Next year I'll start restoring my 996, and I don't know what to do with the shocks. Do I restore the standard Showa's, or do I spend some more money and get some new replacements? Or a third option might be to find and restore some old Ohlins shocks. Has anybody replaced the shocks on his/her 748/916/996/998? With what? Brand? Did it just bold on? Problems? ???? ??? ?? ? .
Depends on your plans for the bike. If you plan to ride and enjoy it, get better modern shocks which are far superior to 30 year old designs -even when refurbed. If its going to be sunny only Sunday one hour rides to a bike meet, leave them as they are.
The original Showa shock is fairly decent for road use when refurbed professionally. And that keeps the originality of the bike. Should you decide to swap for something more modern and/or performant, I’d keep the original Showa and have it refurbished anyways, in case you decide to sell in the future. Modded bikes sell really well when offered with all their stock bits.
Do the refurb, you will be amazed how good the originals are with new oil, seals and a proper set up for your weight and riding style.
I had K-Tech fit their valving and re-spring the Showas on my 916 which made a big improvement. I've since fitted later (1198) Ohlins, also with Ktech innards and they're even better but significantly more costly (especially as new brake calipers/discs etc. required). I now have the k-Tech/916 forks on my Monster though had to re-spring again for the lighter bike and I'm more than happy with both bikes. Summary; re-worked Showas are very good yes, the re-worked Ohlins are better but required significantly more work and cash to get there so, depending how far you want to go/how much you're prepared to spend, I'd say re-worked Showas are more than good enough and it's not like they're bad to start with anyway.
If you’re going to use it much, I’d put something better on it and have the Showa in a box somewhere for when you sell so you have original
After reading all the posts, and some meditating I've decided to rebuild the bike as original as possible. Only for the fairing I'll go for an 916 SPS look (red/black/white) instead of the 998 fairing. Thanks
Hi mate, my 996 shock and forks were done by MH suspension and they did a great job. https://www.mhracing.com/
Anybody used these guys? https://www.brooksuspension.co.uk/ducati-916-shock-absorber-rebuild-repair-service-94-98
Seems reasonable. The seals and Du bushes cost me about £30 so 120 for the rebuild is ok. They don't mention if they Dyno after they've done the work. That would be a must for me. The (few) showas I rebuilt all needed more work than they include in the price. They steel body is usually corroded and needs re-plating. Fresh anodize depending on condition, at least the spring platforms. The shafts often have the chrome coming off at the top under the bump rubber and the rubber bladders for the nitrogen rarely seal again, so that's quite a bit of extra cost on top. Depends if one just wants a working damper or something that looks as good as new. The stickers alone are £15 quid as well.
Wow, that looks great. DId oy urestore it yourself? I spoke to Brooks earlier in the week and they no longer refurbish old shocks.
