Has anyone removed their rear shock on a V4 ? A friend found the standard shock far too hard so bought a Maxton shock and even though it is much better he says it is still far too hard and he is not enjoying his rides out on our crap roads. He lives out in the country so the nearest dealer is an hour away which makes it awkward to take the bike and leave it. The dealer said they thought they were going to have to take the swinging arm out to change the shock but eventually managed it and said it was very difficult and a two man job at great expense. I said to do it himself and I could help him but he doesn’t seem confident it can be done at home. He does have an ABBA Stand. Just wondered if anyone had done it, apart from Rod ( Topo ) but his bike was in 1000 pieces !
There is a section in the workshop manual for removing the rear shock, unfortunately on the diagrams in the manual, a lot of the bike is disassembled to get proper access. You can find link to the manual -> https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/workshop-manual.71035/
It comes out in less than 5 minutes and if I remember correctly, only one plastic guard/panel has to be removed. My local Ducati race shop swapped a different spring onto my rear shock and had me out the door in about 30 minutes including setting the new rear sag.
Thanks for that. I take it you don’t know how it actually comes out with the exhaust and subframe in the way.
I should have mentioned this is with the full Akrapovic. It's probably a huge mess with the original exhaust.
Ha ha!! Jesus Ian, your mates dealer sounds totally inept. It is not that big a deal to take it out, as long as the rear suspension is unloaded and the bike is supported, it,s simply a case of removing the rear wheel and undoing the two cross links to the rocker link assembly. Once that's done you need to remove both front and rear shock absorber bolts. You may find it helpful to allow the swing arm to swing up and down whilst unloaded to position the links plates in such a position as to not obstruct the lower mounting bolt for removal, if you are attempting to remove this bolt before the plates. You should have enough clearance to pull the shock out from above without removing the rear sub-frame or at least loosening the subframe to allow it be swung upwards to gain enough clearance but I don't think you need to. The workshop manual will be of some help so if you can get hold of a copy I strongly recommend it. Between you both it should be no more than an hour to remove it.
I was waiting for you to chirp up Rod. Was going to message but I knew you were in hospital. He has an ABBA Stand so will see if he wants to do it or pay 3-4 hours labour at the dealer !
Well not out the woods yet as it is going to take a while for everything to heal properly, still really bloody sore after a week! He should be fine removing it. You can onload the suspension if you can support the bike from the swingarm pivot points or the footrests. The link plate bolt that passes through the rocker link is 110Nm so quite tight. You only need to remove it if you cant move the swing arm up or down as necessary to get access to the lower shock absorber bolt. The top shock absorber bolt is easy enough to remove. With the rear wheel off and the shock bolts removed you should be able to allow the swing arm to lower enough to give you the clearance required to remove the shock from above. Just be aware that the front edge of the swingarm will contact the engine and or suspension bracket as you lower it beyond its normal range of travel, so best to place a towel or something soft between them to avoid any marring or scratching of metal.
Had mine done at an Ohlins specialist today. Turned out he didn’t have the right socket for the rear wheel nut, so had to remove various other parts (plastic exhaust shroud, metal inner shroud) in order to gain enough clearance to be able to undo the shock absorber bolts and remove the shock from above. Total time spent on the job was around 6 hours!
