You don't really need any special tool to rotate the steering head, I've used Allen keys or screwdrivers to do it but I usually support the front and take the top yoke off so it's easy to get at
Ha ha, first time I messed with rake on my bike I was off the fucker, sliding serenely down the track the very next session! It was a small change too. Crack on my son!
Honestly, the change was minimal. My idea was to speed up steering and flickability a bit so I thought small adjustments to start with. I went out for my next session and decided to follow my mate (who I'm a bit quicker than) for testing purposes. I lost the front at Barn (Cadwell) on the 3rd lap.... WTF!! After the broom wagon dropped me back in the paddock I put everything back to standard and immediately stability returned! I'm not going there again! I'd rather have a stable bike that needs a bit of muscle to chuck about. If you're determined to mess with the bikes geometry then I'd advise you make very small adjustments to start with and get a feel for it before you take it further. I was on a 999R at the time btw... Happy tweaking and good luck!
I like the steeper rake angle myself, as it does feel a little more eager to turn in... It is known to decrease stability though and works better with decreased offset (which gives you back some of the trail that you lose with the steeper rake angle). I bagged some of these 30mm offset triples on the cheap(ish) via a Group Buy on the Ducati.ms forum, and I like that setup very much. Having said that, it's all rather wasted on me as I don't push the front that hard (far too slow ). I tried the standard rake angle with the 30mm offset triples and that was a NIGHTMARE - the bike was so hard to turn I nearly ran into oncoming traffic at the first left-hand bend... so these geometry changes can make quite a big difference and I'd definitely take heed of MH's advice above. You probably don't want to have your front forks any lower than one ring showing if you're on the steeper rake setting? cheers, Dom
Yes, that is the advice I have read elsewhere also, one line showing only combined with steeper rake.
This was on a 998 I'd made a lot of changes all at the same time, different forks, 28mm offset yokes, felt OK no drama but this was only road riding so not pushing it, TBH I was paranoid the front wheel was gonna catch the rad etc. so put her back to standard & all the gubbins have been transferred to my project bike
My understanding is that you need the alternative offset yolks to correct the reduced trail. From the set up work I've done with mine. (I'm no expert but I'm happy with how mine turns and holds a line.) I dropped the yolks down. And have tried lifting the rear. But then struggled with head shake when changing direction (bottom of craner curves!) so dropped the rear back down a bit. I guess the biggest factor in all this debate is? How you ride? And how you like the bike to react? For me. Stable mid corner. As much front end feel as I can get = :Cigar:
