New Falco Owner

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EdinburghFalco · #16 Post by **EdinburghFalco** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:27 am

Welcome, as folk have said the Falco is addictive, in the early days with mine I thought the riding position was uncomfortable but it seems to have grown on me, so I would wait a few months and a few long runs before going down the expense and hassle of moving the bars

yellowasp · #17 Post by **yellowasp** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:27 pm

Thanks for the welcome

I must admit I had a twin befoer so the delivery and torque I am used to howver this is a bit more of an animal

what I am strugling with is turning into corners. It seems to want to pull wheel into the corner and counter steering seems a fight. Maybe its the tyres, whcih I am changing to Road attacks or maybe its something else ?

Aladinsaneuk · #18 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:34 pm

What tyres and pressures atm ?
How is front suspension setup?

Syltiz · #19 Post by **Syltiz** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:44 pm

yellowasp wrote:Thanks for the welcome

I must admit I had a twin befoer so the delivery and torque I am used to howver this is a bit more of an animal

what I am strugling with is turning into corners. It seems to want to pull wheel into the corner and counter steering seems a fight. Maybe its the tyres, whcih I am changing to Road attacks or maybe its something else ?

Have you checked the steering head bearings? Put the tyre on a smooth surface or a cloth and turn the handlebars and feel for "sticking". Or they might be adjusted too tight which might have a similar effect. If you can get the front end off the ground see that the front has no play but turns smoothly under its own weight.

D-Rider · #20 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:49 pm

yellowasp wrote:Thanks for the welcome

I must admit I had a twin befoer so the delivery and torque I am used to howver this is a bit more of an animal

what I am strugling with is turning into corners. It seems to want to pull wheel into the corner and counter steering seems a fight. Maybe its the tyres, whcih I am changing to Road attacks or maybe its something else ?

So which tyres have you got on there?
Most work fine. MEZ3s (OE fit) are nasty, horrible things that mess up the steering and give no confidence whatsoever.

Another thing is check the pressures - run the things at the tyre manufacturers recommended pressures - for most this is 36PSI (2.5 bar) front, 42PSI (2.9 bar) rear - but check for the tyres you have on the tyre manufacturers website.
This really does make a big difference.

After that we're into suspension and geometry setup. The sag needs to be within limits. I guess damping is not going to have so much impact on the problem you describe so for now we'll assume that's not too far from where it needs to be.
The other thing that many of us have done is sharpen the turn-in by jacking up the rear (ie increasing ride height at the shock ... though not the stock blue springer 'cos that doesn't have height adjustment) and/or dropping the yokes down the forks by a few rings (maybe not all at one go though).

Hope this helps.

EDIT:
Those lightning repliers !
Two posted up already since I started writing my reply!

yellowasp · #21 Post by **yellowasp** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:16 pm

Aladinsaneuk wrote:What tyres and pressures atm ?
How is front suspension setup?

Mmmm just nipped out to look more closely at the tyres. They are BT014

Front PSI is ............................ 15

Rear PSI is .............................. 30

No feckin wonder its all over the place. Didn't think to check it but I only brought it back from my mates who sold it me and fitting new tyres this week anyhow. What should they be ?? I know its not that setting !!! I am fiting Continental Road Attacks as I love the grip on them. Anyone on here fitted them ??

Can anyone tell me what the std suspension settings are for rebound , damping etc for front and rear - the factory settings so I can reset it and start from there.

Cheers guys.

Fausto · #22 Post by **Fausto** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:52 pm

I have the contis and I like them.

The factory settings are in the owners book. If you don't have it it's downloadable but you'll need to search the site.

Don't forget the archives !

Aladinsaneuk · #23 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:25 pm

Conti s should be 36 front and 42 rear . The bt's I think are a touch lower like 35 and 39 but please do check as that is what a friend uses on his daytona 955i

D-Rider · #24 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:09 pm

Yeah - done a search of Bridgestone's website and can't find any quoted pressures .... strange - all the other manufacturers seem to quote them.

If you have no more success than me in unearthing a recommendation from Bridgestone, I'd go with the user manual recommendation.
I expect you have a user manual but if not, download one from the official Aprilia website:
http://www.serviceaprilia.com/public/lum/index.asp

or from Martin Poll's website .... where you can also get the workshop manual and other good info
http://www.martinpoll.dk/div_april.htm

Aladinsaneuk · #25 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:29 pm

sorry andy, disagree - the manual pressures are to low - at least that was my experience with the contis - remember the debate over on AF1 about the difference between european air and american air?

Having said that, try them and then go up if that makes sense....

D-Rider · #26 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:57 pm

Remember it - I seem to remember starting it by telling people to run at the manufacturers recommended settings rather than their own half-a-psi will give me ultimate grip mumbo-jumbo.

From what I remember, the problem was that people were running somewhat lower pressures than the manual.

The manual states (for solo riding)

Front 2.4 bar
Rear 2.5 bar

The front is about on the money for most manufacturers recommendations (Pirelli is 2.5 bar)
The rear is a bit low compared to most (Pirelli is 2.9 bar)

As I said, if you can find the manufacturer's recommended pressures go with them. If not, the manual is a reasonable place to start - maybe adding a bit more to the rear if it still feels a bit "wrong"

Aladinsaneuk · #27 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:49 pm

nod - fair point

just checked on a trumpet forum and it would seem that the BT's should be about what the falco manual recommends - well - 34 and 38 so close enough to start off with

#28 Post by **mangocrazy** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:48 am

I removed the MEZ3 from my Falco rear rim last night and put the Roadsmart on and I was struck by how light the construction was on the MEZ3 compared to the Dunlops. The Dunlop was much heavier (in weight) and more rigid in construction than the MEZ3, which felt quite 'thin' and flexible in comparison.

Bear in mind that this is a pretty good like for like comparison, as the MEZ3 had less than 200 miles running in usage and would be as close to 'new' as makes no difference.

Could it be this light construction which was why they felt so crap on the Falco? Just a theory...

HowardQ · #29 Post by **HowardQ** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 12:59 pm

I've run Bridgestones at the stock setting of 36 and 42 for the road for many years. However I ran a mixed pair in the past of BT 014 front with a BT 020/021 rear, which has always worked very well for me. I had run older Hondas on BT 010 fronts and 020 rears in the past and liked this mix.
The sports tourers on the rear last a bit longer and don't really lose out on grip. They also warm up quicker for winter riding, one of the reasons why I am now running 021s front and rear.
The other reason is that the latest 021s are bloody good as far as I am concerned.

Falken · #30 Post by **Falken** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:50 pm

For those who still blow their tyres up in English;-
1 bar = 14.51 psi.

So 2.4bar = 34.8
2.5 = 36.3
2.6 = 37.7
2.7 = 39.2
2.8 = 40.6
2.9 = 42.1
3.0 = 43.5

Personally my BT021s are run at 34 front and 36 rear, and i've never had a problem.