'98 Suzuki FX 650 Freewind.

[Bonez]

What would one pay for a '98 Suzuki FX650 Freewind that is in general good shape with a few minor scrapes on the right front cowling with say for argument sake 60,000s up. Rego/wof up top scratch and good multi purpose tyres fitted. How easy are they to get parts for? Say a center stand for example.

And has anyone on kb acrtually own or has owned one in the past? I know the name is halerious and it's not the nicest looking machine out there.If fact I'm already looking at mods. From what I can gather it is a DR650 dressed up. So I figure the engine is susceptible to a few small nigles as the DR. I see they are 100lbs lighter than the CB550 and a damn sight more fuel efficient. I should imagine it would be a bit more vibey than the CB.

Thanks for any advice in advance..

[Navy Boy]

I owned one back in the day - Enjoyed it too and from memory the gearing and engine/transmission are pretty much identical to the DR650 I own now. Good on fuel as you say but if the one you're looking at is tidy enough then I would be looking to pay $2000-2500, no more.

[Bonez]

Thanks for the feed back.

[Bonez]

Went and had a better look at it today. It's done 80.000kms and the motor sounds sweet. Not a rattle and sounds better then the ones on youtube. And that was in the garage too which tends to amplify noise, The seller wants $2800 firm. He's let me have a look at the OEM service manual for a few days and will let me take it on an extended test ride. I'll leave the CB550 at his place. It looks like someone has put handle bar risers on it as they are taller then the ones in the manual and the handle bars themsevles are higher then I would like but that is an easy fix.


I see they have a 19 inch front and 17inch rear tyre. A bigger front wheel would have been better for rougher stuff but in saying that I'm use to 18inch tyres so really no biggy there either. Can always go slightly norrower. It'll brobably end up with road tyres if I do get it. Headlight looks hopeless and has LED running lights on it fitted by the current owner. Brakes feel fine. He has fitted a lowering kit on the rear but the orig stuff will come with the bike. Front forks dropped nearly two inches. A bit of minor plastic damage but fixable with about 2hrs work, so no biggy. Tire pressures are lower than I'm use to. 25psi front and 29psi rear. But it is a lighter bike being 100lbs lighter than the CB with nearly the same performance and a lot more economical. Willl come with Givi top box and rack. Rego for three months.


Asked about the nuetral light problem. Nuetral light OK. Sprockets good, chain good. Even with lowering kit the bike is peice of piss to get on the centre stand. Centre stand is a big plus for me. Advantage of owning heavier bikes I guess. No botten end gasket weep these are prone too either.

Can't wait to go for a ride on it.

[Bonez]

Ride booked for 5pm this afternoon. I found a great AdvRider thread on the bike https://advrider.com/f/threads/looking-for-other-suzuki-xf650-freewind-riders.706519/

It looks ideal for my purposes. Plenty of room options to customise to suite my taste.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Ride booked for 5pm this afternoon. I found a great AdvRider thread on the bike https://advrider.com/f/threads/looking-for-other-suzuki-xf650-freewind-riders.706519/

It looks ideal for my purposes. Plenty of room options to customise to suite my taste.

Just be aware that if the forks are 50mm down through the clamps and the rear is lower probably the sidestand has been shortened. No biggy (esp with a centrestand) but if you put it back to stock height you will have to source another.

[Bonez]

Just be aware that if the forks are 50mm down through the clamps and the rear is lower probably the sidestand has been shortened. No biggy (esp with a centrestand) but if you put it back to stock height you will have to source another.Thanks. Side stand is still the original. The owner said it would need a smaller one but I see no problem with it whatsoever. No different than the CB. He's still got the original linkage. He also said it is harder to put on the main stand because of the lowering kit. I had no problem. I guess being use too road bikes heavier than 500lbs helped in this regard. Just push down on the stand lever with your left foot, push down and using you right hand pull slightly up and back. Done.

[Bonez]

Went for a 50km run of some back roads and was pretty damn happy with the bikes performane/handling/comfort. Very light and nimble. Low speed riding was a doodle. Pegs, stand access perfect. Just the higher bar risers and bars need changing to suite me. That is about it, I'll make him an offer and see how we go from there.

[Bonez]

Offer accepted. It's goping in for a wof tomorrow and I will pick it up. Rego changed and I'm off to the bank to make the transfer this arvo. Service manual, Givi top box and old linkage are in my shed. Another change from stock was the exhaust can. Gives a nice rumble at city speeds but quiet out on the back roads. The first owner did 50,000kms and owned it for 8 years. Usualy a good sign. So I'd imagine he/she/it sorted out all the wee niggles.

This will be my last ever bike purchase.

