Thunder Tiger Electric Ducati 999.   READY-TO-RUN

Thunder Tiger was released in early 2004 and comes as RTR or Ready to Run. The bike runs really good straight from the box , but the tires need to be replaced for a set of slick gp tires. You might also consider purchasing some additional battery packs. This is a great beginner bike and is highly suggested if your considering going into R/C motorcycles. If you can learn how to drive one of these then in the future if you decide to upgrade (?) to a nitro bike then you can spend more time tuning the nitro bike and less learning to drive one.

As you notice the images above there are wires on both the left and right hand side. These wires are used to protect the body from scratches and also makes it easy to up-right the bike while using. Two tips: Don't remove the wires and run the bike because if the bike goes down their are two plastic clips on each side of the bike, which can be grounded off instantly. So the wires are needed until you can manage to upgrade some of the parts to metal. Also, be very careful when removing the wires which are held in place by hex screws. They can fall out and get lost really fast as I have leaned.

The Ducati's battery pack is mounted on the underside of the bike. When you first get the bike the battery is held in with rubber bands, which break after a few uses. If you can make the switch to zip ties which hold the battery in place better and are much stronger. Most hardware stores sell a container of zipties in difference sizes for just a few bucks.

You might also consider purchasing a steering dampener from one of the hop-up part sites available online. The Ducati can and sometimes does suffer from a head-shake problem for several reasons, which still continues to puzzle me. Most of the bikes come with steering dampeners in the kits and they do work.

Want to make your riders head move? Eric from rcgroups has come up with a mod to make your riders head rotate as the bike moves.

( Click the link for AVI Video Clip ) TT Rider with modified head, which moves when bike tilts. Video from Eric; File Size 6,907 KB

General:

Thunder Tiger electric ducati is a great beginner’s bike and handles very  

well, out of the box. Plug the charger into the wall, hook up the battery

and your ready to go. Approximate time to charge the battery is about 7

hours so watch some t.v. or take a nap. Run time is about 15-20 minutes

and for the stock 1500 battery this is pretty good. The battery charger will

automatically shut off when finished charging and the Indicator lite will be

off. After charging all you will need is some double AA batteries for the

controller and your ready to run.

Handling: 

Typically, when the bike is moving, the forward momentum keeps it up-right.

When you are getting ready for a turn you should slow down, which will help

make the turn sharper. Turning the wheel to the right will make the bike go

left and the same goes for the other direction. It can take a few times around

the track to get the hang of, but give it time and you will eventually get it.

The front fork rake can also be adjusted, but there is also a fine line between

how much rake and ride ability. You need to play around with this and find out

what works best for you. The more rake the shaper the turn, but less stability the

bike will have.

Eventaully, you may pickup a front end wobble, which can be almost anything. Front

fork screw comes out, inner shock seal busted, new tire out of alignment. This leads

to a testing and run situation to narrow down and isolate the problem. Personally,

I've tried endlessly working on my Ducati to stop the front end wobble, which occurs

during hard cornering.

Motor: 

The Ducati engine is a stock type general engine and is not the fastest thing in the

world. When your skills have improved enough, then you might consider upgrading to a

brush-less engine, which seems to be the rave these days. If I had to guess how fast

the bike is with the stock engine, approx 20 – 25 mph.

Also, a kit upgrade is available if you wish to go Nitro. I’m sorry, but I don’t know

much about the kit, how it works, or how it installs, but I do know there is one? My

first choice would probably lead me to buying a Nitro bike, then to spend the money on

an upgrade. Don’t know much about the upgrade so you might ask around for your own

personal choice?

Tires:

The Ducati comes with stock tires, which unfortunately stink. The front tire is very

narrow and does help with turning left and right, but the traction is horrible. So if

you decide to purchase anything, definitely invest in a set of GP slicks. A good

combination for the front and rear would be 20 for the front and on 30 the rear.

I’ve tried the 10’s and they are just a tad on the soft side and require you to

remove the front fender, just to make the tire fit.