon where carbon would never have originally been and slowly but surely like a phoenix, the 916 was brought back to life.

In February 2017 when she fired up for the first time in over a year, the growl and the roar which emanated from her 916cc engine and twin    Termignoni exhausts, made the air pulsate around her. Daniel said “When I fired her up for the first time, she smoked a little due to misuse. However, once she cleared her throat, she sang like a Diva!”

The finished product is a testament to Ducati’s precision engineering: the passion of the Castiglioni family and their love and respect for the legendary Ayrton Senna, to Mark Linley for never giving up on her and Daniel Morris of mono motorcycles restorative knowledge and compassion for this iconic motorbike. This Ducati 916 Senna 3 Serial number 197, has been on a treacherous adventure. However, now she’s back, she’s loud and she’s begging to get back to the tarmac and rip it up.

Modification spec list.

• Marchesini 5 spoke lightweight wheels.
• Ohlins fork internals.
• Renthal race clip ons.
• Black diamond brake discs.
• Brembo RCS19 brake and clutch master cylinders.
• Hel brake lines.
• Oberon clutch slave.
• AS3 silicon coolant hoses.
• GB Moto rear sets.
• Cordona quick shift system.
• Pipercross air filters.
• Carbon air tubes, headlight bracket, single sided swing arm protector, chain guard, front sprocket cover, exhaust protector, vented clutch cover, battery box, Ohlins shock protector.
• Datatool alarm.

Following on from the restoration of the Ducati 916 Senna which Mark Linley brought to us, we were introduced to Roberto Agnese & his Ducati 999. Roberto had also been at the fate of the same mechanic! who had stolen Mark’s 916 Senna.

Roberto had sadly lost his front calipers to the same charlatan & when Marks motorcycle was recovered from the compound, Mark found Roberto’s calipers in a box with his parts. Therefore,  through no fault of his own, Roberto’s 999 Ducati had been off the road for three years.

The original instructions were to try and get Roberto’s Ducati 999 running & tidy up the wiring loom, which was in a sorry state.

Roberto had also converted the twin sided swing arm to a 916 Ducati single sided swing arm complete with 848 wheels. This in itself posed its challenges as the rear shock from the 999 had been used causing the back of the Ducati to be 400mm higher than standard. Removing the shock & placing it alongside a 916 shock revealed another issue. The Ducati 999 shock was 15mm longer, with the effect of the linkage that brought up the seat height by 400mm. The other issue was the pick up for the speedo was in the wrong place, therefore the speedo was reading 120mph when you were doing about 40! This was over come by fitting a Ducati Multistrada wheel speed bracket getting it closer to the correct value.

Roberto also wanted a different exhaust system with two very short cans. The system was sent to Phil Smith at Storm Performance Exhausts. Phil’s work is amazing and his exhausts are used in Superbikes.

The wiring  loom was in a very poor state & we must have removed 5 metres of wire which was not needed. Once we got the Ducati running, it was taken for a run. This test ride revealed a few more teething problems, namely coolant & oil leaks. Hence the decision was to move it down to our workshop to complete the work.

Once we collected the Ducati,  Roberto had “added to the list” Grip pro traction control system: Datatool digi gear indicator, shift lights, HealTech quick shifter & HealTech speedo healer.

Although the gear shift indicator is one of the smallest parts, it was the most challenging to fit. The Ducati 999 runs a can-bus network. This is a digital signal rather than an analogue pulse. The Datatool Digi-gear needs to see wheel speed & RPM to work out what gear the bike is in. Normally this would be taken from the rear of the speedo but both come from the ECU to the dash via the low speed Can-bus network. Therefore, this meant we had to go to the sensor side of the ECU to collect the signals in there analogue state, meaning more wiring! Bringing the switching wire up to the dash area also meant we could wire in the LED shift lights. With this done we could move onto the HealTech quickshifter & speedo healer. Both of these are pretty much plug & play, although as always there’s masses too much wire.

On to the Grip-pro traction control. This is the first aftermarket traction control we’ve fitted to a Ducati & seeing just how good the traction control on the Triumph 765 RS is, we were still a little dubious on how good this fairly basic system can be! The system works by two wheel speed sensors, one fitted to each wheel with a small ECU. This in turn cuts the fuel to the front sensor if it detects wheel spin.

The main issue we had is they don’t make a kit for the Ducati 999, as the front forks don’t have the regular pinch bolts on the front like most Japanese motorcycles. In the end we made a bespoke bracket to hang from the front mud guard fixing. We are also puzzled why they made the cables grey?! They stand out far too much & would have made more sense in black.

Roberto also had some carbon air tubes he wanted fitting. Straight swap? Oh no! The original air tube on the right has the header bottle attached to it. We searched the internet for an alternative, but couldn’t find anything that would fit. Nothing for it we had to make something. We found a red alloy drink bottle on eBay, drilled a hole & fitted a 6mm union on the bottom & there you have it; a home made or should I say ‘mono made’ header tank!

We spoke to Sicilian born Roberto Agnese to find out what it is about the Ducati brand which has captivated him. This is what he had to say.

“My First Ducati was the 900ss – 1996. I have sentiment to the brand due to its Italian origin & I have never ridden any other bike in my life. The look of Ducati’s is always very extraordinary with the slim body shape & the sound which  is very unique. The brand has always been associated with motorsport with a lot of success & trophies. There are a lot of extra activities around the brand with many events around the globe & every owner feels like a part of a Ducatisti family. My dream Ducati would be the 1299 Superleggera as this is the most advance, powerful & sophisticated V2 Ducati. Also the last one in a super bike family with a 2 cylinder engine ( apart from a Final Edition variation of the same bike ). Next in raw will be probably the Panigale V4 but I have had no chance to “touch” it yet. I’m also a big fan of a custom make Ducati’s which I’m sure Daniel Morris of mono motorcycles & vehicle security is a part of.”

Mono motorcycles & vehicle security meets the Ducati 1199 Superleggera.

mono motorcycles & vehicle security end their first year on a high, with an exclusive & very rare Ducati ‘Superbike!’ coming in to the workshop!

We have recently been introduced to Farhad at Route 67 by Chris Morris (my brother), who for the last year has been looking after some of their amazing & exclusive car collection.

Amongst the stunning collection of exotica, nestle a few exclusive & rare motorcycles. Route 67 had been looking for some time for a one stop motorcycle solution & someone they could trust to maintain & service this remarkable collection. mono motorcycles & vehicle security were then approached to become this much needed ‘one stop solution’.

The first motorcycle Route 67 have entrusted mono motorcycles & vehicle security with,  is a Ducati Panigale 1199 Superleggera 2014 (SN293/500).

This motorcycle is set apart from the other Panigale range as the Superleggera 1199 2014 is a limited run of 500. The Ducati 1199 Superleggera 2014 (SN 293/500) (‘super light’ in Italian) is a tour de force in the motorcycling world. The 1199 Superleggera 2014 (SN 293/500) has over the years, captivated Ducati lovers on a global scale. She taunts them with her 200bhp, her 200 new components over the standard Panigale R, including the magnesium frame & wheels, carbon fibre seat unit, titanium fasteners, feather-light 700g lithium battery & her revised electronics. The 1199 Superleggera 2014 (SN 293/500) weighs just 155kg dry, or 166kg wet with no fuel. This astounding motorcycle epitomises the highest calibre state of the art engineering & styling, coupled with the power & torque of a World Superbike.

All 500 of the Superleggera 1199 2014 were pre sold & most, as this one, are tucked up in private collections around the globe. Not started since she was factory delivered in 2014, the instructions were to get her running, perform a service & replace the battery.

As any motorcycle which has not been used for a long period, the first thing needed was to drain the fuel tank, as the fuel  had degraded & oxidised. We then replaced the oil  (15w50 grade) genuine filter & all the brake & clutch fluids were replaced. Then the new lightweight lithium ION battery was fitted & it was time to fire her up. We were astonished to find upon turning the ignition that she had only done a mere nine… yes nine miles!

What a phenomenal way to end our first year here at mono motorcycles & vehicle security with the prestigious Ducati 1199 Superleggera gracing our workshop. The owner has made a suggestion that for the right price it maybe for sale, if you have a spare £50k burning a hole in your pocket then do contact us at mono motorcycles & vehicle security & we will put you in touch.

http://instagram.com/route67ltd

Where are we now? The Ducati story continues, as we have another Mark Linley project in the workshop. The latest addition to the mono motorcycles & vehicle security Ducati dynasty is a rebuild/completion project. Mark has already had the engine re-built by a former Ducati technician & approached Daniel Morris (Master Technician & proprietor of mono motorcycles & vehicle security) to complete the build. The 748 frame will hold a 998 engine.

If you are looking for a project to be completed, servicing, repair, wiring, detailing, security or any of our other services, then please do contact Daniel Morris on 07899 654446 or through our contact page.

We look forward to hearing from you.