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Old 24th May 2021, 16:09   #76
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

Call me old fashioned, but if a bike does not belong to you, there is no point of posting pics online and trying to earn brownie points.

Its like posting pics of your ex-gf when she is no longer in your life and is now with someone else......
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Old 24th May 2021, 16:34   #77
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

Quote:
Originally Posted by no_fear View Post
Call me old fashioned, but if a bike does not belong to you, there is no point of posting pics online and trying to earn brownie points.

Its like posting pics of your ex-gf when she is no longer in your life and is now with someone else......
Completely agree with you, as a matter of fact the first time my friend messaged me saying the same thing, that why is this guy still posting the pics with the bike. I was like not much we can do, if that is what makes him happy, then so be it

Also you are not old fashioned my wife once asked me why did you post a picture of you on a friends bike on social media, it's not yours. I now keep that in mind and post extremely few photos on other friends bikes, though I still do post one or so to keep it for memories.

Guess the lockdown is impacting everyone with not able to get out and click some new photos, also in the modelling/showbiz field it is important to stay relevant in Social media pages. I presume that could be one of the driving factors.
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Old 24th May 2021, 19:11   #78
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

Quote:
Originally Posted by AtheK View Post
also in the modelling/showbiz field it is important to stay relevant in Social media pages. I presume that could be one of the driving factors.
I am all for relevance and using social media to promote oneself. We are creatures of vanity. However, I find it to be rather weird to earn social media cred by posting pics of someone else's property. At a minimum, at least tag the current owner, or give a shout out and get his or her permission.
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Old 28th May 2021, 00:09   #79
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

Quote:
Originally Posted by no_fear View Post
Athek

2. You will need to do a full desmo service after each track day. The Ducatis in India get into bad shape because owners take them to the track, race several laps and then don't do the desmo service.

The costs add up significantly, so bear this in mind if you become a track regular.
I am sorry but this should come with a lot of disclaimer. There are hundreda of thousands if not millions of owners who are trackday regulars on the planet. Most of them service and setup their ducs before each season. However a desmo service after each season is not the norm.
These bikes are made to scream and howl. They wont complain if you ride them at 7-10k rpm too often. Track style aggressive riding takes more toll on relaxed engines. High strung ones wouldn't feel that much of the heat.
I would also point out that usually duc sells a desmo kit which costs roughly 600usd abroad for all 8 valves. However many owners ended up being recommended that their valves were in great shape and there was no need of changing them after stipulated mileage ie 15k miles. I dont totally disagree with you in that a bike may end up requiring a desmo service after repeated track days but not to the tune one should budget for it in their track plans. I feel your post sounded much more scarier to readers than what you intended for.
Regarding distilled water, a coolant is primarily to prevent radiator blowout due to freezing in colder climates and to prevent rusting caused by normal water. In achieving above two goals, it hampers the cooling ability of water. In our country, we can use the distilled water round the year. It wont cause rust ( as engine and radiator are not iron) or burst ( as it will not freeze in our climates).
@AtheK Congratulations and welcome to Desmo Owners fraternity. Heat will eventually cause less discomfort to you as you get more comfortable riding the bike. On highways at any thing above 80kmph,she would rarely go north of 75 degrees C. Its only when you slow down to cross settlements does temp gauge climbs up.
Happy riding.

Last edited by Entsurgeon : 28th May 2021 at 00:12.
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Old 28th May 2021, 09:28   #80
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

@ENTsurgeon, I went through your post and I believe we are looking at matters differently. Let me clarify a few details.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Entsurgeon View Post
Most of them service and setup their ducs before each season. However a desmo service after each season is not the norm. These bikes are made to scream and howl. They wont complain if you ride them at 7-10k rpm too often. I would also point out that usually duc sells a desmo kit which costs roughly 600usd abroad for all 8 valves. However many owners ended up being recommended that their valves were in great shape and there was no need of changing them after stipulated mileage ie 15k miles.
1. Ducati does not sell anything called a desmo kit. Some companies sell tools that you can use for desmo servicing. 600 USD is the minimum that some service centers charge in the US for a desmo service.

