Hi there, i'm after a little help/direction with my front suspension set up. I was told when I bought the bike that it had 999 shocks with 999 feet so I would like to get it back to period correct parts if possible. At the moment i'm trying to get 998 feet to swap but i just wanted to see what else I would need to do/get. I don't mind keeping the 999 shock as i cant imagine them being hugely different. Any help would be greatly appreciated. .
Looks correct period to me. Brakes are certainly not 999, in fact they look like mid period 996. Forks appear typical of a 998S but the spacers point to possible 748R adjusted to suit different disc offset. Btw when you say "shocks" do you mean "forks"?
Thanks for the quick response. Sorry meant forks So it seems to be a bit of a mismatch then. Would the 998 feet fit straight on without too much trouble? I wouldn't be doing it myself, I'd tie it in with getting a fork service. With the 998 feet what would the offset/spacing need to be on the discs?
If anything I'd say you got the wrong discs fitted you currently have 10mm offset you need 15mm offset discs.
999 forks & mudguard, standard 998 wheel, discs & calipers, the Ali spacers are to move the calipers inboard as cookie said needs 15mm offset discs the standard ones are 10mm
Thanks for the replies! Would 998 feet fit straight on the 999 forks? And would I need spacers for these?
Never seen it done but I'd be surprised if they didn't screw straight on but it'll be a lot of expense and god knows where you're gonna find some 'feet' and yeah you'd still need spacers on the calipers or the correct offset discs. AFAIK the only difference between 998 & 999 Ohlins forks are the fender/mudguard mounts
Slightly confused here, are you trying to restore the bike to original spec? Is it a 998, 998S or 998R? As Toby says you have standard 998 wheel, discs, and callipers, slightly confused by the disc but the base 998 part number is 492.4.038.1A when originally fitted with Showa TiN shocks (which is what I think your bike used to have). For an indication of the costs I just bought a set of the base 998 Showa forks new in Italy for £440, mudguards second hand £25-40 if that is the route you wish to go. If you need a standard shock the Showa 998 ones can be bought quite cheaply new if you are lucky
TBH If it were me I wouldn't worry too much about the forks the differences are purely cosmetic, but I'd be a bit wary about a 999 shock, the 999 has a different length swingarm, different rocker, ride height rod and pivot points it's the engineering design that's different not just cosmetic. @bettes might have some original Showa forks if you want to take it back to oem, you'll need a standard bottom yoke to go with them
Thanks for all your help guys. I think I may have confused the situation a little bit. At the back I have a DU8440 rear shock that I've just had refurbished. As for the front I don't mind keeping the Ohlins forks but I would like 998 fork bottoms so I can run an original mud guard, I think the 999 guard looks a bit too modern. I know that's not the correct setup out of that factory but i quite like the look of the ohlins.
You would think they might, however I know that on the Showa forks they are not interchangeable - the 999 models have larger adjusters and subsequently the holes are too large. Of course the above may not be any help except to make you aware that you need to check first... :confuse:
I have a set of 999 Ohlins forks and a set of 998 feet that I am just about to swap, so I will let you know. I am fairly sure they will swap fine.
Just to let everyone know, I have just removed the feet from a pair of 2003/2004 999 Ohlins (FG8910) and fitted a pair of feet from a 2001 998S Ohlins (FG8500) . The dimensions of the internals, threads etc are identical. They swapped no problem. Good luck.
