M696 Leaking rear shock abosorber

Hello Gents.

After 4 months of Monster ownership I've encountered my first issue with the bike. While riding through France earlier in the month, I started to notice a few drops of fluid on the rear swing arm of the bike. After a couple of clean ups it's obvious that the problem needs looking at, as the shock itself is now a little gunked up at the bottom of the shock near the collars to tighten/loosen.

Any suggestions or ideas to the type of repair/cost? I don't have any photos of the bike, but I'll add them to the thread shortly.

Thanks,
Tom

[Dukedesmo]

I had a leak on my 916 Ohlins shock due to a chip in the chrome on the pushrod. Other than a new pushrod (around £100 IIRC) a service fixed it. I think the service (at K-tech) was around £80-100 although this was a few years ago.

[Luddite]

If it's the same as the 1100 Evo, then it'll be a Sachs, which I don't think is rebuildable.

This could be just the excuse you need to fit an upgraded shock. I've got an Öhlins DU737 on mine, which should also fit yours, but there are loads of other options available.

Nitron get good reviews for quality and value and Boris fitted a very nice example to his Evo recently.

http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/s...ad.php?t=55432

You'd also be able to have it tailored to your exact weight and riding style.

Alternatively, maybe Boris would be prepared to sell you his old Sachs unit...

Thanks for the replies you guys.

Just been on the horn to my local Ducati mechanic and he's going to have a look at it at the weekend, but reckons that most of the OEM shocks aren't serviceable (which is what I've read).

As far as upgrading goes, for those who've made the swap, is it really that noticeable? How does it alter the characteristics of the ride?

[Luddite]

I just checked the part numbers and the 696 and 1100 Evo units are the same: 36520802A.

[Dukedesmo]

Originally Posted by DukeSixNineSix

As far as upgrading goes, for those who've made the swap, is it really that noticeable? How does it alter the characteristics of the ride?

I don't claim to be a suspension expert but, I have Ohlins shocks on both my Ducatis with the correct springing & setup for my weight and the only thing I can say is that I don't notice them because they're just right.

I think you only notice a rear shock when it's doing something wrong.

I had an Ohlins on my M600 and it was amazing. Miles better than the Sachs on my M821 in quality of ride. Just converted the MV to Ohlins all round too and it is great.

That said, Hagon are good if you are on a budget, for a bit more my recommendation is Nitron for price vs. performance.

[Darren69]

Ohlins are worth it but unless you can source a low mileage s/hand one Nitron would be the next best option with a more realistic price and from what I can gather no real less performance. Your looking at about, I would guess somewhere around £800-1000 for a new Ohlins and the Nitron comes in at about half that. I'd keep my eyes out for a s/hand Ohlins but they don't come up for sale that often. And when you factor in the service cost for a s/hand Ohlins the Nitron wins hands down.

Hagon would be your budget option.

[Luddite]

There are a number of Öhlins on eBay (all new). The best price seems to be £487 delivered.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182647621244

I think if I were shopping for one now, I'd definitely think about Nitron or K-tech (I've got K-tech fork internals). You'd get the shock built to your weight whereas, with the Öhlins, you'll have to use their stock spring of 115 N/mm. (Of course, you could change it yourself, but that's more expense.)

Originally Posted by DukeSixNineSix

As far as upgrading goes, for those who've made the swap, is it really that noticeable? How does it alter the characteristics of the ride?

Unless it's a track or race bike you will not notice any benefit. All these guys spending loads of dosh on fancy suspension are wasting their money.

For best bang for buck I recommend Hagon..... and yes I've got one.

[MrsC_772]

The 696 OEM Sachs shock is not rebuildable. When mine ceased to cushion my bum from the horrid Surrey potholes and bumps on my commute, I got a rebuildable Nitron replacement.

[chris.p]

I have a Wilbers rear shock on my 1100 Evo, it is only £100 or so more than the Ohlins but it is fully adjustable etc.

http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/s...ad.php?t=50851

[chris.p]

Originally Posted by BLUNT

Unless it's a track or race bike you will not notice any benefit. All these guys spending loads of dosh on fancy suspension are wasting their money.

For best bang for buck I recommend Hagon..... and yes I've got one.

Sorry, but that is utter rubbish to say that you will not notice any benifit.

[Luddite]

You've obviously never ridden an Evo down a bumpy B-road, Blunt!

The progressively sprung Marzocchi forks and Sachs shock were woefully inadequate for my kind of riding (twiddy B-roads at (mostly) legal speeds). The forks would fire off bumps and crash into potholes while the shock would kick you out of the saddle at the slightest provocation.

There's a stretch of straight road near me with a slight 'washboard' effect series of bumps. At 60-70 mph the forks were so bad, my spectacles would bounce off the bridge of my nose. My Gilera Runner actually coped with the bumps better at the same speeds.

No amount of adjustment made any difference.

However, after fitting the Öhlins and having the forks reworked by K-tech, the difference was like night and day. You can still feel the bumps but the bike now follows a line and you're no longer kicked out of the saddle. A tangible indication that the suspension is working is the traction control light; with the old set-up, the red light would constantly be flickering over the bumps even on a steady throttle but, with the reworked suspension, along the same road at the same speeds, the light comes on maybe only two or three times.

I definitely owe Chris.p a drink as it was his posts that pointed me towards K-tech.

I guess it depends on your type of riding and the sort of roads you ride but, for me, this was money very well spent, which has increased my riding enjoyment no end.

Luddite, true, I haven't ridden an Evo but here is someone who has.

This guy sounds an honest guy - look what he says HERE "No need for Ohlins anything."

Originally Posted by Cobra88

My 1100 Evo Handles great

I think your confusing handling with your feel/confidence level.

I have twiddled my Suspension with Help from Darren at MCT
and its planted on road and trackdays.

No need for Ohlins anything.
Having bought many sets of Ohlins Forks etc over the years and I can tell you the Marzocchi forks on the Evo, (same forks on 848 streetfighter apart from Spring changes)
are very similar once setup correctly.

KAIS sound like they are not good with Marzocchi from what I read here.

I have ridden 2 1100S Monsters and the only improvement I felt is better compression damping on the forks as standard on the standard settings (the evo forks are set with too much low speed comp) on std settings
and the spring rate is too low for me at 80 kg and I have a 2mm washer to raise my rear ride height to suit the resprung forks. (my springs are 9.5n/mm) (Springs off ebay Italy as nobody had 1100 evo springs last year when I got setup done) as far as I can see on my setting sheet.

But I have an aggressive riding style and do lots of trackdays so every bike needs to be set to suit it's own rider.