Doesnt seem as if many SC riders have found their way here yet....but if there are any of you out there......your front ends are real budget basement parts bin specials, but there is a solution...6 months ago I'd have said look in the SC section on Ducatisti, but since we cant do that now, I'll have to tell you here...... As most of you know, I import Wilbers suspension amongst many other things, and amongst their products is a progressive fork spring conversion which, along with setting the air gap correctly and changing the fork oil, totally transforms the handling of all the SC models.......its not an expensive upgrade and although it doesnt give you adjustability, it does make that set of forks much more compliant and the bike so much more pleasant to ride and sure footed...... This isnt an ad.....but more technical info that was ably demonstrated by many SC riders on Ducatisti as being a genuinely worthwhile mod to carry out......
A popular mod amongst so many possible with the Sport Classics. Hyperpro progressive springs are also quite common, had mine sorted by Nelly at Cornerspeed. Many of the SC members apparently migrated over to the Ducati.ms site where there is a very active SC section.
Yes Figaro, for pretty much all bikes........I only mentioned the SC because it was relevant to the forum, but we do progressive and linear for pretty much any bike/fork.......
Excellent! What I'm looking for is a relatively inexpensive way to spruce up the action of my sprint's forks. They tend to crash into potholes in a very crude way. I daresay they're in need of an oil change, but I reckon a slightly stiffer spring would help too, as I tend to ride over the front of the bike.
Cant comment on Hyperpro..but no way are progressive springs dangerous...what makes you say that Monsterman ?
Wilbers fork springs are very good, i have used them racing and ridden other bikes with the shock fitted. I thought linear springs are for track use ? I wouldnt want to hit a pot hole on the road with a linear spring weighted for the rider for spot on sag.
Plenty of Sport Classic owners (globally - check the SC section on Ducati.ms) are using progressive fork springs from Hagon, Hyperpro & Wilbers. The Hyperpros have been fine on my bike (almost 2 years now) - only used on the road. I'm sure technical experts such as Nogs & Nelly wouldn't touch progressive springs if there was even a hint of a problem.
Another vote for Wilbers. They transformed the front end, along with heavier fork oil. If they're dangerous, then I'm not not sure how I survived all those track days...
when fitted to my S4 they made the bike very very unstable touring around , I put in linear ohlins springs and the bike was fine in all conditions .
Then I'm afraid to say Monsterman, that if they werent broken, then they were installed incorrectly, because progressive springs just do NOT behave that way.
They were installed correctly and used for over 1600 miles of riding and they were potentialy leathal the bike was so unstable it bounced and pogoed all the time , with linear springs the bike is perfect , I have owned 6 ducatis and over 40 other bikes and tune and build bikes for many years , progressive springs are great on HDs, my wife has them in her sportster and they work great but In my opinion and experience no good for Ducatis .
Then we have to disagree....what you say is your experience is contrary to the hundreds of sets of progressive springs I have fitted to Ducatis,Aprilias, Hondas, Suzukis, Yamahas, BMW's, Benellis, Harleys, and just about any other bike you can mention.....
Ah but Ktech, ohlins and maxton and most suspension gurus i deal with also dont recommend progressive springs in their products either all use linear springs on sports bikes .
Thats for track use......I'd recommend linear springs for track use too.....or for road use if you want to ride mainly smooth roads...but if you have to deal with the vagaries of UK roads, then certainly for lighter bikes I'd heartily recommend progressive. But thats my last comment on the matter, you are entitled to your opinion on the subject too. Even if its flawed. Lol.....
Monsterman 749s, m900 and 900SSie beg to differ. SS is handling great as a package I now have Wilbers springs front and shock back. m900 front was shijat until Wilbers went in. 749s was by far the worst as stock being it was built as sports bike. After front conversion and setup much much better.
Progressive springs work fine - the reason they are not used in racing is because they are much harder to set up, in fact they are kind of already set up by their very nature - so not the kind of thing use on a bike you want to tweak for different tracks/riders etc. In pure engineering terms progressive springs do a good job of providing progressive suspension and have thousands of applications. No idea what happened with that Monster, and I wouldn't say anything negative about an experienced rider's personal experience with them, but however you look at it, progressive springs are being used in all kinds of bikes all over the planet, and they come strongly recommended as a good upgrade on the Sport Classic, here and on Ducati.ms in the US. Mine were installed by well-known racer and race mechanic Mike Dawson at MD Racing, on his recommendation. He knows a thing or two. Look him up.