[Bonez]

It's interesting the reading AdvRider thread on these. A German firm http://www.hepco-becker.de/ makes racks and protection bars but the quality is crap. So much for German engineering. Right up there there with the crap Italian chrome rims on the original new series of Triumph twins. I'll see if Givi make stuff for these now or fabricate my own. Similar to what I did to the CB. Could go soft luggage but I like the security of the hard stuff.

[Bonez]

Got the bike and rode it home. First order of bussiness is change the bars. I had a chrome set I used on the CB that are lower and norrower. Just the tick and fit perfectly. Just had to file the locating lugs the switch blocks. While doing that I there were some odd sixed bolts here and so I'll just raid my stash to tidy those up. Then pop down to para rubber and get some plastic end cpps for the new bars to prevent water getting in. It has a Givi screen which is a bit higher than stock. I'll make a list of all the mods that have been done to it over the years in another post. For those interested I paid $2600 for it.

Edit-The new bars put me in almost the perfect road riding position with a slight forward lean and being narrower pull my hands towards more to the centrer of the bike providing better fairing coverage. Far better for slow around town riding now as well. Also better control in these high winds we are having.Got a quote for some graphics work. $150 isn't bad at all. The pungs for the bars a few $.

Edit-Pulled the stupid exhaust wrap off the header and painted the lower heat sheild gloss black to match the bash plate and rear exhaust heat shield. Put some C-5A anti seize grease on the sheild mounting bolts Next mod will be stone guard for the oil cooler. Got a peice of ali mesh off an old stock car.

[Bonez]

Bar ends fitted. Front heat shield painted and fitted. Oil cooler stone guard fitted.

[Bonez]

Took her for a 300km round trip today and all I can say it was fun with a capital F. I can understand why the motad crowd love their machines.
Had the back sliding around corners with complete control. The bike is as comfortable as my old 750 Integra and 4th/5th gear ratios are very similar to my CB550F. It luvs revs so threat it like a small four instead of a Brit thumper and you are away lauhging. I'd recomend this bike to any rider new or experianced. Two bars on the dash fuel guage match perfectly with the tanks reserve. Givi screen puts the wind pressure just above the forhead. I forgot to put my kidney belt on but didn't need it the ride was that plush. No butt hurt either.

Lots of bikes on the road today and came across a couple of herds of Harley Furgisons.

I scraped the centre stand a few times so I'll jack the back up a cm or two. I'll also grind back the side stand stop 5mm so it leans over a bit further.

Edit-I let my brother go for a ride. When he hopped on it he couldn't believe is feet were flat on the pavement. He has a newish KLR650 and the XF650 rims are quite a bit wider than the KLR and he is tippy toe when sitting on it at a standstill. His belly pan is plastic the XF one is ali and is somewhere like 50lds lighter. No dought to the KLR being liquid cooled. The crash bars on his bike are the type I want for the XF.Come up to knee hieght to protect the top side panels. Anyone know a good source?

Side stand stop altered and rear suspension adjusted. Used a whiteout pen to draw where I wanted the stop to be and attack it with angle grinder with 1.6mm cutting disk. Used calibrated Mk 1 eye ball for the rear suspension adjustment.

Checked the chain and it seemed to have tightened up a bit so sorted that out.

[Navy Boy]

Interesting stuff Bonez and thanks for sharing that. It's good to see a Freewind in action again. IMHO they were an underrated machine - They weren't that popular in the Sportsbike-obsessed UK but I suspect that here people took a bit more notice of them. One thing I do recall is that the saddle was significantly better than the one fitted to the DR. That's not too difficult I know but they are a comfy machine from what I can remember.

Do you have any more mods planned for it?

[Bonez]

Thanks NB. Yes I nave more alterations in mind. Most are purely cosmetic though with the bike. Main one is replacing the handle bar risers for the originals. This will give me a bit further fwd lean. As you can see by my posts I'm very pleased. If knew they were this good I would have bought one a lot sooner. Previous owners have done all the major mods that needed doing. Wiith the original owner having it so long and clocking up 50.000kms was a good indacation the bike was't a dud. DaveNev from AKL has two of these and mentioned on AdvRider said only 40 were bought in to NZ. Being based around the DR650.apart from the head/airbox there is no issies with motor parts. AdvRider is more active than KB so created an account their. It's kinda like what KB use to be like with a more international flavour.

It'll most likely be my last ever bike purchase so it's a keeper like the '76 CB550 which I got back in '86.

Edit-Did some oil filter pricing today. The cheapest were OEM ones from Courasy Susuki. While I was there I asked swhat I sould pay for the bike. after telling s small fib. There valuation was $3k -$2.5 so right on the money.

