Not sure which

[Willopotomas]

TL for me without a doubt. The thing is a beast! But fuck man, what a beast! If you go down that route, forget about a nice relaxing ride in the country.

[blinkey501]

And andy inline 4's just don't do it for me, they lack soul and character.
The TL as I say I have done a lot of reaserch and I know what I am getting myself into.

I don't recall specifying an I-4

Plenty of other configurations. Parallel Twins, Triples, V-4s, horizontally opposed twins or fours and what about an old 'stroker?
Might even find a rotary ......

I am just fed up with the falco, at one time of day I would have never dreamed of selling the oasis, but the buyer collects it within a fortnight.

I may have missed something but why are you fed up with them? Didn't think you'd had a catalogue of disasters or anything to give you your fill of them.

Not trying to suggest that a Falco is the be all and end all and you should never move on but I honestly think you are looking at similar but lesser bikes that will only disappoint.

What I meant with being fed up is. I think I have done way to much to one type the bike.
I was pissed off last year when the bike went down on one side due to assisting somebody else.
I have had the bike repaired and painted again and as ever my painter has done a marvellous job.
Then whilst building the bike back up I noticed a scratch on the rear panel all the way through to the plastic. Whats more frustrating I don't even know how the fuck it happened. More expense to follow
I know this can happen with any bike.
I might not buy anything else but I have always liked the look of the TLS.
I may not and pile the money from the oasis into my mortgage, who knows.
Pete has obviously made his mind up and thinks the TLS is the devil in disguise .
I have listened to Graham. I have also had a Pm converstion about the bike I am looking at.
He thinks apart from the colour it is a good buy, especially with the milage.
I dunno watch this space.

[Aladinsaneuk]

rofl

its not my money - so you spend your cash !

[mangocrazy]

disagree graham

mark knows his onions - in terms of riding ability he is as close to keith as as any i know - very smooth etc

he bought the TL as a run around while he works on his latest street fighter project

he got it for a decent price

he switched out the standard rear shock for an appropriate ohlins unit
the front forks were serviced and set up by mc technics - along with the rest of the bike - mark being mark insisted that Darren did the work, not the yts boy btw....

he is scrupulous about his tyres and profiles - he will try things but does do his research

so

having ensured that any handling problems are nothing to do with the poultice rear shock that was fitted as standard

or the tyres - various different tyres were tried

he then started to look as to why and where it handles so poorly

a well tensioned steering damper cured most of the ills. prior to sorting that, the bike twitched when braking, and when the forks were flexing
(I rode it at that time for the first time - it was great when accelerating - very good engine - start to brake hard and lean - it squirmed)

once a good quality damper had been fitted, the bike was a lot better - far better in changing a line at an angle and so on

allegedly - and i am referring to the mark one versions - suzuki changed the angle of fork rake to fit the bike into a standard size crate - they needed to shorten bike or frame length... that could well be total bull shit - i do not know - but what i do know is that the rake on the early TL is short - and i do not think that helps the handling

marks bike is a nice bike - but would i ride it day in and day out - nope
would i ride it in the drizzle /rain etc - nope
ie - would i trust it - nope

BUT it is down to individual views

In that case, despite Mark being scrupulous, there is an underlying fault that has escaped notice (head, wheel or swingarm bearings etc.) or despite all the suspension work, it needs further setup tweaks. I found my TL to be very sensitive to too much compression damping.

I call bullshit on the fork rake/head angle thing, sorry. If anything as standard TLs are quite slow steerers (much like Falcos) and NEED a steeper head angle.

The Showa forks are essentially the same items as fitted to the Falco - do they flex as well?

I used to use mine to commute from Stafford to Knutsworth as well as track days, holidays, ride outs etc. and it was an absolute blast. It was also the first bike that I ever did a sub-2 minute lap of the full Oulton Park circuit on (a 1:57, actually) and it was huge fun. Didn't like cut slicks on the rear, though...

But I owned mine from brand new (1997); any TLs now would be anywhere from 12 to 17 years old - plenty of time for all manner of wear and tear to take place. Trying to make out the bike is essentially 'evil' when it's just a lump of metal and plastic is a bit hysterical to my mind...

