Ducati Monster Forum

Ok, so I would like a beefier looking lower triple than the stocker on my '04 S4R.  I have a Cycle Cat upper.  I don't want to spend the obligatory ~$600 on a Speedymoto (and the like) lower though. 

Does anyone know if there is a beefier triple from another bike that may work?  Maybe a Ducati superbike lower may work?  I'm eBay shopping here, not wanting to buy new.

Thanks!

Duc SBK lowers have different offset, and depending on the vintage, will have different stem as well.

Investigate the IMA triples made in Italy. They are substantially cheaper than the Speedymotos and look pretty beefy, although I think they may be sold as a top and bottom package deal.

you could always take yours off, grind the casting marks and powdercoat/strip and polish it.

They will sell a lower alone. Comes in black, gold and silver, 30mm offset, and various bores (for M or SBK forks).

Can one of you explain the "offset" please?  I think I know, but want to be sure.

As for IMA, the model 2 would work with my bike.  Those are pretty nice!  Not too pricey either.  Thanks for the note on those berg.

I guess I can't get lower trips from another make/model so I'll keep my eyes open for some of those IMAs now.

My plan is to powdercoat them to match the rest of the bits on the bike.

Superbike lower triples can be used with some small mods...


1: the 53mm lower must be bored to 54mm. If it's a 56mm then shim.

2: SBK stems are 1/2" longer than Monster reqiuring 1/4" spacers outside each bearing.

offset is the distance from the stem center to the fork center front to back.

and AFIK Monsters and SBK are different.

SBK (stock) triples have 36mm offset.  Newer monsters have 30mm.  You'ld be going the wrong way in a big way buy putting SBK triples on it.  Would make it turn...not so good.  You could fit a 30mm SBK aftermarket clamp on, but you are then right back where you didn't want to be...and spending the same amount of coin + hassle.

i've got ima triples on both of my m900's. i'm a big fan of their work and think the costa's are great to deal with. you can pm me with any questions you might have

Thanks for the definition guys.  I definitely don't want to affect the geometry of the bike.  The IMA trip seems to be the best option so it seems.

I'll be in touch a m. 

I have a good winter mod list now:

1. Pull dent from pipes (previous owner of pipes whacked a curb...these were your Arrows derby).
2. Powdercoat swingarm.
3. Get new lower triple and PC it too.

Why do you need to powdercoat it? It comes in all the usual hard-anodized colors.

I have an IMA triple clamp set for sale
top and bottom set up for SBK forks

if you are interested  [thumbsup]
pm me

i have sbk forks if you are needing those ;)

anyone got a link to IMA, can't find them ???

http://www.imasrl.com/ENG/index.asp (http://www.imasrl.com/ENG/index.asp)

All my CC stuff was black annondized but it faded, so its now PCd.  I'll do the same to the triple so the blacks match and it doesn't fade.


THanks man, but I don't think the SBK ones will fit my S4R do to what was talked about above...am I wrong?

Wrong, Yes.

Those are IMA triples with the holes for the forks themselves bored to accept superbike forks (which have better valving and stiffer springs than the Monster forks).

The monster's forks are 50mm at the top, and 54mm at the bottom.

The superbike forks are 53mm at the top and 53mm at the bottom.

If you were interested in upgrading to SBK forks, you could get that set and even reuse your CycleCat top triple (so long as you went to the machine shop and had it bored from 50mm to 53mm).

This only holds true if you are talking IMA triples for 2002+ Monsters, as the CycleCat triples came in 30mm offset those years, and the pre-02 models came in 25mm offset (stock offset was 25mm).

Along the same vein, the IMA triples come in two varieties, and three color options:
1) Pre-02, with offset changed from 25mm to 30mm - this is the narrow stem design, using a top bolt rather than top nut
2) 2002+, with offset left stock at 30mm, this is the larger modern stem design, using the top nut with all the holes in it.

