The Ducati 999R from Thunder Tiger is one of the best R/C motorcycles out there. Granted, the R/C motorcycle field is pretty small (Nova Faor, Thunder Tiger, and a really great R/C dirt bike from Radio Shack) but even so, the Ducati 999R stands out.

If you are looking for maximum realism, there’s only one way to go – nitro. I don’t know why, but an electric motorcycle seems to loose more in the realism department than an electric car or truck. To see why this bike is so amazing, just check out some of the photos below.

Check out these shots with the body off.

So what is it about the Ducati 999R that sets it apart?  Two things.

First, it comes ready to run.  Just about everything you need to get started is included.  Second, the bike’s construction is top notch. Everything (but the body mounts) is made from high grade aluminum or steel. There are very few items that you’ll need to upgrade to make the bike bulletproof. That said, read on below to see what you can do to make your bike all it can be.

1.   Replace the body mounts: The stock mounts are plastic and will break upon your first crash.  Replacing them with metal ones (steel, aluminum, titanium) will save you grief and make your bike look better.

2.   Move the remote glow plug: Thunder Tiger had it right when they thought of using a remote glow plug.  Attaching a glow plug driver to the glow plug is nearly impossible.  The only problem is the place they installed it requires that you remove the rider. The answer is to move the remote plug to a place that is more accessible.  There is a hole above the motor’s one way bearing that I found to be optimal.  The hole needs to be drilled out slightly to accept the remote glow plug.

3.   Install a fuel filler valve: Thunder Tiger thoughtfully designed the bike’s fuel cell so it can be filled remotely.  The only problem is their solution is prone to air leaks. Any loss of fuel pressure will cause the bike to become fuel starved and stall.  This is more of an issue with nitro bikes because unlike nitro cars or trucks, the fuel cell is mounted below the carburetor.  I solved this problem by installing a Dubro Kwik-Fill Fuel Valve.  It cost only $12 and it works great.  I mounted it on the opposite side of the bike from where I mounted the remote glow plug.  There’s a hole already there, but it will need to be made larger.

4.   Add a front brake: Thunder Tiger sells an optional front brake unit for the TTN Ducati.  Given the bike’s speed, I highly recommend it.  For an added touch of realism, consider drilling cooling holes into the rotor (use the plastic rotor as a guide).

5.   Upgrade the servos: Many people have reported their servos failing after only a few runs.  Therefore, this is something you may want to consider upgrading.  I had a couple of Traxxas high torque servos lying around (model 2055) and they work really well.  Plus, they’re cheap.

6.   Upgrade your battery pack: TT thoughtfully includes a rechargeable NiCd battery pack.  The downsides are its only 4.8 volts (4 cells at 1.2 volts each) and the cells are 700 mAh. I recommend you build your own pack using 5 AAA NiMH cells.  Using 5 cells will give you a 1.2 volt power boost which will make your servos faster and have more torque.  Additionally, I found 1,000 mAh cells which provides 43% more run time than the stock pack. Making a battery pack is easy. Click here to see how.

7.   Polish the muffler: OK, this is only for show. The stock muffler on the TTN D  is very attractive.  However, it’s a knock-out when its polished.  If you choose to do this, follow these simple steps. First go over the muffler with a wire wheel. Next, wet sand with 400 grit sandpaper, then 800, then 2000. Lastly, buff the muffler with polishing compound.  Make no mistake, this will take you a long time to do but the results are worth it.  You may want to pick up a second muffler to use when you run your bike and keep your polished one for show. Being aluminum, it will scratch very easily.  Note, you may be tempted to enlarge the muffler’s exhaust holes.  If you do, be careful.  The TTN D requires lot’s of fuel pressure and the more you open up the muffler the less pressure you’ll have for your fuel. Open it up too much and you’ll end up running lean and damage your engine.

8.   Put ‘wear guards’ on your side guards: You’ll find that your side guards will wear down pretty quickly and need to be replaced.  Instead, put something on them that will take the wear in their place. 

9.   Replace the stock rear mono-shock: I found the stock shock to be a little oversprung for my taste. Having a Traxxas Revo, I noticed that the shocks were the same size. So, I took a shock off my Revo to try it out.  Not only is the Revo shock superior to the TT one, you have the option of using many different springs of varying firmness.  I found the silver spring works the best. However, I recommend you remove one coil  from the spring.

This will allow your bike to sag about 1/3 of the way down when you stand it upright.

10.  Drain spent fuel from your exhaust system: OK, this is more of a maintenance than a hop-up. However, consider the fact that the TTN whole exhaust system is above the motor and that the muffler does an excellent job of capturing spent fuel and you’ll see this is a recipe for disaster.

Spent fuel will accumulate in your bike’s exhaust system and then drain back down into the motor.  You’ll end up with a cylinder head and crank case that’s full of goo. Not only will this impact your motor’s performance, it can also damage it. Solving this problem is easy. Simply remove your muffler after your last run and clean it out with denatured alcohol, nitro motor spray, or soapy water.  While you’re doing this, stand your bike up on it’s tail to let the spent fuel drain out of your exhaust manifold & motor.

Video: To see a video of a Thunder Tiger Nitro Ducati in action, click here.  This is a 6 Mb file and may take some time to download.  You’ll need the DivX player to view this file. Click here to download the free version.

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