Falco Issues

Message

Dalemac · #1 Post by **Dalemac** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:37 pm

Right, so after a bit of hard riding i have a few issues with the falco.

My main concern is the front brakes. They are giving off a very strong pulsing when braking. Number 1 suspect is warped disks, but need to look into the possibility of a bent wheel too.

The second is it sounds quite valvey. Need to check and adjust them asap. Is there an online manual or has anyone posted a guide how to do this? Is it shimmed? is there any strange tools required to do this? etc.

Thanks,

Dale

tommy · #2 Post by **tommy** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:16 pm

Dont worry. Im pretty sure its crap in the bobbins on the discs.
Spray with brake cleaner - spin the bobbins - problem solved
I have to do mine every once in a while

Falco9 · #3 Post by **Falco9** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:25 pm

Discs have been well covered over the years and the chances are that although you might have warped discs they might also just need cleaning.

The discs are semi-floating and dirt and crap can build up in the buttons. Grab a can of brake cleaner, and spray the buttons whilst spinning them (I use a small nut and bolt nipped up onto the button with enough thread showing to be gripped by my cordless drill, very low speed and spray the buttons. Chances are this may well fix the problem. If not they could be warped and replacing them is the only answer.

As to the motor sounding "valvey" clearances on the shims decrease and tighten up rather than going the other way so the motor should sound quieter, although the V990 motor is a very noisy lump at best, mine have always sounded as if something was going to break within the next few minutes, but they have never missed a beat (touch wood)

How many miles has your bike done? I've not heard of a V990 needed shims doing below 24k miles.
If they do need doing you can do this at home but you need to be fairly competant with the spanners. There is a workshop manual available on -line I think Andy had the link to it

F9

joecrx · #4 Post by **joecrx** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 6:16 pm

heres a link

http://www.martinpoll.dk/div_april.htm

Dalemac · #5 Post by **Dalemac** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 6:34 pm

Cheers guys,

will have to come up with an ingenius way of getting the front wheel un the air to clean the front wheel - dont have the money for a set of paddock stands until my student loan comes through!

My falco is at 20k miles. I dont notice it while riding, because of the exhausts, but when a friend had a spin on it yesterday i could hear it clicking at tickover.

Good news is im getting alot more confident on it atleast now that i have realised its not going to chuck me off coming out of a corner!

Dale

minime · #6 Post by **minime** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:06 pm

It sure wont be a warped wheel as the discs are fixed to the hub and hubs simply dont warp IMHO.

Warped disc maybe but dirt in rotor button more likely as said.

My bike has 35K miles on it and still sounds as good (or bad) as many miles ago.

These engines are simply noisy. Is your friend on a I4? :D

Dalemac · #7 Post by **Dalemac** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:26 pm

Yeah, they were on a bandit 6 and an r1. But i was the one to point it out!

Im pretty used to noisy engines, the cam chain on the gpz has been making a fair bit of noise for a few thousand miles now!

will clean the disks as stated and then get back to you guys!

I have also come to the conclusion that mine isnt restricted. (when i pin it in first, nothing happens appart from it accelerates!) How can i check for restriction?

Cheers,

Dale

fastasfcuk · #8 Post by **fastasfcuk** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 8:10 pm

hi dale glad your growing to love the falco. if you look at the multi plug at the ecu one of the wires will have been cut if it's deristricted and under the air filter theres a plastic plate that can be removed.

MartDude · #9 Post by **MartDude** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 8:50 pm

Do this. It works. Got rid of my lever pulsing

http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/show ... rotor+tabs

Dalemac · #10 Post by **Dalemac** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:36 pm

Hey people,

I have just spent an hour or so cleaning the bobbins on the disks. some were fine and would move easily, others felt like they had been welded to the disks! eventually got them all free and moving, went for a test ride and its feels much better now. i think this is something i will be doing every month or so to keep it feeling nice. i did however manage to slice a big chunk out of my finger on one of the bobbins.....probably not a good idea to use just my hands in the future!

Thanks for the advice everyone!

P.S big hole in skin + brake cleaner = quite alot of pain!

Dale

jayboy · #11 Post by **jayboy** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:53 pm

Result. Need to do mine aswell, need to pinch my bro's front stand again first though.

Rub some salt & vinegar crisps into the affected area, that'll help!

WEAR GLOVES in future. I had to tell my mate this after he nearly sliced his fingers off making a radiator guard out of mesh!

fastasfcuk · #12 Post by **fastasfcuk** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:58 pm

at least the wounds clean.

MartDude · #13 Post by **MartDude** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 5:11 pm

If you do the tab-bending thing (link in my previous post) the problem is less likely to recur. Also, I found that despite liberal soaking in brake cleaner & lots of spinning, some of the bobbins still wouldn't free up sufficiently to allow the disc to move enough - still had the pulsing. Bend your tabs!

Dalemac · #14 Post by **Dalemac** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:35 pm

So bending the tabs out behind the disks helps them float better? might give that a try!

MartDude · #15 Post by **MartDude** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:42 pm

Dalemac wrote:So bending the tabs out behind the disks helps them float better? might give that a try!

Definitely. Follow the posts & various links in the link I posted, & you'll find quite a number of satisfied modders.