[AtheK]

It's been exactly two years today that I got Mark 13 home, and though I hardly ever get birthday gifts for myself, things change when it is your bike. In my initial thoughts I had written that shotgun exhausts look out of place and I was planning to change the exhaust to underbody from sometime, but then over the course of time they started to grow on me and in a slew of many underbody exhausts, they actually stood out, so I decided to stick with them.

Sometime last month it so happened that a friend was coming from US and I chanced upon a Termi Slip on Exhaust for sale, he said he is travelling light and should be able to carry it back for me, and with the bike completing around 2 years, I decided to spice it up a bit. Delivery was superfast and the exhaust was with him in less then 24 hours of placing the order and was a pleasant surprise when I saw these photos on my mobile when I woke up.

Italain sound for Italain Beauty, Termis go the best with Ducati!



The first unboxing pic.



The Exhaust then reached me last week, just in time to go on to the bike before the second Birthday is celebrated.

The entire package out and ready to be assembled.



Assembly in Progress.



The Carbon fiber ends.



The carbon fiber heat shield.



Ready to be Installed



One last look at how the stock looked.



With the stock exhaust out, I still think the underbelly will still look pretty neat also.



The first look with the Exhaust Installed, looks pretty neat



I had an option to go with the Carbon fiber one as well which was around 350$ expensive but then I decided to go with this look, as it had been running a complete black stock exhaust from sometime now.

I am not a huge fan of loud Exhausts and this exhaust is Homologated so with the baffles in they sound just like stock. That is exactly how I felt when I fired her up for the first time, just that the sound had a little more bass. I decided to remove the baffles and see how it will sound.

This is how they look with the baffles.



Rear look now with the Baffles removed, love how it looks from this angle.



Starting her for the first time and she sounds just perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPGlIiOKnDQ

A photo in the daylight with the Exhaust Installed.



With this One more Part is taken care of, now next plan is to decat the bike not for sound but for the fact that it will help with reducing the heat on the bike. I have ordered the Servo Buddy and the decat pipe which should be with me sometime next week, will proceed with this update sometime by end of month.

Next up was the Brakes, off late I had started feeling a bit uncomfortable with the brakes specially because of the play involved, although the brakes worked perfectly fine the bite seemed to be missing. This is when I decided I needed to add another perfromance part to the bike and decided to Upgrade the Master Brake Cylinder to Brembo 19RCS Corsa Corta Master Cylinder.

Here is the first look of the box which I received while in Yercaud.



While on my ride to Yercaud the brakes kept playing on my mind and I was very excited to see the difference this will bring to the bike. Got home and did the unboxing.





The first feel was that boy do they look premium, the weight the finish, everything was absolutely top class. Took it to Indimotard for fitment, and we had to do some minor adjustments to make it sit properly. Adjustments included a new clamp for reservoir, as stock will not sit on this and also had to move the swithes a little to the left to adjust the angle of the brake lever. All in all it was done very professionaly and bike was ready to be ridden back in couple of hours.

During Installation



After Installation, notice the quality.





Engineer took it for test ride and got it back saying just a piece of advice, with the play you had on your previous brakes, if you apply that much pressure on this you will just pull off a stoppie. That statement had me happy and tense at the same time, I was very careful while taking it out on the test ride and then when I rode it all the way back home. Reason being that the brakes have completely transformed, the brakes have amazing bite now and also they are much more responsive. I took it out today morning for a Birthday ride and I am extremely happy with this performance upgrade, gives you another level of confidence. On my way back I was literally using two finger braking in traffic with extreme confidence. Would advise this as an upgrade to anyone not happy with current brakes.

Last was the Carbon fiber Hugger, the previous one had developed a bit of superficial cracks and I spoke to RLZ team, they happily gave me a replacement with a new one. Amazing Customer service, they have a customer for life and at this point of time they are working on fabricating a couple of more parts for Mark 13.

