Ride height adjustment on a SFV4S

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baggerman said:
If Ducati had not lied about the geometry I would have bought a Panigale.


What amazes me is nobody including "the experts" seem to know this about the steering head.


Slow to turn in, slow to change lines and hard to flip side to side. It's better since the rear has been raised and the front dropped but any of my other bikes (I currently own 5 Ducati's) turn better than this one. I only raced for twenty years (well bikes, I raced cars before that) and have about 350,000 miles of seat time on bikes. But what do I know. These guys seem to be angry because they lack the knowledge I have. I don't need a tuner, I've been tuning stuff for 60 years ever since I changed a main jet in an Amal GP the first time. Hours and hours on flow benches (my buddy before he passed built Nascar and SCCA track motors for years and years), have designed my own pistons, cams, etc. Built lots of motors from singles to V8's. What I find is lots of poseurs here regurgitating what they heard someone else say. Sorta like Poseur Perk. They don't do their own work, buy their tunes and pay chassis experts because they can't translate what's coming thru their palms and butt to their set-up. Sad really.
Click to expand...

Don't let attitudes dishearten you... I appreciate your experience.

Would adjustable offset triples offer the possibility of improving the SF handling in your opinion?
 
andyb said:
Yeah, ignore Dave Moss an internationally recognised expert in motorcycle suspension set up.........go with a fuckwits opinion on a forum!
Click to expand...

Damn Andy, I didn’t know you were sucking Dave’s .... too. Hopefully, Gianluca from Motoxp doesn’t read this thread and gets jealous. Keep putting more stickers on your bike. They add as much to your bike’s performance as your comments here.

Dave isn’t the be all end all on motorcycle suspension. I’m not seeing any top level racing experience as a rider or in the paddock. He’s not an engineer. He’s a bloke who moved to the US to start a rugby club and got into motorcycle racing and parlayed that into suspension tuning. He was smart in that he’s leveraged tech (YouTube, video calls, etc) to expand his business. He has a ton of experience. He’s great for beginner-intermediate riders but I don’t see a lot of people in experts or racing that use him. He’s more of a turn key kind of tuner. Then again I wouldn’t want a tuner trying to sell me on eccentrics and custom shim stacks to sort out simple problems. Anyway, I’m not trying to slag Dave rather keep your eyes open and have a good understanding of suspension and chassis geometry.
 
SuperDomestique said:
Damn Andy, I didn’t know you were sucking Dave’s .... too. Hopefully, Gianluca from Motoxp doesn’t read this thread and gets jealous. Keep putting more stickers on your bike. They add as much to your bike’s performance as your comments here.

Dave isn’t the be all end all on motorcycle suspension. I’m not seeing any top level racing experience as a rider or in the paddock. He’s not an engineer. He’s a bloke who moved to the US to start a rugby club and got into motorcycle racing and parlayed that into suspension tuning. He was smart in that he’s leveraged tech (YouTube, video calls, etc) to expand his business. He has a ton of experience. He’s great for beginner-intermediate riders but I don’t see a lot of people in experts or racing that use him. He’s more of a turn key kind of tuner. Then again I wouldn’t want a tuner trying to sell me on eccentrics and custom shim stacks to sort out simple problems. Anyway, I’m not trying to slag Dave rather keep your eyes open and have a good understanding of suspension and chassis geometry.
Click to expand...
where do you pitch your advise and qualifications then? You learnt how to change a fork spring yet?
 
baggerman said:
If Ducati had not lied about the geometry I would have bought a Panigale.


What amazes me is nobody including "the experts" seem to know this about the steering head.


Slow to turn in, slow to change lines and hard to flip side to side. It's better since the rear has been raised and the front dropped but any of my other bikes (I currently own 5 Ducati's) turn better than this one. I only raced for twenty years (well bikes, I raced cars before that) and have about 350,000 miles of seat time on bikes. But what do I know. These guys seem to be angry because they lack the knowledge I have. I don't need a tuner, I've been tuning stuff for 60 years ever since I changed a main jet in an Amal GP the first time. Hours and hours on flow benches (my buddy before he passed built Nascar and SCCA track motors for years and years), have designed my own pistons, cams, etc. Built lots of motors from singles to V8's. What I find is lots of poseurs here regurgitating what they heard someone else say. Sorta like Poseur Perk. They don't do their own work, buy their tunes and pay chassis experts because they can't translate what's coming thru their palms and butt to their set-up. Sad really.
Click to expand...
Dude just took himself to the hair. I'm surprised such a legendary expert would come here among such worthless pheasants.
 
