Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 999 / 749 > 749s suspention for 16 stone

[BIG-G]

Any past threads on this or is some one similar to me. At 16st I'm finding the bike set up to soft, ie bouncing through quick but undulating corners. I dont know whether to start with the spring rate or try dialing it out with the damping settings. I also find the front vague and tipping in on slow corners / roundabouts etc and wondered if this was due to suspention.
Any experts out there please help.
Thanks
G

[berto]

Two leaf springs or replace oil with porridge!!

[Harv748]

Theres no short cut really...have you set both the static unloaded and loaded sag? Can you get reasonable figures with the bikes current springs?

Unloaded should be in the region of 30mm front/10mm rear
Loaded (ie you sat on the bike in your gear) should be in the region of 45mm front/35mm rear?

And before anyone shoots me down, these are ball park figures and not set in stone!

You can tinker with other settings all you want, but if you are out on these basics then you are fighting a losing battle...

[HW]

I have had same problem with 749s. This thread started by me went into some detail about what 100% Bikes Suspension thought of the 749.

DSC Thread - 749 Showa rear shocks

I was quite frustrated when I tried to set up the rear suspension to the "ideal" sag figures. I found that at about 15stone I was getting sag of 50mm or more and in riding I was experiencing a pogo like effect.

The bottom line from that other thread was that spending £40 with Colin was well worth it. He turns up at various trackdays, but you'd ahve to phone him to find out where he will be. He said - the rear on a big Vtwin can be a bit softer because you need it to damp out the power pulses. The first thing to set is the Rebound damping. Section8Superbike have some good info on how to check and adjust rebound and compression.

section8superbike - suspension tuning

My Showa has ended up with virtually no compression adjustment left. He did this do try and compensate for the shock not doing well for track use (details in above thread). Whether that is right or not, it now handles FAR better than it ever has, and I tohught it was good before. It now feels totally stable and turns 'on a sixpence'. All in all, the best £4 I ever spent on it.

[Edited on 4-10-2005 by HW]

[BIG-G]

Good job I lost a stone before I bought it then.
G

[BIG-G]

Just been to check the unladen sag and it seems to have all been taken out by the previous owner, to the point that I need to put some back.
The ride height looks also to have beed extended so it looks like the damping, which is only on std needs to be upped. This will also explain why on my previous topic as to why it leans so much on the side stand.
Thanks for the good info
G

[BDG]

If you can't get it set up to your satisfaction a visit to Maxton near Frodsham in Cheshire is well worth while. 01928 740531.

Worked for me and i'm slightly heavier.

[BIG-G]

Originally posted by BDG
If you can't get it set up to your satisfaction a visit to Maxton near Frodsham in Cheshire is well worth while. 01928 740531.

Worked for me and i'm slightly heavier.

Did they rework the shocks and or replace springs?
I live just south of Chester so is right on my doorstep
G

[soloman]

Yeah! I'd definately be interested in that, I live in Chester and have been looking at getting someone to sort my 749s out, wasn't aware of Maxton!

Have they been there long?

Will they set sags, ride height, drop forks through etc?

How long does it take?

[BDG]

Not sure if they'll just set up sag etc, but i don't see why not.
Give them a call.

I've had 2 bikes (st4s and a 996) resrung and revalved front and rear by them and been very pleased with the results.

Its worth telling them whether its for road or track use.

They can get very busy so if its a full respring and revlave job you may have to wait 4 or even 6 weeks to get them booked in, then a week for them to do it at busy times, but not a problem with winter coming up after the end of the race season.

[Edited on 4-10-2005 by BDG]