Tbh like u said I didn't do the road back to back with mine, and tyres, pressures etc all have an impact. But...came off the 303 on the 37 to double back and there is a sharp left/right and it was bumpy and it really wasn't as smooth as mine, couple put me off line a little at high lean angle where mine doesn't, seemed like the rear was skipping a little and struggling to hold the line
I don't think it's anything to do with the preload. I fitted a more powerful spring to my bike the sprig that was on it collapsed with luggage and the witfe on the back even with full pre load. I think it's the electronic damping and something to do with the bike trying to find it's own level. As you can tell I've sat and thought about this a lot. My reasoning is if the spring isn't strong enough OR the preload isn't set right for your weight, I think the bike tries to compensate by stiffening up the damping namely the compression damping so that the shock stays more extended, this in turn mat be keeping the bike level but the side effect of this is hard suspension. When I changed my spring the ride was marginally better. And I'm putting that down to it having a more powerful spring keeping the bike level but it could also be that the spring is helping to over power the stiff damping. Just a foot note: Whilst on tour with the wife we went down some old cobbled roads, the bike was in sports mode with the damping set to it's softest setting and the pre load set to 20, she moaned like feck that the suspension was to hard, So whilst on the move I changed the mode to touring and a bout 10 seconds after it said close the throttle to save changes she said oow that's better. Now My touring mode is set exactly the same as my sport mode when you look at my dash Touring, 150, high , DTC04, ABS 02. The damping and preload is set the same to (all part of an experiment I did a while ago) The only thing I can think that's different is the program is expecting the back to be lower because in tour mode you normally have luggage and are more likely to have a pillion. So I think the level sensor compensates for that and doesn't feel the need to firm up the damping on the rear because it knows the bike will sit lower. That's the only thing I can think of to explain why an arse as sexy and as big as my wife's would notice a mode change on the move.
Latest update, went into Riders today and tried out their demo MTS with the missis on the back, have to say it felt the same so have to come to the conclusion that mine is working ok but not impressed with the skyhook std settings. As its set up for the average rider (in Italy I would assume a small 10 st rider) the skyhook needs tuning in for my 17st weight + wifes 9st. Now I'm not very savvy when it comes to sag, preload etc so next question is does JHS in Bristol do suspension tuning for skyhook, I know they specialise in Ohlin's but would like to take my bike there and get it set up properly as a last ditch attempt as my wife will not do any distance on it as it stands at the moment (planned trip to Italy on hold till sorted) otherwise there will be a nearly new low mileage MTS for sale ((
Not reaearched how it works, but if it is sensing the bike being level, or not, and compensating with comp then I could imagine how that would firm the ride
Interesting read... My wife has complained religiously about the really harsh suspension on my GT, she has even had a bad back for a while. I have messed with the settings and must admit feels really good to me and my wife now. One thing of note, I have found it much improved when set to one person as apposed to two persons when riding two up and always in touring mode full power. I am 14 stone and my wife 9 1/2 stone, my riding style doesn't help matters much as it's usually hard and fast. Set up like it is now, the Multi still corners on rails, handles all the bumps and pot holes as though they're not there and is very pleasurable and comfortable to ride... Got to be worth a try for anyone not happy with theirs!!! I also have a 2014 Kawasaki ZZR 1400 sports performance model with ohlins suspension which is an truly awesome machine. I hadn't ridden it for 3 weeks since picking up the GT until yesterday and I must admit found the suspension better on the GT... Interestingly!!!
My ZZR was firm and she noticed all the bumps but on the skyhook 2 up regardless of urban or touring set to one up she constantly feels the road surface which makes her nauseous, going to try and get it set up professionally, if that doesn't improve it then option b is to try a standard Multistrada with the manual suspension, back to old school!!,
You should have tried mine. Different tyres can make a difference to ride quality. I know because the shit ones they just put on my merc fronts know feel like i'm driving on marbles
That's easy all in sport mode 1 helmet, preload 6, damping very soft. 2 helmets preload 18, damping very soft, 2 helmets and a suitcase preload 24, damping yup u guessed it very soft. All on the rear I don't touch the front. I up the tyer pressure by 4 psi when I'm 2 up with luggage most of the time to.
Right, its back from JHS racing and he tweaked the suspension, the bike its a lot better at the front end but wife still finds the rear stupidly uncomfortable and harsh, so before I put my nearly new 1600 miles old MTS up for sale I have one last question. On the pre skyhook model some people uprated the rear spring as they found it too soft, Ducati corrected this on the skyhook model by fitting a firmer spring. my question is ..... can a slightly softer spring be fitted to the skyhook model and if so will it make it smoother on the back for my 9st wife as its has to be a better option than taking a big hit selling it.......... and no I not getting rid of the wife instead lol
After market 'manually adjusted' rear shock? Cheaper than changing bikes. Return to standard when selling....
One option I hadn't considered, would the front still be semi active and would it effect warranty ? Spring change still seems best option of it can be done
I changed the spring on my 2010 bike (and now 2012). Two up and loaded the bike would bottom out. It was under sprung. Firmer spring got it good. I added a couple mm extra preload and got it just the way I wanted it. My 2012 has 5mm extra preload and is too much really, as it makes it hard when solo. Not as hard as the skyhook though. The skyhook bikes have a rising rate spring, so removing the need to change the spring apparently. I've ridden an early skyhook and found it too firm. Wife said it jarred her back too. My impression is that it is over sprung, not over damped. Rather than sell the bike I would try to get a custom spring a bit softer than the standard. maybe have a chat with someone like Racetech.
I'm not so sure that's the issue with some of the skyhook rear shocks. I had a spring made with the help of a suspension guru from the BSB paddock. he decided to make my spring a 3 stage spring and increase the NM per stage according to some fancy calculations using the geometry of my swinging arm and the approximate weight of me, me and the wife or luggage, me the wife and luggage, he tested the stock spring and said for a 19 stone man the preload was just under 4 mm to short when the sky hook preload was at full and this is was the decider. With my wife on the back and full luggage I had 1-2 mm of travel left in my rear shock before the rubber stop static. He said if we had gone touring there was a chance one of the bolts could have sheared if we hit a sharp bump at speed. Bearing in mind I my original complaint was to go and see him to see if he could sort out my harsh rear shock. The conclusion was that because the rear spring couldn't cope with the loads ie the fat git sat on the bike the damping was winding it's self up in an attempt to "Keep the bike level" sky hook style. I was pardon the pun Shocked how much more comfortable the rear was once I put the harder shock on the back. And although the suspension is a bit harder than I would have liked my bike sits much better on the road now and the preload makes a difference when I adjust it I've lost 2.5 stone since I put the spring on so making a spring just right so I could drop some preload was a good call by the technician. I've been all over Europe and Ireland 2 up with well over the recommended luggage weight and I can honestly say the only thing I could do with now is seeing if I can adjust the damping. I'm thinking of resetting the datum by turning my damping to it's lowest setting then unplugging the wire to the damper and adjusting it up to full on the dash then plugging in the wire again and once again turning it down, in the hope that the valve motor in the damper will turn it down even more. if you get what I'm saying.