You can get either of these triples bored for standard Monster forks, the showa sbk forks (53/53), the ohlins forks (53/56), or a custom bore (if you were going to use some japanese bike's take-off forks). All of the triples come with every bolt in stainless steel, and has the accommodation steering locks, and the ignition/steering lock

Colors come black, silver and gold. If you are going to pc the triples, you might check with Patrick or Emanuele and see what they have too many of and could make a deal on. Seriously. imasrl@imasrl.com is the email i use, but you could just as easily fill out the form and they'll get back to you promptly.

(In other news, they have a really cool new triple design a'coming out)

Back on topic with the forks, triples discussion, some more notes:

Axle sizes changed on earlier Monsters (99's and older) from solid smaller diameter axles to the three 'modern' 25mm hollow axles (748-996/749-999/1098). So, if you are interested in doing a fork upgrade, like to SBK forks, you are going to need to verify that you have a hollow axle & matching wheel (and speedometer pickup if applicable) for 25mm hollow axles, the sbk forks, and the modified or purpose built monster--sbk-fork triples (53/53 with monster stem length at the offset you prefer). Last thing to verify is that you are going to be upgrading to forks with the same style brake caliper - 40mm mount, 65mm mount, or radial. If you have 40mm mount calipers (such as single pin goldline's), you can use an adapter plate to go from 65mm mount fork bottoms to a 40mm mount and use your original calipers, and offset will be correct.

I've recently gone through the trouble to upgrade my front end to have the same amount of 'goodness' as the rear penske shock and such. It was involved, but primarily because my 900 is a 99, has the smaller solid front axle (20mm), and the old 40mm single pin goldline calipers. The forks I got (SBK Showa forks with Ohlins internals, bore is standard sbk 53/53) had the 65mm caliper mount, and obviously took hollow axles (25mm). So, I had proper triples, new steering head bearings, and new forks. I needed: 65-40 adapter plates for the calipers, a 25mm hollow axle for 748-998 style forks, a new front wheel for 25mm hollow axle, clip-ons for sbk forks (53mm I.D), and when that was all put together, I realized that my brake line was too long in one spot and too short in another (two different sides of the T-Junction) because of the adapter plates and lower handlebar position (new clipons didn't have any rise to them). Then, there was the issue of the front fender: The mounts from the older fork are fixed on the fork bottoms, and are closer together than the 'fender straps' that go on the sbk forks. So I needed those four brackets/straps and a new front fender.

Needless to say, it was involved. Careful ebay part scouring, vigilant watch over gothamcycles and several trips into the parts warehouse at AMS, and I was set.  In the assembly, I also made time to make sure the 6-piston billet monobloc calipers from ISR (40mm Brembo mount) would work in the setup with the plates, and rotor offset and etc. I decided mechanically driven speedos are lame, and got the billet speedo drive removal spacer (nice piece from Motowheels, though I may change to the titanium one from TPO). The axle I got from TPO, one of their lightweight pieces, and the brake caliper adapter plates are AMS race spares - I found a big box full of 'em with either the AMS race team logos or the brembo logo, for both the 65-to-40 adapters, and ohlins fork's brake mount plates as well.

Pitchers:

Install progress with standard forks & IMA triples:
(https://lh5.ggpht.com/_4iYlZ1m8UEM/SwNLbkSnVBI/AAAAAAAAEsY/Yk13o-wZkDw/s800/IMG_1871.JPG)

(https://lh5.ggpht.com/_4iYlZ1m8UEM/SwNLXNMBSXI/AAAAAAAAEr4/zidH2m_lt8s/s800/IMG_1855.JPG)

Lowers with SBK forks (finished product not yet done):
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4iYlZ1m8UEM/TOaNFP3vRKI/AAAAAAAAF1U/0wl8iwXKhO8/s800/IMG_2954.JPG)

Damn man, thanks for all that info!

I don't think I want to get that involved though.  My plan was to get my stockers revalved/resprung and find a Penske shock.  I would be getting in deeper than what I want if I go with new (to me) forks, although that would be pretty nice.

