Ducati 900ss forks - 3rd Gen VFR

[Guest TotalEclipse97]

I've come across a set of forks from a 900ss ducati. My friend found them in his garage years after an ebay buying binge.

The only info i have on them is that they would fit a duc 851, 888, 750ss, and 900ss.

They're inverted forks and if the modding isn't too bad, i'd like to see them on my 3rd Gen VFR750 by spring '13.

Does anyone have an experience with these specific forks or that could give me a leg up on where to start measuring to see if it's even possible to install?

[Veefer800Canuck]

They should have a 50mm upper diameter, so will fit CBR929/954/RC51 upper triple clamps.

Only thing to check next is the lower diameter to see if it will fit into the lower triples for those three models or not. I do not know the Duc dimension for that bit.

Lastly, compare the overall length of the forks to yours and see how close you are.

[Guest]

I'm new to this so please bear with me....

Wouldn't the Upper Dia (50mm) dimension be the same as the Lower Dia or are forks known to be tapered? Upper being the Upper Triple and Lower being the Lower Triple or steering stem correct?

[Guest]

Just took a closer look and I now see the factory change in diameter on the forks. I'll try to dig up exactly what year/model they are and then get factory specs on dimensions.

Fork length looks to be about 3" difference almost (Duc being shorter). Is that already a deal breaker?

[Peter]

There were a few different types of forks offered on the 900ss depending on the year and model. I think there were 3. The showa with adjustable rebound and compression damping (900ss/sp), the showa non adjustables (900ss/CR up until 1995 I think), and the less desirable marzocchi's (96 on up on CR model). The latter arent rebuildable apparently but you can respring and revalve both showa's. You can tell the difference by their appearance, specifically a big nut on the top of the marzocchi's, and a slightly smaller one on the non adjustable showas.

[Guest]

Looks like 50mm uppers and 53 or 54mm lowers. I'm thinking that i'll run into issues with the overall height as well as affording support parts (brakes, wheel, etc).

[Duc2V4]

I have a 1995 900SS/SP and a 2009 VFR800 and the 900 forks look way to short when the bikes are side by side, not sure how different the 6 Gen forks are to the 3 Gen forks, but I would imagine closer than the Duc to Honda comparison. I believe that Peter is correct in the type of fork and the limitation that each one has and that depending on what year the forks are, the travel would be 103MM (1992) or 120MM (1993+). I actually thought about doing this at one point as well, as there seemed to be tons of the 900SS forks on eBay, but it didn't look like they were the right fit. It would also have meant I would have to ditch the linked braking system and that was going to be another set of issues to deal with. Instead I went the Jamie D route and bought the springs and valving internals to upgrade the stock Honda forks. If there's any way I could help with the Ducati side of things, let me know. Mine forks happen to be the Showa USD version.

Cheers

[Guest]

Duc -

Thanks a ton. I was sure that I wasn't the only one that had that crazy idea. Sounds like there will be a few more 900ss forks on ebay soon. I was thinking there may be a way to fab some upper triples that ended up filling the distance between the honda forks and the duc forks, but there are more than a handful of other battles i would have to fight to make it work.