[Navy Boy]

As it turns out there's a 2000-model for sale here in Blenheim. I've put it on my watchlist since reading about you buying yours as I may be tempted. He wants $3200 for it (It has 47500-48000Kms on it) so that seems about right. I reckon that those motors will run for ages if you take a bit of care of them. :niceone:

[Bonez]

As it turns out there's a 2000-model for sale here in Blenheim. I've put it on my watchlist since reading about you buying yours as I may be tempted. He wants $3200 for it (It has 47500-48000Kms on it) so that seems about right. I reckon that those motors will run for ages if you take a bit of care of them. :niceone:Sounds alright. Good luck if you do decide to get it. Hey and the young salesman said they are RARE ;)

[Bonez]

Pulled the top triple clamps off to figure out how to lower the handle bar risers, In typical Suziki fashion it is a piece of piss. The riser is basicly in 3 portions, the bar camp, riser portion which is just ali round stock with a hole drilled through the centre and bottem portion with rubber dampers that mount on the top triple clamp. One of the security screws gave me grief so had to drill the head off to get the ignition switch off. I'll have the round stock cut at the 1/3 mark by a lathe at my favorate engineering shop. Also need the get a pair of bolts for the smaller heights. This will give me a number of height options or back to original if need be. Also I can chose not use any stock at all. Simple as that. Four height options for the handle bar risers..

[Bonez]

Found this artical and it describes the XF650 perfectly https://www.motorcycle.com/features/church-of-mo-first-impression-1997-suzuki-xf650-freewind.html

[Navy Boy]

Yep - That article seems to sum it up rather well. A surprisingly good machine born of relatively humble origins but where the result is something where the parts add up to something greater than the sum of the individual bits put together.:niceone:

[Bonez]

Just going over the bike and checking bit n bobs while the bikes off the road for a few days., Pulled off the counter sprocket cover, checked the sprocket and drained the air filter run off tube. About 6 years of oil flowed out. Obviuosly hadn't been done for a while. Oil was clear thouigh which is a good sign. Sprocket is about at its 2/3s its life, same for the rear sprocket. Emailed AFC parts for pricing on tyres. Not urgent but nice to know the cost in advance.

Opened the air box. A few bugs and the foam was quite dirty so gave it a clean in petrol, queezed as much as i cold out and left in the sun to dry/evaporate. I'll let the dirty petrol sit for a bit so the geblies can settle then seive through some rag and put aside in another container for use on my chainsaw. There was a Castrol Magnetic 10W-40 sticker on the top of the air box cover, obviously from the original owner as it has 20,000kms as it's next oil change. These bikes are made to wrench.

Tidying the side of the fwd centre lhs cowling that was damaged in a slow speed drop. Fixed the crack and sanded back for priming.

[Bonez]

Just fucking around in the shed repairing the LH cowling. Soldering iron and tyraps repaired the crack which was about 2inches long vertically. Just bit of sanding and using a cheap orange enamel spray bomb to build the paint and will lightly sand to smooth out. Useful trick I discovered today is if the enamal doesn't stick to the underlaying surface sprey a light coat of acrylic clear then let that dry and sprey over the top of it. Also a soft brush and a bit of turps helps mooth any runs you get. Finaly found a use for the flood lamps I bought 30 years ago.

[Muzz67]

The article linked above states 'twin 32mm mikuni'?

[Bonez]

Yes it has two carbs, bigger valves than the DR650 and two spark plugs.

There's a nice one on TM at the moment.

[Bonez]

Got some good quality Shinko Adventure tyres today at a total cost $280 including matching tubes. Basicly the price of one Metz Tourance.. Thats around 10,000kms riding.

Current rear tyre is scraping on the inside of the rear mudguard so a few adjustments are needed to sort that out. You can also see marks on the tyre were two screws that mount some electrics poke through the rear mudguard. I'll also dremel the screws down 5mm.

[Bonez]

Turns out adusting the rear suspention spring preload on these in situ is a pita. I knew there was a reason I prefer older style twin shock suspention.
Got some advice from DaveNav on AdvRider from down south who owns a couple of XF650s that it can be done with a bit of finesse. I'll need a long drift to do it so I'll get some brass rod. That'll do the job quite nicely without doing any damage.. My kind of maintenance proceedure. I'll evaluate the proceedure and decide after giving it a go or removing the shock wholesale would be quicker. Brass rod always comes in handy in the workshop anyway.

[Navy Boy]

I'm assuming that it's the same procedure/set-up as the DR which is a PITA. The Freewind will be worse owing to the extra bodywork I'd imagine...

Apart from that is all well with the mighty F'Wind?

