Futura Assistance Please....

[Falco Frank]

I'm looking at ticking a box in my Aprilia check list of owning an RST!

There is a good one local to me, at a keen price but it has been stood for nearly a year.
Dispite the owner saying he had ran it up a few weeks ago before advertising it, it initially failed to start in my company.
I couldn't hear the fuel pump running and it turned out a 30 amp fuse had blown that I believe is for the EFI system. The bike then fired up fine but seemed to give an occasional 'pop' from the (fully standard), exhaust with some hesitation.
I'm wondering if either or both of these issues should be a concern.
Its a 20 year old 2003 bike with 30,000 miles on the clock so I know not to expect more but likewise I don't want to be shelling out any more than basic's for the meantime.

Finally one question about the single sided swing arm please, does the mounting bolt pass through the engine casings or not. ALL the photos I've seen suggest NOT so no extra on the cases but, it would be nice to have it confirm by the cognoscenti

Cheers - Frank

[mangocrazy]

Hi Frank,

I'd fire a question off to Andy (D-Rider) on Futura questions on Facebook. Andy has a Falco and a Futura,

Cheers,

Graham

[Falco Frank]

Many Thanks Graham,

I thought the FB groups would be the way to go but, I wanted to try here first.

Cheers

[wrenched]

Hi,
Mine isn't in my garage at the moment but I think the swinging arm us located in the frame. I believe it's the same as the Mille of the period. If the bike has been standing for that long its hardly surprising its sneezing a bit on startup. Ive had mine for about ten years and even at the point I bought it there were quite a few things that made it run badly. Then it had only some 12-13000 mls, now its more like 50000. Anyway if you read up there is a lot on ECU maps which were fiddled with by the factory. The last iteration is reckoned to be the best but imho the injection system leaves a bit to be desired. Ive sometimes wished it had carburettors.
So I concluded there were some air leaks making it lean especially at idle and light throttle. It would stall pulling away which with the weight of the bike is not funny. I blanked all the vacuum tappings I could including that for the clutch. The result was a bike which didn't stall and picked up more like a bike should. I have forgotten much of what I did but Iwrote about it on here some time ago if you search. I played around with maps a great deal but was never totally satisfied.
On the subject if cranking, I don't know what batteries other V990 engined bikes use but that on the RST looks small and any length of standing usually results in the starter baulking on compression. There is a fair drain from the electonics while standing so a trickle charger is a pretty essential item. However hot starting became an issue a little while ago. The rather cheap looking starter solenoid the had a spontaneous melt-down. I'd change that if in doubt, it could be an age thing.
Ten years on I still have her, in spite of her age and weight (she hasnt put any on mind you) and the three of us have a great time when we go out two-up!

[wrenched]

PS there is much debate on the forums about the plumbing of the fuel pressure regulator capsule on the inlet manifold. Many of us think the factory got it wrong or at least did something unorthodox and seemingly illogical. As standard the vacuum pipe for this appears to be connected to a place that only 'sees' ambient air pressure but Im sure it should be connected to the manifold below the throttle buterflies to read manifold depression. Otherwise it might as well not exist.
This was part of my quest to get decent throttle response and half decent economy. I've been lucky to get much over 40mpg (Imperial not US) much of the time.

[Falco Frank]

Many Thanks for the replies!

Sadly we needed to replace our car and my spare cash had to go towards it :-(

SO, no Futura for me in the near future. Hard to imagine an owner wanting to px with a Falco but, if anyone has an amazing one...