The forks (even used) alone would put me over my budgeted cost of around $1500 for the suspension upgrade.

I appreciate all the help!

That IMA lower trip looks sweet btw!

Your net cost would be significantly less than mine, thanks to yours being a 'late-model'.

You need the forks (maybe 500-ish, get the same brake mount as you already have and save big), get special bored lower triple from IMA for 53mm forks, and have a machine shop do your top triple. your wheel and brakes will move directly over, your axle will move directly over, and the machine shop will be able to bore your clip-ons when they do your top triple.

you'd get close to the 1500, but you would be able to be within the budget constraints.   Its essentially two items that can be had for under $1k, and some machine shop time. If you had a friend with the appropriate machine shop setup, you'd likely be able to have your local dealership even refresh the sbk forks and revalve them with the ohlins valves for $400ish. That'd be at or around the budget price, not including the powdercoating.

Don't forget that you'll need to put steering head bearings on the new lower triple. Its not expensive to purchase new ones and put the new outer races that come with it inside the steering stem rather than reusing the old ones.

If you already have lots of miles on the bike, consider it checking off an item on the 'regular maintenance' list.

Then again, have your local ohlins certified dealership to a "the works"  package on the forks you got, and it'll feel much better.


I know people have had good luck with RaceTech, but I put their valves, springs and fork oil in my 900's forks and found it to be an intermediate upgrade in suspension. It went from feeling like rocks to feeling like wood. The valving circuits in the adj newer forks (showa 43s) is better than on the adj old ones (showa 41s) so I hear.  I've never seen both forks guts spread all over a table at the same time.

Biggest rear rotor EVAR!

;D












































Nice!

hahaha

Nice eye ML!

What do you boys know about shocks? 

I have my eye on a couple used Penskes.  One was set up for a CBR600 and the other for a GSXR 1000.  What should I look out for when buying used? 

haha.

I really like my Penske, but with suspension I would rarely buy used unless I was planning on having it rebuilt immediately. With forks I'd be interested to see what the fork oil was like, the seals, the spring rate, etc. For shocks, the gas charge, the seals, the springs, etc.

For a Penske, the 8983 (replaced the 8981) is great for "mostly street, with some track" riders, and the 8987 for track enthusiasts. The 8970, which is much more expensive, has finer adjustments (over the same total range) than the 8987 and is otherwise the same. It was for research and race teams. I was on the phone with the Penske guys just the other day (tuesday of this last week) asking them all sorts of questions about getting a shock built for a 907ie. I learned a lot about their products.   I have a Penske on my M900, and got it through Traxxion Dynamics several years ago.

At the time, the fact that it was black and was told it was comparable to Ohlins is why I chose it. Price was not much different than Ohlins. I am now aware that Ohlins are available in black by special order for a premium (thanks to Kopfjager who gave me another way to blow my money), I will be getting a black Ohlins shock for my 748/996 project bike.

that brings up a good point

with similar metals and single rates, why choose between ohlins or penske
now with Ti vs spring steel i can see a potential for a better spring.

why choose between? Well preferences in valving, and adjustments may make one person prefer Ohlins or Penske over the other. Likewise, some features on Ohlins, like remote pre-load adjusters, are off the shelf ready for a bike, whereas something like that for a Penske (each one being built to order) would likely be more challenging.

Anything to help a brother out.  :D

i got myself the damn ncr rod because of you, even though there was nothing wrong with my red billet AMS one.

 [evil]

i got the ncr clipons to go with it (and ducshop triples). wife says i have to go take them off the bike and put them in boxes so i have something to open on christmas.

That's what I was thinking about used shocks...may not be the best idea.  The ones I'm looking at have springs rated for different riders anyway.  I'd be getting a rebuild for sure, but I'm guessing it would end up bringing the total to a new shock.

Thanks again for the  help!

if you could find an 8987 on the cheap it wouldn't be a bad idea, but they are each built to order, so one for anything but your S4R probably isn't going to work well

 [laugh]