Andreani

[Nickj]

The S2R is a bit lacking in a few departments:
Braking -> I have a set of gold calipers I could use with new discs but I think the braking is OK, could be better but other than the esthetics I don't feel a need to change that at the moment.
Lighting -> As standard great if you're buzzing round town but out in the sticks dire at anything over walking pace, thanks to Mr Gazza's rings that's sorted now.
Suspension -> I've been really spoilt by the 748R which just floats unlike the S2R that more clunks so am looking at this as my priority modification. First target is the front end as I don't see the point of fitting a good rear shock when the front is naff. No ammount of tinkering is going to sort the front end so I'm looking at a more radical solution.
So I'm looking for any thoughts on the Andreani Evo replacement cartridges.

Other option would be a new (to the bike) set of adjustables, of course these would need a strip and clean before fitting and probably new yokes to suit. I'd think that this would all up cost more than the replacement cartridges.

Anyone tried these Andreani's on the non-adjustable Marzocchi's?

[slob]

Surely your S2R has Showas?

[Darren69]

You may find that the adjustables are marginally better than what you have already since you can reduc the pre-load etc but I think they have similar or the same issues that the non-adjustables have, (showa or Marzo) e.g over sprung and underdamped at least in the case of the Showa ones.

You can at least reduce the pre-load on the adjustable ones which does make them a little bit better but still not as good as the SBK ones which we have on our 748s, Even the standard Showas on my 748 are miles better than the Monster ones. When I refreshed mine on the Monster I changed the springs for HyperPro progressive kit (springs and oil) but that didn't improve things at all. I think the problem is with the damping and compression circuits which is why I have my eye on some of those Andreani valve kits but so far I have not had any feedback from anyone who has fitted them to a Monster.

From what I can see for my adjustable forks they only have the one valve kit listed whereas some of the other forks have both, so maybe only the 1 valve on mine is needed, which is the main problem. My gut is telling me that these are the way forward and at £200 are way cheaper than a K-Tech/Maxton conversion but I would like to hear from others who have fitted these before I commit and waste even more money on these supposedly good quality forks, chasing the impossible dream.

I can't really help other than to say the Andreani kit is on the list for my S2R. I've thought about all sorts of options but they tend to work out more expensive or too complicated.

As for brakes I went with a single 4 pad Brembo caliper with a serie Oro disc, Brembo pads and a new master to suit. My thread is on here somewhere if you're interested but it's miles better and feels great!

[Nickj]

Originally Posted by slob

Surely your S2R has Showas?

Ahh could well have but whatever they are non-adjustable and the damping at low and high speed is not very good.
They look quite reasonable rac3r, for a bit over £400 they look a good value option. Not seen reports of any on the S2R's but lots of other bikes with very happy owners.

[stopintime]

I've only talked to two S2R800 owners, now with Andreani, both VERY happy. Of course it doesn't take much to outshine the budget non-adjustables, but Andreani is one way of doing it. I agree that the price seems to be very good value.
Good suspension is heaven on earth for any kind of rider, so do it, do it, do it (as should 80% of all Ducati owners)

Ten years ago when the first cartridge kits arrived (Matris?), there was a few unhappy customers - Matris made the caps to match what they, mistakingly, thought were on the S2R800. Showa earlier, Marzocchi on the S2R800. Probably not a problem for the current Andreani.

[makemdan]

I had a yellow S2R800, accident damage, cat d. Turned out to have damaged headstock which is a new frame. On advice for guys at UKMOCI took it to John Warrington who did a fantastic job rebuilding the head stock and making sure the frame was straight. Anyway, the forks were shot and I replaced them with S4 (or was it S4r) shocks from Capo's bike that he upgraded to ohlins. The S2r was a dream to ride and extremely good round the twisties wirh these forks.

[slob]

Capo’s would have been S4R, which AFAIK are the adjustable Showas, with the same damping/lack of meaningful adjustment problems as other models, but with TiN (gold) coated stanchions. In theory they’d be ‘oversprung’ for the lighter S2R. However, having known Capo there is a high likelyhood he’d have modified/improved them prior to upgrading anyway.
Perhaps someone else knows for sure?

[Nickj]

Better get an order in before Brexit stuffs up the price totally

Brook suspension do them and offer all sorts of options if you send your forks to them, TiN coating etc. Not used them though.

Would these be easy for a DIY fit?

[Blah blah]

I cheated by using ST4s front forks and ohlins rear on my S2r, sorted by MCT and it's night and day difference.

I only swapped the forks as I had them (and they are TiN so bling), they are multi adjustable but I doubt I'll ever change the settings, and I dropped on the Ohlins shock while looking for something else and it seemed rude not to.

Any particular reason why you're thinking about Andreani, for the same price you could probably get a set of better forks and have them serviced / set up

[Nickj]

A set of forks say something common and old like a 748 are anything from £200 up with a bit of a premium on the top end Showas.
Then we need the current ones bored at the top and shimmed at the bottom
Still need to strip and service the old shock, go down the TiN route and there's another £x00 (seen quotes for £400 for service and TiN treatment to the sliders)
The spring rate will be way out so there's a new set of coils needed
Then the caliper mounts will be wrong so I need to use the gold calipers I have (after they've been stripped and refurbished, and that also means getting new disks.

Add it all up and it is quite a bit more than the cost of a set of drop in internals and I'm after the 90% standard look but better, or more what I want it to be.

As I'm also going to be swapping out the rear shock there's another £x00.

[Jez900ie]

Originally Posted by Nickj

A set of forks say something common and old like a 748 are anything from £200 up with a bit of a premium on the top end Showas.
Then we need the current ones bored at the top and shimmed at the bottom
Still need to strip and service the old shock, go down the TiN route and there's another £x00 (seen quotes for £400 for service and TiN treatment to the sliders)
The spring rate will be way out so there's a new set of coils needed
Then the caliper mounts will be wrong so I need to use the gold calipers I have (after they've been stripped and refurbished, and that also means getting new disks.

Add it all up and it is quite a bit more than the cost of a set of drop in internals and I'm after the 90% standard look but better, or more what I want it to be.

As I'm also going to be swapping out the rear shock there's another £x00.

You've given this some close scrutiny. I know because I have too & I can to the same conclusions you have! By now my conversion would have been done, but Covid came and cancelled all that. Next year...

[Darren69]

Going back to Azhar's question are these easy to fit/replace or do they need machining? Anybody know?

[Blah blah]

Originally Posted by Nickj

Then we need the current ones bored at the top and shimmed at the bottom...

The forks I had dropped straight in, no shimming, boring or anything other than swapping the bits over and with about £2-250 for a service and spring change (from MCT's web site) it'd be about the same price as a kit. I agree that some may not slot straight in and the more extreme stuff like the GSXR fork swap is quite a bit of work for not a lot of gain for those that have gone down that route.

Originally Posted by Nickj

Then the caliper mounts will be wrong so I need to use the gold calipers I have (after they've been stripped and refurbished, and that also means getting new disks.

I'm currently running the stock calipers and discs so you wouldn't need to.

Anyway, like I said, I swapped the forks over as they came with the bike when I bought it and they were up the corner gathering dust but however you get there, you can't beat better suspension !