Suspension upgrade

[Viobas]

Any one else thinking about upgrading the suspensions? I have fork and rear shock at max preload and I still find them too soft for me.

There's a Hyperpro spring kit for front and rear for about 250 euros plus 5h of labor to fit them. Would probably make things better but feels expensive to drop 600 euros just to change springs.

On the more expensive side I've seen a complete Andreani fork cardrige for about 550 euros and a rear Ohlins STX46 shock for 1350 euros. Would make around 2200 euros for a full update including labor.

Expensive but less than changing for a 950S and might even behave better than the electronic suspensions.

Any thoughts?

[neilb]

Before jumping in and spending, have a word with a suspension specialist. I can, without hesitation, recommend Darren of MCT, Stowmarket. Probably knows more about suspension than anyone else in the country and is a really good guy.

[Wassers]

Originally Posted by neilb

Before jumping in and spending, have a word with a suspension specialist. I can, without hesitation, recommend Darren of MCT, Stowmarket. Probably knows more about suspension than anyone else in the country and is a really good guy.

Viobas - I think Neil has just given you a good excuse for a nice little road trip to England 

Better be quick before Brexit happens 

Put your MTS in Sport mode and bbrrraaaappp   

[neilb]

  I hadn’t noticed you are in Paris, Viobas. Still, as Wassers says, a good excuse to pop over to UK. If your English is good enough, you can still give him a call. All details here http://www.mctsuspension.co.uk/Home.html.  Just make sure you take some biscuits to have with your tea!

[Viobas]

I'd love to go there for a little roadtrip!

I found a guy around here who does suspension preps and he reckons the stock suspensions are good enough. Didn't recommend the hyperpro springs because of lack of available specs but he could fit stiffer springs for a reasonable price.

But I'd need to bring him the fork tubes and the rear shock, dont know if I'm keen to remove them myself 😱!

[YoungF]

Hi Viobas

Preload just adjusts the static sag, increasing it can actually give the impression that the suspension is soft because it has more travel.

Try reducing fork preload by one turn from standard, it made a big difference to the diving and front end feel for me.

The rear shock does need much more preload as the spring is a little weak if you ask me. I think the 1200 was known for the same. A replacement ohlins shock would make a big difference.

From the reviews I have seen for the 950S it  seems to be set the same as the standard model so I suspect I may have the spanners out reducing the fork preload again.

Hope this helps.

YoungF

[lowprofile]

Target is about 25 to 30% of full travel
Static Sag 21.8×25%=5.45 = 54.5 mm
Rider Sag 21.8x30%=6.54 = 65.4 mm

Actual full open preload
Static sag 21.5-15.5=6 = 60mm
Rider sag 21.5-14.2=7.3 = 73 mm

Actual full closed preload (Sporty the way I like it)
Static sag 21.8-17=4.8 = 48mm
Rider sag 21.8-16.8=5 = 50mm

compression 4
rebound fully closed

these are my settings. 170 pound plus gear

[bikey]

Hello Viobas,
What solutions did you find finely?
I have the same problem, but for the rear shock I suspect the gas pressure to become too loo.
Does anyone knows what is the recommended pressure in the nitrogen tank?
Thanks

[bmw_al]

So I had my suspension set up by HM Racing in Edenbridge today - excellent service from Perry, Jordan and the team.  I am not going to publish my settings in full, but I will share what I discovered about the standard suspension, and it's relevance for the way I use my Bike.  For reference, I am pretty much 100kg geared up, and use my Multi solo, as well as two up for day, weekend and longer tours - so the setup has to cater for anything from me only, to me plus wifey (or "worse" still my 22 year old son...) and fully loaded luggage.  In essence the Bike needs to cope with loads from 100Kg up to near on maximum, even if we never load the luggage near it's limits in reality.

So with just me on the Bike, front pre-load is at max (fully closed), with appropriate compression and rebound.  The front end now works even better, with much less dive, although damping / coping over bumps is great and the crashiness I had at times is now all gone.  Perry's comment was that the front springs & damping work pretty well as supplied for my loading/use.

The slight surprise to me (although not to HM Racing) was that the rear suspension has inadequate rebound damping.  I had noticed it was a bit bouncy when two up over longer patches of rough road (ie most UK roads  ) with 50 clicks of rear pre-load.  The spring rating is just about OK (could be better) and compression damping is adequate, but rebound could not slow the shock as much as it should.  I am now at 46 clicks of rear preload, rising to 50 for full load.  Rebound is now fully closed, but I need a little more pre-load when heavily loaded, and currently the rebound set up will not manage this as well as it should.  The only way to resolve this would be a decent replacement rear shock with weight appropriate spring, and appropriate valving.

On the ride home, both ends of the Bike were noticeably better than they had been, so I will try with Wifey and see how we go before I decide what to do.  Ultimately, I do plan some bigger, longer tours, and want to know the Bikes rear suspension can cope with using most/all of the Mutley's 220Kg payload.

For those of you that ride on your tod (on your own to our friends across the pond....) and certainly if you are lighter then myself, this may not be an issue, but for those that are heavier, or plan to tour two up, closer to the load limits, you may want to have your suspension assessed professionally.

According to HM Racing, many bikes (including my Tracer 900) from all brands have slightly under performing basic suspension at the front or rear so this is no real criticism of Ducati as I have come across this before myself.

I plan to try the Bike now, and see how I go, and mull my options (while saving furiously...) over the winter.  I have asked for Nitron and Ohlins pricing, but at this stage it does not seem that Nitron have a solution for the Mutley 950.  Anyone know of any other decent rear shocks available for the Mutley 950?  Looks like I may need up to £1000+ or so...

Still a great Bike!

[bikey]

Hi ducati-al,

Thanks for all that explanation.
Riding also often close to the max payload, I am afraid that the only solution is to get a new rear shock with a stronger spring.
The service from Sachs looks quite poor and I don't think we can get a stronger spring from them. I even don't know if they can do maintenance like we can get from Ohlins.
I made a quick search and the only one I found offering a dedicated rear shock for the 950 is Hyperpro. I don't know them and I don't what to think.
Nevertheless I am quite sure that Ohlins or EMC can built one for the MTS with specific requirement. But this has a price.