2. The whole point of a desmo service is to check for valve clearances. Valves are never changed. Valve clearance is done to make sure that the valves are not too loose (else leads to engine knocking and loss of power) or the valves are too tight (engine blow up). If you have to change a valve, then your engine is toast and you need a new one. Valve clearance checks are done for inline 4 cylinder engines also.

3. The reason you need to do a desmo service after a track reason is exactly due to the high strung nature of the Ducati engine. When you are revving the engine at 7- 10k rpm levels, your valves are opening and closing much faster, when compared to normal street riding. Basic track day math is, the longer you ride a bike on the track, the more frequent is the interval for doing preventive maintenance.

4. My point about distilled water is related to track racing only. Coolant is not allowed on tracks because coolant is slippery, and coolant if leaked and spilled on a track is a huge safety hazard. That is why distilled water is used. Conversely on street riding, we use coolant.

The reason I mentioned about desmo service after track day, is that a lot of Ducati owners buy the sportsbikes purely as eye candy. They do not carry out any basic preventive maintenance, not even an oil change. They take the bikes to a track, abuse them thoroughly for a year and then sell to the next unsuspecting customer. These owners are not using the bike purely for track, and they never admit to the next buyer how they have used the bike or what maintenance has been done.

Ducatis can take on the abuse, as long as you do the needed maintenance on them.

I have added a superbike track maintenance roster that is on the Ducati Omaha, Nebraska, US website. They are well known on the circuit and they specifically mention carrying out a desmo service after each season for the superbikes.

https://www.ducatiomaha.com/pages/su...ke-maintenance
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Old 28th May 2021, 11:22   #81
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

Quote:
Originally Posted by no_fear View Post
@ENTsurgeon, . Let me clarify a few details.



1. Ducati does not sell anything called a desmo kit. Some companies sell tools that you can use for desmo servicing. 600 USD is the minimum that some service centers charge in the US for a desmo service.

2. The whole point of a desmo service is to check for valve clearances. Valves are never changed. Valve clearance is done to make sure that the valves are not too loose (else leads to engine knocking and loss of power) or the valves are too tight (engine blow up). If you have to change a valve, then your engine is toast and you need a new one. Valve clearance checks are done for inline 4 cylinder engines also.

3. The reason you need to do a desmo service after a track reason is exactly due to the high strung nature of the Ducati engine. When you are revving the engine at 7- 10k rpm levels, your valves are opening and closing much faster, when compared to normal street riding. Basic track day math is, the longer you ride a bike on the track, the more frequent is the interval for doing preventive maintenance.


Ducatis can take on the abuse, as long as you do the needed maintenance on them.

I have added a superbike track maintenance roster that is on the Ducati Omaha, Nebraska, US website. They are well known on the circuit and they specifically mention carrying out a desmo service after each season for the superbikes.

https://www.ducatiomaha.com/pages/su...ke-maintenance
Thanks for being so elaborate. This will definitely make prospective users look at track day experience more pragmatically.
1. In US, lot of owners perform maintenance on their ducs themselves and ducati even honours their warranty on such bikes with some caveats. They also sell valve shim kits or whatever is normally needed to be replaced in valve services over the counter. That may not be a practice here in India but works out fairly cheaper for such owners stateside.
2. I agree. However, most dealers and owners here would include replacing all shims guides etc when such a major service is carried out though.
3. Desmodromic valves are claimed to take high rev abuse better than valves with springs. However every machine needs maintenance. Few people would skip it like you mentioned despite thrashing her left and right on track. Even todqy, most used vehicle deals mention that the bike is used gently and never abused etc precisely because its better to stay away from an abused, ill maintained bike.
Now, i would like to mention that since here, every valve service is full labour plus changing all that is there to be replaced, we here never end up hearing " sir we inspected all 8 valves and clearances and its all within specified limit so we havent replaced anything. That would just be 20-25k, the labour charges only." A desmo service here means full package 50 60 70k for the owner. Athough its prudent to have valves checked after each season, the prospect of spending big bucks after each season sounds scary for the amateur riders.
The first line of second paragraph of ducati omha link states that this is as per their experience and not as per factory recommendation. I guess you would agree that how a bike should be maintained would have some degree of variation according to how is it used. Overall, going for track rides regularly should only mean you should not wait for 15k miles for a valve service and get it done sooner. Many owners already do it earlier than recommended for various reasons.
Sorry @AtheK to sidestep on your thread. But I hope we treaded a fine line between scary and careful for wannabe track users.

