Ride height question
 

Just fitted bt012ss and mag wheels, its made a huge difference (not just turn-in but acceleration and braking) the thing is I'm using up all the back tyre, but theres still a lot to go on the front, plus when on the gas coming out of corners the bike wants to understeer, is more ride height the answer? Thanks!

More ride height would probably stop the understeer, but you should be careful as too much will unload the back enough so that it spins up. The easy answer is since it is easy to adjust, try it and see.

John

Check the static sag on the rear. I'd run about 12-15 mm. I helped Guido set up his and his was around 25 mm! This is how it came from the factory! That should cure your running wide problem.

Just to be clear, ride height and sag are not the same thing. Sag is adjusted by turning the lock rings on top of the spring on the rear shock. Ride height is adjusted with the link rod that connects the swingarm to the rocker at the top of the shock. You MUST set the sag first!

The thing is before the wheel/tyre change it wasnt a problem, I'm thinking that because the wheels are much lighter its affected the sag/suspension setup (I had the sag setup for my weight + a monoposto spring shoved on). Also before the change the chain was looser than a 17 year old girl after 2 bottles of moet, tightening it might have affected the ride height?
Before the changeover the both tyres had slight chicken strips (just where the tread stops on pirellis) and now the rear is all used up and theres a inch to go on the front! :o

[Edited on 16-5-2003 by DJTera]

A wheel and tyre change will definitely affect handling. Your sag, however, will not have been affected. Your ride height will almost certainly have been by the chain tension adjustment and maybe even slightly by the different tyre profile, although probably less so. And lastly, you maybe riding it harder since as you say you now use all of the rear tyre. Could be that you didn't push as hard before and it never showed up.

I would still check the sag unless you know it's correct and then use the ride height adjuster to compensate for the chain adjustment. If you need to reduce the sag to get to the correct measurement, that may be enough to make it go away, since it also affects ride height.

I definitely havent been riding as hard mainly due to the understeer, i will post pics of the tyres and you can see the difference between them!

Hey, DJ have you changed from a 190 to a 180 rear by any chance?? The 190 rear will NEVER use the edge on a standard Ducati 5.5 inch rim since it is designed for a 6.0-6.25 inch rim. The 180 is the correct fitment and you will be able to use the whole tyre and will get better grip when leant over. The front tyre is different and I have never seen anyone use all of their front on the road, only with slicks on the track.

John

DJ,

Might be worth a note to Bridgestone.

I'm running 180 & 120 012SS's and I too am nowhere near the sides on the front and over on the back. This was even after 2 days on the CSS at Rockingham.

I'm guessing this is a characteristic of the tyre and not anything to do with setup

Your understeer sounds like setup, and maybe the new tyre has highlighted this.

Good luck..

PS. My bike felt ace after the tweaks I went through with Felix on the rear end and still no further to the edge on the front. Not an issue to me.

Thanks for the info Guido, I'll take a pic of the back and front tyres and let me know if the difference between them is the same as on yours?