Ducati Monster Forum

New owner of a 2007 S2R 800. I'm coming from a 2005 GSXR 1000 (Yes, I wanted a slower bike, perhaps live a little longer).

Anyways, I have problem with the suspension and the brakes.

1.) The brake lever is very firm but I get very little braking for the effort.
2.) The front suspension is very loose and non-adjustable as you all know.

I'm not aspiring to do track days on this machine, I have a seperate bike for that. However, I definitely need to get the suspension firmer to feel safer and get some stronger braking to emergency stop safely and not have to give a death grip in order to do it.

So, I've searched around the forums and found these options
1.) S2R1000 or S4R forks/brakes  (Direct fit but expensive, still need re-sprung)
2.) GSXR swap forks/brakes (Cheaper, but need special spaces, anyone making these?)
3.) SBK front end (Requires machining of clamps, not too interested in doing that)
4.) New springs in stock forks, 4-pot brake calipers (cheapest of all, but is the compressions/rebound going to be ok?)

Question 1: What is the weak link in my brake system? I ask this because I am leaning towards the GSXR swap for the better calipers but if the master cylinder is the weak link, I'll still be in the same boat.

Question 2: If I just re-spring the forks, is the compression/rebound going to be ok? It feels ok now with the stock springs, but if it gets messed up, I can't adjust it.

Question 3: Anyone selling/making the spacers needed for the GSXR swap?

Recommedations here for me?

Gixxer swap for sale
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=36117.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=36117.0)
SBK swap for sale
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=36051.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=36051.0)

THANKS!!!!!!! I was thinking about doing the same swap!  [bacon]

I'm very much leaning to the GSXR conversion, but I don't need re-valved internals. I think the stock valving will work for my needs and the stock springs should actually work out pretty well with my weight from what I've read...and experienced. So, that one in the link is a bit too pricy for me, although a great deal with the parts, but it's just beyond what I need.

I was just hoping someone on the forums was still manufacturing the spacers.

I believe TAftonomos and Hooligan Machinist make some custom stuff like that

Thanks. I'll send them a message. I just bought all the parts I need except the spacers from ebay for the GSXR conversion.

$200 for forks, calipers, and an axle. I'll rebuild the forks myself with about $75 for seals/fluids. So, this should turn out to be a very affordable solution to the crappy front end.

You might need to re-spring 'em anyway.  Don't forget a GSXR is much heavier than a monster and is sprung as such.  Just saying...

look on ebay and look for ST2/ST4 forks as well, they'll bolt right on as well.

here's a set of S2R1000 forks, good price and they'll be orders of magnitude better than what you have...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DUCATI-S4R-S2R-MONSTER-04-FRONT-FORKS-SUSPENSION_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem439e41c5ceQQitemZ290417919438QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DUCATI-S4R-S2R-MONSTER-04-FRONT-FORKS-SUSPENSION_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem439e41c5ceQQitemZ290417919438QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories)

actually those are a set of S4R forks

even better, straight rate springs...