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Hi guys, I am 5'7 and 185lbs. and would like to soften and lower a little bit the rear of my Ducati Paso 750. Unfortunately, I really don't know where to start or how to do it!!! 1) Should I go with the spanner wrench to the shock? 2) What is the black little numbered adjusting knob on the very bottom of the shock for? 3) What about the adjustment on the golden gas charged little thing attached to the right side of the frame with the braided line connected to the actual Shock? I bought the bike from a much taller and heavier guy. Therefore, I will appreciate your experience and input regarding this matter! Once again thanks for your time and help with this...

the knob on the side is for spring load adjustment. Factory setting is near to 0 reference. Less spring load will soften the spring a bit.

The knob on the bottom is to stiffen/soften damping. Screw in to stiffen and unscrew to soften.

Gerhard

Hi Gerhard, as usual you are one of my reference "gurus" Once again I thank you for your time in responding and help! So, I don't need to do nothing with the spanner wrench? What is this big spanner wrench for? A friend of mine told me that I needed to compress a little the spring with this spanner wrench! Once again thanks Gerhard for your help and knowledge!

My Best Regards,

Jose :

Jose,

if you use the spanner wrench on the Paso shock you also move the hydraulic spring preload system. This might only be reasonable if you need an even harder or softer ride than can be adjusted by the hydraulic system.

Don`t know about the Paso shock but I`ve read in a brochure once that some shocks are set to a driver of 90kg weight by standard. In my case this would be too much and probably also hydraulic spring preload setting 0 would be too much/hard. In this case I`d need to use the spanner to decompress the spring.(compressing it will make it harder)

But honestly I`ve never done much adjustments with my shock, so I´ll leave this topic to the guys who really know what they are talking about

G.

delagem has done quite a bit of work to his Paso recently, and posted up an excellent write up - located here - the "definitive guide to lowering your Paso" - I've seen it in person, and he did an awesome job with the modification. (He can also ride the hell out of it, too - so it didn't seem to slow either one of them down at all) But just to look at the bike, lowered, there is something very cool in its appearance as well. It's almost like a chopped hotrod, or something.

Anyway - deoending on how much you want to do to yout Paso, I'm sure Michael has a lot of insight and suggestions for you as well.

Good luck! Keep us posted in what you do!

You wanna soften your Paso's rear ride? Your Paso? I think the rear suspension linkage on a Paso was designed by Barcalounger...

Ducati tends to run too stiff on the rear, and too soft in the front, I think as a compromise to riding with a passenger, but I hadn't thought of the Paso as needing much help.

Check your chain tension, be sure it's not too tight, and you oughtta disassemble your linkage, then clean and grease all the parts. 20 yrs is a long time, and almost nobody ever greases these parts. Then you can try the damping settings.

Lowering the rear is easy, just loosen the clamps and rotate the eccentric. My wife and I both stand ok over the Paso with the rear and front lowered, and a Corbin seat, and she's only 5'2".

Thanks a bunch!!! I really don't want to soften the suspension! My bad! What I really wanted was to lower the bike because I'm just 5'6 and hate not being able to plant both my feet when at traffic lights etc. I thought that maybe softening the suspension would help me achieve at least a more comfortable heigth. But I am really happy with the suspension setting. So, I will try just moving the eccentric and maybe opening up the clip-ons handlebars. Once again thanks for all your help and suggestions! I just hope that someday when you need advise or help I will be there for you aswell!!!! Now, on a different note! I am very worried by some e-mail or comment on the forum about Michelin stopping the A/M59 tire production. Due to this rumor I am considering selling my trophy winning Ducati Paso 750 and purchasing a 907. I have invested a lot of time and money into my Duc and would hate to sell it but on the other hand can't imagine not being able to get the original tire size and don't like how it looks with the bigger tire suggested and the customization. I have my Paso very unique with rare carbon pieces like the front fender, left sproket cover, triple tree etc. etc. Also I have the 36 Dellortos' with Mallossi Intakes, Aluminum Cans, K&Ns, 907 style Ducati on the tank. As you can imagine I'm very frustrated with this tire thing because last time I needed to replace the tires I had to wait a while until one set showed up and was able to grab it. I just replaced the rear and the front is still stored due to the fact the one mounted still is in very good condition. So, any suggestions my friends???? What would you do? Should I sell it and go with the 907 or the 851? Once again, thanks for your time and responses!

Best Regards,

Jose
(Miami,FL)

Well, I don't know as though I'd sell the bike because the Michelin tires aren't available anymore. No great loss, if you ask me. I hadn't really given any consideration to how a different set of rims/tires might look; I know they will perform better, though!

I personally wouldn't go for an 851, that thing's a truck! Or as I used to compare my 900ss, a Winnebago... Of course, anything is fixable, it's just a question of money.

