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hi to all,

I am now the proud owner of a blue 52 plate falco, what a bike am loving it, this is my first bike bike, I have just moved up form a Honda transalp, was looking at a VFR800i, but the falco beat it. its not been modified in anyway, any tips/advice would be appriciated, I do know about the stand, what is the best solution?

many thanks, and heres to a long lasting friendship with my new bike

ta

Clint

Hi Clint & welcome.

Yes a lot of sidestand solutions (I have the Gixer stand - which I rate highly).
However the newest solution seems to be the Fireblade stand which, I gather, is a straightforward bolt-on replacement.

A search on here will identify which year Fireblades have the right stand.


Once you've done that, the next job is to ditch the blue-spring shock for something better.

They are the two essentials .... the rest you can please yourself to suit your own priorities ..... there are loads of things to choose from.

Welcome and take it easy. The Falco is a beautifully poised machine but if the rider is a bit clumsy, has a kick like a mule.......

Good to have you on board Clint, the Falco was also my first bike, it took some getting used to and fettling to get it set up right for me, but now I just love it.

I got the ebay replacement stand, it a simple swap over job, it's ok, a bit pricey though.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aprilia-Sidestand ... 286.c0.m14

Anyway watch your wallet round this lot, I used to be a wealthy chap until I signed on here

Take care on the beast and get some pic's posted up.

Wwelcome, Clint,. Good to see another Scot on board. I too have seen reference on this site to the Fireblade stand but I have no experience of it. I fitted a Fireorm/VTR1000 stand which is definitely better than the original and an easy, direct replacement although I added a spot of weld to reduce the angle of the bike slightly.I used the Falco's switch and drilled another hole to align it properly for the new stand's peg position.

C U clint, welcome. Damn I'm glad I left now there's way too manu blue ones around.

Welcome Clint.

I purchased a blue 02 reg Falco back in July - you have made an excellent choice! Mine was also totally standard but now has race cans, rear hugger, stainless rad grills, tank cover and the Fireblade side stand. Nitron rear shock is next on the list.

I originally tried (and still have in the garage) the sidestand off Ebay put couldn't get it to work properly. When I went to fit this stand it all seemed fine until I went to put the stand in the up position whereby it wouldn't budge past about 30 degrees (if that makes sense). After closer inspection I thought there was a slight burr on some weld so started to file this off, however it made no difference. I called the seller who explained he hadn't heard of this before and offered a refund, however I didn't mention I had filed the inside edges so I just left it. If you want you can try this stand for the price of postage. Otherwise the Fireblade stand is a straight swap and requires no other modification to retain the switch. It does touch the exhaust when up but I have had no probs with this so far. I'll be doing a little mod to this soon so it won't touch.

Enjoy the bike

Stu

welcome clint,right choice of bike, but big mistake asking us for tips and advice on mods,

Hi all,

Welcome to the fold clint, the honeymoon and credit card bills are for life now fella

Welcome to the site Clint, hope you enjoy the Falco.
I think you will, but take care for the first few rides, as it kicks a lot harder than a Transalp!

If you use the eBay stand, you may need to grind the the stop plate off a bit further, I did. It went pretty well up as it was, but I just fine tuned it so it went just a bit further, without touching anything. It has been fine for me.

HowardQ wrote:Welcome to the site Clint, hope you enjoy the Falco.
I think you will, but take care for the first few rides, as it kicks a lot harder than a Transalp!

If you use the eBay stand, you may need to grind the the stop plate off a bit further, I did. It went pretty well up as it was, but I just fine tuned it so it went just a bit further, without touching anything. It has been fine for me.

HowardQ,

thanks for the info, went for a 200 mile ride this weekend, what a nice bike just love it (and the wife was on the back) its so smooooooth, not bad on fuel either.

Thanks for the welcome

Clint

Thanks all for the welcome

Clint

Welcome to the community Clint.

hi clint how are you , first mod is to paint it red , the fast colour,
then the stand ,
iv had mine 3 years and dont intend selling it yet , only real problem i had was the starter relay , upgrade that to 100 amp , dont get cought short , and keep the battery in tip top condition ,the engine pulls alot of juice in the cold weather, the bike does not look dated and stands out in the crowed , like me youl get alot of people asking " what bike is that "
is it derestricted ? first easy mod ,

Welcome Clint - lots of great, and most importantly, very reliable advice on here. Enjoy the Falco.