Suspension too hard

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Piri

Joined
Nov 19, 2016
Messages
50
Location
Zurich Switzerland
The suspension of my 1299 S is too hard for my weight (66 kg / 147 lbs without gear) for street use. I have already put the DES the on the softest stage. This does not change the spring, does it? Or am I thinking wrong?
With older contributions to this topic (search function) I am not advanced. Can also be due to my bad english...
Thanks in advance
Piri
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am 68-69kg before gear and found my rear suspension to be a bit stiff on the 1199S, and changed the rear spring from the standard 90nm spring down to a 80nm spring and that helped a lot for me both on the street and for track days. I left the front springs in the forks as standard.

you can get your local dealer to order different springs, you can see some recommendations for weights on:
https://www.ducatiomaha.com/collections/1199-panigale/products/ohlins-01092-series-shock-spring
 
Spring pre-load is purely mechanical and not affected by DES settings. I am lighter than you and find the suspension a bit firm for road riding but very good on tracks. I use fixed mode and have softened the compression damping for Sport mode (I use Sport for road riding and Race for tracks). If you haven't already done so, measure your sag and adjust the preload to suit. I managed to get both front and rear to sensible values without changing the springs.
 
Thanks guys for your help. Then I'll probably try first to adjust the sag. @ razz: can you tell me how much the sag should be? And how can I adjust the front?
 
Big blue hex nuts on the top of each fork leg. Remove the cable from the top of each fork leg in order to fit a socket. (Lift the gaiter and press the release tab.) Use a plastic bag between the socket and the fork leg in order to avoid marking the alloy.

Sag settings - I fear starting a sag settings war if I tell you my settings. Look on the Ohlins web site for guidance. How much you dial in will depend on the intended use, more for road, less for track. You should look to achieve broadly the same sag front and back.
 
razz said:
Big blue hex nuts on the top of each fork leg. Remove the cable from the top of each fork leg in order to fit a socket. (Lift the gaiter and press the release tab.) Use a plastic bag between the socket and the fork leg in order to avoid marking the alloy.

Sag settings - I fear starting a sag settings war if I tell you my settings. Look on the Ohlins web site for guidance. How much you dial in will depend on the intended use, more for road, less for track. You should look to achieve broadly the same sag front and back.
Click to expand...

OK, :) Thank you for the help razz!!
 
Fragile said:
suspension among the stiffest of bikes I have ridden, that R is...
Click to expand...

:D

Yes R is super stiff. I had a dialed in by Dave Moss at the track few times. Dave Moss said "wow stock setting is super stiff!"

It is so well tuned now and lets me do just about anything.
 
Piri said:
Hmm ... Are you sure? According to my instructions for use: F = flat = solo operation, P = progressive = with passenger
Click to expand...

See rear shock thread or inside the panigale story. F track P road
 
Calderara di Reno said:
Where do you find bumps on the roads in Switzerland ?
Click to expand...

I know I am complaining at a high Level :D. But I am often traveling in foreign countries ;)

No, seriously: i am not concerned here with comfort, but to keep the chosen line. And this is partly difficult with this attitude of suspension.
 
Yes , when the bike is to stiff for your weight on the road, when you hit a bump/dip in a corner the bike will want to stand up, not good. Get your sag ( with gear on ) 40mm front and 35mm rear. If you cant get to those numbers with back off the preload , you need to go to lighter springs , end of story .
 
Calderara di Reno said:
Yes , when the bike is to stiff for your weight on the road, when you hit a bump/dip in a corner the bike will want to stand up, not good. Get your sag ( with gear on ) 40mm front and 35mm rear. If you cant get to those numbers with back off the preload , you need to go to lighter springs , end of story .
Click to expand...


Yes, Calderara, this is exactly what the bike does
With the BMW S1000RR the entire bike is softer with the adjustment of the damping. At the Pani is obviously not the case. Why?
I have put the DES Dynamic mode on "softest". I do not know if I should try to change from the "Dynamic" to the "Fixed" mode and go there a few clicks up. Maybe it will be a bit better ...? Probably I will have to change the springs.
 
If your bike is standing up in corners hitting bumps and generally getting unsettled ,the front springs will have more effect than the rear, but seriuosly do front and rear . Ducati set their superbikes for a 75-85kg rider and this is typically hard/stiff.
Lighter springs will get your preload back into an adjustable range and your compression (controls the speed of the stroke) , back into an adjustable range. Having your compression clicked right out is only masking the effect of an icorrect spring for your weight .
I took my race bike out the back roads today to sort out a few electronic settings and the stiff setting for the track doesnt work on the road .
If you can get a rear spring that gives you the correct sag with very little (adjustable) preload in it , meaning your sitting on top of the spring, this will give you a less harsh ride.

Measure your sag , get the numbers, this is important to understand where to go to 1st.
 
As Halo said try the P setting on the rear , this changes the linkage leverage on the spring , so the first part of the stroke moves with less effort giving a 'softer' ride . Also for pillions , as when the pillion weights the bike , it preloads the spring into the stroke where the linkage geometry requires mor effort to compress the spring. Spring windings and rates and preloading all sound complicated at first , but once you understand the physics , quite simple
 

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