Hi Everyone I was looking for some advice on upgrades for my 1260 Pikes Peak. I've seen some people talking about changing rear sprockets +2R to smooth things out. Anyone had any experience of this and if so can you recommend any products to look at ?? Thanks GP Pikes Peak
1260PP is the same as the regular 1260 Multistrada in this respect. There are a few options: To go for a smaller 14T front sprocket vs the 15T original. This equates to a little more than an additional two teeth on the rear (40T > 42T) but also means that you can retain the original chain length. Increase the rear sprocket to 42T whilst retaining the original 15T size at the front. This requires an additional 2 links in the chain. Though allegedly you can do this and retain the 114 link original size the ride height will be changed quite a bit due to the eccentric adjuster and the range of movement being significantly changed. The flexibility of a carrier rear sprocket making for easy and cheaper future changes is appealing in return for a little more £ the first time around. However, the range of sprockets and suppliers is limited, especially if going for the 42T option. That's unless you change the chain size from the OEM 530 to 525 which will open up a greater range of options. Usually you'll have to build your own set whichever option you go for. There are some 3rd party suppliers that do this for you, CarpiMoto being one of them. I wound up going the 14T/40T 116 link 530 DID ZX chain route using a JT carrier for my 1260s. Happy with the result, though only did this at the tail end of last year. Makes lower speed town riding plus A and B road twisties better and removes the over-drive 6th gear feeling on the motorway. I try to avoid motorways anyway so for me that's no great loss.
Depends on where you ride. In my experience, I do lots of motorways so oem gearing is good for me. If you do twisties and town go 42 rear.
I've not felt the need to change from the standard gearing but there again I rarely do town/traffic riding. As for the twisties, 2nd and 3rd do that job admirably as it's good for any corner between 40 and 120+mph. 6th gear, it's fine for cruising at 65mph plus, if I'm cruising at a lower speed, I use 5th.
What @Bumpkin said. I’ve tried both, separately and together, which is too much. I went with the 14t front and whilst it’s more of a change than the 42r, I was happy for the convenience and overall, it suited my riding.
I went +2R at the first 600 miles service. I couldn't wait following the gearing change on my previous two Ducati's. Since the topic is "Pikes Peak Upgrades" a rad guard is a cheap and light upgrade which may save you from a rad puncture. Here's a freebie: Unless you do a lot of wet touring, remove the rear mud guard. You'll be amazed at your newly responsive rear suspension which doesn't have all that un-sprung weight. Really. I'm not kidding. Try it out.
Done about 10k miles since upping the rear sprocket , I found it much better , especially around town. I also tried removing the rear guard got covered in shit , so put it back on. I certainly wasn’t amazed l nor did I notice removing it made any difference to the handling at all ?Are you joking or did you really notice ? front fender extender is worth a punt too , as are the guards. I’ve also dropped mine and only the rear peg and hand guard touched down , so the crash bars and bobbins are a bit minging imho.
I wasn't kidding. I noticed a big difference. It's a much smoother ride. When a heavy wheel runs over a bump in the road, its entire mass is sent flying up towards the top of the sub-frame. The inertia it carries as it travels is countered by the bike’s suspension, forcing the wheel back onto the road surface. The heavier the wheel, the higher it will jump off the road when faced with road imperfections. That mud guard is about 3 lbs plus the rearward leverage. In it's absence, riding over bumps with a lighter mass means that your suspension has to counter much lower inertia forces, allowing it to force the wheel back to the road with less effort. The less un-sprung mass, the quicker to reestablish grip. Another benefit, albeit of lessor importance than reducing inertia, is the ratio of un-sprung to sprung weight which I read somewhere is about 1:10. If that's true, removing that 3 lbs of additional un-sprung weight equates to a bike carrying 30 lbs less. The 1260 Pikes Peak has lighter forged wheels. That 4 lbs reduction in wheel weight inertia equals to about a 40 lbs weight loss excluding the benefit of less gyroscopic mass. It's no wonder that the Pikes Peak handles better than the standard "S".
Another area I was hoping for some advice on is De-Cat. My bike has already been de-Cat'd and it does sound great however it properly pops and bangs loud on roll off. Is this just a symptom of De-Cat or is something else going on. Its a little bit anti-social
All bikes pop on roll-off to a certain extent as it's a symptom of un-burnt fuel igniting in the exhaust. Stock exhausts will mask it as some are longer and more quiet than others. Because you de-cated, your exhaust is technically shorter allowing more air into it and exacerbating the detonation of the excess fuel.
Pops and bangs on overrun will happen more when there are air leaks in your exhaust, as this provides the oxygen to enable in-exhaust combustion. Seal up your joints and see how it goes, but make sure you're not sticking them together with something 'permanent'. No, I have no suggestion other than silicone sealant, with a release agent on the metal to enable disassembly...
Yeah that's normal I'd say. My 1260 with the full Termi used to scare the shit out of pedestrians and cyclists!
Thanks for the reply Multirider75. Have you upgraded to the new V4 Pikes Peak ?? I'm guessing its a big improvement ?
That all depends on how you define "big improvement". At 11.58s on the quarter mile It isn't faster. Comparing to this compilation: Sportbike Performance numbers by Cycle World. and it's not more powerful across most of the RPM range. It's heavier where I doubt it handles better although that's a subjective assumption. It's smoother, better electronics and longer service intervals going for it. Looks are subjective. The sales price is probably a big improvement for Ducati's bottom line.
Sorry to bring up an old topic. I'm considering buying 1260s, so I'm looking through the forum. You mentioned if you use the standard chain it would affect the ride height. Will it be higher or lower?
According to the workshop manual the default position of the eccentric hub is rotated downwards so the spindle is lower than the centre-line of the hub. Not quite sure where in the 9 o'clock to to 3 o'clock portion of adjustment this is as standard with the chain tensioned correctly but I'll guess that it's around the 6 o'clock position as that's where it's shown in the manual. My bike isn't easily accessible for me to check. To take up slack the hub is rotated anti-clockwise which will minimally adjust the ride-height to slightly lower as well as extend the wheel-base. To provide the adjustment to compensate for the larger rear sprocket you might well find that this adjustment needs to be in the 9 o'clock to 6 o'clock range lowering the ride-height a little and shortening the wheel-base. How significant the differences are and their effect on clearances (the chain guard and hugger) and with handling I can't hazard a guess. If going to a 42T rear then changing the chain at same time would be prudent anyway. Best to change as a set unless you're doing this to a new, or nearly new, bike.
The Thank you, great explanation. I think it's similar to my old zzr1100 which I rotated the eccentric adjuster so I could be a little closer to the ground.
We don't realize the deterioration over time consequently, here's an upgrade I'm planning in the spring: Suspension Servicing. Unless you had the suspension serviced recently, you should have the fork and shock serviced. Here in Canada, such service will cost you: Labor to pull the forks out $120 Fork Service $280 Lath polish $40 Slide and guide bushings (if needed) $110 Labor to pull shock out $100 Shock service $175 Lath polish $25 Last but not least, I'll have the sag, comp and rebound re-set for my weight, riding style and roads.
