Recently we installed the suspension parts that were modified by suspension and set-up guru Jocke Jansson at FJJ Racing. The made-in-Japan front fork was apparently quite useless stock and had to be heavily updated. Almost all internals were replaced or updated. Jocke manufactures or modifies most parts himself and is quite experienced in Ducati 1098 set-up. Sadly, the only good thing with this fork is the top-out spring design, which after heavy modification guarantees a very nice feel during the first part of the stroke. My 40 N/mm top-out spring will balance the 100N/mm fork spring giving 60 N/mm initial spring force. Race-shims set up and stiffer springs of 100N/mm (stock 90 N/mm), more or less replacement of all moving parts including the lower compression adjustment needle (se picture) will hopefully do the trick at the front.
Rear shock absorber seems to be a different story, all that was needed was a service, race shims set-up and a stiffer spring (90 N/mm vs stock 80 N/mm). Jocke told me that when visiting a BSB race (British Superbikes) he found out that several teams preferred this model compared to the more advanced Öhlins TTX.
In the picture we have the FJJ tool for rear ride height adjustment in use and it is quite interesting that Jocke´s proposal for a set up for me is 4mm higher bike at the front and approx 15 mm higher at the rear. I have only tried the bike a few small runs on the street and have no idea at all on how it behaved on the track, but will of course start with his proposed set-up.
The 1098 requires a front tyre with a fairly strong carcass and he recommends Pirelli SC2 slicks.
