ducatipaso.org

Hi All, This is my 1st post so I thought I'd introduce myself, Im Keith, from Essex UK. Im on my 2nd 907, I bought my 1st about 10 years ago upgrading from a 750 Paso.
I took my 1st 907 from 30,000 miles to 70,000 then knocked out the big end(i think) in France racing a gsxr and r1 for about an hour. The 1 i run now is its replacement with 40,000m. on it now. Ive had this for about 3 years, been to Holland Italy and Portugal on it. I use it mainly as a winter bike now as I have a 999 and a streetfightered SSie for summer fun.(I alternate these every other year).
My present 907 (fatbike II) has a 2:1 exhaust that i fitted using the headers that were on the 750paso and a carbon can made by Renegade, a k+n and a Baines chip in the earlier (90/91) P7 brain. Ive seen 150 on the clock on a good day.
The bike came with a Hagon rear shock, a well made corbin style seat, a rack, and adjustable bars that can only be put in 1 position for clearance but theyre a bit lower,more splayed out and a bit wider, so suit me.
After getting off the 999 last month Im struggling a bit with the 907's handling so I'm thinking of fitting USD forks to it next year along with a later 3spoke wheel, discs, and 65mm calipers. Anyone else looked at doing this or seen it done?
Cheers, Keith.

hello mr fighter! its good to see a machine being used to its full potential! good luck with your mods. let us know how the results turn out.

After getting off the 999 last month Im struggling a bit with the 907's handling

the difference in handling is due to the 100lb(45Kg) weight advantage of the 999 over the 907. Swapping suspension parts out will not help much,if you want the 907 to handle like a 999 you need to lighten up the 907,not sure why you would want to do that but that is the path to go

Welcome!

adjustable bars that can only be put in 1 position for clearance but theyre a bit lower,more splayed out and a bit wider,

Quite unique, a pic would be appreciated!

well if you want a bike handling like a 999 you need to get a 999...

I understand you very well , I have ridden both and I know exactly what you mean.

Unfortunately the 999 is on a different planet, a completely different EFI and engine and that makes already a huge difference, not to mention the suspensions (specially the front) and the brakes (the brembo four pads are unbelievable and the semiradial MC excellent)

now... 907 is a great Gran Turismo Sport and I believe that you can get the bike suit you a little bit better.

The Hagon,...I don't think that the Hagon is better that the old Marzocchi unit; I am not even sure it has the compression setting...

The Duoshock was preatty good for that time, in fact was also used on the 851s, in had rebound and compression settings and was very well made (I just have une disassembled in my workshop, I am overhauling it.)

the forks unfortunately are not as advanced as the shock, the M1R allow only the Rebound settings , but if the fork is in good order and the oil is new it will perform well.

my suggestion is that you start from zero, setting the static sag at the rear, then go for a ride and start working on the settings.

On my 907 I played a little with the fork oil, I bought 3 different degrees from the same brand and did some mixing until I got the feeling I wanted; at the rear I did change several times the settings until I managed to "ride the bike" instead of "being carried around" by it.

Remember that the rear settings are very important, if the rear is wrong+ the front will follow...giving a bad feeling.

I did modified the brakes as I found the original mastercylinders absolutely crap, spongy , impossible to bleed properly without having brake fluid up to the ceiling.

Apparently on the first 907s Ducati fitted MCs which were wrongly machined and this caused the a.m. issues, in particular the sponginess and the mess when bleeding (so I was told by a Ducati Specialist)

After a couple of scares I had enough and so I replaced the whole front and rear systems with brand new BREMBO ORO M.C.& calipers from a 916 (it is a straight swap) and all the brake lines were replaced with brand new stainless steel brake line kit; I also fitted a pair of cast-iron rotors and the difference the wole thing made was unbelievable, the best modification ever!

Finally I added two teeth to the rear sprocket, this way I shortened a little bit the final gearing; again the difference in the riding experience was extremely positive, specially on those roads were you are always in 3-4th gear.

Last but not least.... tyre pressure.

The manual says 2.9BAR (actually depending on the print & language it goes from 2.2. up to 3...)

2.9 is WAY too much, as soon as there is some heat in them they go up to 3.5 and it is like riding on wooden wheels.

I keep mine 2.2 in front and 2.4 in the back (Pirelli Diablos) and for me is perfect.

