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Old 26-Jun-2006, 09:37
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Question 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.
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Old 26-Jun-2006, 09:45
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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.
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Old 26-Jun-2006, 10:27
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Its a 2003 999S with the Ohlins forks.
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Old 26-Jun-2006, 11:27
tranquil_rage tranquil_rage is offline
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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.
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Old 26-Jun-2006, 12:21
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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
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Old 26-Jun-2006, 15:27
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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.


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Old 29-Apr-2019, 23:11
Endgame Thor Endgame Thor is offline
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How to lower ride height?

Hi guys. I was wondering if the original poster ever figured out how to do this? I just bought a 04 999s from a 6'1" guy. I'm 5'6" @ 240lbs. I can't safely flat foot the bike at stops (even on 1 leg). Can you guys link me to a video on how to lower the ride height front and rear? Looking at it it looks like rotating the ride height adjustment bar in the rear. The front look like loosen / lower / tighten. But I'm sure there is a detailed description on how to do this somewhere. Please advise.
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Old 30-Apr-2019, 10:39
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I've done it using a front stand that goes under the yokes (triple clamps) so it holds the bike rather than the forks, allowing you to adjust.

When I've stripped bikes before and removed forks I have used ratchet straps on the frame and rafters in the garage to again suspend the bike and take the weight off the forks. Not ideal, but it works!


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