Time is rapidly approaching the final testing and assembly on the Turbo Ducati. The riders wanted a repositioning of the controls to better suit them (not me) so off we go. We have moved the footpegs, Sam Wills sent up handlebars he made to move the grips forward. The original bars are visible to the left of the current setup. We changed the rear wheel over to the newer Bridgestone tire. We then moved the rear brake actuation to the right side of the handlebars. This was necessitated by the movement of the footpegs and no room being left for the rear brake pedal and master cylinder that wasn’t directly in the way and ran the risk of inadvertently resting your foot on the pedal and smoking out the rear brakes. Going back to the original exhaust pipe was done to reduce back pressure and add top end power, but moving the pegs back puts a person in a potentially warm spot with his left leg. Another thing to check. The new belly pan and reworking the tail section in addition to the repositioning has added well over 80 hours of work, much of which was unanticipated. This has pushed the injected bike back and just added more demands to an already pressed crew. 
One of the traditions is the Sunday morning ride. This is when the beast is unleashed. I ride it on the same test ride route we ride all the customer bikes to test the systems and instrumentation. It is a very tight route and made even more so by a 94 inch wheelbase and restricted turning angles. You have to start on the far left side of a two-lane street and the will usually put you left of center on a perpendicular turn, hence the 6 am Sunday ride. It is a good opportunity to verify things work. Now remember, first gear is good for 110 to 124 mph and the front brake has been removed to allow the rear operation from the handlebar. Here is the bike poised and ready for the test.
There are a couple of new systems to check, a shift light that comes on at 8,800 rpm and a GPS speedometer to help with the licensing of the riders. I didn’t need to worry about that once I got my “A” license, but if you are going too fast through the control segment on a licensing pass it doesn’t count. In this case, everyone who is signed up to ride this bike needs to license up as far as they are comfortable and Sam Wills needs to get his “A” license (200 – 249 mph) to achieve his goal of a 200 mph timeslip from Bonneville. He has a C license that needs to be upgraded in steps. I would be proud and satisfied if we came away with 2 or more “A” licenses on this bike and a 221 mph run.
Well, back to work and then to rest up tonight for the fun tomorrow.
Cheers!
Bill
The Bonneville Project 