This weekend I am going to swap out the standard Showa front forks on my 749s and replace them with non-radial Ohlins off an early 999s along with a set of adjustable triple clamps in an attempt to achieve Stage 4 of the DoD.... (here if you haven't heard of this) section8superbike :749/999 Suspension: I have purchased from Podium Racing in the US a set of adjustable triple clamps (like this but for Ohlins)... ADJUSTABLE OFFSET TRIPLE CLAMPS KIT - SHOWA - ADJUSTABLE OFFSET TRIPLE CLAMPS KIT - SHOWA - TRIPLE CLAMPS - CHASSIS & SUSPENSION - Podium Racing - Performance Ducati Parts and Accessories I also have new headstock bearings and a tool to undo the top nut from the triple clamp. I am hoping it is a straight forward swap, with brakes and everything being a straight swap. Can anyone point to a good guide or provide some advice if they've done this before to help me avoid any obvious mistakes...? (also I have a set of showa forks and stock triple clamps for sale ) Thanks alot for your help.
I have no advice to offer but interested in how your bike works after you've done the mod. Are you road, trackday or race?
Fast trackday. I'd previously adjusted the steering angle from 24.5 to 23.5 (possible on the 749s) and the turn-in was amazing but I lost a lot of stability mid-corner and on coming out of corners, the thing just spun up. But it was so good for me to try and solve it by increasing the trail with a reduced offset of 27mm which the adjustable triple yokes should provide. I will post up when I know next. First trackday of the year will be Donnington March 8th if you are around...
Slightly off topic, but did you do this mod because of the bling or to go faster? The ohlins aren't better than a ktech piston kit or a cartridge kit. In fact, i would say the oem ohlins are a pile of crap for bling only. Also, the ohlins are radial - so i presume you have the calipers as well? On another note, and again, not trying to disrespect or anything, but if you are spinning coming out of corners on a 749 which is technically very hard to do on only 100bhpish, i would look at your rear suspension, or tyres...Superstock riders at a national rider don't spin up unless they are about to fall off or tyres are knackered.
Having raced a 749 I don't recall it ever spinning up out the corners they just don't have the power, I also used standard showas and found them awesome, I'd suggest changing your tyres from Cheng shins to something with grip
I've made the changes and will be ready to try them out at Rockingham next weekend - April 12 if anyone is there. Potential issues I can see looking at the pic and the bike: 1) The clearance between the fairing sides and the front tyre is VERY tight. I can move it left it to right and it doesn't foul but but boy it's close. 2) I set the rear ride height to 280mm by removing the rear ride height rod, measuring it and putting it back in, it looks low to my eye though. Not helped that I have a 57mm exhaust inches from the ground... 3) With the new yokes I now don't have steering stoppers, any ideas to reinstate them somehow? Previous comments... thanks You are right of course, it is probably not spinning and it is probably more like the rear suspension bouncing coming out of corner - I am no superstar racer so happy to defer. I run Pirelli Diabllo Super Corsas SC2 so I doubt it is the tyres, though they might have been well used at the time. And yes, Ohlins are pretty and I wanted them, I can afford them and now I have them.
I recently had both front and rear suspension rebuilt by Revs Racing. I went with Ktech progressive springs in the front as they were quite inexpensive and I figured why not..... Has made a big difference!!!! The clearance to the fairing and cooler is close at 4 rings but I would take it for a cheeky run up and down the road before you chance taking it on track. If its millimetres close I would put it back to 3 rings as the tyres will surely expand a tiny bit with the heat of track riding and its a safety thing after all.... Does anyone sell oil cooler guards? Just thinking as it is closer to the wheel....
I'm with Couchy. Mine has the power, but it still doesn't spin up! That setup looks very radical. Why so low?
The setup is as exactly as stated as stage 4 in the first thread... - 1 ring showing at the top of the fork or 7mm above yoke (highest setting basically) - 280mm rear ride height (5mm lower than standard) - 27mm offset (vastly different from the 36mm stock - which is one reason why the front wheel is close) - 23.5deg. steering angle (versus 24.5 stock) There is actually quite a bit of clearance to the radiator just not to either side of the fairing. I guess the wheel doesn't turn too much on a track but... happy to take advice...
Your 280 at the back: where are you measuring it? I guess on the rod as the article suggests. Given that I'm running an R with different components, my comments would be that the front sounds very much like my setup - a few mm of forks through the yokes, race position for the headstock obviously. The only difference is that I'm using 24.5 steering angle on the yokes, but I'm gaining that degree elsewhere. The rear is going to be different, but I'm surprised that they're suggesting lowering the rear. This is just going to negate some of the work you've done at the front and make it more difficult to turn due to the lower CoG. Most bikes I have seen get the rider higher, using a combination of seat padding and ride height. Lowering the rear will just slow the steering again - something you've just paid a lot of money to speed up. Personally, if this bike is just for the track, I'd get an R setup. Shock, rocker and ride height adjuster.
Round- up | The bike is definitely more agile and still holds its line. Honestly I thought it would be more extreme, but its no silver bullet. My learning is that correctly setup suspension is probably more important than the suspension or the geometry (I know, I know). I wouldn't spend the cash to do it again (happy?). So with that learning out the way... On to correctly setup suspension... After going out for the first session at Rockingham a few weeks back I got Tyres4bikes to do my suspension at the track - here was the setup I was most happy with: Static Sag Front (Initial) 20mm Rider Sag Front (Initial) 40mm Drop = 65 Comp (initial) = 13/34 set = 7 Rebound (initial) = 14/34 set = 8 Preload (initial) = set = 1.6 280mm Ride Height (R) 64 wt spring – I recommend uprating to 85 spring (I haven't done that yet). Rear Drop (Static) 20mm Rear Sag (Rider) 26mm Comp (initial) = 11/22 set = 6 Rebound (initial) = 4/20 set = 11 At the end of the session I thought the bike was 'perfect' - it felt balanced and confidence inspiring... but I wanted more... so in between trackdays I raised the rear ride height back out to 285mm and set-off for Siliverstone with the above as the start settings... Symptoms: The bike was wallowing out of corners - not confidence inspiring. Actually I thought the bike was losing rear traction but I now understand that is more likely the suspension rebounding (or compressing). My rear tyre was pretty shot too... After increasing compression +1 then rebound +1 on the rear shock, I found rebound +2 smoothed it out (with compression reset back to where it was) until all I could feel occasionally was a 'dip' coming out of a corner (also a fresh scrubbed rear on as well) - still overall a bit unsettling. I also felt that with the 'dip' at the rear I felt the front 'dip' - like the bike was bouncing front to rear. My conclusion was that because Rockingham was a 'bumpy' surface and not as 'grippy' compared to Silverstone the suspension whilst now 'balanced' was a bit too soft. What do you think I need to do from here to 'harden' it up a bit? I am off to Portimao in a month and am keen to have it sorted or close to sorted by then.
