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Do you have a 999? Which settings do you use?
Thoughts / experiences with IMA Offset triple clamps?
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Very quiet so far...
I spoke with Josh of IMA USA last week, and had a set of 848 adjustable triple clamps in my hands two days later. Here's the details:
IMA USA does exist, and even though I have had faster responses from dead people, once you get their attention, they really deliver. Josh happened to have a set of 848 adj triples that combined the regular MOD4-5 set with the cuts from the other version, meaning that you don't have to cut the steering stops off your frame. No word on weather this is an option or the way the 848 kit will come.
The good: just like in the picture, the parts are gorgeous, very well machined and anodized. everything fit, and bolted right up. the 0 setting is 28mm, which is nice as Ducshop seems to be out of the triple clamp game. Offsets are +/- 1-3mm, marked and have really tight tolerances. THe stem needed a light sanding to pass the lower race cleanly; the lower bearing shoulder was properly sized and about a .001 interference fit-the oven and freezer method produced good results without resorting to a lot of hammering to get the race on. I like the locking rings on top to set bearing tension; but they could make them with more notches (than two) to ease tightening. The upper triple has a a bit of a gull wing to it; seems to be the same as the stock upper so numbers will carry over.
Assembling the triples was easy, IMA really goes in for lots of 5mm bolts- eleven on the lower alone- to tighten everything up; it does make for nice light parts, but be prepared to do a lot of tightening and use a torque wrench. On the plus side, these surely spread the load very evenly and should require less force to be tight.
The Bad: not much, all told. The steering stops work, but not for all offset positions. What they need to do is drill and tap more holes along the arc followed by the steering stop so you can space the eccentric stops somewhere useful- at 28mm offset, my clipons are my steering stops. Not really a big deal. The bearing support at the bottom of the stem is about 3mm thick-nice, but they didn't relieve the triple clamp to allow it to be flush with the top side of the bottom clamp. Again, no big deal, but this eliminates most of the need for the deep cuts in the lower. One potential PITA is the $70 shipping for kits that drop ship from Italy. THe kit is still a good deal compared to the Attack/nichols options but why have a US importer if you they aren't going to stock? No word on what IMA USA plans to keep on the shelves.
The Ugly: I think the steering damper mount could be improved, I am sure it's strong enough, but it could be more rigid and 3mm screws are a pain in the ass in an application that must be loctited. Its just CNC, right? make a little extension of the triple like everyone else does... I you have a GPR, it looks like the bracket could be milled out a few mm to fit over the stem and the nut seems to fit between the damper and bracket. It should fit, but might need a slot milled in the top clamp to locate the damper.
Service: aside from waiting months to find out anything at all, they were great. Josh had the kit out the next day and the receipt and tracking number to me the same day. He even included something called a goo-goo cluster (local candy) which was delicious.
Verdict: a solid option for the racer looking for nice parts and adjustability.
IMA USA does exist, and even though I have had faster responses from dead people, once you get their attention, they really deliver. Josh happened to have a set of 848 adj triples that combined the regular MOD4-5 set with the cuts from the other version, meaning that you don't have to cut the steering stops off your frame. No word on weather this is an option or the way the 848 kit will come.
The good: just like in the picture, the parts are gorgeous, very well machined and anodized. everything fit, and bolted right up. the 0 setting is 28mm, which is nice as Ducshop seems to be out of the triple clamp game. Offsets are +/- 1-3mm, marked and have really tight tolerances. THe stem needed a light sanding to pass the lower race cleanly; the lower bearing shoulder was properly sized and about a .001 interference fit-the oven and freezer method produced good results without resorting to a lot of hammering to get the race on. I like the locking rings on top to set bearing tension; but they could make them with more notches (than two) to ease tightening. The upper triple has a a bit of a gull wing to it; seems to be the same as the stock upper so numbers will carry over.
Assembling the triples was easy, IMA really goes in for lots of 5mm bolts- eleven on the lower alone- to tighten everything up; it does make for nice light parts, but be prepared to do a lot of tightening and use a torque wrench. On the plus side, these surely spread the load very evenly and should require less force to be tight.
The Bad: not much, all told. The steering stops work, but not for all offset positions. What they need to do is drill and tap more holes along the arc followed by the steering stop so you can space the eccentric stops somewhere useful- at 28mm offset, my clipons are my steering stops. Not really a big deal. The bearing support at the bottom of the stem is about 3mm thick-nice, but they didn't relieve the triple clamp to allow it to be flush with the top side of the bottom clamp. Again, no big deal, but this eliminates most of the need for the deep cuts in the lower. One potential PITA is the $70 shipping for kits that drop ship from Italy. THe kit is still a good deal compared to the Attack/nichols options but why have a US importer if you they aren't going to stock? No word on what IMA USA plans to keep on the shelves.
The Ugly: I think the steering damper mount could be improved, I am sure it's strong enough, but it could be more rigid and 3mm screws are a pain in the ass in an application that must be loctited. Its just CNC, right? make a little extension of the triple like everyone else does... I you have a GPR, it looks like the bracket could be milled out a few mm to fit over the stem and the nut seems to fit between the damper and bracket. It should fit, but might need a slot milled in the top clamp to locate the damper.
Service: aside from waiting months to find out anything at all, they were great. Josh had the kit out the next day and the receipt and tracking number to me the same day. He even included something called a goo-goo cluster (local candy) which was delicious.
Verdict: a solid option for the racer looking for nice parts and adjustability.
