Ducati Monster Forum

OK, so maybe the title is a bit optomistic but here goes anyway.

After conducting the relevant searches on this forum and digesting the sage advice given therein, I have taken the first step to remedy the terrible standard set up of my S2R800. For those who are new to the topic, this particular model got the bargain basement suspension and many owners (myself included) soon long for something better.

Step one is to buy new parts. My box arrived today and consists of:

One showa adjustable shock from a low milage 999. (Ebay purchase of about $50).

(http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/xx193/techno_photo/Monster%20pics/Rearshock.jpg)

New Eibach rear spring to suit my weight. ($100) Supplied and fitted by GP suspension in Oregon City. Note the new red colour which will get rid of the yellow spring that has always looked out of place on my red and white bike.

(http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/xx193/techno_photo/Monster%20pics/Newsuspension.jpg)

New front springs to suit my weight. ($105) I decided not to go with superbike forks at this stage and see how it feels with the springs and a fork oil change.

Shipping from Oregon to Tasmania ($75).

Stage two is to fit it which I hope to do as soon as I get some fork seals and oil and some garage time.

Stage three is to try and set it up. I am thinking some track time might allow me to make some adjustments and do some laps to see how it feels before adjusting some more.

I am not particularly looking for top shelf fully adjustable suspension. I just want the bike to be more solid and less unstable in corners. Once I have it set up I probably won't need to adjust it again. My hope is that it will be a noticable improvement over stock.

I'll add more as it progresses.

The 999 shock is a great choice - that's what I put on my 695 - it's transformed the rear suspension.  Fitting wasn't terribly difficult - the trick I found that makes removal of the pivots a lot easier is to lift by the swingarm pivot (I used chassis stands), and then put a jack under the end of the swingarm, and just barely support the weight of the swingarm and wheel - that way there's minimal friction on the pivots.

What weight spring did you go with?  It looks very stiff.  On the 695 I had to remove the crankcase breather reservoir and relocate the vertical cylinder coil to make space.

Here's a pic of mine, all installed.  Dezmonster has much the same setup, only he's using a 998 shock.

(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1272/4692052820_a973472e7e.jpg)

suzyj your bike looks very clean. I'm wondering if you ever find time to ride it.

If you think the 999 showa is good, find a 999s or 999r Ohlins rear shock :)


Nice work btw!

Would the OEM spring from a 999 be too stiff on a monster?

749/999 oem rate is 7.2 or 7.6 according to:
http://www.ducati-upnorth.com/tech/suspensionspring.php (http://www.ducati-upnorth.com/tech/suspensionspring.php)
so for a monster, if you weigh 100 lbs, yes.

the spring cant even support the monsters own weight. so youd have to find someway to weigh -100 for it to work!

It's enough of a feat staying at 150!  [laugh]

Good to know though...thx for the info.

I am tuned in for this one.  Can't wait to see how it works out.
I need new suspension my 210 lb self is just too much for my stock set up on the s2r800.

what are you waiting for, get some new springs already!

Been unemployed for 7 months :(  Otherwise I would of done it already. 

Although my fiancee has showed interest in putting money we get from our wedding next month towards new springs.  She loves 2 up riding but it is scary with the stock set up.

What, you mean I'm supposed to ride it as well?  Can't I just enjoy shed time with it?

Get a proper spring thats a little bit stiffer than you need. It might be a little stiff on the st, but perfect for track and 2up use.
then get a proper seat. if money is tight check out knoplace and you can get urself a knife and carve your own seat out. thats what i did. made a world of difference.

I have the DP Performance gel seat right now.  Is that what you mean or something else?

if you have the DP gel seat already then forget it. how is it for hte passenger though? the Sargent ones (or was it corbin?) have a cut out and its REALLY comfortable, i sat on one a few times and i wouldnt mind hauling people on it.

on the rear relocate the coil ..it will hit the rezzy

i just cut the passenger peg  lugs and bent the coil up and out of the way and j-cliped it


also watch the rezzy on the hoop of the swingarm ..hopefully your spring is better than mine i got a Ohlins rear spring off e-bay that was for a 200lbder  but ..i don't think it was so i get a small "hit" on full compression



Front very interested in what you have going on ..what weight of oil will you go with ???

hahaha   "shed time" !   ;D

Thanks all.

Not sure about fork oil weight yet. Might do some more research. I suspect this might take me a while to fully complete but its winter here at the moment so working on the bike is more likely than riding.

As long as I get it done before the weather improves.  [moto]

Stage 2.5 - fitting the rear shock.

I got to this on the weekend and it was pretty easy. Only one bolt at the top of the shock and one at the bottom. Most of the work was getting everything out of the way to get to it and then putting everything back. Took a few hours of leisurely work.

I just followed the excellent instructions from CairnsDuc here:

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=8896.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=8896.0)

This is the old shock in place just prior to removal:

(http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/xx193/techno_photo/oldshock.jpg)

This is the new one fitted:

(http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/xx193/techno_photo/newshock.jpg)

You can see that the external reservoir on the new shock takes up a bit of room hence the need to relocate a few things.

Not sure what I am going to do about replacing the emmissions canister but putting it back is not an option. I think I'll start a different thread for that. Also haven't made a plate to relocate the electrical bits yet.

I haven't made any suspension adjustments yet. I'll try to do some basic settings and see how it feels before fiddling with it on the weekend.

Next, I'll move onto the forks.

Here's what I did to mount the coil and rectifier/reg:

(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4692052826_a3c42b9959_z.jpg)

And here's how I dealt with the crankcase breather:

(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4020/4580295117_686622124b_z.jpg)

There's a kit available from TPO to do that.

LOL, how did your spring become yellow again? I thought you bought a red one? Good job btw

different person ;D

Is there a better solution then the K&N crankcase filter?  Having it that short is just asking to have oil dumped all over your tire when you do a wheelie.

Thats the issue I was going to re-ignite in a new thread. When I did a search it seemed it was the only option but there were some commenst from people looking into other options such as smaller expansion tanks. I want to know whether anything came of it.

Just another update.

Checked the static sag today and was spot on 40mm. This seems about right I think. Can anyone confirm?

The settings on the 999 shock were set almost 90% towards hard so I wound them back about the middle of the range of adjustment and went for a ride.

Initial impressions confirm its a significant improvement (although the front still needs to be improved). Much smoother and more confidence inspiring.  [moto]

For the money and effort its a great value upgrade. Can't believe I have ridden this bike for 20,000km with low grade suspension.

Excellent!  Pictures or it didn't happen.  I've been running 40mm of sag on the back of mine, and that works pretty well.  The blurb on the Ohlins site (http://www.ohlins.com/Checkpoint-Ohlins/Setting-Up-Your-Bike/Underrubrik_1/ (http://www.ohlins.com/Checkpoint-Ohlins/Setting-Up-Your-Bike/Underrubrik_1/) recommends between 25 and 35mm of sag on the back, so I'm thinking I might dial a little more preload in at the back to bring me into that range and see how it feels.

I left my compression damping at stock 999 setting, and added two clicks of rebound damping to compensate for the firmer rear spring.  That feels really good to me.