This is how it looked when New



The heat has totally destroyed the sticker and left some crack marks.



The new one received from RLZ carbon.



Installed on the bike.



Next set of upcoming mods now which will completely focus to reduce the heat are

1. Decat pipe to reduce heat
2. Carbon Subframe covers to reduce the heat.
3. Samco Hose Pipes to reduce the heat.

This brings an end to some of the mods that bike has received as we head into third year of our Love-Heat relationship (pun intended). I have had some amazing time on this bike and everytime I park it I still look back at it and still feel that there is so much more left to do together.

Happy Second birthday Mark 13!!

Leaving you guys with some parting shots, and one with bothe the Blade and Panigale in same frame, thanks for reading!





Sayonara!! Until we meet again, stay safe keep smiling!

[gururajrv]

Sir, that Red beauty is an example which tells grass is always greener on the other side for dreamers like me! In this case it's not only red outside, it clearly left an impression on your thighs too

You've maintained the bike so well. Your thread is mostly inked in RED all the time and I like it wholeheartedly!

Keep this thread floating with a lot of pictures of that beauty!

[rajeevsulu]

Wow, that is a beautiful machine! Your writing is very good. The restaurant in Yercaud that you have mentioned is top notch. I am a regular there. Looking forward to reading more from you!

[AtheK]

It's been sometime I updated the thread as Mark 13 has been running happily and there was nothing special to report or update the thread.

It was time for yearly service last month and as always every yearly service I decide to add a couple of parts to the Mark 13 and this time I was determined to add performance parts. Brembo RCS19 corsa corta which I had added last time made an amazing difference to the braking of the bike.

The servicing was done at Indimotard this time and I opted for there Gold service package which includes the below checkup.



The service was routine affair and rear brake pads, rear wheel bearings and Sprocket bearing were replaced. Good I went with Gold service as that is the only service in which they remove the wheel and check for bearings. Went with Putoline Engine Oil this time.

Accessories:

So in my quest to see how I can make this bike run a bit cooler, I have been adding parts which can help, so this time the focus was just to make sure to add the parts which will help it run cooler, hence I decided to add the below two parts.

Samco Hose Pipes with Samco Clips.



Titanium Midpipe to decat the bike and make the last time installed Slip on convert into full system.



Installation for both was done at Indimotard, though I found the cost of accessories installation at a bit higher side, I am very happy with the worksmanship and how I was kept informed during Installation. During Installation I got to know that the servo buddy that I had got from US is not going to fit as sockets are different for EU spec bike compared to US bike. Had to order Healtech servo Eliminator to take care of the check engine light.

US Servo Buddy



Healtech Servo Buddy.



Bike getting the midpipe installed, notice the samco pipes Installed.



Bike has really come in it's own after the full system Installation and now breathes fire (literally) and makes pops and crackles when you cut off the throttle at speeds, it is an Aural experience and a sure shot invitation for cops to come looking for you. The bike sounds very loud during cold starts and then settle downs in a decent Aural experience, I will be putting the DB killers back though. Below are the couple of shorts with bike literally shooting flames.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtkCR8rJx-w

https://youtube.com/watch?v=d6RdvGDNwb4

A screenshot taken at the right time, just for fun.



More then the Aural experience it is the weight reduction that is pretty evident, while the stock catcon would have easily been 7 kgs the current titanium mid pipe weighs around 750 gms, the weight loss has made the bike even more nimble. Other big advantage is the ground clearance, earlier while I had to be very careful to not scrape the bike on small speed breakers also, now the bike just glides through them, it is the bigger one where I have to be a little careful and they are also much easily tackled now.

With the catcon



With Catcon Removed (Notice the ground clearance)



Coming to the biggest question - have these mods helped with Heat? Answer to that is Yes, but it is very marginal I expected a temperature drops of 8-10 degrees after catcon removal but in real world it is close to 3-5 degrees in same riding scenarios as before. This is not much, but then I will take what I can, sometimes I think I should get rid of ducati spacer heat shield maybe it is holding back much more ambient heat then it should. The next upgrade might well be Carbon Fiber subframe covers, pictured below, these might help a bit with the heat.