[Bonez]

When I got the bike I noticed the LH driving LED didn't quite look correct. On examination today it looked like the LED mounting screw on the frame mounting bracket had unscrewed allowing the LED to dangle on it's lead. Instead of just undoing the LED mounting bracket some Bozo just sprayed instafoam in the general mounting area then stuck the LED to it, sprayed a bit of black gloss paint and that was that. I pulled the LED off the foam, cleaned as much foam as I could off the LED body and bike frame. Undid the proper LED frame mount and removed it from the frame. The frame mount was then attached it to the LED properly using the screw which had unwound. Mounted the whole assy correctly back on the bike, positioning the LED, then tighten the frame mount screws. I then applied some black silican sealent around the mount and LED screw. The screw wont undo again. Took 10 minutes and the job was done.

[Bonez]

Looking at the rear suspension preload problem I found it relatively easy to adjust. Remove the LH side cover, rear foot peg mount and the countershaft sprocket cover. Then you have plenty of access to the nuts from various positions, including just above the top rear engine mount, with a soft drift.

I've had far worse accessability issues working on aircraft.

[Navy Boy]

Blimey - Let's hope you don't have to adjust it too often in that case. As for the LED mounting... Words couldn't really do it justice me thinks... :rolleyes:

How's the bike riding? What sort of fuel economy are you managing to get from it?

[Bonez]

Still waiting to get bits back from the machenist. There was a bit of a time hold up as a staff member had had a week off on holiday then was sick for another week. Not in any great hurry as I have the mighty CB. Last run I got around 280kms before getting two bars on the dash and switching to researve. That was at a fairly sprightly pace I might add up an down through the gears.

Adjusting the shock sounds worse than actually is. It takes all of 5 minutes to remove what is needed to get access once you have the right tools handy... Like I said I come across worse. Good lighting helps as well.

Edit- Just gave Two Wheels Eng a ring wrt my bits. End of the week with good luck.

[Bonez]

Got the parts back. Had to get the rhs of the top triple clamp welded up because of a senior moment on my part. Collen from Two Wheel Eng did the job. It was big plob of weld about 3/4" square with a threaded hole through it when I collected it. After a few hours of filing and sanding it came out rather well. He also cut the handle bar riser round stock to the sizes I wanted on a lathe. I'll refit the triple clamp and bars today as well as raise the forks the two inches back to their original position. Should sort out the clearence issue.

[Bonez]

Fitted the top[ triple clamp,ignition switch, 1" bar riser and handle bars. Loosened off the and raised the bike front, using a bottle jack and small peice of wood on the bash plate, so the bottem of the front wheel was just above the mark I made of the distance the forks had to be dropped on a peice of wood. A peice of wood and club hammer was used to knock the tubes down. Tightened the triple clamp bolts to the correct torque-tighten until the threads strip then back off half a turn. Removed the bottle jack.

There's a plastic guard just under the lower triple clamps that gets in the way of the top bolt down there. I'm going to cut 15mm off to make it easier next time I need to do any front suspension work.

[rogson]

Mine, bought new 1998.
Lots of mods over the years.
Can't see myself selling it.

[Bonez]

Mine, bought new 1998.
Lots of mods over the years.
Can't see myself selling it.Awesome. If the panels get toasted on mine I'll go that route as well.

[Bonez]

Been playing around with on orange spray bomb on the damaged lh centre cowling, It's almost a perfect match with the front mud guasrd and side panel. Not perfect but it has been and interesting exercise dealing with paint, grades of abrasive papers and such.

A few muck ups along the way. That's to be expected though as I've never painted a panel this big and with so many compound curves before.

I'll pop around to Collins shop today to show him the final result of his repair on the top triple clamp.

[Bonez]

Tried another method at adjusting the rear shock. This time from the rhs. I removed the seat, rhs side cover and rhs pillion peg carrier. The only thing stopping me from using a a bit of 10mm mild steel round stock about 14" long cut off to unlolock the top nut was the header clamp retaining bolt which stuck through quite a bit, about 30mm or so. It took about 30 min. to remove that completely as it was well seized in. A lot of CRC556 hammering, using a impact driver, heating up and finaly forcing an imperial hex bit in it then extetion on a 3/4" ratchet finally got it out with a lot of squeeking. I dressed the thread with an old bolt I had laying about and replaced it the original bolt with a new one with C5-A anti-seiize compound on it's threads.

That gave plenty of access and tensioned the spring 1cm, locked the nuts and put a but of white paint on them so at a quick glance behind the rear mudguard I can tell if the nuts have moved or not. Refit the side cover and pillion peg holder. Adjusted the drive chain under load. Sprayed some more white paint under the rear guard and took the bike on a 50km test ride on my favorate test curcuit. The ride was definately firmer but not back breaking or butt hurting hard and handled well.. On return home I inspected under the the rear guard and no sign of the back wheel scraping it. The drive chain tension was still fine. Job done........

