Lobbying – England blows hot and cold with bikers –

Posted on by admin

Frankenberger Ducati Desmo-Demon 900 in the test

Limited edition race bike

Content of

Air, earth, fire and water are the elements of the universe. To be happy with the motorcycle, you can safely leave out the water, as Frankenberger’s Ducati Desmo-Demon 900 proves.

D.he idea is ancient, correspondingly simple and therefore very good. It reads: leave out the unnecessary and concentrate on the essentials. Smart summed up this wisdom of the Stone Age racing with the slogan “Reduce to the max”. Anyone who does not want to ride MotoGP and is guided by this motto can put such fascinating bikes on their bikes as Thomas Frankenberger from Moto-Officina (www.moto-officina.de) near Wurzburg. Over the past few years he has built a classic air-cooled racer for his son Fabio, which only has what needs to be on it.

The burner is based on a “Desmo Demon” kit from Ducati Kamna. The basic structure in the truest sense of the word is a Ducati 999 frame, whose rear frame mounts are welded around. The filigree aluminum supports, which are screwed on instead of the original rear, support the self-supporting frame rear made of GRP, which is a seat, exhaust bracket and rear section in one. The kit also includes the perfectly welded 12-liter aluminum tank located centrally behind and under the steering head. Only the filler neck and a lot of air are hidden under the actual tank hood. The chassis itself is rounded off by an Ohlins FG43 fork and a spring strut from a 999 R, which also donated the swing arm.

Coarse dirt grille to prevent dogs, cats and other animals from sucking in.

The rocket is fired by a venerable 900 twin from an SS 900. Thanks to injection and 45 millimeter intake ports as well as some fine-tuning, the twin delivers 85 hp and 90 Newton meters. The racer is well equipped with this, but a big bore version with 1078 cubic meters is already on Frankenberger’s workbench and is to be implanted for the 2013 season. As a rule, these motors have around 115 hp and lift 100 Newton meters.

It is easy to explain why the "tame" engine was first used. Papa Thomas did not want to overwhelm Fabio, who was only 13 when he first met the Demon and who had been riding the 34 HP Junior Cup bikes with a 600 or over 100 HP twin. When switching to the Devil, which weighs just under 150 kilograms, Fabio should be able to fully concentrate on driving the big motorcycle. Which was also successful, because in the “Supertwins with two valves” carried out by Art Motor, Fabio was able to assert himself in the midfield right from the start.

The original rear frame mountings are gone, new brackets have been welded on for the aluminum bracket of the rear.

The lightweight forged magnesium wheels from Marchesini and the 19 mm radial Brembo hand brake pump certainly helped him. The retrofitted anti-hopping clutch, which makes life in the braking zone easier for those switching from the two-stroke to the four-stroke engine, also contributed to the good placements. It remains to be seen where the big engine will go this year.

The only thing that is certain is that water cooling, 200 hp and electronic helpers have their appeal, but are superfluous. At least if you as a hobby racer and connoisseur also have individuality in focus. And that is always and everywhere with a Desmo-Demon. Because even if two demons meet on the track, none is like the other. They just work on the same principle: leaving out what is unnecessary. And that also includes water cooling.

Super athlete

Top test Ducati 1199 Panigale

The strongest production two-cylinder in the test

read more

Related articles

Related articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *