Well, I have had an adventerous first couple of days as a new Duc owner. You might say my ownership experience started out with a "bang"...
I took the scenic route on the way home from Kie's shop, planning on putting at least 100-150 miles on it just to get the feel of it. I almost made it home... before the battery died. When it did, the ignition started cutting out. Unfortunately, it also turned back on, right about the time the mufflers were chock full of unburnt fuel. Talk about the backfire from hell; I could see the flash in my rear view mirrors in the twilight. Pretty darn impressive, actually. Except for the fact that it exploded the left muffler, a now unobtanium Termi carbon fiber unit.
I was well and truly bummed. These just aren't made anymore. One day into ownership, and I was already trying to source NLA Ducati aftermarket stuff. So, having no idea where to look, I emailed Kie late that night. By morning he was all over it, tapping the resources he had to scare up something I could use. By late afternoon he had a pair of carbon fiber Termis waiting in his shop for me. Astounding. Amazing. Couldn't believe it.
Turns out they were slip-ons for a stock system, with smaller inlet pipes, a different end cap, and meant for a low mount in the stock location. But the cans were identical... So, in about an hour with a 3/16" drill and a pop rivit gun, I had successfully swapped the hardware (inlet pipe, perforated pipe, and end cap) from my shredded muffler to the can stripped from the new one.
Less than 24 hours from doom and gloom, woe is me, to back on the road. With a pretty rare piece of Italian hardware that is supposed to be "unobtanium". Wow. I just can't say enough about Kie, and just how far out of his way he went to make this happen. Thanks, Kie. And any of you Pacific Northwesterners that may be on the hunt for some special, unusual bike, you owe it to youself to get ahold of Kie at Red Label Moto.