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123 Posts
Thanks for the review TACAN. The IMA's look beautiful IMHO and seem to be quite price competitive to the other options out there. Definitely something I'll keep in mind when I'm ready to pull the trigger on some new triples on my race bike.
NCR triple
Here are a few pics of the NCR triple I ordered...
No weight yet - I asked the shop to weigh them before putting on my bike but no reply yet on that.
I pick up the bike Thursday with the NCR triple and these clipons:
Ducati Duca Adjustable Handlebar with Rear Bias
Here are a few pics of the NCR triple I ordered...
No weight yet - I asked the shop to weigh them before putting on my bike but no reply yet on that.
I pick up the bike Thursday with the NCR triple and these clipons:
Ducati Duca Adjustable Handlebar with Rear Bias
Attachments
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I ended up ordering the IMA's for my 1098/SV650 race bike. I paid on Monday and they arrived from Italy here in California on Friday. I ended up working with Patrick in Italy- he was answered all my questions and was really easy to do business with. They're *really* pretty. Can't wait until the 15th for my first track day.
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How did you get in contact with IMA Italy directly? Some members here seem to be having problems with response from the US distributor.
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123 Posts
Yeah, sounds like the US distributor is shutting down. The guy is going into a different industry altogether (patent law he said).
Anyways, I worked with Patrick Costa (p.costa at imasrl dot com). Patrick was very responsive (remember he's in Italy so he'll probably reply the next business day) in answering all my questions.
Ordering was pretty simple: Patrick sent me an invoice & money request via Paypal and they shipped the next day.
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123 Posts
443 grams... I assume that's just the top triple clamp right? No stem or lower. We'll be installing the IMA's on my race bike either today or tomorrow. Will measure the oem then.
I actually did not weight it myself...the shop did at the local post office. They say that the 443 grams is the upper, lower and stem. I look forward to the info on your findings on the OEM weights.
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123 Posts
443gr is .98lbs. Seems highly unlikely that the entire triple is less then a pound- even if it was in titianium. If they're saying the NCR's are about 20% lighter then OEM, I'll tell you there's no way that the OEM complete triples are only 1.25lbs. Just the cast lower is well over 2lbs I'll bet.
For comparison, the IMA upper (just upper, no stem or lower) is 682gr on my shop's scale. So roughly 1.5lbs. The entire IMA triple (upper, lower, stem, bolts, stops & all) comes out to 2323gr or 5.12lbs on my shop's scale. I won't say those are 100% accurate values, but they're a lot more believable.
FWIW, I've seen USPS scales way off before, so getting a bad reading isn't that surprising.
For comparison, the IMA upper (just upper, no stem or lower) is 682gr on my shop's scale. So roughly 1.5lbs. The entire IMA triple (upper, lower, stem, bolts, stops & all) comes out to 2323gr or 5.12lbs on my shop's scale. I won't say those are 100% accurate values, but they're a lot more believable.
FWIW, I've seen USPS scales way off before, so getting a bad reading isn't that surprising.
post trackday impressions.
LOVE the triple!
Question - when changing the triple...do you need to go to a softer spring? I as because I am not using the full range of the forks (I expect 1 to 2cm max unused with mid-range setting of preload but I have 5.6 cm with preload run all the way out and even dropping the compression down 6 clicks)
LOVE the triple!
Question - when changing the triple...do you need to go to a softer spring? I as because I am not using the full range of the forks (I expect 1 to 2cm max unused with mid-range setting of preload but I have 5.6 cm with preload run all the way out and even dropping the compression down 6 clicks)
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123 Posts
I'm no suspension expert, but here you go...
Generally speaking fork spring & preload should be set based on the bike & rider weight to hit a target sag number. If the springs were correct before you changed fork offset, they should still be correct. Based on your description, sounds more like a compression dampening issue unless the fork springs were too stiff to start with.
Not sure about in Switzerland, but here in California, all the track day providers have teamed up with a suspension expert so you can get track side advice & tuning. I think they usually charge about $40 USD for the day. Generally well worth it from my experience.
Generally speaking fork spring & preload should be set based on the bike & rider weight to hit a target sag number. If the springs were correct before you changed fork offset, they should still be correct. Based on your description, sounds more like a compression dampening issue unless the fork springs were too stiff to start with.
Not sure about in Switzerland, but here in California, all the track day providers have teamed up with a suspension expert so you can get track side advice & tuning. I think they usually charge about $40 USD for the day. Generally well worth it from my experience.
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1,272 Posts
Just fyi, stock triples and stem, with the 2 cheesy plastic caged bearings on the stem come in at 4.81 pounds.
My Podiums are no doubt heavier, but they're beefier where it counts.
Some areas i dont look at for weight savings.
My Podiums are no doubt heavier, but they're beefier where it counts.
Some areas i dont look at for weight savings.
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39 Posts
Tried my new IMA triple clamps last weekend. 27mm offset and rake 23,5 degrees. The bike is now much more stable on hard acceleration, turns like hell and drifts less when exiting corners. A very good investment 
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To followup, I'm still running these on my 1198 racebike.
I have been running them at the 28 mm setting and very happy with the feeling on the front end.
They still look as good as the day I bought them.
In case anybody is looking for them in/near the Netherlands:
I got them from sc-motorsport.nl
Very good vendor with excellent service imo (I've got no affiliation with them)
I have been running them at the 28 mm setting and very happy with the feeling on the front end.
They still look as good as the day I bought them.
In case anybody is looking for them in/near the Netherlands:
I got them from sc-motorsport.nl
Very good vendor with excellent service imo (I've got no affiliation with them)
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