1200 DVT Suspension Question

Sports mode is your friend, and probably add a turn or two on the fork adjuster. Testing is the only way to be sure on a closed private road of course.

 

I found the best preload was the recommended turns minus 1/2 or full turn (ie less preload)

You can set Sport mode to mostly be like touring, but firm up a bit. I always felt teh god affected my DVT much more at speed than the older version, and suspect its the wider bars being more sensitive to wind blast and small movement as you hang on

 

What have you set on the fork preload?

1/2 turn per 10KG?

I would start by checking your tyre pressure and also that the axle is correctly seated in the forks.... - see last photos












If all that is OK - makes no difference - try running in sport mode and see if it helps - if it does - just increase the damping on the forks through the menu..

 

It is easy - once you figure how.... unfortunately... I dont have a Multi any more to create you a walk through how to...

 

I have the same problem as you. But if we are going to give it hell I always turn it to sports mode & all is well. I have my right fork preload at about 6 1/2 turns in. 13 1/2 stone. Always run with the tywrap on fork leg to keep an eye on how much it dips. Usually about 1" from bottom after spirited riding.

 

Isn’t it 15kg? (While since I did mine!)

And why would the alignment be a problem with anything? If it’s out it would be noticeable at far lower speeds and would be binding something

 

Can we have that in English...??


My suggestion was just to check it was all in line before playing with anything else..

It may be 15KG a half turn... that's why I added the ?? - also to find out how much preload he had..

I used to use nearly all my travel too - but never had any issues with the front at standard touring settings...

I am heavy / was heavier and no issue... I ended up at just under max preload (8 turns I think)

 

This is a science. I say this because when I bought my 2017 1200s. I asked the question of the front preload to Ducati. In there words, do not touch the right hand fork leg preload on Skyhook bikes as the Skyhook takes care of all this. This was from a man who goes over to Italy every year & plays with the top engineers from the Duke factory. I mean plays out, not with them ah em. He has worked for Ducati for many years & even rides a 1200s himself. He told me that with adjustment of the Skyhook settings you can get the perfect ride. Its all to do with the bits you cannot see or understand. Like the bike is hung on 2 ropes. One at the front wheel centre & one at the back wheel centre like being on scales. Taking the earths gravity into account the gyro within the bike knows how level to the earth the bike is. When you brake the front end dips. The Skyhook knows this & adjust the front suspension on the fly to compensate for this. Bollocks you will all say to this theory. But I have tested this out over the last 10 months. Findings. With using a ty wrap on one front fork leg slid to the top ride the bike as you will. At the end of the day see how far the front leg has dipped. Ok so now adjust your preload as you will & I did mine 6 1/2 turns in. Repeat the tests. The ty wrap on my bike was nearly the same. Obviously it is not perfect as you may have braked harder on one of the runs. It will however give you a rough idea. Mine changed very little from no preload to 6 1/2 turns in, which maybe says that the man was not far out. I still have my front right leg 6 1/2 turns in but cannot tell the man from Ducati that he is wrong. Some say the front fork should not dip far. Bollocks I say . Watch the superbikes & see into a bend how far there front forks compress, nearly to the bottom. This has been a long asked question & if you search on here there are many guys who know sooo much more than Ducati so who am I to argue with them. P.S play with the Skyhook settings. Lots to adjust in there.

 

It is one of the main reasons they extended the wheelbase on the 1260, but you can improve it by a few factors mentioned, front tyre pressure, head bearing stock, make sure no play, messing with suspension settings, but it is different for different riders and weight and size, but it is recommenced when you get to those sort of speeds or hard acceleration you are in sport mode, or a much harder set up than standard touring, or adjust standard touring.

 

Agree with above. I have had this high speed wag but when mentioned on here before was shot down as a wanker that did not know how to ride a bike. In sports mode never had the front end wagging, only in touring etc. Was even going to fit a steering damper but yet again was classed as a tosser. Strange but they actually sell a damper for the Multi. I wonder why. Also yes the 1260 will probably not do this due to longer wheel base & FRONT RAKE.

 

Surely if there is a problem in touring mode that disappears in sports mode you need to deduce the difference between the modes.

It would indicate that it’s not a preload problem as the preload has remained the same in both modes.

Mr Spock would say that’s logical.

 

Sam1199 - the preload at the rear changes between the modes as well as the compression and rebound damping settings for the forks and rear shock - which is what the skyhook adjusts on the fly from your base setting..

As you know raising the back affects the front..

 

Changing front preload is all about how the bike sits at standstill and how much support it then gives to the up and down travel in motion. If it sits right, you have a higher range of adjustment, ie you don’t have to firm up as much to stop it bottoming out.

If it is not meant to be adjusted, why would ducati make it adjustable?!

To cure the issue to head shake at speed in touring, may be worth putting in rider/pillion or rider/luggage mode. This firm the preload a fair amount but iirc doesn’t touch the other settings do feels about the same to ride, just taller at the rear. May help pitch a bit more weight forward.

Only downside is you can’t do at speed, so need to be under 11mph or something to get it to work.

I used pillion plus luggage on track and it was a massive difference in ground clearance, and used plus luggage on longer trips as it was often more comfortable at speed

 

Wait til you get yours: it’s mega adjustable and mostly on the fly.

 

I have had the high speed wobble, and have tried adjusting preload back to 0 , different settings through the menu and had tyres rebalanced and pressures checked and i have made it better but it is still there when at very high speed which i find disappointing, its the only part of the bike that annoys me. But compared to my old bikes a ZZR1400 and Bmw K1600GT they are much heavier and uber stable at stupid speeds.

 

They are also lower, longer and designed for their top speed. And don’t have 3ft wide bars!