99 ST4 Rear Showa Shock service. Po Go fix

When I bought the bike I noticed that there was little to no rebound damping on the rear end. Once home and up on the bench it was clear that the shock was leaking! :imp: This bike would have been horrible to ride not to mention a touch dangerous!
I pulled out the rear shock (I had wanted to service the rocker arm bearings and the link rod anyway ) and removed the spring, to get a closer look and to my surprise the chrome on the rod looked to be in good condition ā€œyesā€ :astonished: , all was not lost, just maybe the light at the end of the tunnel had been switched back on!
I have worked with shocks a lot in the past and still keep a cylinder of Nitrogen in the workshop. Now to find a seal kit, I received a fairly negative response from two Ducati dealers :frowning: so a change of tack was called for, most motor cross Showa rear shocks are serviceable so I started to search for a suitable Honda crosser that used a 16mm rod in the shock, one call and £10 hit in the handbag later and the seal kit was on its way. Home from work next day to find jiffy bag with seal kit genuine Honda/ Showa part inc dust seal, 2 part oil seal and seal block bumper. :slight_smile:

I should point out that the units are charged with approximately 10bar of Nitrogen! and are ā€œnot to be played with until the gas is releasedā€ :open_mouth:
So to stop this tale getting too much longer I stripped and rebuilt the rear shock for under Ā£20 quid :sunglasses: well almost it cost’s me the best part of a Ā£100 quid a year for my Nitrogen cylinder. :blush:
Happy Days
Esme

Nice story, I got my 851 rear Ohlins re-gassed for a drink=Ā£5.
I’ve also got a mate who works in the air conditioning/refrigeration industry who carries a cylinder in his van.
As you say there’s more than one way to skin a cat, Ducati might want a fortune, but usually another manufacturer uses the same sizes/equipment and parts can be found for a song/fraction of the price.
I’ve rebuilt the Brembo calipers on my 851 using KTM parts (that Ducati won’t supply) for not much cash and I’m currently trialing pattern Suzuki clutch plates,
£30-40 a set apposed to around £200 from Ducati or Barnett.
Mahle oil filters that were OEM for KTM’s (F’kin good kit! :smiley: ) can be found for under Ā£3 each if you buy 10 at a time, when genuine Ducati parts are around three times the price.
Gates ā€œPower Gripā€ belts for the Desmoquatros which were OEM originally can be found for under Ā£20 each, from car motor factors if you look for Renault Clio parts.
BMW car valve guide seals can be had for around a 1/6th of the price, Renault valve guides are actually better and can be modified to fit a 4 valve Ducati, I paid Ā£8 a guide modified/fitted and Ā£1.50 a seal…
Only a fool or someone not prepared to do his/her homework would pay the prices/mark up that Ducati ask for.

Steve R

Thank you for the parts information Mr R. I love bargains :smiley:

Regards Esme