Chapter 888
Gentlemen…… prepare to start your engines!
We left off at that part, when the next great push, was thought to be, all that was required. However, the problems with the wiring and the fuel pump were a little more than was first thought and required another wiring loom, the third, in total! Fortunately, through my list of ever growing contacts, I uncovered a guy called Spike, who had all types of useful things including a NEW 888 SP2 wiring loom complete with all gubbins!! …..£125 latter and it was all mine. I then found out, that his email address included 888944, as he owned both, a 888 SP and a 944 monster …. Spookey or Sad…..you decide!
Dave Hewitt from Autotec Mechanics, in Canvey Island, a mechanic with a big interest in bikes and who also looks after all our company vehicles, thought that he might “Just cast an eye over the wiring” just to see if he could spot the problem ! Two weeks later and he had completely rewired the bike and got it running.
Dave phoned me on a Saturday morning, just as I am finishing my high fibre, healthy breakfast!!..... and said….”I think that I have found the problem and do you want to be here when we start it up!”… “ Nah….don’t bother, I’ll wait till Monday” skips through my head ….I am trying to act, all cool ….but all Dave, heard, was the cars’ tyres, crunching the gravel as I reversed out the drive, and it was left to Karon, to explain to Dave, that the spoon and the phone were now, both, in the CocoPops bowl and the bowl had just missed the Siamese cat as it fell from my grasp…the bowl, not the cat, and that I would probably ” be there” by now!!....me… excited!!....Nah!!
At Daves’, the bike is positioned, off to one side of his workshop, with all the wiring hanging out like a spaghetti accident, the bikes’ fuel tank is off and the 916/996 type fuel pump is submersed in a bucket of petrol….and he is lighting up a role-up!! Good to see that the Health and Safety measures are working!!
“Excited, are we?” asks Dave…..it was difficult to control my smile, the bike and I had been through all emotions during the 36 month build and now it looked like it was going to be worth it!. The bike fired up and even managed a bit of tick over before Dave said “Kill it!” and reminded me that a Laverda ECU with a TOTALLY different firing order was trying to run the bike, however, I did manage to cast a sly eye at the standard Elefant Tacho and noticed that it worked…..well, that’s one of the things they said, wouldn’t work…working!! Let’s just get onto the rest of it, then, shall we?
One thing that I have learned, is that people really try to put you off…I don’t think that they do it intentionally, I just think that, the more people, that raise doubts, the more you are likely to believe them! And the tacho/rev counter was one such issue……...so much so that I even bought a Ducati 888 tacho to use.
Dave, went through the four ECU units, that I had supplied, before he found a suitable donor and he was adamant that the right chip had to be found and the engine set up properly!
By this time, I was no longer on S and S Tuning, Xmas card list and was getting short, one word, answers to my questions….. and I thought that I was getting better at this interactive, conversation lark!
So, by mutual consent, we agreed that we were no good for each other and I wanted the Marilyn Manson CD and…. the kettle!
As always, tends to happen….people/companies, promise you, the earth, but fail to deliver…although I will state, that S and S Tuning, did exactly what they said….it was only their timeframe that was not satisfactory.
I re-contacted, Dr Desmo, now Moto Rapido, to see if they could set the 888 up on their rolling road and sure enough, they were also the dealers for UltiMap the Australian chip and fish programmers, whom, I had already decided to use after reading great things about them in the Ian Falloon book.
Steve Hilary (Dr Desmo) can be traced back to the very first phonecall from the breakers regarding the original thought of a 916 engine in 2002.
He then, went on to supply the 900 GT Malaysian imported bike and gave a clean bill of health and head check/belt change to the 888 engine bought from S and S Tuning…..so, he has had quite a lengthy introduction to this project of mine. He stated that he would be happy to carry out the set up, chip programming and dyno work…but, he pointed out that, he had moved from the old farm buildings that he used to occupy!
So armed with the new address and after re-baffling the fuel tank with race foam, we loaded the 888 onto the trailer and headed 120 miles south to Winchester. The fuel tank had been cut so many times that only one baffle plate remained, and each time we cut the tank, we cursed the internal baffle plates for making a hard job a ..total bitch.
