There is an SS fork rebuild guide floating around the web.


Highly recommend installing a valve kit in the forks at the same time.

 

There is an SS fork rebuild guide floating around the web.

Remember where you found it? Google isn't being quite the useful friend it usually is.

Highly recommend installing a valve kit in the forks at the same time.

Valve kit will go in at some point down the road when I have a bit more money. Currently need to spend my money on parts to finish other projects, primarily the 88' XR600 which needs a full top end rebuild and for my bicycle hobby, I really want to finish my 1998 Klein Mantra Pro build. Then I can put more money into the SS (didn't have to buy the springs I'm putting in, came in a box with the bike when I purchased it).

 

The link I have in my bookmarks is "https://www.perthstreetbikes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129737". The links to the pictures, which are handy but not essential, are all broken.

The Ducati SS manual has exploded view of both CR and SP front forks. It's free online, PM me if you can't find it.

It's possible to do the oil and spring changes without removing the forks, but it's so easy to take them out and work on a bench, I wouldn't bother. I had my SP forks apart many times, it's pretty obvious once you get them apart.

No idea how the Marzocchi CR forks work, but for the Showas fitted to the SP's:

- Remove the front fender, brake calipers, wheel/axle/speedo drive.
- Remove fork from triple
- Unscrew top cap, dump out oil (hold top tube so it doesn't retract down into stancheon and dump oil on you)
- Let go of top tube, let it retract.
- You need to get a wrench on the nut which is inside the top of the springs... you'll need to somehow compress the spring and slide a wrench on. I used two screwdrivers with the shafts run between the spring coils, handles on opposite sides so I could push the spring down while my lovely assistant fitted the wrench.
- Have aforementioned assistant unscrew and remove the top cap. Watch out, the spring needs to be held compressed or the cap will end up in outer space.
- Once the cap is off there's a couple of things, spacers, end plates, that slide off, then the spring can be lifted out.

If you have Marzocchi forks, they have very limited adjustability and IMHO are not worth putting any money into beyond springs and oil. They're fine for road riding for most people.

If you have Showas, know that they have a defect which causes adjustment of compression damping to affect rebound damping... i.e. those two adjustments should be fully independent and they're not which makes it damn near impossible to set them up perfectly. Look at my previous posts, I ended up installing GSXR internals in my SS forks along with RT springs and would HIGHLY recommend this mod if you want maximum performance out of your forks... the Suzuki internals are far and away better than the stock stuff and they work properly as far as damping adjustments go.

 

Thank you dspear99ca, that's just what I needed. I'll finish up the forks tonight, shouldn't take too long. I've got a couple of roommates, so I'm set far as an assistant goes if I need one.

I've thankfully got the Showa's, and I've read here and there about swapping in GSXR internals. I'd actually like to do that at some point, what year and model Gixxers came with the ideal internals that will work with the Duc Showa's?

One more question, how much/what level should the oil in the fork be set at when I get it all together again? Again, something I expected to find in the manual I didn't actually have that I should have researched before starting. Ooooops.

 

what year and model Gixxers came with the ideal internals that will work with the Duc Showa's?

2004/2005 GSXR-600/750 is what I used. Here's a write-up I did when I finished... stuff that might not be obvious when you start: http://www.ducati.ms/forums/57-supersport/343186-sp-showa-fork-conversion-suzuki-internals.html

One more question, how much/what level should the oil in the fork be set at when I get it all together again? Again, something I expected to find in the manual I didn't actually have that I should have researched before starting. Ooooops.

Manual says 440cc (ml) and height of 108mm measured from the top of the inner tube down to the oil level . Make sure when you add oil that you pump the rod up and down many times, then let the fork sit full of oil for a few minutes before measuring. There are lots of write-ups on oil level. Changing the amount of oil changes the air spring (compressed air) in the fork which affects how it behaves at it approaches full compression significantly. The 888 used the same forks (but different more linear springs) and called for an oil height of 162mm so far less oil. YMMV.

Mobil-1 full-synthetic ATF is a very close match parameter-wise to the Showa SS08 oil that's recommended and it's much more readily available.

FYI, the stock springs are not linear, they are progressive which means they are softer at low compression and get stiffer as the fork (springs) is compressed. They are 0.6 kg/mm at zero compression (VERY soft) and 0.9-ish at 70mm. These forks can be improved relatively cheaply with new springs (Racetech or similar) as they tend to nosedive A LOT under hard braking with the stock springs which eats into your available compression when you start riding (and braking) hard. For my weight, ~170lbs, I put 0.85 kg/mm linear springs in and the performance dramatically improved.... probably due as much to the new oil as the springs!

 

Thanks for all the info, definitely helpful.
I've rebuilt a few right side up forks before, and it sounds as though the basics of setting oil level aren't too different. What is different is that oil level is measured relative to the lower fork tube, while both my other bikes with right side up forks are measured relative to the upper tube. But, vastly different forks, so it's really no surprise, just different.

First thing I noticed when riding it was the nasty front end dive under hard braking, worse even then my little old 500 daily rider. That's the main reason for swapping out the springs. I'm tossing in a set of Racetech .90kg springs. According to their spring rate calculator, .87 is ideal for me, but the bike came with the .90kg's in a box, so I can live with slightly stiff springs if I don't have to pay for them.

 

I always thought this was a good video on the guts of a fork (mostly). There's a second part to it, too.

 

Thanks for the link Yorik, but I already had it figured out by the time I saw your post.

Wound up giving my brother a call and he was free, so he rolled on over (only lives a few miles away) and gave me a much needed hand working with the forks. He has rebuilt a couple of inverted forks before, so he's familiar with fork internals. My solution for compressing the springs while my brother removed the caps a pair of old cylinder head bolts that once lived on a Kawasaki EX500 engine as they were long enough to grab but small enough to fit nicely in the two holes at the top of the spring spacer. Put on an old pair of riding gloves and wadded up some towels to spread the weight out on my hands and put my weight into it while my brother wrenched away. Definitely not the preferred method, but it worked just fine.
Springs are in, along with fresh fluid, so all that's needed now is to rebuild the brake calipers tonight and I can toss it all back together and ride Saturday morning.

Thanks for all the info dspear99ca, I greatly appreciate it.

One final question, I noticed an adjuster on the lower fork tube, which fork function does that adjust (I'm assuming it's compression or rebound damping)?

 

One final question, I noticed an adjuster on the lower fork tube, which fork function does that adjust (I'm assuming it's compression or rebound damping)?

The adjustment on the fork lower is compression damping. Rebound damping is in the cap. Don't waste a lot of time trying to get the damping just right, set it on the default settings and ride it to see if you can live with it. I put many hours into understanding why I couldn't set up these forks properly, it's all here if you are interested: ort/333977-showa-fork-rebound-damping-2.html