All bolts removed been trying to wriggle it out from the frame but despite best efforts for over an hour I can't get it to come out, it's binding on the upper horizontal frame strutt, seems like it needs to be 5mm shorter to be able to remove. Bike is on abba stand, swing arm can't go any lower, what am I doing wrong?
Not seen an 848 up close in this area - is not as simple as removing the lower first to drop the swing arm more - is the rear wheel on the floor. If not you may need to compress the spring. Some one will be along that actually has a clue in a minute :Wideyed:
Bike is up on abba stand Exige, wheel off the ground, swing arm hanging naturally at it's lowest extent from what i can work out, been trying to force it to go lower but no joy.
can only guess but sounds like Exige thought similar - need to increase gap between frame mount and swing arm mount - you can't raise rear of frame as on abba stand - can you drop swingarm arm lower? - if still sitting on wheel then obviously not. (let both tyres down? - will get you about 5mm : )
Chris. The tyre is not the reason the swing arm wont go any lower, I believe the swingarm is now hitting something which is stopping it from going any lower.
I have tried wriggling the shock out every which way, I'm assuming that I am going about things the right way. The only way I can see that the shock will come out is the method I'm using: With the lower shock eye still sitting in it's housing in the arm( that is it's lowest position) I'm attempting to pull the top eye backwards, but there is insufficient clearance to do this by an estimated 5mm.
Take a measurement, then slacken back your preload collars, you may get enough "softness" to compress the shock a little. Aint looking at a bike at the moment either, but maybe bottom rose joint out first?
I did have the two rings for setting pre load in their highest position initially( no pre load). I couldn't work out if compressing the spring would shorten the overall distance between the shock eyes, so I spend ages with a ally drift compressing the spring about 5mm. But it doesn't seem to make any difference!
I had the pre load collars at there minimum setting initially before I experimented with them in the position seen in my photo, just moving them 5mm took me 30 mins with a drift, as you can't get a C spanner in there! Not possible to get the lower eye in any lower position than it is when it's sitting in it's cut out in the arm unfortunately.
I'm now wondering if I can use a piece of timber or bar to compress the shock a bit to enable it to fit under the frame brace? Shouldn't have to do this, should I?
Just driving round back to my garage now with some timber to have another bash..... I might be some time!
Best consult the Ducati 'Bible' John (apologies to Rob) :- Help - 848 Rear Suspension Removal - Ducati.ms - The Ultimate Ducati Forum Here is a possibly relevant quote I lifted from this thread. : - "It is best to take the rear wheel off then loosen or remove the chain from the drive sprocket, remove the exhaust and the rearsets to take the shock off. This allows you to move the swingarm down enough to get the shock off without scratching anything. A floor jack and a lift make this easy. If you don't have them it is a bit tougher to do. "
@CRYSTALJOHN You have the bike up on an Abba stand. Is the stand in the holes for the swingarm pivot or have you used the adapter which allows you to use one of the rearset mounts on the frame? Is the ride height adjuster off? When I did mine the shock was really a by product as I was wanting to get the swing arm off for powdercoating. This was a 1098 but I cannot recall any problems once the swing arm was lowered. Is the chain still on? Just wondering if the chain could be tight and holding the swingarm up stopping it dropping to its full extent. Sorry if these are idiot suggestions and you've already thought of them Picture of an Abba stand in the rearset holes, just for info. You shouldn't need to do this unless you were planning on removing the arm Not sure about the 848 but when you're there I'd also pull off the eccentric hub, I got a good mug full of water out of mine too John
No luck so far, I've decided to step away for a while as starting to get downhearted! I haven't been able to compress the spring to shorten the shock with a piece of timber. My hunch is that my problem is that the swing arm isn't dropping down far enough. The tyre is not touching the floor, there is a 15mm gap between the floor and the bottom of the tyre. The chain is still in situ, but I'm sure that isn't preventing the swing arm from dropping. ( could be wrong !) What is it that prevents the swing arm dropping more, is there a mechanical stop to limit travel?
John, is the swing arm touching the mid pipes? If so, either pull out the mid pipes or pop the swing arm spindle and drop the arm. That would mean an opportunity to re grease the pivot as well. Hope this helps
@Old Jock As you can see in my photo I have the stand in the swing arm axle, chain is still on, although when I try to force the swing arm downwards, I don't think it's the chain preventing further movement. Could it be that the exhaust pipes are preventing further movement? Could you let me know size of socket required to remove wheel please. Good tip re: eccentric hub, thanks. @Chris. Thanks for the Ducati ms advice, really don't want to remove silencers if I can avoid, and it's not them that are hindering shock removal as far as I can see. @Exige. Nice looking tool, but don't think I could get them in and use with shock in situ
I think you might have identified my problem, I believe the swing arm is touching the mid pipes, so it looks like if I remove them it could allow the swing arm to drop further. I'm not working in ideal conditions and it's hard to see!
