Falco noob

Message

stumblebum76 · #1 Post by **stumblebum76** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 6:52 pm

Hi all, my name is Jay and I am soon to be the owner of a Falco (ebay purchase). If you don't mind I have some questions, firstly were one of you fine members the previous owner of this bike with reg number starting Y454? The bike I'm buying has a yellow spring, does this mean it has the upgraded shock installed? It also has a decent lean angle so I am guessing it has had the side stand changed? Now the biggy, how can I tell if the wiring mod has been done at a quick glance under the seat? Sorry for all the questions but I don't want to end up buying a bag of nails! The owner says he has left the bike for 2 to 3 weeks without charging the bike and it starts first time every time, It has also had heated grips recently installed, should I dump these to help battery life? Is there anything else I should be looking for?

Many thanks for your time.

fatboy · #2 Post by **fatboy** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 7:30 pm

Hello matey,
The yellow spring shock is good news ( deffo posh upgrade ),as is decent lean angle on the stand. The std s/stand is a stubby little job, bit upright.
Post a pic if you have any doubt.
Think the charging mod is rarely required (good battery with trickle charger will do )
Fantastic bunch on here, any questions just ask !
Oh, as a newbie ITS YOUR ROUND

stumblebum76 · #3 Post by **stumblebum76** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 7:39 pm

fatboy wrote:Hello matey,
The yellow spring shock is good news ( deffo posh upgrade ),as is decent lean angle on the stand. The std s/stand is a stubby little job, bit upright.
Post a pic if you have any doubt.
Think the charging mod is rarely required (good battery with trickle charger will do )
Fantastic bunch on here, any questions just ask !
Oh, as a newbie ITS YOUR ROUND

Helloo! Thanks for your input, I have a problem where the trickle charger is concerned as the bike will either be parked outside or in a building with no power! A solar charger has been suggested so I'll be looking into that for the outside stints.

Right, what's everyone drinking?

D-Rider · #4 Post by **D-Rider** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 10:00 pm

Yes wouldn't worry about the wiring mod unless you can prove you really need to do it. IF it struggles to charge (which it probably won't) then there are other things to try before you resort to that.

If you ride it regularly and far enough to recharge after cold starts it should keep starting fine (if not maybe you do need a bit of maintenance on the charging circuit or maybe it's getting time for a new battery .... though we've not any reason to suspect any problem yet)

Heated grips are good in the winter - should be easily within the capacity of the Falco's electrics. I have them on mine - but not actually needed to turn them on so far this year.

Yellow shock is an upgrade - presumably the linkages have been swapped to suit?
I expect it's a Sachs but if you're lucky it could be an Ohlins. Both way better than standard.

blinkey501 · #5 Post by **blinkey501** » Thu Nov 21, 2013 5:55 am

The falco does rely on a good battery that is fully charged.
The wiring mod shouldn't be a big issue although there will be information on here on how to tackle the job. It isn't hard to do.
The bike you have if it belonged to a previous member of ridersite will probably in good order. Just ride and enjoy the bike as it is fun fun fun.

fatboy · #6 Post by **fatboy** » Thu Nov 21, 2013 6:53 pm

I rely on a solar trickle charger, so far no problems, even with a few 'stubborn' starts this week and very short daylight hours this time of year

DavShill · #7 Post by **DavShill** » Thu Nov 21, 2013 8:12 pm

Hi again - mine's regularly on an Optimate and I'm on the standard issue battery since new - 20,000 miles and 8 years.

Post some pics and this eagle eyed lot will disect the bike and tell you what's standard and what's not.

stumblebum76 · #8 Post by **stumblebum76** » Thu Nov 21, 2013 8:40 pm

I'm starting to get the jitters about buying it after reading about some of the problems people encounter, just how common is the sprag clutch problem?

Aladinsaneuk · #9 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Thu Nov 21, 2013 8:43 pm

with a watchful eye - its not a problem

don't forget that you read some horror stories - but for each one of those there are many other happy campers....

the falco is the best all round bike i have ever had or ridden.....

#10 Post by **Kwackerz** » Thu Nov 21, 2013 8:46 pm

took me months to kill my sprag (and i did try so very hard.. eh pete). I wouldnt worry about it, just keep the battery in good working order

D-Rider · #11 Post by **D-Rider** » Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:32 pm

stumblebum76 wrote:I'm starting to get the jitters about buying it after reading about some of the problems people encounter, just how common is the sprag clutch problem?

Nooo don't worry - these bikes are extremely reliable.

Don't forget that on the forum you are going to get a a very skewed proportion of posts about problems as we all share every little niggle and people come here to get help. There are one or two bikes that have been a bit more problematic than others but honestly, they are one of the best put-together and most reliable bikes out there.

The sprag issue is not really that common but probably happens more frequently than most other (even less common) faults.
Repeated starting attempts with a duff battery isn't good for the sprag so avoid doing so.

As I say, they are reliable and most of the things that occasionally go awry are not so hard (or expensive) to fix.

Tonyunn · #12 Post by **Tonyunn** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 8:53 am

D's right if there was a section called "nothing to report" it would be quiet, I have had mine two years and apart from some self inflicted nonsense (still can't get the rads sorted) the Falco is a solid well made bike and great fun to ride.
A lot of people on this forum have modified bikes so they are well into sorting (and breaking) their bikes.

wait till spring and once you have a few hundred miles under your belt you will love it.

blinkey501 · #13 Post by **blinkey501** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 7:32 pm

I have four falco's and a futura.
One bike I bought was a fixer with the sprag that was fooked.
These bikes are uber reliable.
As long as you don't leave the bike for long periods without starting it and letting the battery charge you will have no issues.
Worst case scenario you may have to remove the battery and charge it indoors.
This is how the sprag works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsp3fm4K ... pp=desktop

fatboy · #14 Post by **fatboy** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 7:33 pm

BUY IT !
D-R and Tonyunn put it in perfect perspective,there really is nothing to fear.
When you consider the older falcs are 13 plus years old and can and do deliver thundering performance on a daily basis.
If you wimp out you will miss out on what I consider to be the most exciting bike Ive ridden in over 30 years of bikes

stumblebum76 · #15 Post by **stumblebum76** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 8:04 pm

I've got the bloke with the bike to drop the price to £1475, is that an ok asking price? If all goes well I'll be having a nice blat up from the Brighton area on sunday!

Here is a quick clip of the bike running http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgjFVFnK ... e=youtu.be

How do you add pictures please?