Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 851 / 888 > Fork conversion

[Douglas851]

I have nearly finished fitting 916 forks to my 888.
Two reasons, the complete conversion, including Ohlin internals, was cheaper than getting the original forks reworked and, I can use the same front wheels for both the 888 and my ST2
Everything has been straightforward, except for the speedo drive. A 916 speedo will not easily fit without serious changes to the back of the intrument panel, which I do not want to do. However I have been told that you can swop the internals of the 888 and 916 speedo drive to use the original speedo. After looking at the drive there does not appear to be any way of taking it apart without breaking something. Does anyone know otherwise?

Thanks, Douglas

[aka.eric]

Cant answer your question Im afraid,the speedo drives look like sealed units to me.A digital speedo is a way,not ideal though.
Details including pics of your conversion would be appreciated,opens the door to 4pad calipers etc.

[Iconic944ss]

Pedal bike type digital speedos can indeed be used ok on motorbikes with a little care around selection and installation - I think someone on here has done it on a TD bike.

Interesting solution, however I had my 900ss Showa forks rebuilt to a stingey budget of £150 and I've been quite impressed with the results.

Well done.

PS Eric - 45 to 60mm caliper adapters are available for 4-pad systems.

[851neil]

Doug, did you go for a yoke conversion to allow the 9** forks to fit up or was it a simple slot in ?
I know that for mine I had to fit Harris yokes, but my move was from Marzocchi RWU's to 9** USD's
Neil

[Jools]

You mean that there is someone else with the 888 and ST2 pairing?

You can fit the bicycle sort of digital speedo quite easily. Glyn has done it on his ST2 road bike, it was quite straightforward once he'd worked out the pick-up position.

I'm not sure that I would want to do the digital thing on an 888 though, it wouldn't be quite right somehow. To be honest, I haven't had the 888 long enough yet to have had cause to examine the speedo drive so I don't know how it differs from the 748/916/ST2 drives which I believe are all the same - is it a different cable fitting? If it is, there maybe somewhere that can make you up a speedo cable with a 916 fitting at the drive end and a 888 fitting at the speedo end.

If the speedo drive is geared differently you might be able to get a converter made up - a bit like those km/mph converters that fit onto your cable.

Just a couple of ideas - even if they're crap ones.

BTW Frank: you can get 65mm adaptor plates but they are sooooooo ugly

[Rob B]

Why don't you convert a speedo drive itself or send the 888 speedo off to get it calibrated to suit the big axle speedo drive

[phil_h]

Originally posted by Rob B
Why don't you convert a speedo drive itself

That sounds worth a look - I've had the drives on my singles apart and they are really simple inside.
The old style drive must have been used on the essesses too after all, so finding one to take apart should be easy.

[aka.eric]

How do you take them apart without breaking anything?.That was the original question.

[Douglas851]

Apart from the axle hole the two speedo drives look identical, and the 888 cable does connect up. I surmise that the change in ratio occured when Ducati went from Veglia to CEV instruments, as I have also heard that early 25mm axle Monsters have the correct ratio for the 888/900ss speedo.

[Iconic944ss]

Originally posted by Jools
BTW Frank: you can get 65mm adaptor plates but they are sooooooo ugly

Please dont say that Jools - these babies cost me a fair few pennies: