Would like to improve the suspension on my 95 carbed 600ss bike Best described as bouncy really at the front and the rear hasnt been refreshed for ages Ideally would like some adjustability but not essential - just want to calm the front down mainly Desmodue guys I presume have swapped all sorts of stuff especially at the front end? What is compatible up front forks wise and at the rear shock wise? Would 900ss forks fit and do they have rebound / compression adjustment? Is there an adjustable rear shock that I could bolt in as a replacement?
Carb 900ss forks will fit and are showa adjustable. Carb 900ss shock will fit also showa adjustable. Better choice is the 900ssie shock as its longer.
If your after a replacement shock.... Ohlins. nitron. Make them. I used a white power on my 600ss dd bike which worked very well.
May be pricey used tho as the racing scene loves a nice aftermarket shock ;-) Could start with spring change up front and refresh oil, change air gap etc. its easy on the old forks, even a numpty like me can do t in a paddock. What I actually did was use std progssive springs, cut down to remove the progressive bit and messed with additional spacers made from plumbers pipe. Worked great.
The OEM standard Marzocchi shocks on the 750 and 600 Ess-esses are sh*te......No adjustment whatsoever.........Apart from that, one leg does compression damping, the other does rebound damping........ Imagine the fun if the pairs got mixed up....... Playing around with the oil type and quantity doesn't improve things......The best thing is to switch to the Showa fully adjustables, or the later Showas. AL
Good tip on the forks mate. Also look on ebay for springs off other bikes and ask the seller diamensions. Most can be cut to fit.
Steve....if you have adjustable Showas with the progressive springs, be very careful about altering them and adding spacers..... My Showas had been messed about, and although the springs hadn't been cut, they had been changed for linear ones with spacers...........The first thing I found was that the springs had driven themselves into the spacers....because of that and because it looked as though the valves had been fiddled with, I took them to MCT. They reckoned my linear springs would probably be OK, but they had to put the spacer the other side of the spring with a large diameter washer between them to stop the spring driving into the spacer..... They really wanted to change the springs and do away with the spacers.......but of course 'mend and make do AL' shied away from that......wish I hadn't.....s*d to get the adjustment, preload etc etc, even though they were set up for me and my weight...... With the default settings MCT gave me, every time I braked the rear wheel was in the air and my nose was on the speedo. AL.
Thats lack of preload on the rear as much as the front isnt it? Nothing wrong with a simple spring change if its needed, and if it dives too much either much heavier (check sag first) progressive spring which is nice for the road as it soaks a few more bumps or linear which generally has less dive per se. Or you can send them away to someone like ktech who will change the internals to improve
The sag on mine is dead right.......preload appeared to be correct........In the end I had to play around with the compression damping to keep the rear on the ground........... ......I wondered if the main problem is that I am 12.5 stone; short but very heavy in the torso, so as I get flung forward, the dive occurs because there is no weight in my b*m. I am thinking of investing in a Velcro patch. AL
Or a sandwich box taped to the tank lol this is a good source for a base set up whether racing or road, there is another doc further down the threa too worth a gander http://www.ducatisportingclub.com/showthread.php?t=78883
