I agree the Ferodo plates are good, but I've had absolutely NO problems with the cheap pattern GS Suzuki plates. They can be found so cheap that even if they wore out three times as fast you'd still save money. Steve R
Totally agree and next time I’ll use the GS plates, at the time I couldn’t get them shipped to the Isle of Man which happens sometimes..
Hey Darko, Great thread, very nice job you did. You did powder coat the frame. Do you remember which color you did and why? Thinking of powder coating the frame of my 851. Some people state that OEM color was very white like RAL9016.
Thanks @Jakepeewee ! From memory we discussed this and the company suggested an almost pure white (after trying different colour swatches) sorry I don't have an exact RAL code though..
A bit of an update to this thread. After using the bike for a while now there are areas that definitely need sorting out. The ST4S forks are just not working properly.. I have looked into getting them serviced and then re-valved with K-tech valves, this is coming in at around £500. What are the alternatives? The K-tech guys say the people racing the 851 / 888 bikes are using 916 era forks instead and some are using the R&T Ohlins of that period. What are the other options? Any input gratefully received as I really want to get the bike riding nicely now
I've run K-Tech modified standard 851/888 forks in the past and they worked very well. I think they had their "4 Port" modification with springs to match the bike and my weight. For some time now though I run Ohlins FG9050's as fitted to 888 SP2, 3, 4 and SPS with Maxton internals. These fitted with 888 Corse 25mm offset Magnesium yokes and a modified ST4S Swinging arm work extremely well. The ST4S swinger sets the rear wheel 15mm further back after modification. I mod' 3 of these arms 1 for myself and the other 2 were for well known 851/888 race teams. ,I also needed to shorten the rear Ohlins shock to suit, Maxton did a good job giving the modified 1" shorter item the same travel as the original and now fitted with a alloy body. Steve R
thanks @Steve Robins - I will have a look into that further, I think I have a Monster swinging arm on mine, can they be modded in the same way? I am still struggling with the rear exhaust clearance, maybe the ST4S arm would be better?
As I posted earlier the ST4S swinging arm is longer than the 851/888 arms. 888 Corse swingers were longer than road 851/888 arms. 851/888 arms can be lengthened, Red Fox Grinta in Belgium do this but it's not to my liking. I was up at the Donnington 4 Hour Classic Endurance race for a 851/888 get together organised by Stafford Evans, when he said to me to go and look at the 888 racer on Jim Bloor's Two Wheeled Classic stand as it's running a longer swinging arm. So off I trotted with a tape measure and had a long chat with Jim, who later sent me pictures of the mod's need to fit a (as it turned out) ST4S arm to a 888. I run a full 50mm Spaghetti system on my 955cc and it did take a bit of fettling to get the swinging arm to fit with it. It also took a bit of fettling to fit it with a standard 851/888 arm. Steve R
That's a later 900 Monster arm. If you're running a ST4 header system? Brad Black on the old (now up and running again) 851/888 Forum posted and pic' of how to modify the rear header to fit into a 851/888 arm. Steve R
great, thanks for confirming the arm is from a Monster, I’ll start looking for an ST4S arm. Presumably it has to be an ST4S arm (not ST2 or ST4)?
IIRC? The st2 and 4's had steel swinging arms, whereas the ST4S had an alloy one. The modified ST4S arm goes along with a shorter shock and a modified adjustable rising rate SP/Corse rocker. Basically it mimics a longer Corse arm but at a fraction of the price of a genuine Corse item and that's if you could find one to buy. Steve R
Thanks @Sev - that could be a good route, so I just need to find a K-Tech or Ohlins cartridge kit for the Suzuki GSXR K1 / K2 / K3 ? I can talk to the local K-Tech people see if they can still order those. Interestingly I measured the fork tubes yesterday and they seem quite short compared to my other bikes. It 'feels' like the bike is a bit low and needs raising up to help with the handling, I will try to take some geometry measurements vs a standard 888
@Sev - I just re-read your post and checked a few things, I now realise you are suggesting to actually use the original Suzuki GSXR internals in the ST4S forks and just retain the original Ducati springs (?) I have found info that says the Suzuki springs are larger diameter and will not fit the ST4S forks but the cartridges do. I guess that means Ohlins or K-Tech cartridges (designed for the GSXR, and GSXR springs) may not work on the ST4S?