Last edited by Entsurgeon : 28th May 2021 at 11:24.
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Old 28th May 2021, 11:55   #82
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

Quote:
Originally Posted by Entsurgeon View Post
In US, lot of owners perform maintenance on their ducs themselves and ducati even honours their warranty on such bikes with some caveats.

That would just be 20-25k, the labour charges only.

Overall, going for track rides regularly should only mean you should not wait for 15k miles for a valve service and get it done sooner. But I hope we treaded a fine line between scary and careful for wannabe track users.
+1 to all your points Entsurgeon. I am hoping that service centers in India can charge reasonable pricing for a valve check as Ducatis become more mainstream.
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Old 5th July 2021, 22:57   #83
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

It's been sometime this thread was updated so here goes a bit of information to keep the ownership experience going. The Second wave of Covid came and made quite a bit of ruckus in the country, what followed were lock down and a general sense of fear due to which we or even other community members were not even stepping out of the home. Even my wife could not escape it, even after being at home all the time, and we were in home quarantine for 17 days. This meant that Mark 13 was standing on Paddock for close to a month without even a cold start. As soon as the HQ ended for her and me, since I was the only one with her, I rushed to the basement to start both the car and the bike. I was hoping it powers on and the battery is not dead.

I tried to start her, and she roared back to life I was so happy, since the lockdown was still in progress, I took her to a nearby medical store for a small spin, got her medicines and parked it to come back the next day and clean it up. Next day gave it a nice wash and cleaned her up well, and put her back under the cover and went back happy. I went down every three or four days started her a bit and did small rounds of society to keep the battery charged. Couple of weeks later lockdown was relaxed and we were allowed to be out till 5 Pm, so this was the time to take her for a long spin and put some miles under the belt. Spoke to my friend as well and he asked me to drop the bike to his place after the ride, so he can finish the Ceramic Coating.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-img_20210604_165433.jpg

At the medical store.

Everything was good, a night before when we were supposed to go for ride, I came down to make final checks and start her up. The electronics powered up the way they should and when I hit the starter, the bike did not start, showed me a voltage of 11.4V and gentleman we had the first breakdown for dear Mark 13. This was a bummer now, as it was around 9 pm and no way to head out for any help. Spoke to another friend and he told me he had a similar issue with his 959 and they push started it, and that is what I should do, but also warned me to be very careful. I tried to do it alone, but realized, need a helping hand. He also told me to take it to the main road, as concrete roads in the apartment won't give enough traction. Made few phone calls to a couple of friends and gave them once in a lifetime opportunity to push start a Ducati, it would add value to their resumes I told them, they instead wanted beers. I must admit that booze is destroying the country and making middle aged man greedy.

Couple of them showed up in Track suit and Sports shoes, they took the once in a lifetime opportunity quite on the face value, or maybe that is how they like a late night beer. We did few tries, No go. We have a ramp which is straight and has quite a bit of straight after the slope ends, perfect place to try, gave it a shot No Go. I told them I will get a battery tender from my friend and charge it tomorrow, and then should have it working. I did not forget my promise of the beer, so up we went had a couple of pints, messaged my friend that I won't be joining and let's catch up next week. In the mean time I pulled out Google Baba and dis some research, and somewhere in some post, some intelligent soul had posted that due to nature of the Twin engine, it is extremely tough to jump start the bike on 1st gear, and instead try with second gear. Well the guys loved the beer, and they said let's give it couple of more tries, at this point I am sure they were just avoiding wives after such a long lockdown and wanted to stay out for some more time. Well, who am I to say no, off we went down again pushed it down the slope and I tried it in second gear this time, the engine sputtered but then died down. Was that the light at the end of the tunnel? We decided let's do it one more time, and this time the guys ran with the bike till half way on the ramp garnering more momentum, and lo and behold we had a running bike. The beers and the ramp and the internet had come to the rescue. Took it for a spin for 5 minutes on empty night roads, got back and let it idle for 15 minutes, and the battery was showing 14V, an evening well spent. Friends had left, dropped them a thanks message, messaged my friend saying the ride is on and slept off.