[Navy Boy]

Nice - One of those satisfying tasks too ;)

[Bonez]

Nice - One of those satisfying tasks too ;)Yip. I'll shape the end of the bar similar to the spring adjusting wrench so it engages with the tangs better.

[Navy Boy]

Incidentally I've just done an oil and filter change in my DR650 - I've used Penrite 10W-50 Semi Synthetic which seems to work rather nicely. I suspect that it's something of an overkill for the DR motor but at only $5 more than the Penrite mineral 10W-40 for a 4 litre tub I reckon it's a bit of extra money well spent.

:niceone:

[Bonez]

My helmet fell off the lid of the rubbish bin smashing the visor so popped in to see Paul at Manawatu Motorcycles to see if he had replacement visor as that is where I bought the helmet originaly over 10years ago. While he was out back looking I had a gander at the new helmets he had. On the bottem of the shelf was a small size one and it was a perfect, snug but not too tight. Paul came out and said he didn't have any suitable visors. I told him I'd buy this helmet which meets m/c safety standard and payed by EFPOS. Another reason I chose this helmet was it had double Ds on the chin strap. So for the princely sum of $129 I'm happy.

Got a couple of oil filters. I like to be prepared. Then went to Jaycar and got some heat shrink to cover my m/c security cable I bought back in '83. someone had tried to cut it to steal the GSX750EZ I had at the time and only managed to break one strand.

[Bonez]

Modified one end of the 10mm bar to engage the shock spring locking nuts better and less likely to slip.344914Put a 6" length of green leftover heat shrink in the position I hold the bar.

[Bonez]

Nice 2hr toodle today. I dared to take a 47bhp motorcycle outside the city limits. The Pahiatua Track has a long stretch of road works on the Palmy side so expect a 5min or more wait. On the main road to Eketawhere the traffic was doing 95-98 average according to my speedo. A quick twist of the throttle gave me plenty of puff to pass them quite easily and safely. A lot of cow poo on the back road from Eketahuna to Paheatua. This road can be quite tight in places with no direction indicator or approx. speed markers so can catch you out if not fully observent. Generally though it is a great riding road with a good surface. Passed the now defunct Tyrants M/C club rooms. Wonder what AJ is using them for now as the gate looked freshly painted. Returned back over the track,then Ashurst, popping in to AFC M/Cs for a quick gander. Then off home just around the corner. When I got home had some late lunch and gave the NX650 a quick wash with hose and scrubbing brush to get rid of most of the cow poo that had flicked up.

If you see a solo cone in the middle of the road without markings keep it in your mind that there may be stock ahead. Traffic was very considerate, pulling over when I indicated to pass. Lots of full dresser cruisers heading to Palmy. Still over half a tank of fuel left. Great ride on a great bike on great roads.. Had a smile every mile.....(Dots added for effect)

[Bonez]

Nice wee ride today and had a catch up with an old riding buddy. Talk bikes, trips, shit and had lunch with him and his ol lady. Had an interesting discusion about sidecars and the fact they need to be vinned seperately now apperently. Talked more bike stuff after lunch until a new lot of visitors turned up and waved them good bye. 100kms of gravel today. First time on the XN. Being 100lbs lighter than the CB made a big differnece. Also took a while to get use to the different power delivery compared to the ol CB. But once I'd done a few kms I was having a ball. Lots of cyclist out on these remote roads as well as the odd Kamakazi Magpie. Still have over a 1/4 a tank of fuel left before hitting researve after 280kms all up on the last refill.

[Bonez]

After the last couple of rides I've noticed the cow poo flicks up higher than I like on the frame and engine so made a wee mud flap up and siliconed it to the rear of the front mud guard. Also made a paddock plate up for the side stand out of a bit of plastic storm water grating which fits nicely in an old m/c tool pouch. I mounted the pouch in the lower front cowling just below the tank so it is nicely tucked away. I can easily access the paddock plate while seated on the bike and fit it under the side stand. Secured the plastic cover with a flat rubber washer over the choke base. Cut out the damaged portion of mudguard( previous ower had lowered the bike that much the rear wheel ripped into the mudguard) and placed a peice of heavy duty rubber strip in the hole.

The previous owner had a slim paddock plate stashed in the tool holder box under the seat which is pointless if the bike is loaded up.

[Bonez]

Ran the tank down to reserve this morning. Just over 350kms which is pretty good going for 14ltr main on all different types of roads and speeds ranging from 130kph down to walking pace. Reserve is 4.5ltrs. Seems be a battery/charging issue which I need to investigate further. Put some silicone sealent on the plastic nuts which hold a few electric components in place in place under the seat. They move but no where as much as before. I'm looking at putting a headlight isolating switch in for when testing things out. Headlight doesn't need to be on during the day with the two led driving lights running.

[Bonez]

Returned stock back to Para Rubber store then popped in to Super Cheap Autos and gpt a 4ltr pack of dngine oil. Then off to Bunnings for chain and a matching clip to fit to the XF and attached tothe key ring. Being an older m/c the ignition switch doesn't lock the key in place when in the on position. Worked out real well. I was traveling between Pahiatua and Woodvile one night and a whole key set including house keys came out of the ignition on another bike I had years ago. Don't want it to happen again.

[Navy Boy]

That's good going on the fuel consumption front Bonez. My DR gets around 20Km/litre so you're doing a little better than mine.

I ended up buying a 2007 Bandit 650s (The Liquid Cooled model) off Trademe. Collected last night. The ride back to Trentham was rather enjoyable all told and the bike feels better than I expected.

:drool:

[Bonez]

That's good going on the fuel consumption front Bonez. My DR gets around 20Km/litre so you're doing a little better than mine.

I ended up buying a 2007 Bandit 650s (The Liquid Cooled model) off Trademe. Collected last night. The ride back to Trentham was rather enjoyable all told and the bike feels better than I expected.

:drool:Yeah the first time I filled it it was not fully topped up. On the latest runs I filled it up to about 1cm below the filler cap lip so a few extra liters.

The Bandit will be a hoot I'd imagine on lesser traveled roads. You kow the ones out side of city limits.Reasonably big framed as well so plenty of room to move around. Hope you enjoy it.:drool:

[Bonez]

Got some decals made up. Half hieght "FX" for in front of the 650 on the side covers and "SUZUKI" for the header heat sheild. Popped in to the local Suzuki outlet and spotted a brand new DR650. Boy they are small.

Inspected the lower suspention pivot bolt lock nut which wasn't doing it's job. Undid it and found it was loser than it should have been so hatched a plan to get things sorted. Went through my spares box and found a castlelated nut which I trimmed down with a cutting disk and painted black using Duravalve. Found a waffer washer and suitable flat washer. These were fitted and now there is a ton of thread of the bolt protruding. Put some white paint on it for monotoring purposes.

[Bonez]

Heavens were pouring down this morning. Decided to fit a head light cut out switch. Rumaged through my electical bits n bobs and found a suitable switch. Had a quick look at the wiring diagram to ID the correct wire, connect the switch to it and test. Perfect. Then modified a mounting box inside the top cowling. Fitted the switch to the box and applied a bit of super glue to secure in place. Easily accessable, isolated from water/mud damage and handy when when trouble shooting electrical gremlins.

[Bonez]

Going through one of my boxes of m/c stuff and came across a set of Daytona heated hand grips. Got these in the '90s off an old riding buddy who got out of m/cs at the time. Just need to find a switched power lead, hook the earth up, mount the switch and done. Just in time for this cooler weather. I'll bench test them first while I've got a spare 12v m/c battery out.

Edit-Tested out fine. Switch has 3 positions-Off, Start, On. Start is the hottest setting. To get the area warmed up I guess then switch to the on position which is about half as hot. I'll fit in some sort of indicator light/led and maybe an inline fuse/switch unit. Need to tidy up some manky wiring a previous owner did when they fitted the driving LEDs.

[Bonez]

Decided to see what was wrong with the Givi top box brake lights so pulled the mounting assy out. Easy job two screws for the the assy and another for getting access to the bulbs. One problem was the connect on the thin circuitboard had rattled off so connected it then hooked it up to the spare 12v battery I have just for testing purposes and three bulbs lit up. A wiggle on the fourth and that lit up as well. I noticed one was a bit intermittent so dragged my soldering gear out and went over the solder joints. By this time one bulb decided to fuck off to goodness knows were leaving it slim contecters on the the board. Wasn't too worried as I'd found one of these bulbs a couple of days ago and wondered what it was used for. Grabbed the spare bulb and it took a while before I figured out the leads were folded back over the bulb. I nitially thought it was toast as well. Fitted it and tested the assy. Sweet all four worked but one was still a bit touchy. On closer inspection one of the legs had broken so carefully tinned the lower bit of the leg on bulb and the piece protruding from the circuit board then joined them with solder, tested and all four bulbs were stable.

