ride height adjustment on s4?

[davezoo999]

Hi guys and gals
has anyone messed about with the rear ride height on their s4,do you need new tie bars?the front of my bike feels very vague when ridden hard and thought more weight over the front might help,any suggestions?

[PaulS]

I would like to but you don't seem to be able to get a spanner on the lower rose joint lock nut so although in theory the ride height is adjustable, in practice it's a bit difficult to achieve. I asked the same question myself a while back and the only person (that replied) who had adjusted theirs had dropped the swinging arm off the lower shock and tie rod mount so they could get at the lock nut - seems like another piece of wonderful design from Ducati.

[OgriUK]

bizarre this i did mine yesterday..same as you found i couldnt undo the bottom lock nut so tightened the top of the ride height bar quarter of a turn down to move the bottom lock nut fractionally, then slackened off the top lock nut all the way, then wound down the top of the tie bar(it released itself from the bottom because of the opposite thread) until about 7mm of thread was showing top and bottom then nipped up the lock nuts(bottom lock nut now accesible because higher up..went 60 odd miles last night to see gf and it was loads better, more comfy too(im 6'2" and found it a bit "easy rider" before..)wished id done it when i bought it feels like a different bike, only down side i cant park it as close to the wall in me garage as i did before because it leans over waaay more than it did..highly recommend doing it.. :)

[davezoo999]

thanks ill give it a go tomorrow,Dave.

[OgriUK]

forgot to say also wound shock down8mm in case altering the ride height had softened it(im a brickie know bugger all about suspension :D ), and took an allen key out with me last night to alter headlight as it was pointing to the floor about two foot in front of me.. ;)

[Flip]

It seems all the Monsters are a little 'laid back' in their attitude as it made a huge difference to the handling on my old 900 (with the easy to get to 'U' hoop suspension) when I raised it's back end.

I only had my S4 a short while and to be honest never pushed it enough to find out whether it too would have benefitted from the same treatment.

Raising the rear wouldn't have had any other effects like softening the perload though but it may make it a little more lively down a bumpy road (even more so if the shock is set too hard for the rider's weight).

[OgriUK]

:)
in that case i'll try it where it was, its bloody bumpy where i live.. ;)

[Flip]

If you can get a mate to help, as a guide left the bike up at the back until the rear suspension is totally unloaded and measure from the floor to a fixed point on the frame then lower the bike and measure again, you want the difference to be about 20mm between the two (as a starting point for solo use)

[OgriUK]

right..thanks mate :)
is that just for monsters or as a general rule for bikes?

[davezoo999]

Thats a general base setting for all bikes i think.

[andy pea]

Hi guys and gals
has anyone messed about with the rear ride height on their s4,do you need new tie bars?the front of my bike feels very vague when ridden hard and thought more weight over the front might help,any suggestions?

Hi Davezoo,

My s4 is wound up pretty high at the back, (very tippy-toe for a short @rse such as me and leans a lot on the side stand!), but steers much quicker than the one I test rode (on which my feet were flat on the floor!)... I'm still a cr@p rider tho' :o

Andy :burnout: