QUESTIONS ABOUT MY SF HELP ADVICE

[GED]

well i got the bike delivered friday and today ive had a chance to have a proper go on it,firstly it appears a really good bike and i dont regret buying ,but can anyone help with the following,

1,, the gearing seems all to cock way to tall ive stalled it twice and when i restarted the engine the time clock lcd as reset itself any reason why its lost its memory
2,,regarding the gearing its obvious i will need to fit a smaller front sprocket 16t probabley where can i get a "MZ" sprocket ive searched the web and found nothing,
3,,i weigh about 17 to 18 stone and i find the front suspension dire its too under sprung the fork travel is far to much ive adjusted everything in and its still under sprung ,i and many others had the same problem with a v11 guzzi which had ohlins fg43 front forks ,i cheap workaround was to increase the oil level thus decreasing the air pocket which stiffened up the forks,as anyone else carried out work on the front end,does anyone know exacley what forks they are so i can searh for a manual/ parts list maybe. source stiffer springs
4.,rear brake ,its crap ,i mean really crap from 10mph it takes 3 yarsd to stop is this normal,the front brakes are awesome the back may aswell not be there ,the pads look new {the bikes only done 2k miles ] the pistons appear to move in and out ,i am going to bleed it tomorrow ,but im not sure this will help,any advice greatly appreciated

[tomtom]

my sf has some of the same problems. Lately the lcd and clocks have been resetting. I think the main connector to the speedo head is loose or a wire is chaffed as when i push the clocks or try to set the time it does a self test.
My front and rear suspension is rock hard like riding a mechanical poker on anything but smooth roads, despite mucking about with the settings, but i'll keep it as it is for it holds a good line.
The gearing is well documented in some of the previous posts. Don't let it put you off you do get used to it

[tuxracer]

Hi Ged,

I've not had any problems with the clocks so far but like tomtom says try checking the connectors, might also be worth checking that the battery is ok as a slightly iffy battery can sometimes cause a reset, my RSV used to pull the same stunt.

As for the rest, spares and sprockets you can get from http://www.grahamsmotorcycles.com/index.htm

New springs can be had from http://www.everyaccessory.co.uk/wilbers.php

I've got a 16t front sprocket on mine and it does help smooth it out and give it a bit more zip. I found the SF fairly easy to stall at first as it's got light flywheels to help it rev but you soon get used to it and now it's never a problem.

The back brake on mine is not that brilliant either but still a lot better than the RSV was.......though that's not saying much!

Other than that they are great bikes that seem to get better the the more you ride them.

cheers

tuxracer

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Hi GED,

I have a 16/43 combo on my 1000S, and it's better than the 17/45 it came with (which is already an improvement on the factory 17/43). If you don't mind losing a bit of speed (second gear in particular feels too short now) you will not regret the change.

I find the suspension fine, I never use all the travel available, but I also weigh 74Kg, a bit less than you I think. I actualy slackened both ends a couple of clicks because the standard set-up is very hard, you can tell the biek has been developed on smooth German roads, not the crapy ones we have around here.

I found that the rear brake improves with mileage. Give it time, say until the end of the running in, and you should see some improvement. It will never be as good as the one I had on the Thunderace though, but then again, I only use it when I filter or in traffic, and I try to avoid those if I possibly can .

Last but not least: electrics. Many suggest coating the coils with grease or some other similar damp-proof material. I would also suggest liberally spraying all connectors and the switch blocks (inside them not just outside) with WD40 or something similar. Otherwise you might get false contacts or, worse, bad earths, which might even let you stranded.
My 1000 S pulled a similar trick on my at the Nurburgring, back in May. After waiting for the whole morning for the deep fog to lift, the track was finally opened but the bike just did not want to start. Even the clocks would stay black. I had to push it back to the hotel (about 2 miles, mostly downhill), and to rub it all in, when the rescue vehicle came the bike started on the button, as it had dried completely by then.
Embrassing and absolutely infuriating, as you can imagine.

Ride Safe,

[GED]

thanks for the replies ,well my battery is fine and i cant see it being the connectors,what seems to happen when the engine stalls theres a loss of power at the clocks warning lights etc then the power seems to return with the lcd clock flashing ,a bit like when you have a power cut and the clocks on electrcal items all flash 00.00 its no big deal i will have to refrain from stalling the bike ,its a world away from my guzz which could pull away in 3rd gear,front suspension will need looking at in the future im amazed tom says his suspension is rock hard ,when i came to set mine up all he adjusters on both front and back were backed off all the way the previous owner must of weighed 2 ounces,can anyone answer me this ,the top of my fork tubes sit 50mm higher than the yoke ,should they sit flush,with the yoke,??? ,,a for the back brake hopfully i will get chance to bleed it ,if that fails to improve it maybe a braided hose will help,all in all im really impressed by the bike fast comfy ,it was a real eye opener on the motorway i expected it to b really vibey and harsh being a twin ,and the little fairing seemed to do its job at 80/90mph ,so why on earth did they not sell ,bet if it had a ducati badge there would be thousands on the roads,cheers for now

[GED]

Hi GED,

I have a 16/43 combo on my 1000S, and it's better than the 17/45 it came with (which is already an improvement on the factory 17/43). If you don't mind losing a bit of speed (second gear in particular feels too short now) you will not regret the change.

