Yip, that's my understanding of it too. It tips the bike forward (relatively speaking) so more weight is on the front. I really don't think it's an improvement at the moment though so I think that tells me to put it back to how I had it and disregard what the dimension actually is. It's all to do with feel right, so I'm not sure why I'm hung up on what the measurement actually is. I was just conscious of the seat feeling low and decided to measure it, but the bike definitely felt more planted like that than it does now. Maybe the right answer is to go halfway back from the current height to ho it was before I moved it? Maybe that's the best of both worlds? At the end of the day, I know what I've changed so if I decide I don't like it, I can revert to what it was at...
I'd recommend a ride height measuring tool if you want to play around with ride height differences... You'll find them on eThief and they give a far more accurate datum to measure off... I raised my back end a wee bit ( to 235mm from tool as I recall) and it was really skitty at the back end. Put it back down 10mm and it felt far more planted... Any height difference at the back should be done with front ride height taken into consideration too... eg, drop the forks through and raise the rear may be too much... Bob
Take the load off the front wheel? Thats what makes it turn, compressed forks sharpen the front end. Too sharp and it turns too easily and can feel like its going to tuck all the time If you take pre load off, ie soften, you are allowing the bike to sit lower on the spring this reducing the rider sag height, not increasing
This is the bit I couldn't get right in my head. I could quite easily have thought it was either of these options to be honest. But I agree with what you're saying having thought it over. As it happens, I put it back to the lower height last night and was immediately much happier with it. It still turns quite quickly but the stability and (more importantly) the feel is back 100%. I rode with supreme confidence last night and that's what I want. Get on the bike, ride it and enjoy it. With the height jacked up I was all over the place mentally and really had to just trust the front tyre rather than know what it was doing. I might raise it a little (5mm or so) and see how that goes, but to be honest I'm happy with it as it is. Experiments are experiments after all.
If you get chance to research the rake and trail numbers of your bike you will likely read they are not great to start with and somewhat different to most Ducati models apparantly. The 848 runs a 5mm longer rod than the 1098 anyway which will make it more front endy. Hence raising the rear in isolation is likely to make things worse on the front especially on an 848, it did for me at least. The key for me was to improve that trail figure a bit which requires an alteration in ride height at both ends. Something you can't do on an 848 with the stock rod. Whether it would work for everyone i doubt but for me the bike was transformed cornering wise. It always railed a corner quite well but had a bit of a problem finishing a tigher corner and felt a bit tucky at the apex. I got the info from a Us racer who had the same problem and this was the solution his setup guys came up with as they were not allowed to run offset triples in his class to alter the trail etc.
That's the thing. There is no "tucky" feeling at all with the lower height (before I moved it) and slow speed stuff was where I found it worst before the setup (and after raising the ride height). I think this test made me realise that it's all very personal and regardless of what seems to be "right" or otherwise, how it's set up now works for me and that's all I need to know. Right? :Happy:
To a point i agree but because your happy with it, doesn't really mean it is as good as it can be. You only really know that something was wrong when you find something better. That's why i adjusted and experimented to understand whether it was as good as it can be or not. Had there been no improvment i would have ridden on happy enough as it wasn't scary or anything, i just wasn't 100% comfortable with it. I also learnt from it how it feels if i alter both front and rear in different ways and instantly now pickup on any changes if a dealer fiddles during a service, which they have before now. I saw it as a good learning experience but if you are comfortable then i guess that is what counts.
You've got me fucking about with mine now!! Anyway the standard ride high bar is 175mm to centre to centre and my adjustable which is on the is set at 180 with some preload taken out, were that 830 seat hight comes from fuck knows but mine is that high on paddock stands
If that ride height figure was for an 848, then that has a 185mm rod i think so will be higher than a 1098 if that is what you are measuring. No idea if mine is near 830 to that point or not, never measured it. But with the longer rod and the zero sag it came with it might have been when new.
830 is seat height, right? Not ride height. Have you checked the links for ebay for the tool? It shows how/where you measure, as you are confusing two very different things.
Think everyone is measuring from the bottom of the seat to the top of the seat and all measuring different and calling it the ride height. The bay link does show the ride height tool
Peeps also need to take into consideration that the eccentric hub adjuster is gonna cause a disparity between bikes even with the same suspension settings. I think the link rod in reality is as much to adjust the effect of the cam out as it is to alter handling even though most set it and leave it I think. (me included)
get someone that knows what they are doing to set it up. I imagine public road and track settings have significant differences
