Dunno if anyone has seen it yet, but the February issue of PB mag (yeah, I know it's a bit madly dated) has a good write up on the Showa forks that are fitted to many Ducati models, including the 900ss, many Monsters and a lot of the ST series. I've asked for permission to reproduce the article in PDF format as it would be a great reference point from which to start discussions about fork modification, particularly for those of a more performance than touring disposition. Anyway, Rup's assessment is that the short needle rebound set up of the Showa forks for Ducati have too harsh an action that leads to oil frothing a loss of damping control over bumpy roads or in track use. Discuss. A
Yep I've been reading Ruperts articles and have been looking at improving the forks on my SSie for a while now. The mod with Suzuki cartridges seems the way to go but at £500 for the job its a bit out of my budget. I have ST4s legs on my bike and am going to try sae5 oil (from 7.5) for starters as it needs changing.
I have found out that best, cost effective mod for those forks is springs made for your weight, coupled with correct oil/gap then setup. Done and will cost 200max. If you want to go but further another 150 will also get fork bottoms painted/powder coated and fork tubes anodised.
I had my ST4S set up by MCT last year for £205. The bike was with them for half a day and the road test after demonstrated to me the fantastic value of going to see them.
Yeah, I did a proper set up on mine, setting the sag properly and then setting the damping as per the manual and then playing with it from there. I found a setting that really is nice and as a result can tell the difference 2psi makes in the tyres. I've used my 4s on the track a few times and can't say I ever found the front wanting. The only time it ever felt vague was when the bottom head bearings were shot due to water ingress. But when the bearings are good and the stem properly torqued, the whole front end feels very good. Is there a major difference between the Showas on the 4s and the ones on the ss/Monster/ST2? Apart from the gold nitride coating obviously. A
