Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > Sport Touring: ST4 / ST3 / ST2 > Ground Clearance

[mara]

A week ago I traded in my 750 Monster for an 2002 ST4. It's a mint bike with just 7000 miles and paniers and I'm delighted with the change.

The only glitch so far was riding home the other day down my favorite B Road, when I grounded the right can. The Monster would ground the pegs first, which is ideal so toe sliders can be used to warn that the ground in approaching.

I'm sure this must have been discussed before, but I couldn't find anything in the history and I'm new to the forum.

I'd be grateful for any help. Cheers.

[moozaad]

centre stand bobs first on my st2. check the suspension. Maybe more preload or compression damping on the rear is required. Also if you are fast riding without the panniers, you can raise the exhausts, which is just as likely to be the problem

[Edited on 13-8-2005 by moozaad]

[Rushjob]

I would first look at how much or how little rear ride height you are carrying.
The first thing to touch down on mine is.....I can't get anything to touch down !
I have 8 to 10mm of air under my rear tyre when the bike is on flat ground on the centre stand - this tips in very nicely but isway off touching down using all of the available tyre... ask Sparkin - he reckoned it was still miles off the deck at Cadwell with silly amounts of lean for a touring bike!

[rockhopper]

Two up, fully loaded panniers on bumpy left handers the centre stand touches down. Havent done it on the right yet although the rear tyre (180 tyre, standard for an ST4) is scuffed right to the edge on both sides.

I'm running much less ride height than Andy, arond 20mm under the tyre i think.

[Athelstan]

Welcome Mara
I have my ST4s rear wheel height set at 10 the same as Rushjob. This was done after consultation with the boys at Öhlins re setting the whole suspension up for my style of riding and weight. I have never touched down on either side. Maybe I don't try hard enough, but the bike puts a smile on my face every time I ride.

[mara]

Thanks all. To be clear, I'm no hero, I was very surprised when the can grounded and it certainly wasn't near the edge of the tyre.

I have about 40mm under the tyre when on the centre stand, so it seems I need to takle some rear suspension adjustment.

I can see that the cans can be lifted quite a bit if I take the panniers and hangers off, but I'd rather not do that as the panniers were a key reason for buying an ST, they mean I can do many more miles (where previously carrying kit mean't I had to take the car).

I'll see if I can find the right knob to increase ride hieght (you may notice I'm new to suspension adjustment) and hopefully I'll then be able to have fun down my favourite B roads without leaving bits of my bike attached to them.

[rockhopper]

Preload is the collar on the shock for which you need the c spanner which is in the tool kit.

40 mm is a huge amount, no wonder your having problems!

No need to take the pannier frames off to raise the cans, just unclip the boxes.

[Monty]

Rear ride height is controlled and adjusted by using the tie bar. It's an aluminium bar by the side of the shock, left hand thread at one end and right hand at the other. Put the bike on the stand, loosen the locknuts(remember one is left hand threaded) and turn the bar. The back wheel will drop towards the ground, how much you adjust it by is up to you-my ST4S has the back wheel just touching the ground when it's on the stand. That amount makes the bike turn in really easily, but may be a bit extreme for you, it does make the back end a bit 'loose', which is how I like my bikes. I have never touched anything down on my ST4S either in 25,000 miles, and I am not noted for my 'gentle' riding style

John

[dirtdigger]

After my recent trip to Germany, and much scraping on superb twisty roads, first thought was the pegs, I found only the left side of the centre stand touched down, but it was at the limit of the tyre! I would suspect your bike needs some adjusting!

[mara]

Thanks to all. I now have full confidence that my ST4 will do what I bought it for (cover miles, carry stuff and have fun). I'll raise the ride height at the weekend and let you know how I get on.

One more thing, I picked up the 2002 ST4 just a couple of weeks ago (reading posts in this forum, perhaps I should have pushed for an ST4S but it was mint with just 7k miles so I'm happy with it), it is fully standard spec. Are there any highly recommended mods that any self repsecting ST4 owner ought to be planning?

By the way, I'm impressed how much more stable the handling is than the 750 Monster, specifically the front end which I was never 100% confident with on the M750, and clearly its a bunch quicker.