I had found, via the web, that Kit Cars and amateur racing cars MUST have baffle foam in order to pass their safety tests …..the foam is a open cell foam…nothing like normal foam, and not dissimilar to some pot scouring pads, a block 300mm x 300mm x 300mm costs approx £35…..you cut the foam into strips with your wifes’ best, not for long, carving knife and squeeze/jam/force the foam strips through the filler cap and it sort of positions itself inside the tank………it does what it says on the packet!
It also, in the event of a tank split…. God, help us….. expands to its normal size and soaks up some of the spilt fuel…..still, it is nice to know that as I am hurtling down the road on my pert and perfectly formed ass, and praying for something soft to hit ….…. Shell’s best unleaded, is automatically being swept up behind me!
So, I pull up at the new address, and ……JESUS…….it is a new glass and steel structure…. dripping with new Ducati’s and not a single sight of a farm, tractors or cows……and the only thing that looks a bit like an animal is me and the 888 fant……the looks we got!!....
Even the “hours of business” sign, hanging on the door, was in carbon fibre!!!
The 888 bike and me were definitely the POOR RELATIONS ….I was standing there waiting to be served, when the woman in front, with all of the latest fashion items gathered in one place, very posh.... read... very wealthy, starts taking a photo of a new BLACK 999… and informing the salesman, that the photo of the 999 will be "on the birthday card for my husband”…… as she gives it to him tomorrow!! ….then he can come here and collect his present!!……
I thought that I only whispered…”fuch me”
I think, she heard !!……it turned, and looked me up and down…and threw a look, that dismissed me as if I had just tried to mount her!! …JESUS….what is the friggin’ world coming to! All I am doing is trying to finish a bike, not trying to guide her into white slavery and sell her children!!.....
Steve Hilary saw the potential of a lost sale and guided me to the "mechanics area" where we could “talk” about my “project”
The new workshops and sales offices of Moto Rapido, were as far removed from the old farm out-buildings of Dr Desmo, as could possibly be…..there’s nothing wrong with that…. but, Ducati are carving out a whole new market place… and it is a market place, where people like me……. do not hang around and smoke smelly French fags…..if you get, my drift!
It is getting TOO much like the false beard/shades and FATBOY Harley types….man!!!!
With the bike safely, left in their, more than capable hands, I set off for the drive home and final preparations before the 2005 International Elefant Slovenian trip. I had decided to return the 944 beakfant to standard 900 spec…..well….there is nothing like doing major engine modifications just prior to a major trip!!
I had been toying with another idea/project ………and although I hate doing so …I simply, was not prepared to start any new project until the 888 one, was put to bed…so to speak.
However, a chance telephone conversation in May, had me thinking….and what with, the 888 project, now so nearly finished….and what else was I going to do?….and….wellllll
!
A guy in Hayling Island, on the south coast, had imported a badly smashed Ducati ST2 of 2001, 1430 miles, USA spec, and was stuck as to what to do with it . Should he build a super motard!! should he build a chopper or should he realise ....that it is all just "pub-dreams" and offer it to me??………£450 pounds and my 944 fully sorted, big bore kit later and the ST2 bike was mine………hence the 944cc to 900cc retrograde fitment prior to Slovenia! The deal was done, but I was not picking it up until after Slovenia and after the 888 was back home.
Slovenia was great……the people were lovely, the weather was hot, the beer was cheap, the country was superb. the 900/944 beakfant performed perfectly, getting me there the,1964 kms and then back, the 1073 kms…..do not ask!!... GPS my arse!!
Once home, arrangements were made to collect the 888 and the smashed ST2 …..well… the ST2 was approx 50 miles away from the Moto Rapido workshop in Winchester.
I had phoned ahead, to make sure that all was okay....
“Which model is yours, Sir?”
“The Treble 8 Cagiva Elefant!!”… came, my proud, reply…..
”Oh…the noisy, trailie…thing!”
…hmmm “don’t say a word…and don’t swear”….I mentally said, to myself……..well……… I least I know that it runs!!
I managed to pick up the bike without bumping into Sam and Samantha the Surrey twin-set couple, and we even tested the 888 up the side of the building….bet they don’t do that with a 999!!! Although Samantha looked like she would mind a fettling! In fact, Sam probably would as well, but only if Samamtha didn't know about it, and after a few lagers!!
Loaded up, we head for home, where all the body work had been stored in blankets and sheets, just waiting for the final build!