Once the installation was complete and everything sorted, next was the usual visit to my friend house for a round of detailing and he did what he does best, get the bike back to shining red as it should be. Leaving you with few pics after the detailing and Mark 13 looking mesmerizing as always.







I have pretty much run out of all the mods, except maybe an upmap to compliment the fullsystem, which I would contemplate in next few months. I will probably be installing few more Carbon fiber parts during next service and that will also be the year of Desmo service as I am now closing to 24K Kms mark. I just decided to make a list of all the mods that have gone on the bike, and below is the list, I might have missed a couple of parts but in the overall story this should be more or less all of them.

Zero Gravity wind screen
Mirror blockers with indicators
Bar end mirrors
Carbon fiber rear guard
Carbon fiber seat cover
Carbon fiber heel guard
Carbon fiber shock guard
Carbon fiber exhaust guard
Termignoni exhaust slip on
Titanium mid pipe ( Makin system a full system)
Ducati performance seat ( for touring)
Frame sliders
Rizoma front fork protector
Rizoma sliders swingarm protectors
Frame plugs
GB racing engine cover
Spools for paddock stand
Brembo RCS19 master cylinder
Samco Hose Pipes
Healtech Servo Buddy
LED headlight low beam
Tank Pad
Traction Pad
Ducati spacer heat guards

It is closing to 3 years of the ownership of this bike and I have nothing but only good things to say about this HOT bike, it has been a pleasure to own and ride this Italian steed, and let us see what is in store next.

Until next time, take care and stay safe.

[AtheK]

All beginnings have endings, and with a heavy heart this post marks the end of my amazing journey with this beautiful bike. The heat eventually got to me and I thought it is better for some one younger who has more endurance then me to own this bike and use it to its potential.

I had an amazing time with this bike and made some memories which I will cherish forever, this thread for me will remain always bookmarked to revisit those memories and all that me and Mark 13 went through. Till date I have absolutely no complaint with the bike except the heat, this bike belongs to track and unfortunately the only place I did not take it to, this probably be one of my only regret of this ownership.

Here is one last pic of me on the bike as I bid adieu to this italian speed with a definite tear rolling down my eye.



While one story ends another begins, ended up getting this black beauty home, an ownership thread will follow in due course of time.



Till then thanks everyone who read my posts and gave your feedback, looking forward to continue our discussion in an upcoming thread.

So long Mark 13, farewell my friend.

[imp!]

Originally Posted by AtheK

All beginnings have endings, and with a heavy heart this post marks the end of my amazing journey with this beautiful bike. The heat eventually got to me and I thought it is better for some one younger who has more endurance then me to own this bike and use it to its potential.

I had an amazing time with this bike and made some memories which I will cherish forever, this thread for me will remain always bookmarked to revisit those memories and all that me and Mark 13 went through. Till date I have absolutely no complaint with the bike except the heat, this bike belongs to track and unfortunately the only place I did not take it to, this probably be one of my only regret of this ownership.

Here is one last pic of me on the bike as I bid adieu to this italian speed with a definite tear rolling down my eye.

Attachment 2559452

While one story ends another begins, ended up getting this black beauty home, an ownership thread will follow in due course of time.

Attachment 2559453

Till then thanks everyone who read my posts and gave your feedback, looking forward to continue our discussion in an upcoming thread.

So long Mark 13, farewell my friend.

Well Athek, all good things come to an end. I have loved following your experience with the Italian Belle and will certainly enjoy seeing what craziness you get upto with the Bimmer. You are certainly checking off everybike on the bucketlist!

[V0rtex]

Originally Posted by AtheK

All beginnings have endings, and with a heavy heart this post marks the end of my amazing journey with this beautiful bike. The heat eventually got to me and I thought it is better for some one younger who has more endurance then me to own this bike and use it to its potential.

I had an amazing time with this bike and made some memories which I will cherish forever, this thread for me will remain always bookmarked to revisit those memories and all that me and Mark 13 went through. Till date I have absolutely no complaint with the bike except the heat, this bike belongs to track and unfortunately the only place I did not take it to, this probably be one of my only regret of this ownership.

Here is one last pic of me on the bike as I bid adieu to this italian speed with a definite tear rolling down my eye.

Attachment 2559452

While one story ends another begins, ended up getting this black beauty home, an ownership thread will follow in due course of time.

Attachment 2559453

Till then thanks everyone who read my posts and gave your feedback, looking forward to continue our discussion in an upcoming thread.

So long Mark 13, farewell my friend.

How would you compare the heating of the s1000rr to that of the Ducati. Would you say that the BMW is a more practical bike than the Ducati, despite both of them being conventionally non-practical for a bike.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by V0rtex

How would you compare the heating of the s1000rr to that of the Ducati. Would you say that the BMW is a more practical bike than the Ducati, despite both of them being conventionally non-practical for a bike.

Too soon to comment, I have hardly ridden the S1KRR for 100 kms or so, as it is parked at home since name transfer is in progress. I will definitely cover this point in detail when I do my writeup on the Bmw.

First impression though is that while Ducati always wanted you to be pushing her, Bimmer is much more relaxed.

[V0rtex]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Too soon to comment, I have hardly ridden the S1KRR for 100 kms or so, as it is parked at home sicne name transfer is in progress. I will definitely cover this point in detail when I do my writeup on the Bmw.

First impression though is that while Ducati always wanted you to be pushing her, Bimmer is much more relaxed.

I just noticed that you have an Interceptor in your garage. How has your experience been with the interceptor. Overall experience, cons, pros and things that you noticed that must people don't. I'm planning to get one and I wanna know more about the bike before I make my purchase.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by V0rtex

I just noticed that you have an Interceptor in your garage. How has your experience been with the interceptor. Overall experience, cons, pros and things that you noticed that must people don't. I'm planning to get one and I wanna know more about the bike before I make my purchase.

Interceptor is a double edge sword, I will only advice you to buy Interceptor if you have a good service center near your house and you know workings of a bike. While the engine and gearbox combo is a gem, the service center experience is pathetic. The SA keep changing on every visit and mechanics are replaced by younger mechanics constantly who know hardly anything about the bike. I have had so many visits to Service center as the first time they won't listen to you and then when you go back again the second time this time they will listen and do what you ask them to do.

Niggles are not deal breaking but some one who loves his bikes to the T and keeps them in absolute pristine condition I sometimes feel sad about my purchase. The bike in itself while on the run is fantastic to ride, you can munch miles on it by just making some minor modifications on the stock setup (Handle bar risers, Seats and footpegs). Get the alloy version if you are getting one, the spokes will always keep you scared about punctures and it is a nightmare to fix them once you get them. Bike is heavy but masks it's weight well, only time you feel the weight is while taking it out of parking. Lots of mods potential and it will keep you very happy till you have to take it to Service center for niggle. Also if the niggle is just a part replacement, they are very prompt to do it, it is only if some troubleshooting is needed that they just have no clue (atleast the one near my house). The two things I solely miss on this bike are Gear Indicators and clock. Do look at shotgun also as it has fixed atleast the last two issues and also comes with tripper (You can get this installed on Interecptor also to fix the time issue)

In short get the bike, but be ready to get your hand dirty (Which is also a fun part of ownership) and make some good friends in Service center (Which unfortunately won't be there when you visit them next)

[V0rtex]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Too soon to comment, I have hardly ridden the S1KRR for 100 kms or so, as it is parked at home since name transfer is in progress. I will definitely cover this point in detail when I do my writeup on the Bmw.

First impression though is that while Ducati always wanted you to be pushing her, Bimmer is much more relaxed.

Originally Posted by AtheK

Interceptor is a double edge sword, I will only advice you to buy Interceptor if you have a good service center near your house and you know workings of a bike. While the engine and gearbox combo is a gem, the service center experience is pathetic. The SA keep changing on every visit and mechanics are replaced by younger mechanics constantly who know hardly anything about the bike. I have had so many visits to Service center as the first time they won't listen to you and then when you go back again the second time this time they will listen and do what you ask them to do.

Niggles are not deal breaking but some one who loves his bikes to the T and keeps them in absolute pristine condition I sometimes feel sad about my purchase. The bike in itself while on the run is fantastic to ride, you can munch miles on it by just making some minor modifications on the stock setup (Handle bar risers, Seats and footpegs). Get the alloy version if you are getting one, the spokes will always keep you scared about punctures and it is a nightmare to fix them once you get them. Bike is heavy but masks it's weight well, only time you feel the weight is while taking it out of parking. Lots of mods potential and it will keep you very happy till you have to take it to Service center for niggle. Also if the niggle is just a part replacement, they are very prompt to do it, it is only if some troubleshooting is needed that they just have no clue (atleast the one near my house). The two things I solely miss on this bike are Gear Indicators and clock. Do look at shotgun also as it has fixed atleast the last two issues and also comes with tripper (You can get this installed on Interecptor also to fix the time issue)

In short get the bike, but be ready to get your hand dirty (Which is also a fun part of ownership) and make some good friends in Service center (Which unfortunately won't be there when you visit them next)

I'm actually thinking of getting a pre-owned int 650. The shotgun isn't of my taste. How much km has your bike run so far. I'm thinking of getting a 21' model with 20 k km run. Is that a high mileage vehicle or is it fine?

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by V0rtex

I'm actually thinking of getting a pre-owned int 650. The shotgun isn't of my taste. How much km has your bike run so far. I'm thinking of getting a 21' model with 20 k km run. Is that a high mileage vehicle or is it fine?

Mine has run 9k Kms and while the niggles I faced are nothing too much, it is just the quirk of going to Service center again and again. I wish I had that much free time.

20K Km run should ideally be fine, but with RE I would suggest to look for a lower run one and preferably in warranty. My RR unit, Speedometer(just right after buying the bike) were changed under warranty. RR unit is bound to fail on these bikes, so check with owner if it has already failed and replaced or that might be an upcoming expense. The beauty is spares are very cheap and so is labor, so should not matter in long run. Ride a lesser ridden bike first and then the 20K ridden one if you feel engine refinement are almost same then the bike has been kept well.

Mine might be coming up for sale soon, but then you are not in Bangalore

[V0rtex]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Mine has run 9k Kms and while the niggles I faced are nothing too much, it is just the quirk of going to Service center again and again. I wish I had that much free time.

20K Km run should ideally be fine, but with RE I would suggest to look for a lower run one and preferably in warranty. My RR unit, Speedometer(just right after buying the bike) were changed under warranty. RR unit is bound to fail on these bikes, so check with owner if it has already failed and replaced or that might be an upcoming expense. The beauty is spares are very cheap and so is labor, so should not matter in long run. Ride a lesser ridden bike first and then the 20K ridden one if you feel engine refinement are almost same then the bike has been kept well.

Mine might be coming up for sale soon, but then you are not in Bangalore

The bike's warranty is about to expire. If I'm purchasing it I would most certainly extend the warranty for another 2 years. If you were selling your bike, what would be your final rate?

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by V0rtex

The bike's warranty is about to expire. If I'm purchasing it I would most certainly extend the warranty for another 2 years. If you were selling your bike, what would be your final rate?

How much warranty is left, I think you have to extend it before 6 months of expiry date. You can DM me for further discussion