696 Rear Shock

[Jimmy Ducati]

Hey all- I am looking to put in a heavier rear coil spring
on my 696. I am 205lbs and I am basically topped out
on the stock spring. My Duc dealer has no idea what spring
they should swap me out to. I called Sachs USA and they sent
me back to Ducati, saying they should know what is spec'ed
on their bike. Ducati USA said they really do not have technical
info, but would get back to me in a few days. I get the feeling
they hope I forget about it though. Any spring experts on here?


Thanks!

[He Man]

  damn italians!!! 

lol

Anyway, if you can get the shock of, measure the inner diameter of it and the length of the spring uncompressed, call up a spring supplier, Ohlins sells individual springs, and ask them what they have that is of that size. swap and enjoy.

[Jimmy Ducati]

damn italians!!! 

lol

Anyway, if you can get the shock of, measure the inner diameter of it and the length of the spring uncompressed, call up a spring supplier, Ohlins sells individual springs, and ask them what they have that is of that size. swap and enjoy.

I hate saying this, but are you sure that is all there is to it?
I have this guy local to me and stopped bye...

http://www.gmd-computrack.com/

....they are suspension guru's of sorts. It turns out when I was at my Duc
shop today, that that is where they send their race bikes to have their
suspensions reworked. The guy their said he could have a custom
shock made by Penske for $500-$700, or to go to Ducati and find out
the "spring rate" from them, with a good luck added. I would like to
think he would know how to do what you are saying, but never threw
that out as an option. He also seemed interested in the project and
wasn't blowing me off. I am a total noob, but he did  seem to know his
craft and my Duc dealer was kinda, pardon the pun, shocked he
couldn't figure it out. My shop said to wait for the new monster to
come out, and that that spring should be heavier, and maybe we go
with that. 

[He Man]

the length of the spring and ID will determine which spring fits. How do you think they are going to make a custom spring for you? It has to be able to physically fit the spring first. you can remove your spring and test it to see what spring rate it is.

Plenty of people have purchased ohlin springs for their stock sachs shock. though ohlins doesnt make one for that shock, you can certainly install one if it is the right size. The only issue becomes the spring rate. Spring rates are set based on the weight of the bike and the weight of you, the rider. Same applies to fork springs. They have various amounts of springs that fit many different applications. if it fits, and its the right rate, then you can use it. on my S2R1000, racetech does not have a valve or spring that is desinged to work for it. My tech guys (from experience) knows that spring xyz and valve abc fits. So he installed them, fit with no issues. they are the right spring rate for me. and my forks are amazing now. =D

I might of left the spring rate part out figuring you know you need to get a new rate(otherwise why would you be changing it?) I think the stock ducati monster spring rate is around 7.1kgm or something around that number, might be 7.8

edit: it may be different on the 696, but i doubt it would be off by much compared to the "old" monsters

[mmakay]

I you measure the wire diameter and count the number of coils, I can estimate the stock rate for you.

[Jimmy Ducati]

I you measure the wire diameter and count the number of coils, I can estimate the stock rate for you.

I wasn't sure how to count the coils due to the top and bottom
ones are not really complete coils. It's either 9 or 7 depending.
Maybe the pix will help if you could take a peak for me.
I do not have a caliper handy, so my best ruler estimate comes
in at around 7/16",  +/- 1/32"

[Speeddog]

Since there's no linkage, and the geometry is different, spring rates of previous Monsters won't be much help.

That's a progressive wound spring, so calculating the rate isn't straightforward at all.

For you, at 205 lbs, my SWAG is a 600 lb/in spring, but don't spend money with that.
The geometry seems to be pretty close to what the SS Ducatis have.

[He Man]

Speeddog hit it on the nail. I didnt know 696s now have progressives, all the monsters used to have linears (the 4 SBK shocks ive had were all linear too).
Your spring rate with a progressive depends on how much you compress it by. The rate will increase as you get closer to bottoming out.

Good Luck!

[Jimmy Ducati]

If I get anywhere I will follow this up because I am sure
I am not the only one with this issue. Don't the I-talians
know us americans are mostly rotund in nature. I mean
why spring a bike so weak?

[mmakay]

Well, this is a really rough estimate, because the rate is really sensitive to wire diameter, but....

That spring is very close to a 500 lbs/in starting rate, progressing to about 1000 lb/in.

[clubhousemotorsports]

Find a good suspension shop that will work with you, they will want the information you have. just be glad to get their hands on your bike.

Finding a spring will be easy getting the rate right may take a couple of attempts, so find a place that will swap out springs until the sag is set properly for what you are trying to do with the bike.

If you were local I would be happy to work with you just to learn the new model myself. I am sure others would do the same.

A spring will set you back about $100 and will be money well spent.

As speeddog said it is a cantilever system similar to the supersports I am sure ducati went to this system to same some money, Not to worry as it can work almost as well as a linkage system.
getting rid of the OEM spring will be a move in the right direction, you wont be disappointed.