[Luddite]

Part 1: Fuelling and exhaust

Okay, hands up any of us who have made performance enhancing mods to our monsters. Mmm, quite a few.

Now hands up if you've made a performance reducing mod. Not so many I think.

So, at the risk of being called a heretic and being banished from UKMOC, I must confess to doing something to my Evo that reduces performance (in theory!) BUT (in my opinion) makes the bike much nicer to ride. More of that later.

I think most Evo owners would agree that, while it's a great machine, there is one area that could do with some improvement, and that's low speed running.

In standard trim, trying to hold a steady 30 mph results in hunting and surging accompanied by chain slap from the transmission. Constant feathering of the clutch is needed to make smooth progress. "Not a problem", you may say. "Just use more revs or buy a 696 instead." Both valid solutions but, having owned earlier monsters, I knew the Evo could be made to run smoother low down.

With two great 539cc cylinders thumping up and down, it's never going to be as smooth as a CBR600 but considerable improvements are possible.

The first thing to consider is the cause of the rough running. There are two main culprits:

• Emissions/noise regulations
• Engine tune.

Emissions regulations we can blame on Brussels and there are a number of areas all contributing to the problem.

Problem no. 1: like most Ducatis, it's overgeared in order to help pass noise tests. Standard gearing is 15/39.

Solution: Easy - just change the final drive ratio. Either a 14 tooth front sprocket (cheap and quick), or a 42 tooth rear sprocket and 106 link chain (much more expensive but a better technical solution).

Result: I used a 14 tooth sprocket with no problems. Admittedly, all this does is move the rough running problem to a slightly different road speed but it definitely makes town riding easier.

Problem no. 2: Noise regs. again, which is the reason for the butterfly valve in the exhaust link pipe. This is open at tickover, (which is why stock cans still sound good), and again at about 4,500 - 5,000 rpm. Between those engine speeds, the valve closes to get the bike through noise testing. The problem is, at town speeds, the valve is constantly opening and closing, causing inconsistent gas flow and, consequently, rough running.

Solution: Disable/remove the valve either using a defeat device like the duc.ee or switching it off at the ECU. A full remap will do this or the Ducati Performance Termi ECU runs without the valve.

Result: I fitted the DP stainless Termis and ECU (96450111B). This disabled the butterfly valve and resulted in a marked improvement in low speed running with noticeably less hunting and surging. Cont.