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

[aka.eric]

Sometime ago did somebody mention converting their 888 forks to the 748/9-- variety.Is the conversion complete,was it worth it?

[Screwy]

Recently sourced all the bits for this as i was told it was possible .
Well it is, but you need to make up and fit a new stem for the bottom yoke as there is'nt a suitable taper bearing to suit the 851/888 headstock 916/748 stem.

I toyed with the idea of making up some cups to suit the 851 headstock but unfortunately the 916 stem is also to long and I figured making up a spacer to sit under the stem nut would have looked naff

I may make up a new stem for the bottom yoke and make the sod,s fit but then theres also the ignition switch mounting,lockstops sorting and speedo drive/frontwheel to think about .

In all honesty I might be better off getting the M1R,s rebuilt (topping out atm) or finding some early 900SS forks .

[philthy]

Seems like a good idea at the time doesn't it?

I've got loads of ' good ideas ' in boxes at the back of my garage.

I've now worked out that the for the hundreds of pounds I've spent on good ideas I could have done a proper job on the original item.

Maxtons can transform the original front forks. Might be worth asking for a price

http://www.esling.btinternet.co.uk/maxton/

[aka.eric]

Had the forks on my first 888 fettled by Maxton,excellent job.But got a pair of P34 calipers spare,so thinking two birds one stone.
Original 888 forks+Maxton treatment+40mm GP calipers = £ lots
748/9.. forks+P34 calipers(£0.00) = £ better.

[jgriff]

Screwy, get the 900ss Showa front end, you loose a bit of steering lock, but definantly worth the upgrade. Sets come up on ebay all the time. Then you can rebound and compression dampening to play with. An easy job,except for the lower bearing replacement, that is always painful, the whole lot just fits in.

[Screwy]

Originally Posted by aka.eric

Had the forks on my first 888 fettled by Maxton,excellent job.But got a pair of P34 calipers spare,so thinking two birds one stone.
Original 888 forks+Maxton treatment+40mm GP calipers = £ lots
748/9.. forks+P34 calipers(£0.00) = £ better.

Well ive got a set of 916/748 forks + yokes sat here doing nothing

[Screwy]

Originally Posted by jgriff

Screwy, get the 900ss Showa front end, you loose a bit of steering lock, but definantly worth the upgrade. Sets come up on ebay all the time. Then you can rebound and compression dampening to play with. An easy job,except for the lower bearing replacement, that is always painful, the whole lot just fits in.

Ive had zero luck with 900SS forks and yokes on Ebay in all honesty , hence ending up with a 916/748 front end which I should have really researched a bit better , Unfortunately I ended up talking at cross purposes with someone on another forum and bought the forks/yokes before getting all the info

[Rob B]

Get a set of Cyclecat DTC-1 yokes for the 888 to 916 for conversion. Job done.

Rgds, Rob

http://www.cyclecat.com/dtc1-1.htm

[Iconic944ss]

As An aside I had my 900ss showa forks rebuilt by a suspension expert here in the NE - I was working on a very strict budget at the time (what else!).

The results were great for me but I understand he could of done so much more given a free hand.

Contact details:

www.reactivesuspension.com

Cheers - Frank

[FiscusFish]

I've got 748 forks on my 888 Strada with the Cyclecat top yoke Rob links to. I originally had the setup on my Superlight which uses basically the same front end so all the work was done there and I just swapped the bits over.

I fitted Hyperpro springs and oil to the 748 forks before I fitted them so have no base settings but the difference is fairly dramatic. The ride feels much more compliant and kinda shows up the standard rear shock.. (next job)

However, would I do it again...? No.... The Cyclecat top yoke is a serious bit of bling and the bike is definitely improved by the new forks but I'm sure getting the standard forks worked on would improve the bike at least as much if not more.

You have to bear in mind too that it isn't just a case of buy top yoke/new forks and jobs a good 'un. You also need new bars, new mudguard, new calipers if you get 65mm spaced forks (and probably new lines too) and then you still have to sort the front wheel.

The problem stems from the 9** series forks having a 25 mm axle. You can either sort it by making up bushes for your fork bottoms and "fiddling" to get it right. Problem that way is you can't access the bottom suspension adjusters without removing the wheel.

Alternatively get a 25mm axle and fit new bearings to your standard wheel. But the bearings need spacing out and you have to then use a 25mm speedo drive and they all come in different widths so you need to work at getting the wheel centred....

Finally you can just go out and buy a 9** wheel axle and speedo drive (which is what I did after trying the first two solutions). That then gives you a newer, lighter (slightly, I believe) wheel that bolts straight up, but you still find your speedo drive ratio is wrong. Again it's sortable but more aggro...

Compare that to remove forks, send to Maxton/KTech etc, refit....

In the end the whole job didn't cost too much 'cos I sold the Superlight parts on ebay. Everyone knows Superlight bits are superior to standard SS parts despite looking the same, having the same part number etc ....