[blinkey501]

rofl

its not my money - so you spend your cash !

Correct mate

[Dalemac]

Jay - Why did you ever buy 3 Falco's anyway?

If you are fed up with the Falco then it doesn't make sense (to me) to go and buy another (arguably no better) v twin?

If I was to ever sell the Falco I would probably be thinking of something like a sprint st or even a zzr1400 or an older busa.

Dale

[D-Rider]

Jay - Why did you ever buy 3 Falco's anyway?

Dale ..... make that 4 .....

[blinkey501]

Jay - Why did you ever buy 3 Falco's anyway?

If you are fed up with the Falco then it doesn't make sense (to me) to go and buy another (arguably no better) v twin?

If I was to ever sell the Falco I would probably be thinking of something like a sprint st or even a zzr1400 or an older busa.

Dale

Looked at quite a lot of bikes Dale, even considered that ZX9R I promised myself. Even looked at the Benelli tornado tre.
The story of how many falco's came my way........
I bought my first falco and modified it. I was happy with the results.
When having my first falco I had a 600 fazer. I didn't like the fazer it is the first and last bike i buy without a test ride, i bought the bike on looks alone.
Before the fazer I had a CBF 600 N8 which was a smoother engine and very easy to ride. Even to the extent that bike schools use them.
I had been looking around the forum and came across the colours thread and years that the colours came in and saw an oasis green.
Green is my favourite colour and thought the chances of getting one would be near impossible, then............
When looking on Ebay I saw what was to be my oasis green. I didn't really know pete that well then but text him and told him I had found one.
Within 60 seconds he rang me and told me how many there were and the history of these bikes.
I hated the fazer and did a near straight swap.
The third bike was as rough as they come. No dis-respect to Kerry but his technical skills are quite low, but hey ho he can teach kids and that is what he is good at.
I intended to convert this bike to a track bike but started looking a colour scheme's, and I don't know why but it is always nice to have praise for your efforts and decided to go to town on making this a biggish project.
Swingarm changed. Mid section 2into 1 etc, plus this was the first time I had done a sprag clutch.
I learned a lot about the falco just from tinkering with this one bike alone.
And I am proud to say I passed on my knowledge by being the first to do a write up on how to do a sprag.
I still can't help myself and give pointers to new and old falco riders. I see it as been helpful.
And I enjoy passing on my knoledge
The forth bike I suppose found me.
Flatlander is one of my bestest friends on Ridersite. And when he came off the black bike my heart sank.
I rang to see how he was and during conversation he wanted to build the black bike up which I offered to help.
The bike Kerry sold me was going to be the "Track" bike but the rest is history.
Flatlanders bike was an uneconomic repair, he was looking for a car and I was looking to sell one.
We did the deal. The falco was cat b write off so could never go back on the road.
My thoughts were........ I had already come off my falco at the first VMCC prior to customising the bike.
And with putting my life and soul into each project how would I take it if I smashed one up?



Things happen for a reason mate. Do I regret doing the falco's?

[BikerGran]

Reckon I understand Jay. You could sum it up as

"Been there, done that"

And the next thing is beckoning!

[Dalemac]

Looked at quite a lot of bikes Dale, even considered that ZX9R I promised myself. Even looked at the Benelli tornado tre.
The story of how many falco's came my way........
I bought my first falco and modified it. I was happy with the results.
When having my first falco I had a 600 fazer. I didn't like the fazer it is the first and last bike i buy without a test ride, i bought the bike on looks alone.
Before the fazer I had a CBF 600 N8 which was a smoother engine and very easy to ride. Even to the extent that bike schools use them.
I had been looking around the forum and came across the colours thread and years that the colours came in and saw an oasis green.
Green is my favourite colour and thought the chances of getting one would be near impossible, then............
When looking on Ebay I saw what was to be my oasis green. I didn't really know pete that well then but text him and told him I had found one.
Within 60 seconds he rang me and told me how many there were and the history of these bikes.
I hated the fazer and did a near straight swap.
The third bike was as rough as they come. No dis-respect to Kerry but his technical skills are quite low, but hey ho he can teach kids and that is what he is good at.
I intended to convert this bike to a track bike but started looking a colour scheme's, and I don't know why but it is always nice to have praise for your efforts and decided to go to town on making this a biggish project.
Swingarm changed. Mid section 2into 1 etc, plus this was the first time I had done a sprag clutch.
I learned a lot about the falco just from tinkering with this one bike alone.
And I am proud to say I passed on my knowledge by being the first to do a write up on how to do a sprag.
I still can't help myself and give pointers to new and old falco riders. I see it as been helpful.
And I enjoy passing on my knoledge
The forth bike I suppose found me.
Flatlander is one of my bestest friends on Ridersite. And when he came off the black bike my heart sank.
I rang to see how he was and during conversation he wanted to build the black bike up which I offered to help.
The bike Kerry sold me was going to be the "Track" bike but the rest is history.
Flatlanders bike was an uneconomic repair, he was looking for a car and I was looking to sell one.
We did the deal. The falco was cat b write off so could never go back on the road.
My thoughts were........ I had already come off my falco at the first VMCC prior to customising the bike.
And with putting my life and soul into each project how would I take it if I smashed one up?



