Bought a ride height adjuster and was hoping to fit it myself but looking at it today it's a lot trickier than I thought. I'd appreciate some advice. I have an Abba stand to support the bike and a jack for under the rear wheel, but I'm unsure how the suspension will react once the dog bone is removed. Will it collapse and be difficult to get back into position to fit the new part? is it just a case of raising or lowering the rear wheel until the ride height adjuster lines up? The bike is booked in to Louigi Moto next week for a service so don't want to risk the bike being unridable.
With the back wheel in the air and the jack under the wheel, there is a sweet spot where there is no compression on the shock spring and the shock is not supporting the weight of the wheel. Top and bottom bolts should then be easy to drive out. On my 748 I ended up using a length of 4x2 under the wheel as a lever to get adjustability. A job is always easier with two people but you can do it on your own. Make sure your adjustable ride height link is set to the same length as the non adjustable link to start with. Andy
I put a plank under the rear wheel before removing the link. One hand under the end of the plank lets you put upward pressure to take the pressure off the two bolts. The adjustable link is then inserted using the same method. The whole job takes 15 minutes tops. There is no need to take the rear wheel out. Don't forget to adjust the new link to be the same length as the fixed link before fitting so that you have a datum point before adjusting the ride height to your needs.
it really is as easy as that. with the wheel off there'll be little to no weight there. no need for a jack or anything else under the arm.
Have a look at the pictures on my blog at Ducati 848 ride height – Ducati ST and you will see that removing the rear wheel will make the job take twice as long, it is not needed.
Twice as long? It takes less than a minute to take off, then another minute to put back on. The joys of a single swinger
Thanks for the help guys, job done Wheel off was necessary simply because my allen key was too long and fouled the tyre.
I'm doing mine at the moment because it has seized. Even with a lot of patience, WD40 & gentle heat, it still snapped (I know one end has a LHT). & yes, I had to remove the rear wheel to get the bottom bolt out, don't think its ever been out. I have ordered this replacement. Ducati Streetfighter 848 1098 1198 Ride Height Adjustor Öhlins racing gold | eBay
You need it off the stand, as you are adding lots of weight to it. Hence an abba or some other way (you can spin your pegs upside down and use axle stands) to suspend the rear of the bike
