Is it possible to put sbk forks on a 900ss?

[brettmess24]

Is this possible and what all is needed to do the upgrade?

Thanks

[DesmoWorks]

Yes, you'll need the forks with correct diameter axle and caliper spacing for you wheels and brakes unless you are switching them too, but you get the point. You'll need either a new top triple or to bore the stock one out. The lower will have to be shimmed or replaced with a custom unit. Also new clip-ons. Maybe new cables depending on where you clip-ons are.

[NC Rick]

Brett, yes it is, I would replace the top triple-clamp because the top dia. is larger and they are quite thin to start. Some guys just bore them out. you need to shim the bottom clamp (no trouble).

My preference is to fix the standard SS fork (if it's adjustable) The reason being, it can be made to work better than the stock Superbike fork and has the same potential as the Superbike fork with the exception of the nitride coating (if app.) and the Superbike fork has a little better rebound adjuster system. The Superbike fork needs to be resprung in most cases anyhow.

No doubt, stock to stock, the Superbike fork works WAY better. The reason is that the SS has CRAP cartridge internals. By replacing those and springing correctly, your golden.

The Superbike forks can be had for a low cost on Ebay. That's a good thing.

[brettmess24]

what if you have a bottom triple and top from a sbk? still need to shim etc..?


thanks for the quick replies btwoh and the forks are revalved and sprung with ohlins internals and work great!

Also what would one pay for this set-up?

[NC Rick]

As far as i know the clamps from the superbike have a different offset and stem. The top clamp is the issue. If you change the offset you will change your trail and the bike wont handle the same. I have both bikes but I never measured these things.

[hubert]

Hey Brett, here's a review/post that I posted on another forum back in Feb when I replaced the non-adj forks on my 900sport with 998 forks

First, I'm sorry that I don't have any pics of the completed swap - I'll do my best to get a few posted up.

Onto the meat of the matter...

This weekend I swapped 2002 998 Showas onto my 2002 900 sport. Forks courtesy of Jason and Section8SBK.com.

Parts (and debt) needed:
Along with the forks, I also go the SBK clip-ons and mounts and a Cycle Cat DTC-1 top triple clamp which comes with the appropriate shims for the stock SS lower triple - more on that later.

Installing the pieces:

Everything went pretty well, but there were a few things. The steering head bolt needed an additional shim because it didn't exactly fit flush with the new triple. Also, the SBK clipons need to be bolted on below the triple because the SBK forks are shorter than the SS forks. If you mounted the clipons above the triple on an SS you'd risk of running the bike with far too little ride heigh, screwing up the geometry and making it unsafe at high speed.

That said, this clip-on configuration makes for a more aggressive riding position that can be accounted for by using the Cycle Cat clipons (read: $$$$$) or FBF adapters (read:$$). I decided to just run them as they were, for the time being, and if it was just too agreessive, I'd switch to something else.

As for the shims mentioned earlier, here's the skinny: SBK forks are wider through the top triple (53mm v. 50mm) but skinnier at the lower triple, this means that you need to either bore out the top triple and find a way to massage the lower, or you can do what I did, and buy the CycleCat setup and have it furnished with you.

Riding Impressions:

I haven't yet set the sag and preload but the damping adjustment alone has made the bike feel more responsive, lighter and more controlled under braking (there's a lot less dive thanks to added compression adjustment).

Also, the more aggressive riding position (due to the clipons being mounted SBK style, below the triple) makes the bike and riding position fell much more intimate and natural; you fell like you're sitting inside the bike, not mearly on it.

More over, your forearms gently rest at the sides of the tank, allowing you to naturally fall into a leaned position. I really like the more agrresive riding position!

Once I get everything sorted out (setup wise) I plan on tracking the bike and cutting off the wallet.

Overall, however, I'm reasonably impressed with the change and will probably enjoy the dividends once I really start using the adjustability on track - also the TiNitride fork tubes are a nice contrast against the flat black paint work.

Regards.

[bruntr]

first off the one thing you want to watch out for before
you buy the forks is the caliper mount spacing, make sure you get the forks
to match your calipers. not sure what year they changed but older bikes like
mine and possibly yours have 45mm mount spacing and newer forks have 65mm spacing. Other than that forks will be the same and it shouldn't matter what bike they came off as long as they are adjustable. If your calipers don't match then you will just have to swap them out, no big deal but it adds to the cost.

Next problem is your stock upper and lower triple tree's are the wrong size, to solve this you can bore out your top triple clamp to match the new fork diameter 52.5mm (if I remember right) and shim the bottom (as it's too big). I just went with cycle cat triple clamp since they make one just for this swap and it comes with the correct size shims you need for the bottom triple clamp as well, down side is the cost but they will save you some headaches in the long run and they transform the whole look of the bike.

Next you will need to find some new clip-ons as the old ones are too
small to fit over the new forks, once again I went with cycle cat, you could
get some off a SBK but then your going to run into clearance problems with
your dash, the cycle cats I got have the same rise as the stock clip-ons so
there is no problems with parts hitting your fairing or dash, plus they have
endless adjustability only down side is cost again. There are other aftermarket clip-ons available that will work you will just need to find some with a rise to them and make sure they fit the newer forks

Working our way down to the wheel, you probably have a smaller 20mm solid axle just like I did, new forks will have 25mm. You can fix this 2 ways, fist is to buy a used front wheel, axle and speedo drive from a SBK a little costly but makes for a quick swap. What I originally did was use my old wheel and solid axle. To make that work is fairly simple, first for the L/H fork bottom you will need to pull out the threaded insert out of you old fork, it is 25mm in
diameter and will slide right in the new fork leg but you will have to do one
thing first to make it work. The lip on it needs to be ground off flush with the
rest of the insert so it can slide all the way into the new fork bottom, if
you don't grind it off you will never get the wheel centered or your brakes on. Now for the R/H, you will need to have someone machine you a sleeve so the inside diameter fits around the old axle and the outside diameter fits into the new fork bottom. I would contact Alex Ortner, he has the measurements and knows how this sleeve should be made so everything fits nice and tight and his price was very fair 25 bucks I think vs some $80-$100 quotes I got.

You will also need a new front fender from a SBK as the stock SS one will not work with the newer fork, also make sure either your forks or front fender come with the plastic clamp fender mounts that wrap around the fork legs there are 4 of these.

Also if you go with the SBK wheel you will have to swap out the guts of your old speedo drive into the new one. It's a real easy swap, first the white plastic ring gear just pulls right out, the drive or worm gear is held in place with a small roll pin, tap that out then pull out the whole assy with some pliers and swap everything over to the SBK drive unit. I failed to do this and on my first ride I was hitting 240 kmph in 4th gear.

I think I covered everything, Your best bet is ebay for the forks, fender and rim should you decide to go that route. As far as Cycle Cat stuff I used I went with this company http://www.motostrano.com/ never had any trouble at all. Anyway if you have any more questions feel free to ask

Good Luck

[brettmess24]

Wow more great info thanks


Could the bearings be pulled out of a sbk wheel and put on the ss?

Then all one would need is a speedo drive and axle?

[chaas67]

Brett,

Here's a document I put together about this mod. Feel free to use....

http://mysite.verizon.net/res1mmqr/id4.html

[marvin]

Just email NCRick. He can fix you up without having to change to the SBK forks. They will work just as well, lot less money!

[ccolwell]

Here's my 2 cents, or two dollars given the length. Since I wrote this up,I've put on the CycleCat bars which made it comfortable again. I've also replaced the springs which were way too stiff for me and the PA roads I ride on.

Putting SBK forks on a 1996 900SS. I was lucky enough to get the whole front end off a 1999 996 but doing it piecemeal could be cheaper with the right parts. 1. Forks – Bruce Myers told me that the brake calipers off the 900SS will fit on 916 forks. They do not fit on 996. Fortunately, I got calipers in the deal. 2. You will need different handlebars to fit the larger forks. 3. Triple clamp – The SBK forks are larger at the top and smaller at the bottom than the stock forks (doesn’t make any sense to me either). You can either have the stock upper triple clamp bored out to fit and have shims made for the lower triple tree or get the clamp and kit from Cycle Cat. When I checked around, only BCM Ducati had experience doing the conversion. The price difference was a wash for me particularly since I would have had to send the parts to BCM to do the work. The Cycle Cat piece is gorgeous and fits well. Use any easy-out to remove the safety bolts holding the ignition switch in place. 4. Axle – if you use the stock wheel, you will need to have spacers made as the 900 axle is 20mm and the SBK is 25mm. There may be a way to find the right bearings and inner spacer to fit a 25mm axle to the stock wheel, but it would take some research. The 996 wheel is noticeably lighter (and so are the disks) and I can feel the difference on the street. 5. Speedometer drive – if you go with the larger axle, you will need a 9x6 speedo drive. You need to replace the worm and roller in the SBK drive with the parts from the SS drive. The roller slides right out. As for the worm gear, first there is a hollow locator pin that needs to be driven out. A drill bit works well. Then put the brass end in a vise and gently tap the speedo housing off. Note that it is easy to crack the housing. Both the worm gear and the pin will slide right in to their new homes. On the 996, there is no provision for mounting the speedo cable, but it seems to doing fine without. The torque settings I got from someone on the Index are 63 Nm for the axle nut, 19 Nm for the axle clamp bolts, and 43 Nm for the caliper bolts.