Ride height adjustment on older monster

[Bizzarrini]

Hi Guys!

How can I change the rear ride height on a '94 M900? Should I use one of these?
http://cgi.ebay.de/Heckhoeherlegung-DUCATI-Monster-Heckanhebung-hoeherlegen_W0QQitemZ160255185604QQihZ006QQcategoryZ78471QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Or can I just change the preload on the spring?

Cheers!

[64duc]

There should be a banjo bolt on each side at the bottom of the yellow hoop.  Ride height can be adjusted using these.

[Slide Panda]

I think they are called Heim joints.

Changing the preload would have the side effect of raising the rear when there is weight on the bike only - but it's not the primary effect/purpose and should not be used at a method raise the rear.  Too much preload will have a negative impact on the perfomance of your rear suspension.

Properly raising the rear ride height will increase the height when the bike is loaded or un loaded.

[uclabiker06]

but it's not the primary effect/purpose and should not be used at a method raise the rear.

+1

Don't know if that exact product in the ebay listing will work.  You should look at your ride height rod to see if there are any visible threads.  If there are you should be able to lower it. 

[supertjeduc]

Yes those ebay things work ,i have them on my monster and no problems
You only have to check your chain when your on sitting on your bike

[Bizzarrini]

Yeah, I've got one of those hoops, so that means I def need one of those ebay thingies to raise the rear?

[bigiain]

Yeah, I've got one of those hoops, so that means I def need one of those ebay thingies to raise the rear?

Only if you want to raise it a lot. Look at the second extra picture on that eBay listing, it shows you one of those spacers installed between the hoop and the banjo bolt (or heim joint or rose joint or rod end, depending on the terminology where you come from).

It'll raise the rear by something like twice the length of the spacer due to the geometry of the suspension linkage, so those 30mm spacers will likely raise the rear ride height by 60mm which is _a lot_ in terms of potential handling change (I suspect the 40-70mm in the language I don't speak is severely underestimating the minimum effect of these).

If you're trying to _lower_ the ride height, those are useless to you. If you're trying to _raise_ it, I suggest you start by unscrewing the existing rose joints a few mm at a time. You'll only need those things from eBay if you want more rear ride height adjustment than you can get by unscrewing the exisitng parts...

big

[Bizzarrini]

Ok, thanks a lot! I'll start with the existing setup, and try to accomplish the raise that way. Any idea how much of a raise is safe? I'm thinkin' in terms of how much of the thread should still be covered. And how much raising would I need to do to accomplish a noticable handling change? Millimeters? Or more like centimeters?

[2001cromo]

Any idea how much of a raise is safe? I'm thinkin' in terms of how much of the thread should still be covered.

General rule of thumb for "how much thread is needed" is to have at least the width of the bolt threaded in. So if those are 10mm bolts (they're either M10 or M8's), then you want at least 10mm's threaded in.  If you find you need more than this, then those ebay extensions will work.

HTH and GL

[Pedro]

From a 93 M900 owner....

Raising the rear ride height is a good thing as the bike will turn much quicker and feel much more nimble. There are two basic methods...

1. The rose joints on the lower end of the hoop can be unscrewed but be careful how much. As has been said, you should have as much thread left in the hoop as the diameter of the thread - M10 should have at least 10mm left in the hoop, call it 1/2 inch in USA speak.

2. Use a jack up kit as per the ebay item. You may have to trim the thread on the rose (heim?) joint so it fully treads home into the spacer. The kits available in the UK are 20mm I think and that's just about perfect.
3. There is a company making billet hoops 10mm, 20mm or 30mm long but I can't recall who.

The downsides....

1. Your sidestand may be too short leading to extreme lean angles when park!
2. You may need a steering damper as raising the rear will cause the steering angle to steepen (hence the improved turn in) but it will also make it slappy (tankslapper) when gassing it hard over bumpy surfaces.

I've rased mine around 10mm by adjusting the rose joints and turn is is quick (I also have the forks about 23 mm above the tope yoke/triple clamp) but, and it's a big but, it is very flighty over uneven surfaces, and has slapped hard enough to have my feet off the pegs.

Hope this helps

Ped

[Bizzarrini]

Hi Pedro,

Thanks a lot for the comprehensive write-down! Sure is a big help! About the slappy-happiness after raising the rear: I allways thought putting more weight on the front would make it less likely to do a tankslapper? I know this has been discussed many times on the forum, but I guess I'm still not clear on the issue. Perhaps more weight on the front will decrease the occurrence of headshakes, but because of the steep angle, WHEN one occurs, it'll be more violent (hence requiring a steering damper)?

Cheers!

[brad black]

when you wind out the rose joints and move the swingarm away from the frame you also lower the bottom shock mount, which moves the rocker arm down at the front and up at the rear therefore raising the rose joints - so the amount you extend the hoop / rose joints by is not the actual change in ride height.  it's actually less.

raising the rear reduces the trail, which will have a much bigger effect on what the front does than the rake.  too little or too much damping will also make it shake its head, perhaps more weight on the front is exaggerating the influence of that.

[Bizzarrini]

I added the aforementioned risers (about 1") to the hoop yesterday. Riding back from the shop, I noticed a lot more pressure on the wrists. Weather was really bad, so no real test of cornering yet, but I have a trackday coming up, so I'll keep you guys informed about how it works for me!

ps: now the bike sits a bit higher, the sidestand seems really short! Quite a lean angle when parked!

[stopintime]

............................

ps: now the bike sits a bit higher, the sidestand seems really short! Quite a lean angle when parked!

MotoWheels used to have some leftover CycleCat stands with added length for older Monsters?
http://www.motowheels.com/italian/myproducts.cfm?parentcategoryid=38%7CAluminum%20Billet&productID=2923&showDetail=1&categoryID=45|Ducati%20Monster%20Billet&vendoridtodisplay=0&filterFor=&collection=168%7CEuropean%20Motorcycle%20Parts

[Bizzarrini]

Hey JD,

That's not a bad solution at all! The aftermarket stands are way too expensive for me, so I guess this is the way to go! I bet spraypainting the whole assembly black would make it look quite nice