Welcome Keith, good to see another paso member

angelix...you seem to know your bikes and go into a lot of detail but...brembo oro master cylinder, calipers from a 916...cast iron rotors...have you ever thaught of going a bit slower in the first place
only kidding...I think the original setup on the 907 is good enough for my riding ability...
a few pics would be good

907pasonut wrote:...brembo oro master cylinder, calipers from a 916...cast iron rotors...have you ever thaught of going a bit slower in the first place
only kidding...I think the original setup on the 907 is good enough for my ability...
a few pics would be good

I fully agree with Angelix.
I also have replaced the braking system with cast iron rotors and braided lines even if I fitted the radial MC from a 999.
The best mod... even if I'm a still rider
Ciao

P.S. Hi fighter, welcome on board

Hi Keith - Welcome. I've only just joined but have been bombarded with help and encouragement from every side. Great to have another Paso addict aboard. I feel sure that you'll get seriously good advice and ready help here any time you want/need it. Love to see some picture of your bikes. Do you own the 750 Paso currently for sale in MCN?

Angelix - didn't understand a half of what you said but damn what I did get made sense. I'll be getting the guys working on re-commissioning my 907ie to follow your advice to the letter - do you work on bikes professionally ? Thank you VERY much for the tip on tyres. I'm buying two new ones and couldn't decide which to go with. Decision made. Any tyre recommendations for a 916?

900streetfighter before you go down any other route try this company that are just down the road from me they can and will fully update your front end for you and probably at the same cost as your alternative upgrade.

They are very highly regarded with the race brigade that use the M1-R's

Maxton Engineering
Laurel Bank
Kingswood
Frodsham
Warrington
Cheshire
WA6 6HX
U.K.
TEL : +44 01928 740531
FAX : +44 01928 740635

a Baines chip in the earlier (90/91) P8 brain.

Are you sure you got a P8 brain, not P7?

Hello Guys, thanks for the welcome, interest and ideas. Im not trying to make my bike handle like a 999, just bring it up to date a bit and make the ride feel a more positive,plus the later wheels and discs are quite a bit lighter. I have a set of maxton modded M1R's from a 888 that I fitted to my previous 907, and had 916 master cyls on it as well, I couldnt fit the m/cyls on this bike with the different bars. The 888 maxtons are about 1" shorter which caused the wheel to touch the rad at full comp. To be honest I couldnt feel any improvement while I had them fitted.
Ive hit a snag finding a set of usd's to do the job, having measured a M1R leg they're longer by a couple of inches to the SSie legs I was thinking of using in ST yokes.
I fitted the earlier P7 brain because it seems to like the Baines chip better for round town riding. I figured the chip was written for the earlier(slower) version but thats just a very uneducated guess. Cheers, Keith. ps. no good at posting pics sorry.

Ive hit a snag finding a set of usd's to do the job, having measured a M1R leg they're longer by a couple of inches


I bought a set of Multistrada forks to replace the M1R's, they look to be the right length. I have not gotten very far along with installing them as it looks like a lot of things to relocate around the triple clamps.

Hi, welcome,
Instead of new forks, what about a set of BST carbon wheels, [one day!] lightweight rotors and light weight tyres? LJ Snyder from Desmo Times reckons its the greatest and best mod you could ever do to your bke.

Also both my 907 had stuffed front forks, bushes shot.

ASR [in Aust] set up the forks with correct springs to match my weight, different fork oil in each leg and did the M1R fork leg mod; another hole to assist the return oilflow.

Wilbers rear shock.

Just did my first advanced rider track day at Broadford. With no benchmark to compare, but the bike felt fantastic, scrapped the toes a few times

Interesting your tyre pressure comment. There does seem to be some dispute over the "correct" psi.

My bike,with 40,000miles on it, would probably ride a lot better with the M1R's rebuilt and headstock bearings but for similar money I thought s/h usd's would be nice, adjustable and look bit trick to those in the know. Im a budget biker and try to avoid spending big money on my bikes, especially a 20yr old undesirable one(to the ignorant majority),so supertrick wheels are a nono. My 907 seems to get hand me downs from my other bikes!
I'll check out Multistrada legs but I had ruled them out provisionally coz the discs are a different mounting to ST, SS and M ranges which might mean using a MS front wheel while I wanted to stick to a 3 spoke. Also multistrada forks have extra 25mm travel at 160 total. M1r (907vers.) is 125, both figures from Falloon book, not tested.
Cheers, Keith.

I use it mainly as a winter bike

argh, this hurts.
I wonder how you fitted the headers from a P750 on a 907ie as the tubes are shorter.

M1R forks can be lengthened a little, that´s not very difficult.
As you noticed most other Ducati forks are shorter than the Pasos M1R. One fork that has the same length is the USD fork from a Laverda 750 (ie Sport or Formula). There`s actually one for sale in UK but a bit pricy. The problem though is that the fork tube diameter is quite larger compared to the M1R. Not only would you need different triple clamps (the one of the Laverda would require shortening the steering axle) but you would also have to remove some material from the front of the tank as the fork hits it when steering.
Also the wheel axle is different ...
I had such a fork and wanted to do this, but I changed my mind and sold it again.

G.