Spent the weekend fettling, what a difference!

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Nooj
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Spent the weekend fettling, what a difference!

#1 Post by Nooj » Sun May 13, 2007 10:16 pm

Well, two weekends actually, and a few evenings this week. Infact I just had to ask the missus why I took the bike to bits in the first place as I couldn't remember. It was one of those jobs where you think "Well, I'll just fix this problem" then take a couple of bits off to get to it and realise "Actually, while these bits are off I could do this..." Then a few more bits come off and it becomes a case of "Ooh, this would be the perfect time to have a go at that idea as most of the bodywork's off, what else was I going to do..ah yeah, I could try that out as well!"

So...I started out just planning to get the horn working again which entailed re-wiring it and putting it somewhere else on the bike,
then did the wire mod (14.9 volts at idle now, still getting enough to charge the battery even with the headlight AND hotgrips on!!),
then experimented with the idea of sticking some LEDs into the high beam areas to run with the sidelight (also changed for an LED bulb),
then gave all the bits of bodywork I'd taken off a good clean inside and out.
Then I thought I'd see what it was like if I put the clip-ons over the top yoke spending a few hours trying to get them into a sensible possition where they'd avoid hitting any brackets and the tank and not need me to unscew my hands and fit them to the wrong arms in order to work the controls, turns out that it was so comfortable I decided to keep it that way.
But then had to modify the fairing to get the clearance on full lock,
then had to do the same with the screen,
then had to try and work out what to do about getting some longer brake lines,
I eventually found some in the garage but then had a mad panic about finding a double banjo bolt to fit the lines,
Ending up with a choice of two, I gave the calipers a good clean and properly greased the backs of the pads (which hadn't been done at the last service),
then had to enlist the help of the Missus to help bleed the brakes as I got a mental block and couldn't remember how to do it (and the clutch while we had all the stuff out).
After that it was easy, reposition the Scottoiler and re-route all the hoses and things attached to it so it now sits behind the frame rails on the left under the tank, swap my sprocket cover for the old one from the Missus' Tuono and set the nozzle up for the new cover (oiling the front sprocket still).
Then re-fit all the bodywork (trying to remember which screws went where) and finally spent the whole of this afternoon tidying up the garage while it pissed down with rain before going out to set the susspension up once it dried up a bit.

One tank of petrol and 127 miles of ridng/tweeking/riding/tweeking later and it's handling better than it ever has done before! The brakes feel imensely strong, but still with loads of feel and it corners like it's on rails, the steering is inch perfect! No running wide, no tucking under, sooo flickable, very firm yet very comfy, stable under hard accelleration and braking on all the worst surfaces I could find to ride it over. It honestly feels like the front end has had a couple of hundred quid spent on it.

I started work on the rear shock and did get some improvements, but it was getting a bit dark and wet looking and I'd already been out doing laps of the ringroad and repeating some local twisties for a couple of hours so I thought I'd give everyone a break and call it a day there.

Well impressed with how it all turned out, deffinitely worth the 30 or so hours or oily fingers, sweat and swearing it's taken to get there.

Really looking forward to Cadwell now, hopefully I can try out a few different settings for the rear shock and get that as close to perfect fas I can. With some substantial performance/bling parts headed my way soon, the Falco's shaping up to be an awesome bit of kit, better than I thought it ever would be and I always knew it was good to start with!

:smt007
SHINY BIKE SYNDROME Motorcycle valeting and paint protection specialist.
Aladinsaneuk wrote:andy is having a VERY heavy period

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sabestian
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#2 Post by sabestian » Mon May 14, 2007 6:45 am

30 working hours... You just saved yourself roughly 1500 quid! :smt003

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Nooj
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#3 Post by Nooj » Sun May 20, 2007 3:12 pm

It was well worth it! So easy to flick it around at Cadwell, I was a bit wary of wheelying over the Mountain with the reduced rake, I didn't want to have a huge slapper on landing, but it seemed to cope just fine. It's going to be even easier when the new OZ's arrive, I might have to start looking at steering dampers.
SHINY BIKE SYNDROME Motorcycle valeting and paint protection specialist.
Aladinsaneuk wrote:andy is having a VERY heavy period

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