[moeracing]

So I have been away from ducs for a few years riding a gsxr750 at the track. A friend crashed his 3 week old pani 959 at the track and insurance wrote it off...I purchased it at great price thinking it would be an improvement over the older gsxr...somethings I liked today when I tried it out....the handling was not up to snuff....just for info i have been riding the track for 7 years and run at a very decent pace in the fast group...i work and service my own suspension and know a thing or two about it...when I got the pani home I measured the sags and not so surprising after my 848 I noted the the suspension was bery unbalanced....soft up front stiff out back...made some adjustments and ran 36mm sag up front a 28 out back...bike did not seem to want to tip in...understeering...added some preload to the rear shock and took some out of the front thinking it would help...wrong...made things worse...went the other way on the shock...wrong again...I am a little stumped...some time back on the gsxr750 reminded me how a well sorted bike should handle...drop the forks yokes? go back to the stock settings but the front sage was 52mm...any suggestions from those who have raced or tracked extensively on a pani 959

thanks Moe

 

[pat1098]

Did you check the wheel alignment? It may well be out after being written off. The swing arms tend to be fairly soft. Likewise verify the steering head angle.
Get the fundamentals checked out before you get into the details would be my suggestion.
And the rear suspension will be compromised to allow you to carry a passenger, which is where you get that "unbalanced" spring situation.
But it should handle well once set up, if a little differently to your Suzuki.

 

[moeracing]

Hey Pat....long time no chat...several years ago you wanted my 848 stock fairing from Canada but shipping was a fortune...hated the 848 on the track back then...why I decided to try a duc again....well I am a gluten for a headache I guess....it was a 80 km lowside at the track...hit nothing and slid on the left side into dirt...I watched the on board video....I have loosened the lower triples and rest the fork alignment along with the right front wheel pinch bolts to make sure the forks are straight on the axle...yes these ducs all seem to have overly stiff rear springs....a new challenge I guess....thanks ross

 

[mtb]

I am running about 28mm rear sag and 35 mm front sag and I don’t have any handling problems aside from some spin in 2nd at lean. That is on a ‘15 899, so slightly higher swingarm pivot point.

 

[io-id]

I raised the rear of my 1299 a bit to get it to turn in quicker. The rub is that the 959 has a different linkage and if it's progressive instead of flat you're asking for trouble. The 1299 linkage can be set either way... flat being what you want. This link may help: https://www.899panigale.org/forum/suspension-brakes/24105-1199-flat-rate-linkage.html. I see no reason why a 1299 linkage wouldn't work, but I don't know for sure.

Backing out the compression in forks would be another thing to try.

Also, do you have lighter wheels on the gsxr750? That will make a noticable difference.

 

[mtb]

I am running an 1199 linkage set up to the flat setting, and Ohlins TTX mk2 shock and Ohlins NIX30 cartridge inserts not the stock 899 suspension, and I am on OZ GASS RS-A wheels, so that might be helping me.

The stock 899/959 wheels are like boat anchors.

 

[Jedclampet]

Flat link

I wonder if I can ask you a few questions.
I added a 1299 link in the Flat setting to my 959 with an adjustable ducabike short link, with a TTX GP and one step heavier spring. Since I installed the parts I haven't felt that the front end had the same great feel, I have since experimented with the adjustment available on the Ducabike and found that lengthening the link by now 3 mm started to return the great feel in the front, but not fully there yet. My front sag is at 40mm and rear at 30mm for reference. I ride 50% road and 50% track days intermediate group and have been reading through forums and looking for some idea of base settings thinking that 1299 settings might be what I'm after, does that make sense to you? Might you have any guidelines for me?
Thank you
Peter