Suspension help

[rac3r]

I know most go for the whole front end upgrade but I don't think I need that as I probably won't notice the difference (not a great rider and don't ride that hard :D). At the moment I find the suspension is fine but a little too soft on the front. I won't be doing trackdays and don't have £$£$ to spend so what do I need?

Can it be set up or do I need to buy new fork springs? (I weigh about 9 stone if that helps)

[Saint aka ML]

I would go for new springs made for your weight in leathers.

Wilbers springs are about £100 delivered plus oil. If you want someone to change it for you then labour as well.

Check ducatisti for wilbers thread that is now going. Unless you go for fully adjustable or ohlins that is the best cheap mod as for most they are near perfect out of box.

[utopia]

I'm surprised that you find the front end soft.
If you only weigh 9 stone, I would have thought you're somewhat below the average weight of rider for which the suspension is designed, and therefore would be more likely to find the suspension a little on the hard side.
I don't speak from much experience, but it was my assumption that monsters were generally considered to be a little on the firm side, if anything.
It might be worth putting a cable tie around the fork leg to see how much of the travel you're actually using, before deciding on any changes. It would also be worthwhile checking the static sag, so you have some actual figures to work with before you start.
I'm certainly no suspension expert, and I'm not sure what, if any, adjustment your forks have, but if they feel soft, maybe someone previous has backed the compression damping right off, if thats possible.

[Saint aka ML]

Utopia travel and how soft bike feels is not the same. He might have little travel but plenty of dive. As such it will feel soft. To correct dive you could get thicker oil and bit less air gap I think.

Will agree with you to not do anything before measuring things up to have a start point.

[chris.p]

This will set you up with a base to start from.



SUSPENSION SETUP

FRONT FORKS.

Remove the fork tops, spacers and springs, collapse the fork leg upper down onto the fork leg lower, the air gap can now be measured.

Ideal gap is between 110mm and 120mm, outer range being 100mm and 150mm.


RIDER SAG.

Should be between 30mm to 45mm ideal being 40mm.

Sag____________

Spring Weight________

Suspension Oil Weight_______



Air Gap_________

STATIC SAG

Once you have set your rider sag, the static sag should be checked ( this goes for both front & rear)

Should be between 25mm to 30mm

Sag____________

If there is to much sag a harder spring will be required, if there is to little sag a softer spring will be required.


If you print off the above and use that for a base set up, once you have that done, then you can look at making changes.


Chris.

[Dookbob]

Reminds me of an interview I once heard at Mallory, a jounalist stuck a microphone in front of Dave Croxford and asked him what he thought about the handling of his current race bike, this was his reply. " Dont know nuffink abaht that stuff mate, I just get on it and screw it up the road". Memorable.

[rac3r]

There's no way I could do any of this myself, I was going to take it to a shop to have it set up but since it's not adjustable I don't think they would be able to do anything? that's why I asked if it was worth getting new springs.

Utopia like Saint said it's diving feeling you get when you brake. This may be exaggerated since my 636 forks were f****d and rock solid but I'm pretty sure my 620 forks were stiffer than this S2R. It's great on London roads but when you get a move on it can be a bit.....squidgy :chuckle:

Like I said it's not something I want to mess around with as I have no idea what I'm doing!

[Funkatronic]

suprised you find the forks soft being so slight

you might want to try setting up the rear shock first as this has more adjustment, you will probabbly need to soften it a bit being 9st and maybe decrease the damping a notch or 2

once the bikes supension is more balanced you might find the diving sensation goes away a bit

i know this sounds odd, I recently had a suspension setup with help of a tech at portimao after i have the clip ons fitted
first session out i did not feel right at all. from what i (in mu very limited understanding!) thought, the front was too soft and the back hard making the bike feel very unstable

after measuring the sag etc the tech decided to do the opposte and reduce preload and rebound damping on the the front and increse preload and damping on the rear and the improvement in handling was night and day!! go figure

try it, but measure your original settings on the rear shock before you make any changes so you can return the settings to their original postition if your not happy with the results

if that doesnt work then oil and/or springs (or revavle for £600ish!!) are your only option with those forks

[Scott1]

I'm about six foot and about 12 and a half stone....ok maybe nearer 13 :) at first I found my S2R a tiny bit soft round corners when hammering it, I got somebody to look at it who made the rear a bit stiffer and problem solved, so as above, worth checking first. I'd be gobsmacked if you get it checked and you neeed harder springs at your weight.

[utopia]

Also......I dunno whether the standard springs are linear or progressive, or whether you still have the standard springs in, or a previoius owner has changed them, but......
If you have progressive springs, ie ones which get stiffer the more you compress them, they are likely to feel a little softer at the top of their travel, and hence cause more dive under braking. If this is the case, a change to linear springs, which have the same stiffness throughout their range of travel, might help.
Having said that, I'm guessing that you'll probably have linear springs in there anyway.
Note that, for linear springs (which most stock springs are) increasing preload does not increase stiffness, it merely changes how the bike sits on the springs, ie more preload=bike sits higher, and vice versa. Roughly speaking, the bike should sit with the suspension compressed to about 30% of its total travel, with the rider on board.

[rac3r]

I'll try and adjust the rear as mentioned :thumbsup:

[Mr Cake]

Stock springs almost certainly progressive.

C

[jerry]

no Ducati stock springs are always linear and on some ducatis progressive springs can be a disaster area and very dangerous .

[utopia]

I think it was a post of your's, Jerry, that made me think they were probably linear, and lead to my earlier comment, ie wondering whether someone had put progressive springs in.
The forks on my 750 are non-adjustable, and I've always found them a little harsh over bumpy local roads. I wouldn't say they dive a lot under braking, but then again I am riding around a slight brake flutter at the moment, so I tend to be gentle at slow speeds. I don't usually ride that hard anyway, and braking is generally a one or two fingered affair, but the other day I was in the mood and started using the brakes more fully and was pleased to find that the stock set up seemed to work a lot better at the more aggressive end of the scale.
I guess the linear springs might account for the slow speed harshness. Somehow that seems more in the Ducati character anyhow, so I think I can like it that way.
I'm about 11.5 stone btw.