I have a skyhook and my DVT dives far less than my 2011 non-skyhook Ohlins. The Ohlins is very compliant; the skyhook switches itself between more compliant and less compliant - which is the whole point really.
It is certainly more compliant than 1st edition SH, not yet tried in anger on track on firm settings, but at approaching roundabout speeds the DVT drops like a stone at slightest brake movement. Old SH didnt.
Sorry but this post is slightly confusing. The topic under discussion is front preload, but here you seem to be referring to increasing the rear preload although you do not make this clear. The front preload, unlike the rear, cannot be altered electronically - you have to get the spanners out.
Dive can be sorted out by raising the oil level in the forks.This works by reducing the air space above the oil so for a given amount of fork travel the air pressure goes up more and resists the dive
I don't think reducing dive under braking can be tackled independently from all of the other suspension characteristics, although SH seems to make a pretty good go at it, but the OP does not have SH. @The dogs Have you discussed this problem with a suspension specialist ? I contacted Reactive Suspension Motorcycle Suspension Specialists to discuss a suspension issue with my last bike and was very happy with the service I received.
When i took my 748 forks to a suspension specialist a couple of years ago, he said the Triumph Explorer front forks were the worst he had seen on a production bike for some years and should never have been allowed through quality control.
My bike isn't skyhook. I'm trying to use the info in the owners manual to make adjustments as well as seeking guidance from internet sources but it's becoming confusing as not something I've delved into before. Think I'll leave it.
Had same problem with 2013. Add preload AND damping to slow the fork action. After that spend money on Andriana cartridge kit. Big improvement. Bike was then very good up to silly speeds, then a high speed weave. Suspect that was the limitations of the rear shock absorber as tried different tyres and settings.
I'd recommend booking up a session with a suspension specialist. It'll cost less than £50 to have the bike setup to your weight and riding style. It's what I'm planning on doing in the next couple of months.
Summary of the good advice -Start with preload to give you a rider sag of about 40mm (at a guess, its long travl, normally 30-40 for most bikes). You will need a mate and tape measure! -Add compression to slow the rate it dives. Keep addining until you notice the difference and is better -Liekly you'll need to adjust rebound if yiu go a long way with compression -If thats not enough and you cant dial it outband everything is wound right in, give it to a soecialist to change oil/air gap, then springs, then cartridges Learn what all the lingo means here Motorcycle Suspension Setup HTH
Getting the sag right is the starting point . So first off you need to no the travel ! Total front wheel travel: 6.69 in. (170 mm) Rear: Total rear wheel travel: 6.69 in. (170 mm) Now to set the sag: Target Front/Rear free sag (not on bike, sag on the bikes own weight): 15 mm (10-20 mm, approx. 6%-12% of full travel/170 mm) Target Front/Rear sag (seated on bike): 55 mm (50 - 60 mm, approx. 30%-33% of full travel/170 mm)
But you have to work out the travel first and 6% is what the pro guys work from, on a sbk what's the typical wheel travel !
An 848 has 127mm of travel by your 6% that would give less than 10mm static sag. It should be 15-20. Not doubting the maths, and maybe thats the case on a too end world spec race bike, but a road bike is way more. The article I linked suggests so too. Maybe 16%?? I have been around lots of peolpe setting bikes up and never been lower than 10mm at the front, lowest would be 15 and that was a race bike. Rear always has less sag than front too. From memory, first 1/3 is rider sat on (hence recomended 30-40mm or so on most bikes), next 3rd is general riding and last 3rd (remember bump stops may limit travel) for hard emergency braking and absorbing bumps at max lean rather than the tyre doing it
Confusing, yep I am, ok buddy I have the S but, I have to tell you what happened to me, My DVT was one of the first April 2015, at first the bike was soft on the forks, so set up the bike for two at the hardest, this was ok until the bike had all the kit put on,Touring,Urban,Enduro and the wife, + all our kit for a three week trip to the North cape in Norway, On the first day :-( we had to hit the brakes hard, just after we needed to turn around but the bars had locked up, Not sure at that time why, and the bike went down. After looking at the bike we saw the front mud guard extender had got hooked up in the crash bars and locked up the steering, To cut a long story short, The bike would normally come from Ducati with the fork spring preload at 10 turns, mine was set at 0, after a bit of playing around we found the best setting fully loaded with kit and wife was 16 turns from 0, on my own it's 12, after the adjustment the bike was all good,In the owners manual it says go to a Ducati service shop,the only shop open was over 800km away, self help ;-) Yes your bike is not Skyhook, But I'm sure you can adjust your fork spring preload,page 272-273 use 22mm socket, I hope this helps you and others ;-)
1. Get the front suspension properly set up - lots of guides online to doing this or, as noted by others, pay someone who knows how to set up ROAD bikes. At your weight you should be ok with the stock front springs. 2. Look at your braking technique. Seriously. Too many people I teach just grab a handful and then complain that their bike dives excessively. Progressively on and smoothly off is the way to go, as well as working on your forward planning to minimise the use of them in the first place.
Thanks for the advice Dinger. Have to say that my bike was handed over with all the accessories bar sport pack fitted. You might want to think about this though because my dealer told me they couldn't fit the extension to the front mudgaurd with the enduro kit as it would get caught under braking!! The new bike with 19inch wheel and enduro kit fitted at the launch appears to be designed at the front differently which allows the fitting of the extension. You need to report this to your dealer, if you have and they've said nothing, report it to Ducati as in my mind it's a major safety issue if there are others in the same boat as you with it fitted.
Sorry my wording was wrong, it's not actually the preload what's adjusted but the fork compression and rebound setting. That will get the result what's under discussion here, right on the spot.
Hi The dogs, I did call Ducati in July when we got back, I think Ducati issued a safety warning on this incident. And the damage will be sorted by the dealer ;-)