A couple of photos from the next day ride.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-img_20210617_075318.jpg

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-img_20210617_074244.jpg

To be continued..

Last edited by AtheK : 5th July 2021 at 23:23.
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Old 5th July 2021, 23:18   #84
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

With a nice uneventful ride, decided to ride down to my Friend's place and leave the bike for Ceramic Coating. Came home and got busy with other stuff, when I received a couple of photos from my friend. He said he was looking at bike and realized that we had an oil seepage, near the engine head.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-screenshot_20210705222333.jpg

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-screenshot_20210705222345.jpg

We were not sure if this was from earlier or how long it has been there as it was not too much, so he cleaned it up and decided to take the bike for a small ride the next day to see if we have any more Seepage. We both were suspecting this to be valve cover gasket gone bad, next day when he rode it, Indeed we had a small seepage, and we got on a call with one of our trusted guys, who said seems like we might have an valve gasket leak and which is common, now since his garage is around 30 kms from where the bike was, it was decided to better use a flatbed then ride it with all the traffic and the heat the bike anyway produces.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-inkedscreenshot_20210705222123_li.jpg

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-inkedscreenshot_20210705222128_li.jpg

Such a heart-breaking sight.

So, in a span of two days, I witnessed two breakdowns, and the joys and agony of owning a superbike at the same time. He received the bike and confirmed that it indeed was a valve gasket leak (beading) and will need to be replaced. VST Bangalore did not have the part in stock, and so I called upon a couple of friends to check if they can check at respective locations. Called up @no_fear and like a true biker friend, he was up for the challenge, and assured me that he will arrange the part. In the meantime next day a friend called up and said he has procured the part and is shipping it to me as we speak. I called up @no_fear and informed him that the part is arranged, Thanks brother, really appreciate you taking your time off from your busy schedule and offering to help. The part was then sent over and thanks to Courier companies, even after choosing next day delivery, we had to personally go collect the part after three days. Kudos DTDC.

Now that the bike was in workshop it was time to get the full servicing done which was impending from quite some time. I was waiting for my brother to get me some accessories, and I was planning to get it all done together when we would open the fairings. He in turn informed me that he will not be coming in July as per his initial plan and postpone his trip to sometime in the end of the year.

To be Continued.

Last edited by AtheK : 5th July 2021 at 23:24.
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Old 6th July 2021, 00:13   #85
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

Rest of the servicing was pretty run of the mill and it was decided to flush out all liquids and replace them with brand new liquids, change oil filter, air filter, check brake pads and clean up the bike, I would not bore you with that long post, but instead post some pics.

The Consumables. Coolant used was Engine Ice and we used Shell Engine oil as recommended by Ducati.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-servicing-stuff.jpg

Brake Calipers after cleaning.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-caliper-1.jpg

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-caliper-2.jpg

Brake pads, since majority of them have been replaced recently they were cleaned and reused.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-brake-pads.jpg

Oil Filter look at the condition of the old oil, it was slushy and black. The previous owner was more interested to click photos, then to take care of the bike. It literally had me in tears.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-oil-filter.jpg

Engine bay being cleaned before installing the new gasket cover.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-engine-1.jpg

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-engine-2.jpg

Cleaning up the air filter compartment.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-air-filter-compartment.jpg

The current air filter was in good shape, so we decided to use it again, I was suggested to change it to Sprint in next service. It is on the expensive side but checking the review on the internet makes me realize that it is pretty much the best that is available for the Panigale. Will change it once all accessories arrive and we open the bike to install them.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-air-filter.jpg

The heat shield that we wanted to install, we could not source a small part of the 4 mm insulation sheet, this will again be done when I go back to install the accessories, hopefully we are able to procure it by then. We tested the suspension adjustment, and finally have it running in urban mode and now it works perfectly. The fork oil was not needed to be changed as per the team, and said we can look at it in next servicing.

