Ducati Sporting Club UK > DesmoDue Race Series > DesmoDue - General Questions and Chat > Fork Internals ?

[fil2]

Originally posted by skidlids
So do people not work out how bad their suspension is and what actually needs doing to improve it before chucking loads of money at it.
Yes there are some basics that need to be addressed in my opinion but considering the power/weight/speed/tyres used it may not be best to spend all your hard earned in one area.
Yes good suspension is required, as is good throttle response and engine pick-up, also required is brakes that suit your style of riding.
Assess the short comings of your own race bike with relation to your riding style and level of ability and then see how these short comings can be improved upon. £500 can buy a few different things such as :_
Cartidge fork conversion
Top Spec rear shock
Track time/ tuition
improved brakes
more sets of tyres
Dynojet kit/power commander with K&N and Dyno setup
Spares to get you out again after a spill in either practice or race one

It does depend on the size of your race budget, if its endless take ithe bike to Baines or a like with a open check, if its limited try and work out how to invest it wisely.

[Edited on 14-12-2005 by skidlids]

wise words Kev......................................

[ericthered40]

Originally posted by skidlids
So do people not work out how bad their suspension is and what actually needs doing to improve it before chucking loads of money at it.
Yes there are some basics that need to be addressed in my opinion but considering the power/weight/speed/tyres used it may not be best to spend all your hard earned in one area.
Yes good suspension is required, as is good throttle response and engine pick-up, also required is brakes that suit your style of riding.
Assess the short comings of your own race bike with relation to your riding style and level of ability and then see how these short comings can be improved upon. £500 can buy a few different things such as :_
Cartidge fork conversion
Top Spec rear shock
Track time/ tuition
improved brakes
more sets of tyres
Dynojet kit/power commander with K&N and Dyno setup
Spares to get you out again after a spill in either practice or race one

It does depend on the size of your race budget, if its endless take ithe bike to Baines or a like with a open check, if its limited try and work out how to invest it wisely.

[Edited on 14-12-2005 by skidlids]

That's what I thought.

I did the front and rear suspention and a power commander
rather than all on the fanncy forks

[ericthered40]

Originally posted by TP

Ha! Best you try and bring that dog-handling to the track.

You'll have your hands full

WOOF!

Stay :P

[psychlist]

Originally posted by skidlids
My idea is to just take off the lights and race it.

Oi!! That's MY line

[ali]

Originally posted by fil2

right...but what does the upgrade acheive..what is done..?.i dont understand.....

seems to me no-one else does lol....

Ok, ok.... lets go back to basics! The ideal setup for a front fork is (in theory) when it uses 99% of it's available travel over the course of a race.

This isn't quite true, because you may want it to go 100%, and hit the lock stops, in a couple of places if they're braking in a straight line (the tyre will then act as suspension). This may give you a better setup for the rest of the track.

The worst case scenario is when the combined suspension travel provided by the forks and the tyre is exceeded. This is when the tyre loses traction and you slide (me @ Quarry).

So the ideal setup is one where the compression damping is perfect for the place on the track where you want the most travel to be used, and where the rebound damping is set to return the bike to normal without pogoing off down the road!

Unfortunately we don't have damping adjustment, but a kit may make it easier to adjust than the standard setup, and may get you closer to an 'allround' setup to begin with.

Is it worth it? If it'd saved me from my broken collarbone I'd have happily paid £1k.

My 2p.

Ali

[skidlids]

Originally posted by ali
Is it worth it? If it'd saved me from my broken collarbone I'd have happily paid £1k.

My 2p.

Ali

Ali I didn't realise you lost the front in your crash,

Then again if anybody got injured on cold tyres then they could spend a extra £1k towards entering Minitwins and race on sticiker tyres with warmers.
All about assesing your own bike against what you are trying to do with it.

[ali]

Originally posted by skidlids
Ali I didn't realise you lost the front in your crash,

Lost it? It just bloody disappeared on me! Marshals found some liquid on the track where it'd gone awol, but I'm not convinced it wasn't just overenthusiasm as the track cooled quickly at the end of a sunny autumn day.

[skidlids]

Ali, I doubt if any amount of money spent on your forks would be the answer, from what I've seen as you hurtle by me I would say your pushing the tyres to the limit of adhesion and you would no doubt benifit from grippier tyres, but even they will be affected by track and climatic conditions.
Be interesting if you do a TP in 2006 and fit some grippy tyres and enter Minitwins to see what difference it makes to your lap times.

[paynep]

On a hornet track bike I had I had a cartridge conversion done and the diffreence was amazing. I can only assume this will also be the same ?

I had a Hornet too, and the fork job made a hell of a difference. But that's a different bike, and IMHO the standard ducati forks are way better than the H*nda ones.

If you are of average weight then I reckon its an oil change and spend the money elsewhere.....HANG ON, you are the competition - now I say spend the money on a fork kit and don't bother with new tyres or any petrol

[couchcommando]

Originally posted by paynep

I had a Hornet too, and the fork job made a hell of a difference. But that's a different bike, and IMHO the standard ducati forks are way better than the H*nda ones.

If you are of average weight then I reckon its an oil change and spend the money elsewhere.....HANG ON, you are the competition - now I say spend the money on a fork kit and don't bother with new tyres or any petrol

The hornet forks are of a better internal design than the ducati ones albeit they had softer springs. i was amazed by the difference with proper internals.

So rather than all this speculation who has got cartridge internals and was it worth it ?