I’ve had a few false-neutrals now at the track during braking, and that’s not cool. I’ve missed the corner and run off track once, but thankfully only onto more tarmac. Apparently it’s a known issue with Ducati Panigale V2’s - the gear shift output shaft is not as supported as it could be, introducing a bit of flex which can cause a less than solid feel at the foot, causing the not quite solid transition to the next gear, but into neutral instead.
Racetorx make a output shaft support that seems to be pretty popular in racing. It costs about £100 and I’ve just fitted it and will take it for a test ride tomorrow, but it feels pretty solid from the static tests I performed.
It was a bit fiddly to fit, but only because there’s no instructions, just a single small photo and I made a mistake with the alignment, and had trouble removing it to re-align it. Once re-aligned, it was perfectly fine.
Not having a lot of fun at this point as I realise a part is out of alignment and I have difficulty getting the support back off, and yes, hammers were involved, but nothing was damaged, and in the end they weren’t needed, just needed to find the right technique.
I tried to use the claw to pull out a make-shift bolt and washer that I’d screwed in to the item to try and remove it, but it turns out I didn’t need to. Worked that out after 20 mins of huffing and puffing
A fella called out a mobile mechanic because his car wouldn’t start. After lifting the bonnet and turning the key the mechanic took out a hammer and hit the engine with it. At the next turn of the key the engine fired up as good as ever. "The mechanic asks for payment of £180 for roadside assist, to which the motorist replies I’m not paying you £180 for hitting my engine with a hammer, the mechanic explains the £180 is for knowing where and how to hit the engine with a hammer.
There is a similar anecdote attributed to Picasso. Someone recognised him in a restaurant and asked him to do a sketch. Picasso complied and did a 2 second squiggle on his napkin and handed it over asking for some enormous sum of money.
‘I’m not paying that much’, the would-be client moaned, ‘you only spent two seconds on it’.
‘No’, Picasso replied, ‘I spent my whole life on it’.