Pretty much everything in my list that I had posted initially has been procured.

1. Fork Protector.
2. Swing Arms protector.
3. Radiator Protectors.
4. Side Stand extender.
5. Third Party Clutch and Brake levers, this is to act as spare as OEM are very expensive.
6. Bar End mirrors
7. Seat Cowl (This is installed)
8. Bar End mirrors (To be Installed)
9. Ducati Comfort Seat
10. Some Stickers
11. Frame Plug Caps
12. Frame Sliders
13. Clear Clutch Cover

Accessories Installed.

In addition to above I came across a site RLZ motors, they are doing carbon parts for bikes and they make them in India. I was impressed that we finally have someone taking the plunge to make carbon parts in India. They also had few parts for Panigale 959 (The only Ducati bike in the stable), i presume someone they know must have had the bike and hence they were able to create parts for it. The parts are limited, and they will not be working on this bike anymore, as they want to focus on bikes that are currently in production.

I decided to test it and ordered Exhaust cover for the bike, it came in a decent packing, and was a perfect fit. it is extremely light and built in 100% carbon. It stays cool even after a long ride, do check the site out, it has limited bikes right now, but they seem to be going in the right direction. I have no affiliation with the site, just recommending as I did like the work done by them.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-carbon-part.jpg

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-carbon-part-installed.jpg

Good quality bar end mirrors are near impossible to get in India, all we get are cheap ones, and I ended up ordering something similar for around 1100 a pair. The bar ends are of plastic and they do not fit, and of course would end up adding to vibrations on the handlebar. So, the team at moto spark took it on them, and helped forge a bar end extender on lathe machine, with a groove to install the bar end mirrors and retain the original bar ends also. They did an amazing job and they look perfect; they are extremely sturdy and with more heft added to handle bars, vibrations are reduced even further.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-bar-ends-install.jpg

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-inkedfront-look_li1.jpg

The mirrors though look great, are pretty much worthless. They are worse then the stock, which is saying something. The mirror used is cheap and useless in night. I am hunting for some good bar end mirrors, if anyone does come across a pair please let me know I would be happy to buy them. They for now get the job done, and I am sure I will be able to find a good quality one soon. One option is to install Triumph, but they are pretty expensive at around 18000 a pair, and not sure if they sell it over the counter.

This completed the Servicing and the total bill was around 21000 including the Consumables, Towing charges, and parts procured from outside. The entire servicing was done at Motospark and they are great bunch of guys who give a lot of attention to detail. They kept sharing the photos and videos of the bike while it was being serviced and delivered the bike on promised date. I am sure if this was done at Ducati I would have billed 30+.

The bike back at home!!!

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-back-home.jpg

To be Continued.

Last edited by AtheK : 6th July 2021 at 00:28.
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Old 6th July 2021, 00:51   #86
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

The first ride

I took the first test ride of the bike and rear brakes had a lot of play, they were again bled and was told to me that they will get better. We were in lockdown and past our time to get back home, so I decided to ride back home and check on this later. The bike though sounded so much better and engine revved so much more freely.

The first ride after servicing I expected it to be cooler than before due to all new liquids but in reality it was like riding a furnace, the bike started to get hot very quickly, so much so that the temperature hit around 121 degree, and I was sure it will cut off any minute now. I was riding in packed traffic and the way the temperature gauge kept going up was scary, soon I hit an open patch and once it got some breathing space, the temperature started reducing and came down to 106-107 quickly. I reached home parked it and decided to take it to highway as soon the weekend curfew is lifted. My suspect being that all coolants are new, and it will take a bit of time with them to get going and also the fact that I was pretty much in chock a block traffic.