Things happen for a reason mate. Do I regret doing the falco's?

Quite understandable! Wasn't knocking you at all - I thought there had to be a good explanation as to why!

I still have a long list of things to do with my Falco, but i'm in no rush..

Infact i'm still looking for a mille swinger. If you are selling one at any point as part of your clear out, let me know. ;)

Dale

[MartDude]

friend of mine had a TL and said he didn't know what all the fuss was about, he never had any problems with it. That's all I know.

As did a good friend of mine, a very experienced rider.

Just thinking, Jay - you rather liked that 'Busa you had a go on, didn't you? Just saying . . .

[blinkey501]

friend of mine had a TL and said he didn't know what all the fuss was about, he never had any problems with it. That's all I know.

As did a good friend of mine, a very experienced rider.

Just thinking, Jay - you rather liked that 'Busa you had a go on, didn't you? Just saying . . .

The busa was an very easy riding bike considering what it was mart.
I like all bikes.
I wondered why andy mentioned a 2 stroke. Maybe he has checked my profile on fb and seen I am on a page for them?
I had a good talk with sally earlier about selling the falco and buying something else.
She then pointed out the Z400 and wouldn't it be nice to get that done first. She does talk logic.
I work a lot of hours and it seems that I spend a crazy amount on the falco's. But hey oh I was warned when I first signed up on ridersite right?
I will be holding onto the storm trooper and will ride that for now.
I think its a list of things. Ie falco drops off stand when helping a rider out. Such spoken rider who is assisted has said to Geoff how he felt bad but never offered to help with costs lol.
I then start building that bike up and find more scratches on another part of the bike. Took the panel into day and another 40 quid spent.
Took stormtrooper in for test and checked bike over before hand, slave seals have gone. Factory racing slave now 90 quid.
Making my own mid section for the futura 120 quid on stainless pipe bits, and I then have to make it.
I think its only when you have a list of things like this you think, how much am I spending? I think since November I have done 1500 quid on bikes?
I won't be buying the TL yet as I am adding to my financial outlay. So if I off load some bikes and bits that should help in a big way.
Thanks for listening folks

[Aladinsaneuk]

I still have a hankering for a BMW 900/1000/1100 boxer.....

With a full fairing ;)

I missed out on one a couple of years back and regretted it

[mangocrazy]

The V-twin 'elephant in the room' which hasn't been mentioned yet is, of course, Ducati... I'd venture to suggest that either a 996 or a 999 would be a definite change from a Falco and could be obtained for rather less than might be imagined.

Prices of both these models were in the doldrums fairly recently, partly because of their relative recent-ness, but have started to recover. The 999 in particular for a while went through a real slump in price due to it being the most unloved of all the flagship models that Ducati have produced in the last 20-30 years.

But recently I've noticed that people are revising their opinions of the 999 and prices are heading back up. If you're toying with buying a bike as an investment you could do much worse than splash the cash on a 999, I believe.

[D-Rider]

The

other

V-twin 'elephant in the room' which hasn't been mentioned yet is, of course,

Well you might as well consider it if we're looking at a whole host of inferior V-twins .... might as well go straight to the bottom of the barrel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdbt-sx5MDc