Next was replacing the cable. It was a bit of a mess really with three bits of wire joined and different gauges. I found a suitable gauge length that would run from the lower spring loaded contacts to the wire coming of the circuit board. Also had to repair one of the connections that sits behind the stop light assy. housing using super glue, black silicone sealant and a small plastic cap I had in my plastic spares box. The screw in retainers for these contacts were both seize so elected to sand off a bit of coating and solder the wires on to them. Pulled the new cable through the top box grommet. Assembled the brake light assy, soldered the wires from that to the replacement wiring, wrapped insulation tape around the joins as I had no heatshrink and cocooned it in black silicone sealant.

Tested it out while the bike was running an works as it should and of course I found the erent bulb while packing everything away. Found some 20mm ali tape to hold the replacement cable out of the way. Looks like someone had used half a roll of duct tape on the original installation going in a awefully converluted route. Still have to clean the remaining duct tape residue but that can wait till tomorrow.

Very pleased with the outcome.


Roast for the evening meal and I'm going to enjoy that....

[Brainflex]

Have you seen this thread on the Freewind?

https://advrider.com/f/threads/looking-for-other-suzuki-xf650-freewind-riders.706519/

[Bonez]

Have you seen this thread on the Freewind?

https://advrider.com/f/threads/looking-for-other-suzuki-xf650-freewind-riders.706519/Ydp I certen have and made post in it.

[Bonez]

The speedo rotor gave up the ghost after 88,000 kms. Ordered one last Monday and it got sent to a different place. It finally turned up this morning so this afternoon fitted it. No jack needed just a empty clean 20ltr paint bucket. piece of wood about 15mm thick and a red parts holder you hang on a wall. Job done and speedo works.

[Navy Boy]

Blimey Bonez. That's done well. I reckon my DR with a paltry 7200Km on it has a while to go then! :yes:

[Bonez]

Blimey Bonez. That's done well. I reckon my DR with a paltry 7200Km on it has a while to go then! :yes:Tried to bump start it today because the battery was low,cold weather shows up shady batteries very quickly, but couldn't. Compression is obviously still good:whistle:....A nice guy at one of the retail outfits offered to use his ute to jumper start it when I said I have jumpers in the top box. Went for a wee 70km toodle, about half that gravel. after that on some roads I hadn't been on before today to remind me why I bought it :)

A bit of excitement across the road this arvo. Police raid and one arrest. They took the plates off two vehicles up the driveway as well.:lol:

[Bonez]

Oh I forgot mention the new part no.for the speedo rotor is 34983-14G01. I hope that helps others in the same situation.

[Bonez]

Got a new battery for the XF650 this morning. The old one wasn't holding charge for long in the cooler weather. Got charged $43 less than I was quoted over the phone yesterday.:woohoo:

[Navy Boy]

Got a new battery for the XF650 this morning. The old one wasn't holding charge for long in the cooler weather. Got charged $43 less than I was quoted over the phone yesterday.:woohoo:

How did you manage that then? Incidentally I'm trying 95 RON in the DR to see if it has any effect on the fuel consumption (Currently running around 20km/litre).

[Bonez]

How did you manage that then? Incidentally I'm trying 95 RON in the DR to see if it has any effect on the fuel consumption (Currently running around 20km/litre).Ron recognised me from a previous storemans job I had. Had the battery ready and waiting. Did a lot of business with him. Also ran in to that outfits ApperalMaster guy while I was there. Pays to know people ;)

[Navy Boy]

Ron recognised me from a previous storemans job I had. Had the battery ready and waiting. Did a lot of business with him. Also ran in to that outfits ApperalMaster guy while I was there. Pays to know people ;)

:2thumbsup

[Bonez]

Well the day started with good intentions. Was going to drop SPYDA off the Cemetery Curcuit 2004 program to him in Lower Hut. Checked the weather. A bit cool down there but nothing a nice pair of thick cottan jarmy pants under my jeans can't overcome. So googled his street address and jotted down a few streets that lead to it on a peice of A4 paper which I folded in half put in plastic and taped to the back of the tank.

Got dressed for the occasion, pulled the XF650 out, fired her up and off we went. Decided to start on the road behind Massey to warm the tires up on those nice sweeping bends. Through to Shannon, back of Levin and on to PieCock. Left up PieCock Hilll, an old stopping ground in a previous life. A few slips the first couple of kms then fine from there. A lot of low sport cars coming the other way. Run of some sort I guess. Was toodling along fine until about 3/4 the way through. Something felt odd. Pulled over in a parking area looked down at the rear wheel and yip I had a flatty. Side stand down have a look at the tyre and it had picked up a flat head pin. "Bugger" I thought. I in a reasonably isolated road alone, no tyre pando to use. I've had 50/50 success with them anyway.

