TricoloreSF

Question for the guys racing/tracking base models. I picked up a base to prep/track this year for racing next season. Things I'll be looking at will be whether or not to switch out the forks. I'm hoping that the gas pressure forks are stiffer than my S' and don't fade. Anyone racing on the Marzocchis and any feedback you can provide? Anyone switch to Ohlins with the superbike valving and can provide any detailed comparisons?

Cheers and thanks!

jarelj

Ohlins with superbike valving (both OEM and the aftermarket R&T forks) both 25 mil and 30 mil NIX carts over my past 5 Ducati track bikes. Now stock Marzocchis on my Panigale base (for now, until the Ohlins TTX carts are available later this year, then going to try those). As of right now after 6 track days, I'd say these Marzocchis are the best OEM forks I've ever ridden on, they have plenty of compression damping which is atypical of OEM forks in my experience, expecially Ohlins OEM forks. Rebound is nicely controlled, not as perfect as the aftermarket Ohlins that I've used, but still very good, that's the area that I am hoping to get to "perfect" with the TTX carts. My buddy's 1098R has the gas-charged Ohlins superbike forks on it (the $10k ones), and those are PERFECT, not expecting to get quite that good but close would be nice!

Phil

nice to read

1198freak

Yes good to hear as i am planning on buying a 1199 base in a few weeks. This will be my 4th Ducati, and to be honest I have never had one that didn't need major tinkering with the suspension just to get it to feel good. So I am happy that the Marzo's can at least get to that point. I too will probably go with the Ohlins NIX30 cart kit for the Marzocchi forks when it becomes available. (maybe a TTX36 shock too) I had that same NIX30 cartridge kit installed on my 1198 base Showa forks and it made a big difference in front end feel once I finally had it adjusted to my liking.

jyli19

Anyone riding on the Marzocchi, can you please post your setting for reference. Thanks

155lbs with gear, 2 turns in from zero preload, stock compression, stock rebound. Bike is hoppy as hell.

jarelj

My setting currently are 37mm sag, 12 clicks out compression, 7 clicks out rebound. This is for quick track riding.

Phil

What's your weight?

jarelj

190 lbs sans gear

TricoloreSF

Was at the track today so just saw this. Thanks Jarel for the response.

superfly999

What do you mean by "hoppy"?

On turn in when you release the brakes the front feels like it lightens and looses grip?
On mid corner bumps the bike bounces more than once off the same bump?
Leaned over the front and back feel like they are fighting each other? Like a see-saw wobble?
On corner exit the bike squats and tends to run wide as the weight shifts rearward?
The front excessively dives through its stroke under braking making the entry to corners difficult as the front tire is over loaded.

Or did you miss-spell Happy

Seriously discribe what you dont like and we can help you

Phil

thanks / same range

TricoloreSF

Any idea when the cartridge kit is available and did ohlins quote prices yet? I'll give Kyle Racing a call as well and update this thread if I hear anything definitive.

zvez

ohlins kit for the showa forks on the ape rsv4 were around $1200 so guessing at least that much but wonder if the nitrogen bladders in the marzocchi will kick up the price.

jarelj

They've been delayed until late September now, both the 25mm TTX kit and the 30mm NIX kit.

TricoloreSF

Bummer. Thanks for the info.

Steve B

To the 155lb in-gear poster, you can start with taking all the preload out, but you're really going to need softer springs to really get the suspension to work right for you (at both ends). I'm about 10-12lbs heavier and have zero external preload with 40mm sag up front. It's not enormously off for me, but I probably should drop a rate or so from stock to about a .85kg/mm spring; you should be looking at .8ish.

Also, an ancillary point on the Marzocchis vs other forks that I just ran across; if you don't like the stock clip-ons and want to change them, you're going to find bars to be in very limited supply. I had just assumed they used 53mm as that's what all vendor sites list for the Pani, and the early parts manuals I had DL'ed listed the same PNs for the clamps and upper triple on the Base and S.

So it looked safe to go with 53's, but I was bummed when trying to put on a shiny new set of Speedymotos this weekend to find that in fact the base will need 58mm clip-ons. Same as the MV F4, which makes sense since it has RAC50's on it as well. DL'ed the updated parts manuals and lo and behold, they'd fixed the error. Looks like the bottom triple is the same, but where the Ohlins taper down at the top the Marzocchis stay fat so the upper triple and clip-on clamps are different.

Exchanging parts is generally no big thing; the problem is that there is very little choice out there in 58mm clip-ons. No surprise, since the MV F4 is to my knowledge the only bike on the market that calls for them stock. The Speedymotos would have done just what I'm looking for in terms of providing ergo adjustability, but SM don't do 58's and the only 58's I've found don't look much better than the stockers. Foiled!

Will try to suggest to SM that there will be about 50 times as many base 1199's out there as F4's before long, so maybe they'll tool up for some.

jyli19

Should've used a more common term, "Bumpy", it seems to catch air everytime i hit a bump, all the force is directed back to the arms and body. As stated, I have my preload 2 turns in from zero, my next step would be back it out all the way to zero.

Steve B

Just an add-on to my side point about clip-ons for the Marzocchis; I emailed Ducabike and they are tooling up for some now, in addition to a mount for the steering damper which you'll need since it mounts to the stock clip-on clamp. Supposedly on market early Sept.

CW AF 03

As previously mentioned, I'd get your rider sag set up first. Depending on your weight, you may need to swap to a different spring rate. You can adjust damping all day long but it won't matter if you're not in the ballpark sag wise...

superfly999

Pre-load will only change your ride height. To be clear the fork will sag lower meaning that if you have 100mm of total travel by backing the pre-load off you will have the bike sit lower in its travel...like 60mm left of travel left with just you sitting still on the bike.

This doesnt change the spring rate which can only be changed by changing out the spring. You can change the damping settings and what you describe sounds like too hard of damping in compression.

Take your current setting of damping in compression and double it. So if you are at 5 clicks out go to 10 out. Then go for a ride and see how the bike responds to bumps. if its better then youre going the right way on setting compression. If its not helping you can remove all the compression and see if that improves bump absorbtion but realize that when you hit the front brakes you may blow through your stroke quickly and that wont feel good under heavy braking. everything is a trade off. Also if your rebound is too stiff you can get your fork to pump down and not return fast enough and the ride will be harsh as the spring is held down where the pressures are high...

Check your tire pressures and make sure they arent too high as this will give you a harsh ride as well.

Bottom line is only you can tell if you like the ride so open up your valves and let some fork oil flow to the point where you start to get a cadillac like mushy ride...experiment...