Getting one's arse off the ground on a 695.

[Betty]

It's all cool.  I bought the bike as a project, not so much as a finished product.  I get nearly as much enjoyment from obsessing about this stuff as I do from the riding.

You should love this place then.

[goldFiSh]

That reminds me that we once were going to set up regular-ish visits to Dock's workshop to have maintenance days.

I'll ask him (or he'll read this) to see if that is viable still.

[suzyj]

Goldfish, I love your avatar.  It looks just like the logo on my bicycle.

[goldFiSh]

Thanks! My wife (aka the Bronster or Broni) made it and coined the forum name....

There's a story behind the name, but maybe I'll tell you that one when we meet up.
It's (now) an old story tied up with this very group, on the old DML forum where we began...

[suzyj]

My ebay linkage showed up in the post today, so I dove in and fitted it.

The procedure I used is as follows:

Find someone with a 748 and get them really, really drunk. Once they've passed out, steal their suspension linkage.  Failing that, just buy one off ebay.

Support the rear end of the bike so the rear tyre is barely touching the ground.  I used chassis stands under the rear sets.  Remove the seat and tank.  That gives you access to the top of the linkage.

Undo the bolt (8mm allen key) through the top of the linkage from the left side.  It's really tight.  Climb under the right side, and using a really long 8mm allen key (I used a T-handle one with an 8mm ring spanner on it for leverage) to undo the bolt through the bottom of the linkage.  There's a handy hole in the frame at just the right spot.  With the bolts out, you can remove the stock linkage.  Remove and keep the aluminium bushings.

Now prep the replacement so it's approximately one tad longer than the stock one.  It's surprisingly fiddly to get just the right length while keeping the end bits at the same angle.  I made mine about 5mm longer than the stock one, which lifts the back about 15mm.  There's a locknut on each end, and the end bits thread into the shaft.  I found they were a bit rusty, and very hard to loosen.  WD40 and patience persevered though.  Once I freed them I liberally coated the threads with grease to ensure they don't bind again.  Oh, one end is right-hand threaded, and the other is left-hand threaded.

Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly, with a bit of grease on each pivot.  Make sure the bolts through each end of the linkage are properly torqued.

Finally, adjust the chain, 'cos it gets a little loose.

Yay.  Now my front is up 10mm (by dropping the forks through the triples) and the back is up 15mm, so the seat height is much more reasonable.  I'm still flat-footed, but it's a much better fit.

[DUCMONROB]

Don't you love it when a woman talks mechanics so eloquently!

Well done Suzy very impressive!

Rob

[goldFiSh]

+1.

Awesome job on the write up.

Now all you need is the sargent seat 

[suzyj]

My M800 suffers the same issues of the shitty forks - I'm about to put 999 forks on it, which is not for the feint hearted..

- buy the forks
- bore the top triple, shim, the lower
- drill the axle so you can get to the adjusters at the bottom
- space the rotors
- replace the handlebars with clip ons, cause the sbk forks are longer
- new front fender, as they use different mounts on the 999
- re spring, seal and oil, set up

What have I missed?

Just bought a set of 998 forks, so that's the first item ticked off already.  Nothing like diving in the deep end

Hey, at least I get to keep my stock fender.  That's another item ticked off - I feel like I'm almost there!

[goldFiSh]

Here's what I did for clipons (with rise)

http://www.apexmfg.com/riser.htm

Now, lets talk about some goldline calipers and some 320mm rotors!!

[suzyj]

Do you have definitive numbers for the extra length of the superbike forks?  If they're more than 20mm longer than the stock ones, then I can put my clipons on top of the triple, and use ones with no rise.

Don't 320mm disks need radial calipers and all that stuff?

[Betty]

Don't 320mm disks need radial calipers and all that stuff?

Most of the pre-2005 (I think) girls bikes had 320mm rotors, so not radial calipers ... but you would need something like the goldlines (which were also standard on the older or bigger bikes)

[suzyj]

Oooh, there's a FAQ entry about just this...

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=14127.0

 

Interestingly, this post:  http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=77988 mentions machining 4mm off the mounting side of goldlines to get the offset right for an upgrade from 2 pots to goldlines (admittedly for a sport classic, not a monster).  I can't help but wonder if a goldline/320mm rotor upgrade would mean I could do away with spacing the rotors...

[Betty]

Preamble: I haven't looked at your links.

I believe the issue with the Sports Classics is the spoked wheels. Shouldn't be a problem with the Monsters. It should just be a matter of losing the additional brackets from the 2 piston calipers, the offset in the 320mm rotors will make up the difference.

Your brake lines may need to be changed though ... but if you change master cylinders at the same time ... you know where this is heading right?

[suzyj]

you know where this is heading right?

Yeah, a long way into the future.  A very, very long way.  For the coming months I have a lovely 999 monoshock sitting on my desk, all lovingly cleaned and waiting on a new spring and breather kit to mount, next to a cardboard template for the new regulator/coil mount that I'll make once the breather arrives.  Then of course there's the set of 998 forks winging their way from Adelaide, which in turn will be lovingly cleaned and resprung, and triples will be bored, and clipons purchased, coffins and rotors spaced, etc etc etc.

Once that's done and they're on the bike, then I'll think what to do next.  The brakes look tantalizingly easy.

Oh, and thus far none of it counts as bling.  I've used the "but honey, I'm making my bike handle better, so it's safer to ride" argument to justify all of it so far.  That argument will work well for brakes, too

[Betty]

With regard to fork swap AND brake upgrade you will have to find someone that knows what they are talking about ... I'm out.