I have just put bar risers on my st4 and now feel it would feel better to ride if I lowered the rear of the bike down a little. I raised it on the dog bone previously which improved handling and ground clearance for sleeping policemen. ( with the bars standard) Does anyone out there have any good info on a good rear ride height set up? The bar risers are 1 inch and make the bike feel a lot less Sport and more Touring, I weigh about 90 Kgs and am 6 ft tall. I needed the bar risers as elbows and wrists suffering these days, but I love the Duke and did consider changing it for something more upright but can't see anything out there with the same appeal, at lest not on my budget.
I am the same build as you, I have 15 mm raisers on. I run around 10-15 mm off the ground when the bike is on the centre stand. NOW ! shifting the rear height rod - that's a differnet game !
Be careful here's a pic of an aftermarket ride height rod made by motowheels/Corse Dynamics that failed shortly after being fitted on a Ducati ST. This could have caused a serious accident. No other items on either the front or rear suspension failed at the same so clearly the rod was the weakest link. When the rod failed the bike collapsed causing damage to the rear exhaust header, carbon rear hugger and under seat plastics. Luckily the insurance company paid for the damage and As the suppliers we glady paid his insurance excess. The manufacturer Corset Dynamics/Motowheels refused to contribute.
I changed the ride height at the back of my ST2 with the standard rod so that I could reach the ground better. It is fine like that. I also lowered the forks at the front by 15mm to keep it even. I took the bar risers off mine as I like the position better like that. I also have an 848 with even lower bars and love the riding position.
With new tyres, I always set my rear ride height with about 10mm clearance between tyre & ground on the centre stand. Anything else makes steering slow and difficult to get onto centre stand. Craig
I had a CNC ride height rod made up by Pro Twins when I bought my ST4s - made ride height adjustment much easier and 15mm on rear height made the bike handle like a proper Ducati. It paid for itself on the way back from Germany/'Ring - hit a bump on the Belgian border that threw bike and both of us into the air - no damage beyond bruised bits. JohnW on an identical machine & running similarly laden hit the same bump 24 hours before us and IIRC bent the stock ride height adjuster double. I also do the 10mm clearance on centre stand measure - makes for a beautifully balanced machine.
I have just bought a 2001 sT4 and put new tyres on it. On the centre stand the tyre is about 2 1/2 to 3 inches off the ground. When I bought the bike the guy selling it said it may need height adjustment and i can see how that works, From what I see 1/2 inch to 1 inch would seem right?? Any helpful comments greatly appreciated. Thanks
As per previous comments, try 10mm or so ground clearance at the rear with the bike on its centre stand - makes a huge difference. That seems like a good starting point and you can tweak either way from there: I've run mine with the tyre touching the ground but settled on about 8mm in the end. If you want to get really anal you'd change ride height as the tyre wore - that'll make 5-6mm difference, but frankly, I can't tell the difference at that level of change, given that it's gradual
Personally I have had little joy at the moment. I have shifted the lock nuts but can't move the adjuster shaft. Am loathe to push too hard as the bearings, top and bottom, take the strain. May have local dealer look at it sometime, but am currently 'living with it'.
Smash it with your favourite penetrene, thread unlocker, be patient, but persistant Use only quality tools and understand there are different threads either end, the notched one is LH thread from memory. Take your time. Craig
Only takes ten minutes to remove the whole rod from the bike and sort it out on the bench. See my blog below as I think there is some information in the older posts for the ST.
Tie rod out, cheers Bob, Tie rod buggered (obviously not patient enough) another one bought on ebay, just keeping fingers crossed it's moveable. BUT - IT WILL GET DONE!
Just warm the replacement, give it a spray with WD40 and wait a few hours. Put the warm alloy rod part in a vice and then lossen the nuts with the correct spanner and the eye end with a bar or large screwdriver through the eye. When warm the alloy of the bar will expand more than the steel of the eye ends and will let the WD40 into the threads easier.
Ok, old tie bar still won't move BUT ebay purchase is perfect! Re-greased and fitted. Bike higher and SO much easier to get stand. Haven't ridden it yet because it's Lashing down here, so I'll be interested to see what it's like. Though it is all adjustable now! Thanks to all of you for comments and help! Happy New year.
Did 20+ miles yesterday - not glorious sunshine but not peeing down, bit chilly though, hard to say if bike was greatly improved as I haven't ridden it much before. However it did feel very comfortable through the bends and easily 'flickable' so I'm now, officially, v. happy with it.
