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-   -   Lowering of front forks (/showthread.php?t=32717)

TORTUGA 26-Jun-2006 09:37

Lowering of front forks
 
This might sound stupid, but how do you lower the front forks. I was looking to lower them on the weekend but for the life of me could not find how to lower them. I am not mechanically minded so excuse my rubbishness.

Carbon749 26-Jun-2006 09:45

What model bike ?

I'm assuming a sports bike with clip on bars that clamp around the fork leg just below the top yoke.

Should be a straight forward job. Not an expert, but, my advice would be -

loosen the clip on clamps and slide these down the fork leg by the amount that you want to lower the fork legs. Tighten these back up.

Loosen the yoke clamp bolts, top and bottom, and the forks should slide up through the yokes until the top yoke rests against the clip on clamps.

Check everything is even and straight and then tighten it all back up.

Check that you have the same length of fork leg showing above the top yoke on both sides.

With respect, if you are not sure how to lower the fork's and by your own admission you are not mechanically minded, should you be changing suspension set ups ? No offence meant.

TORTUGA 26-Jun-2006 10:27

Its a 2003 999S with the Ohlins forks.

tranquil_rage 26-Jun-2006 11:27

I have to say I agree with Carbon's concern about why you want to change this. If you set suspension wrong it can mess the whole bike up seriously to the point where it is barely ridable.

If your not mechanically minded but do want your suspension setup then please ask at your local Ducati dealer for someone who can do it for you.

Also I'm not sure what you mean by lower. What outcome do you want? Do you want your riding position to be lower at teh front (ie. lowering the clip-ons) or do you want the ride height lower at the front (ie lowering the forks as described above). If we knew what effect you wanted we might be able to help you better.

TORTUGA 26-Jun-2006 12:21

Guys I am not sure what I am looking for to be honest. I have heard other 999 owners saying that they had lowered the front and raised the rear and that this had improved the steering speed. I was just wondering what people had been changing as I have found my bike to be a bit lazy in the bends. I have recently had the back raised and this has improved things, however I was just wondering what else could be done as a minor adjustment to make it turn quicker without loosing stability. If it is a bit of a dodgy issue then I will leave alone until the next maintenance visit.
Cheers anyway

Jools 26-Jun-2006 15:27

Have a word with Marko, he's investigated raising the forks through the yokes (thus lowering the front end) and by how many rings (on the forks) to do it by. You can't go to low, otherwise the wheel will hit the rad on heavy braking.

If you know how much to shift the forks it's an easy enough job, but I would add a bit to what carbon said....For gawds sake, dont loosen the front forks in the yokes until the weight of the bike is taken off them. You could do this a number of ways...A front paddock stand that supports the bike up under the front of the lower yoke, or...use secure webbing straps capable of taking the weight of the bike and suspend it from a strong enough rafter in your garage...or, get an Abba stand that will support the weight of the bike in the middle and use a jack under the horizontal exhaust pipe to jack the front end up. Doing it any other way and you'll stand a chance of the weight of the bike just crashing down on top of the wheel (I wouldn't rely on the clip ons to hold it). You might want to take the front wheel out as well so that you can slide each fork leg individually.

Finally, make sure you've got the right torque settings for the triple clamp bolts. They need to be tight enough, but if you do them too tight you can oval the fork tubes.

tranquil_rage 26-Jun-2006 16:21

I'd be inclined to leave the bike as is. It's not as if a 999S has poor geometery to start with. While not a very hard thing to do in terms of technical skill it can be a complete git in terms of time and effort required.

If you do want to do it then as Jools says find out how far to lower it first and make sur ethe bike is supported properly. Thought I might clarify that he did not mean support it with a jack actually on the exhaust pipe, but rather in that region.

andyb 26-Jun-2006 16:53

There is nothing wrong with doing this, but i suggest as everyone else, you consult a specialist.

FWIW, my 999r was set up by rick at jhp. As a good guidline you can measure 186mm from the bottom of the lower yolk down to the bottom edge of the fork just above the seal.

this in conjunction with adjusting the rear ride height accordingly ie as near to 285 on the datum tool is the way to go!

Gizmo 26-Jun-2006 16:56

if you haven't set the sag and springs front and rear don't move the forks until you get this done. Once you know that is correct then look at the geometry ( alter forks/ rear ride height). Forks need to be balanced against rear ride height you can't do one without knowing where the other is.

andyb 26-Jun-2006 17:08

But its kind of a do everything sort of science. If you set the sag at one geometry, then you need to set it again when youve altered the geometry!


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