Spoke to my friend and he said why don't you drop the bike for ceramic coating over the weekend, anyway you won't be able to ride it. I took the bike to him early morning, and while on highway bike behaved really well with temperature hovering around 75 degrees. The moment I hit the traffic signal, the temperature shot up by 10 degrees in a minute, this bike hates city commuting. Reached my friends place and in the meantime was struggling with rear brakes, he told me they need to bleed it again but with tires removed and caliper removed from the bike. He took it to his mechanic who had recently done the same on his multistrada, and he fixed it.

Finally, we got back to the point where it started, the pending ceramic coating. This finally was uneventful and completed without any glitch.

The wash.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-wash.jpg

Removing the tank and grip pads

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-removing-all-pads.jpg

First Coat.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-first-coat-1.jpg

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-first-coat-2.jpg

Second Coat

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-second-coat-1.jpg

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-second-coat.jpg


Coating the Wheels

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-wheels.jpg

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-wheels-2.jpg

Final Look.

Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold-final-look-2.jpg

The bike looks like a million bucks, and I really wish I had place inside my living room where I can park it

We have now removed the old grip pads and tank pads, though my brother already has a set of them, but now since he is delayed I will be ordering new one from One design. They have got some decent one's. I really wanted the motografix one that was shared by @no_fear but that I don't think is in stock.

The Ride back Home

The bike was now completely ready, with everything taken care of, it was time to ride it and being the first day of lockdown being opened today, first thing I did was hit traffic. The bike this time behaved much better and the worst I saw temperature rising was till 105, which is acceptable for city riding. I soon hit the highway and ladies and gentlemen, the grin on my face was unstoppable.

The bike has completely transformed; it runs like a dream now. The brakes are working perfectly, the suspension is perfect, the engine revs are smooth, the growl is addictive. It's everything you can want from a sports bike, it's changing directions on my command, it's running cooler. I was soon down to 70 degrees, and before I could realize it was time to take a turn to get on to busy road to get to home. Well I could not stop riding so I gunned it and joined the main highway, away I went on and on, like a little kid with a new toy, and before the fuel low lamp lit up, I had munched up about 100 KMs. Refueled and started back for home, within a very short span of time, 230 KM of riding was achieved. I came home parked it, put it on paddock, looked back at it for few minutes. Told Mark 13, I would be back soon to put the bike cover on you, you till then my friend cool off, you deserve this break!!!

So do I after all this typing, and some eventful last couple of weeks. This is a nice journey, it teaches you something new everyday, provided you are ready to learn and invest your time in it. You will be rewarded, I certainly was, and now looking forward to put on some quick KMS on the Mark 13 and have some fun while riding.

Hope you guys liked reading it, until next time!!

Last edited by AtheK : 6th July 2021 at 01:00.
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Old 6th July 2021, 07:21   #87
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

Let me be the first again to congratulate you on enjoying this red beauty after a long break. Kudos to all the good servicing and cleaning you have done. The bike really looks spectacular. As the idiom goes - "it warms the cockles of my heart seeing this beauty".

The handlebar mirror work done by your service guys is exemplary. Truly a very good job. Unfortunately, as you said, good handle bar mirrors are hard to find and sometimes more expensive than the OEM mirrors. I will keep an eye out for you and let you know if I come across anything good in terms of quality, while within the price range. There is an Italian company called FAR that makes good handle bar mirrors, but with customs duty + shipping cost, it will be too cost prohibitive.

Are you planning to get rid of the Go Pro holder on the gas tank?

For the bike not starting, I had the same issue with my 1198. It stopped while I was riding. Waited for 10 minutes, then shifted to 2nd gear and ran holding the bike, and was able to get the engine fired up. Took it to FNG and we ran some tests. The old battery had no more juice. Changed to a new one. Check your battery has enough amps to power the starter motor. If not, then its time to change the battery. Even if battery voltage shows 14v, it doesn't mean battery is holding that charge or is getting charged completely.

