Were up all night working on the new revisions for the MH big tank with battery inset. So Tuesday will get a late start. ;-) Check the excellent MH900e Owner's Club for sneak peek pics! Link:  http://ducatiowners.com/discus/messages/279/2599.html

Apologies for the lack of updates recently. We've been at the grindstone getting caught up with demand these past few weeks.

We got some feedback from one of our customers:
Hi Chris,

Just wanted to let you know what you already know about the quality of your tank.

I just dropped off my MHe and "Touring Tank" to my local dealer. In my opinion, they have one of Ducati USA's better techs. A couple of months ago I told him about
the extended tank you were building and I could tell he was a little bit skeptical.

Well, after just giving him the tank, he kept turning it over, looking at the outlets, etc., and he's blown away by the quality. He said, "Man, this is better than stock! This is beautiful!"

Ciao,
Samuel

Also, it is imperative that the spacers Ducati supplies with the OEM fuel tanks are used with the 5.1 gallon tank. These prevent the tank from being deformed by the aluminum plate for the fuel pump.

After pulling an "all nighter", we shipped out nearly all of the first batch of the 5.1 gallon MH900e endurance tank kits. We'll be getting in another batch next week. Now that product is shipping, we have added the part to our online catalog and are putting together a webpage for the tank, too.

We got in the final rev of the MH fuel tank and everything about it is great, so after riding with it Saturday, we confirmed the PO for the first batch, which we will pick up this Friday! Of course, now the printer claims they never received our check for the manuals but could have let us know a week ago.

MH900e fuel tank news: we are working to improve the area where the fuel pump base plate meets the tank and are awaiting another revision of the tank to arrive. At issue was how the original tank uses a non-traditional mating surface. With a slight change, we will mimick how an o-ring works and use a rounded sealing surface instead of a triangular one. This should improve longevity of the gasket as well, since we have already seen gaskets cut and damaged by the sharp OEM-style triangular seal.

To give everyone something to look at, we put up some pictures from the track day we attended in June. At this track day, we got 102 miles on the track before the fuel light came on. 102 miles of WOT high speed fun...
( Click for pictures of MH with black wheels and bodywork )

We spent the weekend cleaning up and organizing the shop. We're hoping to soon list the random parts we have accumulated in our catalog.

MH Tank news:
We're very glad to have some more testing of our tank with the fuel pump in the forward position. Our San Diego tester wrote:

I completed the "running out of gas tour" this morning. It started last weekend with a 153 miles ride…no gas stops! Much of that was at a spirited pace. ;-) This was done using the revised version of the California Cycleworks tank with the pump in the front. No modifications to wiring or hoses required. The results:

* 141 miles until the fuel light came on
* 182 miles until the bike started to stutter (I then went about another 2 miles to a gas station)
* 4.975 gallons of gas taken

Since the rated capacity is 5.1 gallons, that is excellent. Using the averge fuel mileage over the entire 184 miles (37 mpg) I estimated there was almost 1.2 gallons left when the fuel light came on.

Regards,
-Steve

What's next with the MH Tank:
The design needs 3 tweaks to start production. We'll remove all apects of the rear location of the fuel pump from the tank, make an adjustment to the forward fuel pump location, and include identifying marks to the mold.

We have the newly revised MH900e fuel tank in two MH900es for testing this weekend. One bike will ride on the road for a "full to pushing" type of test, while another MH900e goes to a Track Day on Monday.

Today, we had a photo shoot for the instructions we'll be making for the fuel tank kit. In other news, we are going to investigate moving the "pickup" from the back of the tank to the lowest part of the tank (in the front). If this gets us more usable volume that's great, but it'll have the side benefit of also making the installation easier, too!

Our tester checked in via blackberry:

> From: S
> Sent: Sun May 14 10:33:40 2006
> Subject: Tank Report
>
> I am at about 70 miles and stopped for breakfast at Twin Lakes
> (Potrero.) I opened the tank. Lots of air rushed in. Soon heading
> into uncharted territory. :-).


> From: S
> Sent: Sun May 14 11:41:56 2006
> Subject: Re: Tank Report
>
> I am on Mt Laguna. Fuel light came on at about 120 miles. Can see a
> small amount of fuel straight below the gas cap which means the
> front sump is full.


> From: S
> Sent: Sun May 14 13:44:22 2006
> Subject: Re: Tank Report
>
> It started to run out of gas at about the 145 mi mark (exiting I-8
> westbound at Japatul - had come down Mt Laguna and got on the freeway
> there) it never died and was back to normal as I was rolling ramp and
> then ran out at about 12 miles later on Skyline Truck Trail. Got the
> footpeg push to a gas station where it took 4.4 gallons. I could hear
> gas sloshing...presumably in the front sump.


So it looks like where we stand right now we've got 4.4 gallons usable which he got 145 miles out of. Not bad -- doubled capacity!

Next step is to talk with the manufacturer about revising the design to improve slosh-back some. :) The beauty of this process is that changes are relatively easy to make and can happen very quickly.

We got MH900e #1636 back from the R&D facility in LA but due to this past weekend's events (Pizza Tech on Sat, travelling to WSIR Sunday, and track day Monday), we didn't have time to take any pictures. Really, there is not much to see with the 5 gallon tank installed on the MH900e.

Click on images to view in gallery. Click again for full size, 1600x1200.

	Installed on #1636, right rear angle First of a pair of images showing there is nothing to see of the new tank when installed.
	Side view of new 5gal tank installed on #1636 Here again, nothing to see here. Once installed, the only thing special to see is a hint of the K&N air filter. And you will see the trip meter being able to go past 90 miles.

Great news from the fuel tank manufacturer! ( Click for news and pictures! )

Hi Everyone, Sorry updates have not been abundant in the past couple weeks. We've been crushed with handling lots of small details.

We are pleased to announce a kit to allow 5 gallons of fuel capacity for the MH900e. The kit will include the tank, K&N pod filters, and metal quick disconnect fuel couplings and will require the elimination of the airbox. It appears we will be able to meet our target price of $799.

As president of California Cycleworks, I apologize for the long delay in the completion of this project. Recent expansion of industry contacts have enabled me to bring this exciting project to completion! If you wrote to John Clelland years ago wanting a larger fuel tank, please send another e-mail to:
mh_tank@ca-cycleworks.com Dealer inquiries welcome.

Our exhaust systems are complemented by the addition of Remus! Remus was chosen by Ducati Performance for their exceptional quality. And that's now available to you via California Cycleworks!

We've added Speedymoto to our catalog and even have some of their offerings on sale. Check out the Engine parts and covers catalog page for details. We'll be updating our catalog with more Speedymoto parts soon!

You'll also notice our Cycle Cat listings got a long overdue update. I think we were about a year behind in their listings! We've got all their latest products and color choices added to our catalog. And don't forget: anyone that is a confirmed dues paying member of a Ducati Club can get 15% off any Cycle Cat order over $200! Sorry, doesn't apply to their rear stands If our 15% off sale isn't listed on your Club's website, be sure to get them to contact California Cycleworks to get added!

Thanks!
Chris
--
Chris Kelley
President
California Cycleworks, Inc
www.ca-cycleworks.com