Tony, absolutely refused to spray the bike PINK …and demanded that I gave a more “serious attitude” to the “whole colour thing”……this is the problem with dealing with “artists”… they all want a say!!
I actually thought that PINK would be quite good in a non conformist kind of way.
However, no amount of trying to convince him otherwise, worked, he just point blank refused to spray it PINK, so another colour had to be found…..we went through …….BLACK….nice, but plain,….. TITANIUM….really nice but can look flat, …..WHITE……..too similar to the 944 beakfant and not quite LOUD enough………ORANGE………..superb, but too KTM……...RED…..too Ducati and EVERY Ducati is RED…so, the search went on…..and on….and on. And every time we met ……I used to whisper …..pink…. just to see his reaction!
Then, whilst trawling the web based auction sites for an unusual registration number….by bid is accepted on …. F 888 POW…..£65 later and I own the registration documents and the chassis number to the 888 registration, which just happened to belong to a dis-mantled KAWASAKI ZZR 1100….. well ... that has answered the problem re: the colour …… .GREEN….. Kawasaki… mean green…that should set the pulse racing!
“Are you sure about this colour?” asks Tony, over the phone from his workshop “It is ever sooooo bright!” …….I tell him to be brave and just paint the thing. There is nothing like making a decision when you can not see what you are deciding on!
Two weeks later the paintwork, arrives……..well actually I thought that the clouds over Canvey were changing colour! Blinkin’ 'eck……… the cat had just ran for shade…that is VERY bright indeed….still…..can’t complain…well, not too much!!
Tony did a great job of filling, moulding and spraying the body panels, and I strongly recommend that you consider using him as he is really good and knows how to paint the flexible bodywork of the elefants. He even does PAYPAL !
The decals had been chosen, after I saw an early Diesel 888 Superbike and I used a bit of artistic licence……
was going to make it : “Only the Stupid”… as I, kind of guess, that this is what was needed, to start this nightmare of a project….. however I settled on the original tag line of : ”Only the Brave” set against the Mohican head…
However....... the sign maker got all the dimensions wrong and none of the signage fits!!!!...........................bugger.
Why can't people, just, say.... "I cant do it!!" and stop messing everyone else off!! .
The tank, fairing and tail names are all taken from the 1993 Ducati 888 superbike and redesigned into same text and font style only to read Cagiva 888 superelefant.
Well, that is it…….36 months after the first purchase.......
The bike starts on the button…..runs….ticks over …basically does all the basic things that a bike should do.
All that is left , is the final fettling and no doubt months of finishing off……….
the rear plastic light panel has to be streeeeetttched and filled......and the BEAK.....not everyones favourite!! but then...neither am I !!
BUT…I have shown that, it can be done…..the original criteria, to build, what I thought, the Cagiva Factory SHOULD have built, given their 851/888 Superbike dominance via Ducati and the Rallye experience with the world beating Paris-Dakar.. Lucky Explorers….a....SUPER ELEFANT, imagine, a 4 valve elefant in…1993…… a good 10 years before the KTM 950!!! The rest, as they say….. “would be history!!”
The main criteria of making the 888 engined project bike, look like part of the elefant family, has, I believe, been achieved ......even the bash plate and engine are look as if they were designed to be there!
.
.
Chapter Index
Warning: Division by zero in /home/companyt/public_html/gavin944888/updatemysite/inc/functions.inc.php on line 259
Warning: Division by zero in /home/companyt/public_html/gavin944888/updatemysite/inc/functions.inc.php on line 259
Warning: Division by zero in /home/companyt/public_html/gavin944888/updatemysite/inc/functions.inc.php on line 259
Warning: Division by zero in /home/companyt/public_html/gavin944888/updatemysite/inc/functions.inc.php on line 259
Warning: Division by zero in /home/companyt/public_html/gavin944888/updatemysite/inc/functions.inc.php on line 259
Warning: Division by zero in /home/companyt/public_html/gavin944888/updatemysite/inc/functions.inc.php on line 259
Warning: Division by zero in /home/companyt/public_html/gavin944888/updatemysite/inc/functions.inc.php on line 259
Warning: Division by zero in /home/companyt/public_html/gavin944888/updatemysite/inc/functions.inc.php on line 259
Home | 944 Conversion | 955 Conversion | Elefant Graveyard (Spares) | 888 Conversion | CHR Azzalin