I disagree with you that booze is destroying the country. It is the great unifier. Without booze, my friends and I can never agree to any topic, and come up with hare brained schemes.

+1 on complaining about previous owner lack of maintenance. I share your anger on this aspect totally. It baffles me that people have money to buy a 20 lac bike, then don't want to spend even 10k for servicing. Then why buy these machines, if people lack the commitment to maintain them.
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Old 6th July 2021, 08:35   #88
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

What a roller coaster ride of posts.
Lovely to see the bike all pampered up. I don't know if it is just me (the inner Greasemonkey in me to be precise) I get more excited by pics of replacement parts and service pics than bikes striking poses and flaunting their lines . Ok, I think that's my cue to shut up and not make things weirder than they should be.

About the battery issue. I think it will be a good idea to invest in the 70mai battery jump box. They come in 2 variants I think, and they are strong enough to jump-start Diesel engines up to 2L in capacity so should be light work for these bike batteries(Not sure if they work for Li-ion batteries so I haven't gotten one yet). The most attractive part is that they are super portable, Similar to a power bank in size. I came to know fo them through torqueblock instashop.

I recently had my CBR battery go kaput and I kinda wished I had the jumper at that time. Food for thought.

Lovely pics as always, can't wait for the arrival and fitment posts fo the accessories and I am also waiting to see the exhaust conversion just reminding. Haha.

Cheers
Krishna
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Old 6th July 2021, 10:31   #89
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

AtheK, nice to see more updates on your thread. Hope your wife has recovered fully.

During the lockdown in May, the one thing that I was worried about was the batteries on my bikes conking off. I too was using my bikes to go to the medical stores to pick up some basic medicines and keep the bikes running. Great minds think alike.

On the Sprint air filters, do check with the Ducati riding community, before taking the plunge. It was discussed in the Triumph India ownership group earlier and some users had reported sidewall flexing of the filter, that led to a lot of dust getting in. Fellow owners had suggested MWR filters instead, which are sturdier.

On the engine oil, Ive been using the same Shell Advance Ultra for the last couple of years. It is a good engine oil, given its price. But there definitely are better fully synthetics in the market. In my experience, I would say the Motul fully sythetics are a step above them for sure. They are priced higher, but perform better. I hear the Amsoil fully synthetic ones are even better and have taken the plunge and ordered it.

On the coolants, Im assuming MotoSpark did a full flush and replaced the old coolant. What coolant was the bike running earlier? The OEM Ducati coolant that came with the bike at the time of delivery?

For bar end mirrors, why not the ones that Royal Enfield sells for the 650 twins? They are really good and sturdy. I think they cost Rs 4,400 or so.

I have heard good stuff about MotoSpark, mostly from Ducati owners in Bangalore. Can you share a breakup of the Rs 21K bill? Just so that we can get an idea and see how much more the company SVCs charge us on an item to item basis. The biking community really needs more trusted and reliable third party garages and Im glad to see such high quality garages doing well in Bangalore.

Do you know what was the cause of the rear brake having to be looked at again by the other mechanic? Did the team doing the service overlook something or was there a part that had to be adjusted etc?

Overall, the bike looks amazing after the ceramic coating has been done. Neighbours envy, owners pride!
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Old 6th July 2021, 11:54   #90
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re: Mark 13 | My Pre-Worshipped Ducati Panigale 959 | EDIT: Now Sold

Hey Athek,

First of all, hope your wife has fully recovered.

Moving on, I see that Mark 13 has kept you engaged (just like a small pampered kiddo ). However, happy to know that ordeal ended with shines all around (great job on ceramic coating).

I loved the bar end mirrors but it's a pity that they are not functional. Please pay heed to what Neil had mentioned. Mirrors from different brands (and not just super bike category) may fulfil your needs.

Last but not the least, kudos to the beer friends who were with you during the exercise (literally). And I am with no_fear on the boozing part !!

Looking forward to more ride pics.
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