There's a lot to be said for being able to put a foot down in traffic. I'm 5'4 and have had to deal with this with all my bikes. Worst is the KTM, until I had it lowered I had to dismount before coming to a stop! Lowering a full size dirtbike 5" is something to be left to the professionals, by the way....

Hey Michael, thank you very much for your prompt response! Wow! I always thought that the 851 was so much faster and better than the Paso. Have you ridden one? I haven't but honestly love the way it looks, the liquid cooling specially here in Miami were it's constantly around the 90's Farenheit and every time I go out and caught on more or less heavy traffic my Paso temperature starts to climb like crazy! until it reaches a dangerous zone and I prefer to park it and let it cool down instead of letting it overheat to an extent were there could be damage to the engine! Can you imagine? I love the way my bike looks and rides but on the other hand is driving me crazy with the temperature and tire thing! changing rims yes! but which ones the 907? Honestly I don't have the tooling or knowledge to do it myself and here in Miami there are only 1 or 2 Ducati Stealers (dealers) that if accept to do it would cost an arm and a leg... and how about the temperature issue? Last oil change about 2 weeks ago I tried 20w-50w Semi-Sinthetic oil filled to a point were it's practically a little over the full mark. It's a little better but even at nights when in traffic the temperature raises to about 180 to 210 and that's when I start to worry and have to park it! I will appreciate your knowledge and comments on these two issues! I wish I could post some of my Ducati Paso here so you understand how much love and time I have invested in the bike! but I don't know how to! I've tried twice now and unfortunately not able to do it! All I know is that whenever I bring this bike out and park it next to 2006 Hayabusas full of chrome and other superfast bikes a lot of people always end up gathering around my bike and taking pictures of it. Two months ago I decided to enter it on a Motorcycle show just to have fun and see what the reaction was and to my surprise she got a First Place trophy that was about 2 1/2 feet tall and I had to carry it back home inside my leather jacket practically sticking out a full feet and a half! :laugh: If you have any way to help me posting my Duc pics here let me know and it will be my pleasure to post them for you! Well Mike, once again, thanks my Paso friend and hope to hear from you soon! Take Care and ride-on!

Jose
(Miami,FL)

Jose,

is it really so difficult to find tires ?

I just searched Google and find ie:

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/it ... division=6

http://www.mawonline.com/michelin.htm

http://www.motoxoutlet.com/index.asp?Pa ... ProdID=817

http://www.ronayers.com/catalogs/tires/type.cfm?secid=1

...

G.

Wow G.! you know, I believe I'm going to buy at least 2 sets in order not to worry for a while about this tire thing no more... Once again, as usual thanks to you I believe I'm keeping my 750. Yesterday I lowered the bike a little and that was enough to make a big difference! Tires... no problem! Now the only thing bugging me is the oil temperature here in Miami,Florida! As long as the bike is moving no problem! very low temperature. As soon as I stop for a few minutes idling or caught in traffic (which is constantly here in Miami) my oil temperature starts to climb and gets over the 210 degrees F. I then need to stop, turn it off and let it cool down in order not to damage the engine. I don't know what is their normal temperature range but once it passes the 210 degrees I just don't like it and that's when my riding fun ends!!!!

Thanks G. for your help as usual my friend!

Regards,

Jose

Have you tried any additives to the oil to reduce the heat build up
also fully synthetics tend to be better at fast heat transfer from radiators than semi synthetics.
I wouldn't trust slick 50 as far as you can throw it but the zxx additive is supposed to be pretty good.
You could also get clever and fit a water spray system to the radiators. It would mount pretty cleanly inside the rad area of the fairing.

I've done this on a couple of "comp Safari" Land rovers in the past that have tended to over heat on start lines (the rads are in the back) and a quick spray of water (car washer pump and nozzles) can make a surprising difference to oil rads.

Another alternative would be to have the oil coolers uprated proffesionally or plumb in an extra one like a 748 or 916 type in behind the front forks for some extra cooling

With modern oils 210 isn't all that high. The cooling system an a water cooled bvike will run above that. I would be concerned if the temp got above 250. Are you running synthetic oil?

Hi Jon, I'm using semi-synthetic 20-50w Belray for the first time. I have always used MOTUL semi. Any advise? Regarding the oil temperature, at 210-220 is when I have to stop and shut it down in order for it to cool down! If I don't do this the temperature keeps climbing! Once again thanks for your comments,advise and help with this matter!

Best Regards,

Jose

Michael, U write, that Michelins are NOT anymore available! ???? That is not truth! I bought just pair of new ones from Spain with big order, where was about 30 allkind of tires to my friends bikes... Company was this: http://www.rodamoto.net/in/index.html



Btw, what means this Grand Pooh-Bah ???