I am a very very happy bunny.

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Greg · #1 Post by **Greg** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 4:19 pm

Since the FJR made way for the Falco I have been looking for opportunities to ride rather than riding when I fancy it...

It's obviously a stellar mile different to the Feejer, but comparing it to the GSXR750 I had previously is making me think a bit about the two bikes.

The Gixxer is obviously a road rocket - 165kg, 130 odd horsepower and warp factor speeds once you're on the wrong (or right!) side of 10k on the tach. It had a reasonable portion of torque with 58 ft/lbs available, soI never needed to really think about what gear I was in to get it going but the Falco just seems to be so effortless on the way it shoves you up the road.

Shoving is a great way to describe what the Falco does, and the more I ride it the more I like it. Having just installed the Forza chip and K&N filter I can't really say what it was like before, but so far I have been incredibly impressed by overall 'punch' the bike has, verging on being a bit thuggish if I'm honest, but fuck me I love it. The one thing that did surprise me a bit was the seat height - I'm a healthy 6'0" and it seems really tall compared to both the GSXR and the FJR, but the numbers themselves are pretty close.

I was lucky enough to snag the Penske shock on Ebay last week, so that will be going on tonight or over the weekend, and at some time in the not too distant future I'll be refurbing the forks with new seals and oil and dressing out the little rust spots on the sliders..

I'm off on a two week holiday in a couple of weeks, will this be enough time for the tank to shrink back a bit in size?? How long will it take to re-expand again ?

I think I am going to enjoy this bike. A lot.

fatboy · #2 Post by **fatboy** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 6:23 pm

Hi Greg,
You've obviously been bitten then !
Glad you're luvin the bike, you're chucking money at good mods.... but for another £20 ish drop down a tooth on the front sprocket and give it proper loon hoon factor

.
As you are rebuilding the forks, if you can afford then send them off to a specialist as I hear they benefit from better vavling.
As for the tank, some learn to live with it by fitting the front first and the rear last ( there is a bit more give in the mountings this way round), others dremmel out the brackets and the bling guys buy a carbon fibre tank.
Ride on !

Greg · #3 Post by **Greg** » Fri Jul 22, 2016 8:23 pm

Thanks for the feedback Fats .. the sprocket is on the bench waiting for the shock (and ultimately the Mlle swing-arm) to be fitted..

I thought the Showas were supposed to be ok - they'll undoubtedly be better than me anyway, but if I get that far I'll certainly look at a re-valve.

I clearly hadn't thought laterally enough about the tank - starting at the front and easing the mount seems to be the way to go, maybe fabricate an alternative rear mounting option to prevent stressing the front of the tank (is that a common failure point?)

Anyhoo, I need to find somewhere to go on it tomorrow!

Cheers

blinkey501 · #4 Post by **blinkey501** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 7:13 am

Fitting the front of the tank and using a Philips screw driver to prize the
tank forward is the way to go.

I did a write up in the technical section somewhere on how to do this?

As In regards to the tourque of a falco,
A mate of mine had a K1 GSXR 1000 which we swapped for a ride out?.

The Gixer just didn't do it for me as I had been spoilt with a bike with some low down power which I found more fun.

I also like the power of a triple motor.
Inline4's have no soul.