New Falco owner in person

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Falco Frank · #61 Post by **Falco Frank** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:26 am

Apologies to the OP for going off-track.

Ohlins / Revs overhaul, how much please? Still have a set to get rebuilt at some point...

Back on-track

Nice looking Falco!

If it has an alarm/immobliser then as has been said, deffo time for a trickle charger. I think Infinity had a sale on the Oxford units.

Wiring mod is worthwhile doing if youre happy playing with wiring - I didnt go the whole hog but saw an improvement with the work done.

Enjoy the bike as soon as and as frequently as possible.

Cheers - Frank

DavShill · #62 Post by **DavShill** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:31 am

Hi All - I'll chuck my experience in here. I think the Mazz fork are pretty good. I don't think you will experience as much of an improvement in changing the front end as you do with the rear shock.

I've done a fair few track days and whilst I'm no club racer (HisNibbs is your main man) I'm comfortable running in the fast groups. I've found the front end of my falco to be very capable and predictable. The only tweaking necessary is to raise the forks through the yoke by one or maybe two rings.

But, if you must tinker, the Mazz forks have cartridge internals so it's not just a case of fresh spring and uprated fork oil. It can be done but it's a bigger job. I spoke to the chap at Revs a couple of years ago and he quoted between £250 and £300ish.

Personally I would spend my money on the rear shock and lighter wheels. they've made a huge difference to my bike.

spiderwheels · #63 Post by **spiderwheels** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:16 am

I think a fork service is due mainly down to the age and mileage. At least the shock was replaced in 2009 so ought to be in better shape!

It depends on how easy it is to get the forks off - and I'm thinking mainly about seized mudguard bolts - if it's a bugger I might just leave it and just learn to ride the thing. My Abba stand arrives today so I shall see..

As a slight aside does anyone know of a suspension specialist a bit closer to Cambridge in-case I need to just ride it in somewhere..?

wayno · #64 Post by **wayno** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:35 am

Going back to Nitron shocks, I bought a new one off them last year, and they cocked up the spring weight. That said, it was still better than the original shock even though it was super spongey. Nitron were great about it and resprung it within 4 days (obviously free of charge).

I'd highly recommend them for the price.

The only problem I found was that the bushes and o'rings kept trying to fall out when I was fitting it (even when covered in grease), this is partly due to the design and partly due to the fact that I hadn't taken anything off the bike so was working in a very tight area.

DavShill · #65 Post by **DavShill** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:58 am

I think a fork service is due mainly down to the age and mileage

Ah - sorry Spider, I missed the point you were making. Not tinkering, just proper care and servicing.

spiderwheels · #66 Post by **spiderwheels** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:01 pm

DavShill wrote:
I think a fork service is due mainly down to the age and mileage
Ah - sorry Spider, I missed the point you were making. Not tinkering, just proper care and servicing.

Tinkering as far as getting some springs for a light-weight. But no revalving.. I wouldn't notice the difference!

#67 Post by **mangocrazy** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:15 pm

DavShill wrote:But, if you must tinker, the Mazz forks have cartridge internals so it's not just a case of fresh spring and uprated fork oil. It can be done but it's a bigger job. I spoke to the chap at Revs a couple of years ago and he quoted between £250 and £300ish.

Personally I would spend my money on the rear shock and lighter wheels. they've made a huge difference to my bike.

I've never seen the insides of a set of Falco Marzocchi forks, but don't they have sealed cartridges, as opposed to non-sealed on the Showas? I think that causes the price differential. And does anyone know whether the fork springs are inside the sealed bit? If so, that could definitely hamper any DIY efforts.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that the Marzocchis are better than the Showas as standard. The Showa compression valve pistons are crap - very restrictive - and really need replacing or the ports opening up substantially. If Marzocchis have properly designed compression pistons they're well ahead of the Showas straight way.

D-Rider · #68 Post by **D-Rider** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 8:51 pm

I've never had them apart but from my memory of the marzocchi manuals (see Martin Poll's website) the springs are not in anything sealed.

I have ridden Falcos with both Marzocchis and Showas and the Marzocchis were better .... BUT the Marzocchis were set up for me and the Showas weren't - so the conclusion that they are generically better cannot be drawn.

#69 Post by **mangocrazy** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:52 pm

I've not ridden a Falco with Marzocchis fitted, so can't compare. I've only ridden a Falco with standard Showas and a set modified with RaceTech Gold valves and Hyperpro springs, and the difference was like night and day.

Interestingly the TL1000S I owned in the late 90s had what appeared to be exactly the same Showa forks (certainly all the adjusters and layout were just the same) and they exhibited remarkably similar behaviour to the OE Falco Showas. But back then I didn't have Internet forums to educate me...

Aladinsaneuk · #70 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:35 pm

the showas can take ohlins internals ....

I got lucky with mine

(NB - the forks before the service were better than i am as a rider... but confidence grows as they say!)

Hanna's oasis has the marzocchi's = they are ok - but my bike is set up for me so....

(She is a tad lighter than me after all....)

D-Rider · #71 Post by **D-Rider** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:51 pm

My Ohlins have got ohlins internals ......

They are a bit better than the Marzocchis were but it's not an earth-shattering difference

Also, I don't buy this "my super forks / shock / lightweight wheels / brakes / chip etc are far better than I'm a rider" stuff.
Yes, few of us can extract the ultimate from a standard Falco and probably are even further off on one that has the goodies and has been well set up for them.
However, every one of these things is likely to make the bike easier to ride and give us something that we can actually perceive (and go some way to exploiting)
At least, that's my experience.

Aladinsaneuk · #72 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 8:19 am

definitely

but - I am very conciois of what I have fitted to the falco - and can I justify it... NOPE LOL

spiderwheels · #73 Post by **spiderwheels** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:05 am

D-Rider wrote:However, every one of these things is likely to make the bike easier to ride and give us something that we can actually perceive (and go some way to exploiting)
At least, that's my experience.

It probably doesn't make a lot of difference to how fast any of use ride just because the front chatters less braking hard into a roundabout but it might make it more comfortable and safer.

My abba stand turned up yesterday (that is the day after I ordered it online!) and is fantastic. Nice and stable! Now is putting a car jack under the exhaust a safe way to lift the front wheel? I only ask as abba do a front lifter that seems to do just that...

Does anyone know what size socket the front wheel nut is off the top of their head?

Incidently my forks have compression damping adjuster on the bottom of the leg. I didn't think they had it as standard. Is this another Showa/Marzocchi difference?

D-Rider · #74 Post by **D-Rider** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:21 am

No - both the showas and the Marzocchis are adjustable for pre-load, compression damping and rebound damping

Falco Frank · #75 Post by **Falco Frank** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:32 am

Description Qty Screw/ Nut Nm ft-lb
Wheel pin nut 1 M25 x 1.5 80 59.0

But sorry I cant remember the actual socket size needed...

Your fork manual and lots of other good stuff to d/l, here:

http://apriliafalco.hadeler.net/index.p ... _download/