Anyone familiar with these shocks?

[Snakeoil]

These are the shocks that were on the chassis I have. I suspect that they are original shocks. They appear to be similar to the shocks shown on Mk 3 and Mach 1 250's in the manual. Or, I suppose they could be Monza shock and the shrouds have been removed. No markings anywhere to be found.



It appears that the only way to take them apart is to unscrew the cap from the shock body. But that would not make sense if the shocks had shrouds on them at one time as shrouds are usually held tight by the spring.

The manual only shows a diagram of the shrouded shocks. They have half rings and a retaining ring. So, pretty easy to disassembly. I need to look closer at these. But if anyone can give me some info, it would be appreciated.

regards,
Rob

[Eldert]

Marzocchi shocks , Original fitmend

the tops wont come off , the cast onto the rod . rebuild kits are available .

the lower springholder is held in place by 3 bearing balls . compres the spring from the bottom and the ball will come out .

Eldert

[Snakeoil]

I saw those balls and thought they might be part of the preload mechanism.

Thanks for the quick response.

regards,
Rob

[double diamond]

Look like Monza shocks with the shrouds removed. Mk 3/Mach 1 shocks have a plastic shroud under the spring to protect the shock shaft and the springs are chromed.

When you get them apart, you’ll see the balls are part of the preload mechanism. The balls are located in tracks cast into the shock body. The ball tracks offer three preload positions. Be sure you have the preload in the lowest position before you attempt to remove the balls. If you clamp the shock in the upright position and lift up on the spring perch the balls will fall out (unless they’re stuck in place with grease). Matt

[Snakeoil]

Shocks are apart. Looks like the shafts are shot. Chrome is gone and some pitting exists. Plus, it seems that Ducati loves to stake things in place rather than press fit them.

I did a web search for rebuild kits and found one in Holland that includes new shafts. It is obvious that the current shafts were cast into the top mounts. The add says "Some simple turning required". My guess is this mean cutting and drilling out the old shaft, threading the mount and installing the new shaft. $140 for a kit that will do two shocks is not bad when you consider what you pay for shocks these days.

Anyone use this kit. Is there a kit that includes new shafts with cast on top mounts?

Not sure it is worth it in the long run. Chrome on the bottom rings is flaking and rusty in a few spots. Handles have chrome gone. I suppose I could bead blast and paint the rings since this is not a 100 point restoration.

The springs did seem a bit loose on the lowest setting. This would line up with the shrouds being removed.

Thanks,
Rob

[Eldert]

Hi Rob

when rebuilding these shocks you have to cut the tops of the rods and drill and tap M7 theads into the tops
so you have to add the cost off a set of M7 taps to the rebuildkit .

Eldert

[Snakeoil]

Thanks Eldert. Are you the guy selling those kits on e-bay?

Rob

[amartina75]

http://www.ducativintagestore.eu/kit_2_revisione_ammortizzatori_ducati_scrambler_250_350_450_1_e_2_serie

Ducati Vintage Store sells those kits for 54euro
the guy you are referring to is probably Giovanni, he sells stuff from Ducat Vintage Store at a big mark up. He even uses their pictures for most stuff. I'm not sure what his deal is he used to have some good parts for sale I bought some stuff from him years ago.

[double diamond]

Chrome is not “gone” there never was any! The shafts on the original shocks were not hard chromed. Same with the fork tubes, that’s why they rust. You can get the fork tubes hard chromed and ground to correct size. Cheapest I’ve found in my area is $75/tube to hard chrome/grind. If the shock shafts are worn, chances are the internal cylinder and piston are worn as well. These were cheap throw-away shocks, hence no internal replacement parts sold by Ducati. The Ducati service manual advises replacement of the entire shock if they have any issues. Unless you want to retain originality, you’re better off replacing the shocks with something of better quality.

Matt