andyb said:
where do you pitch your advise and qualifications then?
Click to expand...

where do YOU pitch your advise and qualifications then??? I’d say you’re not even qualified to assess my advise [sic] and qualifications… then… But if it came to sticker placement, I’d defer to your knowledge
 
SuperDomestique said:
where do YOU pitch your advise and qualifications then??? I’d say you’re not even qualified to assess my advise [sic] and qualifications… then… But if it came to sticker placement, I’d defer to your knowledge
Click to expand...

I believe that’s called deflection…. just slightly shorter than na na na na na!
 
bp_SFV4 said:
Dude just took himself to the hair. I'm surprised such a legendary expert would come here among such worthless pheasants.
Click to expand...

What amazes me is that I went to the trouble to explain to youse guys how the DQS functions (and how to get it to work) since nobody seemed to understand. You called me a liar. So prove me wrong. While you're at it take a picture of the top head bushing (you can actually read the numbers with the top triple on if you work at it) on your SF and explain to me what the 26.5 up 2mm means and why if the head angle is the same why Ducati uses a different part number here. I find you the worst Poseur of all. If I were you I'd work on them massive chicken strips and leave the technical discussions to anybody else. The original post was from a guy who has the ability to feel the initial pushing the SF exhibit on turn in when they're stock. You would never experience that pushing due to them huge chicken strips.
 
Alkhater said:
Don't let attitudes dishearten you... I appreciate your experience.

Would adjustable offset triples offer the possibility of improving the SF handling in your opinion?
Click to expand...

Probably. Have to see the specs. Its ($108 for both) cheaper to change the eccentrics if you're doing the work yourself but harder as they're pressed in. So with the bike assembled you'd need to cut them out with a die grinder, put the eccentrics in the freezer then heat the front frame with a heat gun and then smack them in with a rubber hammer.
 
Your buffer must be full again causing you to invoke the chicken strip.

Do you see me giving advice on how to PR COTA? No, because I stay in my lane and don’t pretend to be an expert. I mean, you’re clearly smarter than the team who worked on the SF having uncovered the fact that Ducati made a pig that can’t turn.
 
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SuperDomestique said:
2 mm??? I think you mean degrees. You can't even keep your units straight... 🤦‍♂️
Click to expand...

Kicking the head out 2 degrees at this offset increases the trail 2 mm. The SF head is 26.5 degrees and 102mm trail. The posted specs are BS. Personally, I don't care if you believe me. I was simply trying to explain to Aleko why the bike pushes with the stock set-up.
 
baggerman said:
Kicking the head out 2 degrees at this offset increases the trail 2 mm. The SF head is 26.5 degrees and 102mm trail. The posted specs are BS. Personally, I don't care if you believe me. I was simply trying to explain to Aleko why the bike pushes with the stock set-up.
Click to expand...

I see what you're saying. I stand corrected. But shouldn't a 26.5º head angle make the bike steer more quickly? I guess the added trail could offset this (but doesn't seem like a lot)? Either way, changing these headstock bushes is no easy feat. I'd be exploring every other avenue before changing them.

SF headstock bush set
1701028460960.png

Here's what Trevitt says about corner troubleshooting
1701028829653.jpeg
 
SuperDomestique said:
Here's what Trevitt says about corner troubleshooting
Click to expand...
That first item in the table is exactly the issue I am seeing with the SF, steering is slow and trail needs to be reduced (not increased) to address this, either by raising the rear or lowering the front or adjusting the rake angle of the triple clamp if it was adjustable
 
Alekos said:
That first item in the table is exactly the issue I am seeing with the SF, steering is slow and trail needs to be reduced (not increased) to address this, either by raising the rear or lowering the front or adjusting the rake angle of the triple clamp is adjustable
Click to expand...

I'd go with increasing preload first. It's the easiest. Adjusting shock ride height may be feasible in situ but you have to have all the right tools to get in there and even then it'd be tough. Realistically, it'd be easier just to pull the shock out and do it that way (which is also not an easy feat).
 

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