Today, I started to disassemble the original Ohlins EC Forks to upgrade with with FKR 108 Cartridge and Motocorse bottom.
This is going to be installed in the 998, but since I believe many readers of this forum might upgrade their EC Forks with FKR 108 Cartridge, I decided to post the process in this build thread:
Again here is the FKR 108 Cartridge:
Here are all the Ohlins Special Tools that I bought for this purpose:
My stock Ohlins EC forks:
Now, I have already taken out the forks from the lower triple clamp, but if you are doing this, remember to keep the Ohlins forks held by the lower triple clamp so you can unscrew the top cap easily.
In my case, I asked my two sons to hold the fork while I used the Melotti Racing Special Tools to unscrew the top cap:
Here are the top caps unscrewed:
Then, initially I thought I can use the same Melotti Racing special tools and the special Ohlins black spanner to take out the whole upper mechatronic system:
But I was wrong, turns out, I needed to unscrew the anodized blue pre-load adjuster, and to prevent any marring or scratch, I cover it with 3M electric tape.
Actually, Ducati has a special socket tools made of nylon or delrin material, however, I don't want to wait a couple more weeks to wait until special tools arrive, so I decided to just use 3M electric tape,
and they work well, no marring or scratch at all:
Below is how you use both Ohlins black special spanner and regular 32mm socket tools to unscrew the pre-load adjuster:
And the locking nut was released:
So I can take out the whole Mechatronic system:
Next, I am supposed to use this special tool to remove that nut (which is now going to the bottom and lock the top spring collar), unfortunately, this special tool is for the FKR fork which has a larger shaft diameter,
so I am almost ready to just wait and buy another Ohlins special tool with the right size ...
But the situation above does not prevent me from draining the oil:
And sliding out the gold outer tube:
And after that, I realize the central of the shaft has a threaded insert in which a long M6 screw can be screwed in.
So I end up using an M6 screw to hold the shaft while I release the locking nut:
As a result, I now can remove the spring:
Then, I still needed to remove the M6 bolt which was now stuck tight, so I used 2 locking nuts to hold the shaft :
Then I took out the M6 bolt
After that I slide out the white plastic tube that hold the bottom half of the spring (just position the fork upside down, and it will just slide/fall out):
Next insert the long Ohlins Special Tools with 4 prongs into the tube to unscrew the rest of the cartridge:
Continue below: