696 front suspension talk

[1313]

I spoke with the shop owner where I got my rear suspension set up this morning and told him the 696 owners have really no off the shelf option to upgrade the front suspension. He said umm what? I told him I've checked almost every company and no one offers an upgrade for the 696. He said he has already installed RT internals on 2 or so 696's.
According to the shop owner, Race Tech has an upgrade for the 696 but it's not official yet. I guess it's in the beta version. He said he could fix me up whenever. He knows Paul over at RT. I think I'm going to take him up on his offer in the next few weeks. 

It seems like the 696 has become the forgotten platform. There are off the shelf aftermarket wheels for our bikes, no suspension stuff (front), no full exhaust, etc.. 

[Raux]

that's great news for the 696. hopefully it's priced well.

as far as full exhaust... no need for it... the stock exhaust is an open system once you take the cats off with the stock exhaust. the 1100 only has it because of the exhaust valve. bet if that wasn't there they probably wouldn't market one for it either

i think by next season there will be a lot more 696/1100 parts from aftermarket manufacturers.

[1313]

I didn't realize the 1100 had a valve back there. Haven't been keeping up with it. Good to know though. 

Yeah I have my fingers crossed on more aftermarket support for the 696.

I guess it depends on dealer to dealer but my guy is quoting way less than $1000 for the set up. I would say roughly mid $600's. That includes all parts and labor OTD. I'd rather let them do it because I don't have the time or tools to pull something off like that. Plus I get the added benefit of setting it up right from the get-go.

BTW Raux, I haven't been keeping up with the threads but just read what happened to your 696. Damn.. Glad everything is a-okay. 

[Raux]

yeah working on a my own new 696 front end now

[danaid]

I spoke with the shop owner where I got my rear suspension set up this morning and told him the 696 owners have really no off the shelf option to upgrade the front suspension. He said umm what? I told him I've checked almost every company and no one offers an upgrade for the 696. He said he has already installed RT internals on 2 or so 696's.
According to the shop owner, Race Tech has an upgrade for the 696 but it's not official yet. I guess it's in the beta version. He said he could fix me up whenever. He knows Paul over at RT. I think I'm going to take him up on his offer in the next few weeks. 

It seems like the 696 has become the forgotten platform. There are off the shelf aftermarket wheels for our bikes, no suspension stuff (front), no full exhaust, etc.. 

  I called race tech and kinda got the same answer with them saying if I ship them my forks, they could do some minor work to them.
 I ordered a new Ohlins shock from Kyle racing this morning and asked them if they could do anything with the forks and they said they could do some mild work because of the type of fork, but I should get major improvement from the new shock I ordered.

[Raux]

here's the prolem with the 696 forks. from what i can see, you can't just replace the internals. only one side has a damper. and only one axle mount has a hole for mounting a damper. therefore, no fork upgrades with two dampers will fit unless you drill out the bottom of the other axle mount or replace your entire front end. the only replacements that wouldn't need new brake calipers would be 848, M1100 or 1098 forks. i think this is pretty certain.

[junior varsity]

Anybody talked with Traxxion Dynamics yet?

[1313]

Anybody talked with Traxxion Dynamics yet?

It's a no go with them. Spencers696 had a rough time with Traxxion as indicated in his post on the other forum.

[junior varsity]

That's really disappointing because they were such a pleasure to work with on my M900.

But i definitely don't check TOB for posts so if its not here or on Ducati.ms, i'm out of the loop

Any options with Dept. of Susp?

[Spencer]

.

Here ya go:
 

 Traxxion+696=FAIL

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The 696 forks and the Traxxion AK-20 kit saga.

I have had success with their products in the past, and almost wrote them off for this project because I have had "disagreements" with them as far as set up and their idea of customer service, but Mike assured me that the AK-20 install with adjustable caps for the 696 Showa forks where "no problem"

Every question I asked was met with the answer "no problem" when I told him about the cartridge/damper setup and sent him the parts and assembly diagrams he said "no problem" when I asked him to confirm because dropping off and picking up the forks would be costing me two days out of my vacation and a 5 hour drive (2-1/2 each way from where I was staying) each trip he said "no problem, drop them off and we will get them done for you".
When I dropped them off 10am Monday I again asked for them to look at them because I wouldn't leave them if there was any concern (and save the return trip) I again received the same "no problem".

Wel....I get off the river Tuesday, pull my phone out of the dry bag, and I have a voice mail from Dan at Traxxion and "we have a problem".

I called and was informed that they could not do the install...period.
was given a bunch of lame excuses, he even messes up and said that they are not like any other Marzocchi forks they had done, then I reminded him that they where Showa's. I asked if they had been disassembled for evaluation and he said that they had been but where back together and ready to be picked up.

When I picked them up Friday there was no indication that they had disassembled the forks, my box that I built for transport that had fitted foam inserts (since I was traveling over 2500 miles with them) had been thrown away. My shotgun sleeves that I had them covered with had to be "found" as my forks where laying bare on the floor in their shipping office when I arrived. While waiting for my sleeves they where treated to a rather animated dissertation of my thoughts that luckily did not end in the need for police involvement.

So the search continues and the answer will probably be waiting for complete replacements to become available (Ohlins said that none of their current offerings are a direct bolt on) and to say the least...this is the last dealing I will ever attempt with Traxxion.

.

[junior varsity]

Hmm... while i won't doubt the contents of the story or the teller, its just far from the dealings I've had with them in the past.

Bummer for both parties. I will say, however, that this is not the first time Ducati has kind of dicked over the consumer by fitting a bizarre fork on the bike. (Other example is the non-adjustable marz forks that had to have specialty cartridges from only one or so 3rd party vendors...)

Life would be easier on us all if they would stick with a standard 3-way adj. fork that would be the standard model on all non-S models, and the S-models having the trick suspension.

[Raux]

this is what i thought. i bet it's the lower axle mount that doesn't have the damper screw hole that is screwing things up.

[junior varsity]

eww. that would definitly cause problems.

[Spencer]

.

Yes, that was a problem, even though we discussed it before I made the trip.
They also said that it would require a bunch of machining including one off caps because of the thread pitch ??  My Honda Showa caps thread right on so ?
I was really made to feel like they just didn't want to be bothered, since they suggested if I sent them in during their slow part of the year they would take another look.  Uh.....no.


Installing the rear Ohlins really transformed the handling enough that I am going to just live with it for now. The way I change bikes this one probably will have a new owner fairly soon anyway
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[Raux]

Yes, that was a problem, even though we discussed it before I made the trip.
They also said that it would require a bunch of machining including one off caps because of the thread pitch ??  My Honda Showa caps thread right on so ?
I was really made to feel like they just didn't want to be bothered, since they suggested if I sent them in during their slow part of the year they would take another look.  Uh.....no.
Installing the rear Ohlins really transformed the handling enough that I am going to just live with it for now. The way I change bikes this one probably will have a new owner fairly soon anyway

I've emailed Rick at http://motocd.com/ about the same situation. he said once he takes them apart and looks at them... same answer. I can't afford to send them from germany for a $100 dollar no +shipping costs. I'm gonna take some good pics and email them to him for a more definitive answer.