First Ducati, My Childhood Poster Bike!

MH racing. Quality bloke and great at what he does, couldn’t recommend him enough. I’ve had some forks and another shock done since he’ll have that one looking brand new, the second one I took him was in a similar state

https://www.mhracing.com/

 

Stripping the rear damper.
I'm assuming you have removed the spring already.
Clean it well. Set all adjusters to full soft then de-gas it. Push in the Schrader valve and then remove the valve core. It's just a tyre valve. Then, holding the damper by the eye on the body end in a vice with soft jaws, knock out the top cap. It's just held by friction. I use a screw driver and hammer to ease it out.

Then you need to push down the seal carrier to hook out the circlip.

Can be quite tight and might require knocking down with a drift but can also be easy and just push in by hand.
When you got the circlip out you can pull the shaft assembly out. Be careful, this is where you get covered in smelly oil if you get it wrong. The o-ring on the seal carrier pops into the circlip groove and that makes it a bit hard to pull out just before it pops off and covers everything in oil. Then you have this. dump the oil from the damper and leave the body to drain.
Holding the top eye in the vice undo the nut on the piston end. Have a Ty wrap ready and put the whole piston assembly straight onto it. If you mix up the shims it will either be a different damper or more likely won't work at all.
Then undo the nut on the top eye and unscrew the shaft. Now you can pull off the bump stop, top cap and seal carrier. Inside the shaft is the needle valve that you can push out from the piston end.

Now strip the seal carrier. Is all held together by a big rubber doughnut in the bottom of it. Hook out the doughnut. You will find a metal washer, the 2 part shaft seal and another washer.
Again, put it on a Ty wrap.
Back to the damper body and gas cannister. Put it in the vice as before. Push in the cap that holds the tyre valve to get to the circlip. Same system as the seal carrier.
You can then pull the cap out. The gas bladder is attached to it and acts as the seal as well. Can be tricky to pull out. A piece of bar with the correct internal threat wound onto the cap is helpful but a metal valve cap and some pliers can work too.
The bladder can now come off the cap too. No tools required.
The cannister is held onto the body in the same way again. Push it down, hook out the circlip and pull it up and off.
Next is the adjuster in the body, it just unscrews.
Last is the actual damper tube. This requires a special tool that grips the smooth tube without crushing it. Hazet make one. I haven't got it here so can't post a picture at this point but will do later. There is a little grub screw that needs to come out first.
Then back in the vice by the eye. Apply penetrant oil and leave for a few hours. Heat up good and proper. Don't be shy with the heat. F...ing hot is just right. Insert the seal carrier to stop the tube being crushed. Using the special tool unscrew the damper tube.
The adjuster in the top eye isn't meant to come out. I took it out as my adjuster snapped but otherwise leave alone.
Putting it back together is a bit more complicated but I can do a guide as well. Putting it on a Dyno is important as you won't feel by hand if it's not right.
Hope this helps.

 

That’s a great write up

 

This is the tool to undo the damper tube. Needs the correct diameter insert as well.

 

Looks good, did you paint that spring platform?

 

Looks very good. Although getting it re-anodised costs very little.

 

It does look very good. The colour fooled me, looked like fresh hard anodise.

 

Welcome! Great thread, looking good so far with what you’ve done already and l can’t wait to see the finished result

 

I bought some of that the other week and used it for exactly the same thing, does a beltin job to be fair

 

Get a suitable connector!