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The Falco seems to be geared for about 1000mph, mine won't pull 6th cleanly at 70mph or 3rd at 30mph.

The c&s are in pretty good nick so it's not worth replacing the set, and I don't think there is enough slack in the chain to go up a few teeth at the rear.

I'm considering just sticking a 15t front on, depending on how much of a PITA it is to get the front sprocket off.
I have got a pdf copy of the manual, but my poor old PC is struggling with the size of the file.

So how is the front sprocket held on, bolts or a big nut? Tab washer?

And are we talking rattle gun/3m breaker bar?!

Hi Dave, a big nut is how the front sproket is held on.
It's not that much of a PITA to remove, with the right socket.
Although last time i had mine off the sprocket took some pulling to remove it.
The 15T front sprocket is a common fix for the symptoms you mention, and well worth doing.

Go for it.

Yes 15t front sprocket is an easy mod - just a big bolt to remove. You'll probably need to un-hitch the chain from the rear sprocket to give yourself a little slack to remove the front sprocket.

A word of caution - make sure you loctite the threads of the bolt when you replace it and torque it up to the value it says in the manual (50 Nm). There have been one or two that have come undone with nasty consequences.

If you ride a lot in towns the 15t sprocket will make it a much nicer ride.

As for it not running cleanly at certain speeds in certain gears - the 15t will certainly help but I think you've probably a few other things to sort out too. I can run mine at 30mph in 6th (well actually below 30mph). Ok - it won't appreciate the throttle being cracked wide open at that point but it will run fine and build with progressive throttle opening. Check your TPS and make sure the TBs are balanced - that should help a lot.

Big bolt can be undone with the 'ol 4x2 in the back wheel trick but a rattle gun is a LOT easier

I think I just stuck it in gear and used the long bar from my socket set.

Don't you just love big engines with high compression

I'm hoping the slightly iffy low rev running is down to the old air filter. If a fresh replacement doesn't sort it I'll have to investigate further.

Either way a 15t front sprocket has now been added to the list of bits to buy and fit.

D-Rider wrote: Don't you just love big engines with high compression

Not when you've got a flat battery and you want to bump start it! Me and a couple of mates pushed a varadero 1000 back and forth across a car park once trying to get the bugger to fire up. Even in third it just locked the rear wheel.

At least the people watching had a laugh!!

A clogged air filter certainly won't help things, it does sound like a fuelling issue rather than a gearing one.

Change to a 15t anyway, it makes the bike much nicer to ride.