Monster M900 1999 - UKMOC Gen 2

At the rear end, the 20 year old shock was long gone its best, with probably as much damping as a pogo stick!
Not being able to afford (or justify) some Swedish gold, I looked around for recommendations, it came though the French Mostro Forum (http://ducati-mostro-forum.fr/index.php) where a bunch of very helpful guys (just like here!) all recommended the Shock Factory products.
This company manufactures shocks for many of the small French racing teams (superbike, super stock, endurance). Their shocks are individually spec’ed to your weight and riding style and are very sensibly priced!
SF has been set 20 years ago by a Brit living in France and I am a French living in the UK for the past 20 years!
I did get the optional yellow spring rather than standard red, as it looked more like the original one. I am really pleased with the shock and the way the bike now feels!

Cleaning up:


New Shock Factory ...Shock in place:


With the back end fully refreshed, the raiser were just too much and the bike was sitting precariously on its side stand so it was time to take them away!



Bike was sitting at least 1.5” too high...


So with the raisers out and the new shock, there was sufficient range to raise the rear to where it was on the old Shock + raiser set up... without side stand issues! (Picture above was taken when the ride height was still to be sorted)

At the front, the forks also needed some attention, so I took the bike to FTR in Braintree to see what could be done.
With me being a fairly standard frame, the guys at FTR didn’t think I would need a new set of springs, only a change of the seals, bushes and oil! I have to say they were right and I front is now nicely sorted!

[Mr Gazza]

Wow! What a lovely clean workshop. I'd not heard of FTR before, but noted now.
I've only ever had MCT at Stowmarket recommended to me. How do they compare service and price wise?

I found them a bit cheaper than MCT (based on the quote given for a full overhaul and service) but not by much. Decision was based on FTR being an hour or so away so I could take the complete bike and get a full set up.
Very competent guys, neat workshop located in a farmhouse lost in the countryside! Most of there business is Moto-X related but they are also very able on sports bikes (there was a 1198 there at the time of my visit), and carry all necessary spares even for our old girls!

http://ftrsuspension.co.uk/

[utopia]

The plastic terry-clips holding the fork legs is a nice touch.
Dunno whether its their own idea or just part of the supplied kit but its the sort of thing that would give me confidence in the level of care that they take in their work.

Cans look nice and clean, and accentuate the minimalist, clean lines of the bike nicely.
With an old-school flavour too.

Those hoop jack-ups look like they may be the Louigimoto ones.
I guess it all depends on how high you set the fork legs, style of bars and suchlike but the majority view is that a slight raise at the rear (or drop at the front) improves the steering qualities.
Perhaps the extra front end weighting due to your clip-ons will make the jack-ups redundant, but you may find that you want to replace them once you've ridden the bike without them.
Before you do ride it though, I would suggest that you consider lowering the front a tad, or at least be prepared to find the steering very heavy at higher speeds since the front end will be higher and the steering angle therefore "shallower".
I learn't this first hand. I was on the wrong side of the road on the outside of a bend at the time, and kinda heading for the scenery.

ps. if you do decide they're not needed, I would buy them off you.
My homemade ones are a little longer and I'd like to experiment.

What engine paint did you use ?

Utopia, thanks for the comments.

For the raisers, I think they are Luigi moto’s indeed, they were on the bike when I got it and made perfect sense then. However with the new rear shock (where the ride height is already set a bit higher than before), the new rose joints (with a slightly longer head) and the new settings at the front, the bike was leaning dangerously on its stand with its raisers still in place. I initially wanted to leave them on and started looking for what could be done to the side stand or what other model stand (916,ST, etc) could do a better job. I could not find anything on any of the forums or anything manufactured for that ... lead me to think that may be I had a problem nobody else had, and I looked at the stack up of all my changes....hence the raisers out !!!
I will give it a few months once the good weather returns to make sure I am happy with the settings, I will keep you posted if I no longer need Luigi’s!!!

I have have tried a few setting at the front, ranging from 15mm to 25mm (fork tube top to clamp), currently ok but going to try to increase it a bit more.

Engine paint is a 2K from RS paint, colour was made by matching with a massive paint flake that had departed from the engine cover (it was in a bit of a state)! Final result is a bit darker than original but I seem to be the only one to notice!!!

Some more bits and pieces done at the start of 2017, before getting the bike back on the road:

Refresh the ignition system with Mini Dyna coils, new leads , plugs and caps.

New Chain and sprockets, moving from the standard 15/39 to 15/42 for a bit more go.

And finally, a good tidy up of the brakes with new HH pads and Venhill braided lines to replace the tired braided lines! The people at Venhill were helpful as I was unsure of the size of the front lines (because of the clip-ons) so I did send the existing lines and they used those as templates for the news lines... top job!



On a nice sunny day...

That Sir, is a very sexy looking bike, many thanks for posting, I would love to do a restoration/tinker, but garage space is bloody expensive here, one day

Thank you Mark! Garage space still a premium, constant fight to avoid my kids invading it!

[Wasta]

The bike looks fantastic, very cool in black.

I fitted a new shock earlier this year and left my spacers on the hoop as well. The bike handles well and turns easily with them fitted, but I have found the seat angle is very high causing you to sit 'on the back of your bum' IYKWIM. It gets quiet uncomfortable after about half an hour so I'm thinking about taking them off or raising the front a little.

[Doggy]

Looks great . Clip ons really suit the monster . Not sure they would suit me though .

[Zimbo]

Lovely looking machine, very tastefully done and those cans suit the build perfectly!

Thanks! The clip-ons are still okay for me and not as bad as it looks, as long as I do not spend too much time in city traffic!

The only bad point on the bike is that it is one of the”smaller bales” generation so I do think I will need to do a heads swap before going into more engine upgrades! Any of you tried any performance enhancements on a small valves engine?

[Darren69]

Nice bike! Sadly yes it most likely is the small valve motor as was fitted to standard non S monsters in '98-99. Start by lightening all the spinney bits, clutch and flywheel and then if you want to go deeper primary and crank. Clutch and flywheel are easiest and will give the motor a fair bit more pep and rolling pick up. That's as far as I have gone with my S4 and tbh that's enough for me for now. You'll notice a big improvement that will carry over just as well when you get some proper 900 heads and bigger headers instead of the titchy 750 ones you have now.

[Darkness]

What casting Mark is on the heads next to the cam bearing caps? They may have been changed already.
From memory, V2 is what you want, and W isn't. There could be other marks too if changed already.

More here:

http://www.bikeboy.org/900equal.html