I find the suspension fine, I never use all the travel available, but I also weigh 74Kg, a bit less than you I think. I actualy slackened both ends a couple of clicks because the standard set-up is very hard, you can tell the biek has been developed on smooth German roads, not the crapy ones we have around here.

I found that the rear brake improves with mileage. Give it time, say until the end of the running in, and you should see some improvement. It will never be as good as the one I had on the Thunderace though, but then again, I only use it when I filter or in traffic, and I try to avoid those if I possibly can .

Last but not least: electrics. Many suggest coating the coils with grease or some other similar damp-proof material. I would also suggest liberally spraying all connectors and the switch blocks (inside them not just outside) with WD40 or something similar.

hi yes ive got some silicon grease ready to apply and im waiting for my dialectric grease to arrive in the post i hate electrical problems my guzzi was cursed by these,you may be and hopfully right about the brake needing more miles ,but the front suspension really does need attention even more so when you say ur set up was initially to hard ,in fact im off for another look at it

[tomtom]

i'll have a look at my bike tomorrow and see how far the tubes stick out of the yoke. There's a workshop manual for the bike listed a few posts back which is worthwhile downloading.

[tuxracer]

My forks stick through the top yoke by the same amount, standard as far as I know. I'm with the other guys on the suspension and find it to hard on rough roads, however daft as it might seem I reckon the front end would soak up the bumps better with lighter oil and firmer springs as it does dive a fair bit under braking. You can adjust the spring pre-load on the front as well as the damping so might be worth you winding up the pre-load to see if it supports your weight better. As far as I can remember you turn the large hex on top of the fork legs clockwise to increase pre-load. If you want to protect your forks best to cover the spanner with tape or you can easily scrape the finish off. I found the quickest way was to take the bars of and use a socket.

If that does not improve things best give Wilbers or your local suspension specialist a call for some heavier springs.

Cheers

[GED]

My forks stick through the top yoke by the same amount, standard as far as I know. I'm with the other guys on the suspension and find it to hard on rough roads, however daft as it might seem I reckon the front end would soak up the bumps better with lighter oil and firmer springs as it does dive a fair bit under braking. You can adjust the spring pre-load on the front as well as the damping so might be worth you winding up the pre-load to see if it supports your weight better. As far as I can remember you turn the large hex on top of the fork legs clockwise to increase pre-load. If you want to protect your forks best to cover the spanner with tape or you can easily scrape the finish off. I found the quickest way was to take the bars of and use a socket.

If that does not improve things best give Wilbers or your local suspension specialist a call for some heavier springs.

Cheers

IVE NOT HAD CHANCE to "push" the bike on country roads so not sure what the set up will be like on fast country lanes,although around town theres just too much dive ,preload and damping are at max ,once ive made some abba stand adaptors and the weather really deteriorates i will try a heavier fork oil and decrease the air gap ,increasing oil level ,if theres no improvment then i will fit some harder rate linear springs,

[tomtom]

the fork legs on mine stick out 38mm from top of yolk to where the diameter narrows.

[tomtom]

meant to mention that the reason my clocks were going haywire and constantly self testing seemed to be the main connector block was loose to the speedo. I was getting power to the speedo despite no ignition on. Sprayed with some silicone and checked all the wires for chaffing and reinstalled the 3 speedometer bolts and everything seems ok.

[tuxracer]

Ged

If you've already got an Abba stand with a set of standard adaptors the guys at Abba stands can supply you with two 10mm pins for about £6. I dealt with a guy called Steve down there and he sorted it out for me, might be less hassle than making them. I put a post on the site about it a while back just in case anyone was interested.

Cheers

Ian

[GED]

well firsly has this site been down or is my pc playing up,well ive been fiddleing with the suspension settings and well i took it out saturday and lets say we had a spirited ride i seemed to of got the suspension well sorted for plus 60mph speeds on country roads and around town it feels rock hard and on slow speed braking it dives like mad,i ppulled into a garage for some petrol when somone walked straight out in front of me inbetween the pumps i jammed on the brakes in panic and as i said it dived like a submarine almost had me off,but its about as good as i can get it,and i would rather have a bike that can do the a and b roads than handle petrol stations,
as for the clock well ive finally wired up my maximiser as the battery seemed run down it would barely turn the engine yesterday ,ive had it oncharge since and it fires over great and the clock didnt lose its memory,i assume somehow that the starter may of been drawing every last bit of current including the clocks causing if u like a mini power cut ,but whatever the reason it seems fine now,tux i dont suppose u have a piccy of the abba adaptors ,i curious as to how they look,anyhow thanks for the input lads

[tuxracer]

ged

no problem, I'll take some pics of the adaptors at the weekend and post them up for you.

[GED]

ged

no problem, I'll take some pics of the adaptors at the weekend and post them up for you.

CHEERS TUX IT WOULD BE A GREAT HELP ALSO IF YOU COULD LET ME KNOW THE LENGTH OF EACH ADAPTOR