Ducati Monster Forum

I'm thinking about lowering the top triple to put my apex clip ons on top of it instead of below it.
From what I understand, I need to secure the front end off its suspension.
Whats the best way to do that?

if you bring the forks up, you need to bring the rear down as well, from the kind of fork beef apex needs, youll have a really wild bike. best way to do it is to lock your rear, and jack up your front end with a car jack underneath the front header pipe. (dont worry ,its stainless steel. its plenty strong)

Wait, if I lower the top triple, I'd be raising the front end?

I think the best way is a front stand that lifts from the bottom triple.  An alternative method is to hang your bike from straps attached to the rafters.

Or do both.  I had mine suspended by the upper triple only and the rear stand.  I guess I focused a little too much on how much torque I was applying to break the upper triple pinch bolt loose when all of a sudden the front turned and my beautiful Cromo was on its way down.  Forks were off!!!  Luckily, by the grace of God, the chain caught on part of the rearstand which slowed the decent to where I could get under the bike and stop the fall.
\
 I got on the cell phone to call my wife who was inside to come out to the garage and help me stabilize the bike......aye aye aye!  Take the extra 5 minutes and prevent a potential catastrophe!

I have done this.  If you have an S2R1000 you can take the top triple off easily without messing with the bearing, or you can put a floor jack under the engine and lif the front of the bike off the ground.  Having done both ways... taking the top triple off is easier.  Just loosen the three pinch bolts, take the weight off the front tire and pull the triple off.  If you wiggle the tire back and forth a little it should come right off.

FYI, to be correct, you should have said "said" instead of "send".   [cheeky]

Here are two ways I have recently used for both front and rear suspension work...

(http://applewood.smugmug.com/photos/143381491_i5Xs9-L.jpg)

(http://applewood.smugmug.com/photos/275573748_tP25u-L.jpg)

 I agree. I had to go the hanging it from the rafters route. It worked out pretty well as I did a few simple mods.  r:e)

(http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff176/MonstermashS2R/NewMonster.jpg)

After experiencing a couple of "issues" hanging my other bikes (houses aren't built like they used to be) I bought a 2 ton cherry picker engine hoist from HF on an  internet special for $79.  Comes in handy for all sorts of things.

Steering head and front fork jacks work great, if you DON'T have to take the forks off.  Handy Lifts has a "Two-4-One" special for front and back lifts, and a SH Jack.  I think I got all three for around $149.

I jacked mine up from the front head, adjacent to the header. Worked well for me.

Just did the Apex install myself. See Apex Install (http://ducatimonsterworldwide.org/index.php?topic=1163.0)

I just re-read your post and if I read it correctly, I don't think what you're proposing is possible.  You can't "lower the top triple" independent of the bottom.  That distance is fixed by the steering stem.  You can only raise or lower the forks IN the triple tree.  fwiw, a change of a few millimeters will RADICALLY affect the handling of the bike.  Monster steering head angle is already pretty steep and if you raised the forks in the trees (lowered the front end) enough to mount clip-ons I think your bike would be nigh on to impossible to ride.  That's why He Man suggested you'd need to lower the rear as well.  I'm thinking the handling/ground clearance issues would preclude it.

No, he meant that by putting the forks higher in the triple, the front end is lowered by that much. To compensate for that, you need to lower the rear as well or else the front end will be "twitchy". Just meaning that the front end will turn in much faster...

I just installed SBK forks on my M900.  I used to have Motowheels clip-ons flush with the top of the non adjustable forks.  MW clip ons are about 5/8" thick  Now Ive got Ferracci clipons, which are about 1-1/4" thick, mounted flush with the top of the SBK forks, triple underneath. 

Not sure if its the 180 rear tire I just had mounted, or the SBK forks or the new steering angle, but the thing handles better than I thought a Monster could.  Rear shock is next on the list and Im expecting greatness.  Had major "twitchiness" before, now its gone.  Bike feels very stable and planted in turns.

Well, yeah, one of the reasons I wanted to put the clip-ons above the triple is to raise the forks and make it more twitchy, but yeah I've read a 10mm change makes a significant difference in handling, so raising the forks that much would be too much, huh?
I thought a lot of people put their clip-ons above their top triple.
Also, is there some way to know how much I'd have to lower the back to compensate for a specific lowering of the front?

I heard the same warnings.... rode carefully for the first 5 miles or so.  Once my comfort level was established, I had a grin that lasted about 2 days!

What bike do you have? How far did you raise the forks? What clipons do you have?

2001 M900 Cromo

Motowheels 50mm clip ons were flush with the top of the forks, they are 5/8".  Now Ive got Ferracci clip ons, they are 1-1/4" and  are flush with the top of the newly installed sbk forks.

Alright, I  measured the Apex clip-ons and they're 28mm high.  So could I not raise the forks 28mm, put the clip-ons on top of them, then lower the rear end something like 18mm, giving me a net front-end decrease of 10mm?

I just looked and it appears that mine is already and the lowest setting possible. I'll have to see how well it handles on the way to work tomorrow...

Why are you adjusting the rear?  Mines jacked up all the way and Im looking for more!  Anybody know where I can get an extended heim joint?

Cause I lowered the front for the clipons...

Did you ride it before lowering the rear?  I get the concept, I just dont know what the rule of thumb is.  Mine is an m900 so I dont know how the adjustments differ between your bike and mine.

I had warnings about moving to a wider rear tire and about how even a 4mm drop in the front can adversely affect the handling.....I experimented and now Im happy.

Haven't ridden it yet. Tomorrow morning will be it's maiden voyage with the new bars...

Just to make sure, my 03 M800 Sie doesn't have a rear height adjuster, right?
So, to adjust the rear height, I have to adjust the rear preload with the locking rings?

The tie-rod is adjustable and can be used to adjust ride height.  Shock pre-load should be set to achieve a particular sag value.  Keep an eye out for chain/swingarm interference if you raise the rear end a bunch.

Hrmm, searched around and can't find any info.
How do I adjust the tie-rod?  Can I get a quick pic of where the adjuster is?