having purchased a panigale abs 4 weeks ago im very happy but i found the factory settings way too hard for my svelt 11.5 stone. Ive been playing around with settings today and found a much more comfortable non filling rattling setup for back road use which feels more compliant with uk roads. IVE NOW HAD SUSPENSION SET UP FOR ME (75-80 KGS)- BASE 1199 PANIGALE MARZZOCHI FRONT FORKS preload (19mm a/f hex) 7 turns out from fully clockwise. compression (4mm a/f bottom fork) 13 clicks out from fully clockwise rebound (4mm a/f top fork) 10 clicks out from fully clockwise REAR SACHS SHOCK rear preload set for static and rider sag with 3 full threads showing when looking from above compression (red turn adjuster) 13 clicks out from fully clockwise rebound (silver turn adjuster) 11 clicks out from fully clockwise these may not be the ultimate settings required for my weight but stops the feeling of rock hard suspension and the front end no longer wants to fold in at really slow speeds, although suspension is still firmish i found that the rear end squats slightly under acceleration which is what i like hope this is of some use to another owner as there are no guidelines yet available for this model
Hi, Thanks for the post, can you just confirm whether you are on 'F' or 'P' for the linkage rod, thanks again !
as advised a ducati technician i have it in progressive position for road and track use. the flat position is recommended for pure race conditions and too firm for road use
check your front rebound adjustment - mine has NONE ! . still has pogo effect even when just 2 clicks out from fully hard - bikes going back to dealer next week for assesment - i reckon its a valving issue - pretty crap considering the time spent developing this model
check your front rebound adjustment - mine has NONE ! . still has pogo effect even when just 2 clicks out from fully hard - bikes going back to dealer next week for assesment - i reckon its a valving issue - pretty crap considering the time spent developing this model
You might consider having the forks rebuilt and revalve by a specialist. Most standard suspension adjusters don't make a lot of difference as they have to cater for riders of all weights and stll remain safe. I had my 748 forks revalved because they were always too hard and the difference on the road is huge. The bike is so much has easier, safer And quicker now.
I'll pass a few comments here if you dont mind chaps...firstly, Coops...you should ALWAYS measure preload as the change from UNLOADED spring......so you should refer to preload settings as "X turns in from fully wound out" rather than turns from fully clockwise...which is turns OUT from MAXIMUM preload. For an 11.5 stone rider I'd go with .95 springs, a 190 air gap ( yes, its larger than usual but works) with 5w fork oil, compression 12 clicks out from max in, and rebound 14 clicks out from maximum in The Panigale also seems to react better to sitting low on its suspension, so drop the ride height to 208mm rear and bring the forks through the top yoke by 35mm.....then start to play with it...
I just went through the same exercise with a suspension guy and he commented on the lack of rebound. I ended up about 3 clicks out from hard. Engineer thought a heavier weight oil would solve the problem. Did you ever get feedback from the dealer on the rebound or make further adjustments?
This is great stuff - I am looking for base settings myself although I am 13.5 stone. Any recommendations for a suspension setup place in/around Herts.I dont mind riding up to 100 miles to get it done properly either as long as they dont just say "Get some Ohlins" and hers a bill Cheers Kwack
I used MD Racing in Surrey. They were very helpful and friendly. At this point, I can't really comment on whether their advice was sound as my background is car suspension (at least from a track perspective) so setting up bikes is a whole new learning curve for me. However, intuitively his comments seem sound and the base setting he gave me are quite similar to coop's original post (I'm a similar weight).... of course, they may both be equally wrong I picked up the bike on Tuesday and literally rode it to the suspension shop, so way too soon to formulate any views on it's handling characteristics. What I can say is a) they were eager to help and b) were very happy to do a setup on the stock suspension and also were happy to recommend incremental improvements that may become relevant if I develop as a rider, e.g. moving to a heavier fork oil mentioned above to provide greater damping. Ian
