When looking for proper geometry, you have to take in several factors.
1. Trail. Probably the most important as many people describe it a feeling the front end. If you are running the 23.3 degree rake, you need to determine the trail numbers after the change. Typically stated by Ducati puts the number at 91mm. Far too little for racing and will result in you not knowing how far to push the front until it decides to make you do the Iggy shuffle thru the gravel.Since there are several different types of triple clamps out there, which are you using? Some are built to allow the forks to be pushed down an additional 10mm, which raises the front height the same amount(better flick-ability due to higher CoG) and an extra (approximate)2mm of trail. So in theory, even with a very steep rake, you would have very good stability and (good feel) while going thru the turns. My fuzzy math says approximately 102mm of trail which is about what the World SBK guys run(not factoring the rear variables).
2. Rake. Don't always live in the sharpest is the fastest. Keep your stock triples and create chassis numbers to work with them for the longer sweeping tracks. The extra stability of the 24.3 degree rake(subsequently only 3mm of trail less) would be like riding on a Cadillac and giving you the confidence to haul ass out of the corner.
3. Ride height. Plays a big part in how your bike will react with the suspension and how it affects the other end of the bike. Raising the rear will shorten the steepen the rake(fork angle only) and shorten the trail. This will make the bike turn faster at the cost of front end feel. Alot of guys decided with the 848 the way to make it work better is to lower the rear end. A certain AMA guy was doing it and mentioned that he was advised to run it this way to one of the local racers I was helping. This turned out to be the worse thing that could happen as he increased his trail slightly, giving him a false sense of confidence, but also reduced his ability to turn faster, along with lowering the center of gravity of the bike. The problem was never really fixed as the trail numbers were still too low to keep the bike safe in race conditions. He didn't determine what the rear problem was, and by ignoring the real problems, he unfortunately ended up on his head more times than one.
4. swingarm length. Big in helping out the bikes ability to maintain a stable line when onthe gas, out of corners. A short swingarm length will result in you not being able to get on the gas earlier and harder than you want. A short swingarm length + early on the throttle = JLo special at Laguna Seca.
5. Rider height/weight/style. How tall are you, how much do you weigh and what style of riding are you(big on the tank, big leaner, etc).
Point is, don't use static numbers that everyone else use. Determine your bikes baseline and fix it from there. And definitely NEVER measure eye to eye for ride height.
Sorry about being winded on this one. Benn couped up in the house all day with the flu and I'm FARKING bored! This probably means my writing and sentences make no sense too. I blame the drugs.