Hmmm "Bugger". Decided not to interrupt SPYDA from his Sunday slumber or morning nooky. It was pissing down over that way anyhooo. Hadn't reached the Estuary yet so decided to limp to there then backtrack to the highway. The rear tyre had a heavy duty tube with about 2/3rds wear on the tread and the bike is light as a feather so worth a gamble. Off we went around to the highway. I sat my arse on the front portion of the pillion part of the seat to keep some downward pressure on the rear tyre to help prevent it rolling off the rim. Being lanky it wasn't uncomfortable at all. Got around to the highway no worries and could get up tp 60kph without to too much drama. On to the highway and proceeded to go norf. The sign near the expressway stated 115kms to Balmy Palmy. I set a self imposed max speed of 45km for my an other road users safety sake. Checked the rear tyre and rim around every 10-15kms or so and while riding listened to any change noise coming from the rear. Obviously keeping as far left as possible without it being dangerous.

Put some gas in at Z in Levin and on on....... A few drivers and rider notified me the rear tyre was which was nice and generally most drivers gave me a wide birth while passing. Some waved. A few blkes out which was good to see.

Made it home at 3:00pm without any bother at all. I told Connie I'd be home around 3:30pm-4:00pm when I departed so within the margin of error. Apart from the speed it was a most enjoyable ride and worked out I'd done 130kms on the flatty. Obviously the pin head was worn a bit over that time.

As they say any day on your motorcycle is a good day.:)

[Bonez]

Pulled the rear tyre off on Monday and removed one side of the tyre using my small tyre levers.Broke the beading on the other side with the tyre laid down on the rear tyre I had removed from the CB550 a week or so ago to stop any damage to the brake disk a or rim.. Pulled the tube out and removed the valve stem. The tyre had not rotated the entire 130km journey. Obviously yje stem got ripped from the tube and the tube had a few foot wide gashes around it. Inspected both the inside and the outside. Apart from about a 1/4 of a mil ribbing patch around the outside upper road camper side it looked fine. No sign of metal or cloth fiber protruding into to the inner wall of the tyre.

Gave it a good vacuum inside to remove any crap that may be there. Put in the nice heavy duty IRC tube I had in the garage. Refitted the tyre and used a portion of early '80 Suzuki gasaxe oil fiter seal to block the hole the pin had made to around 5mm below the top of the tread, leaving enough room between the tube and the "insert" so as the tyre and pushes on toward the tube there will be still a small gap between the tube and the insert. Fitted the tyre yesterday went for a 100km ride to see how it went. This included about 6kms of just freshly graded gravel. Good as gold and should last to until I replace it before the next Wof in August.

[Bonez]

Some pics of the repair.

[Bonez]

Nice wee 350km ride today. Dropped off a small panel heater we were'nt using off to Dad. Just removed the Give top box and wrapped the heater in foam padding and a heavy plastic bag and bungyed to the passenger portion of the seat and top box rack. Weather was nice over in Hawkes Bay. A bit wet and windy this side of the saddle road. Bike ran extremely well.:scooter:

Finished the painting the two lower cowlings. Found out why the carbs were leaking. The "professionals" who did the the last tune up hadn't tighten the carb drain screws completely. :brick: Nipped both of them up tight and now no leakage.:yes:

[Bonez]

Received the XF650s side stand back from Colin at Two Wheels Eng. I had him machine up a 35mm extension piece, weld it in place and add a piece of 5mm sheet metal to the foot. Bikes done over 89,000kms so a bit of wear. And now it's back to the stock suspension setup the unmodified stand had the bike on far too much of a lean for my liking. At home I tidied up the welds with some 80 grit sand paper. Yesterday I applied some aviation grade etch primer and top coat. Came out ok. I'll fit it tomorrow as I'll apply a coat of clear lacquer this morning.

Suzuki had two centre and main stand options for these bikes. One set for normal suspension configuration and one set for when the suspension a been lowered. The normal set was painted black and the set for those with Ducks Decease (arse too close to the ground) grey.

[Bonez]

Fitted the extended sidestand this morning. Way better than what it was once I had returned suspension hight to the stock setup.

[Bonez]

Got one of local VTNZ stations to do a WoF check on the XF650. Nothing wrong from what I was already aware of so passed fine. About 2000kms left on the rear tyre.

Popped in to the Nurse to have my three monthly Vitamin B12 injection. She also checked my blood pressure. Same as a 20yo so not bad being 60 years old. I put it down to getting fresh air while riding. I almost always have the visor nipped open 1-2cms while riding in most weather.

I'm running the fuel tank completely dry. Have a full 5lr plastic fuel container in my shoulder bag so I can put that in when tanks drained. Got some bad fuel from a local petrol station. Second time this has happened in two months.

[Bonez]

Just completed a nice Palmy-Ashurst-Fielding-Palmy loop to drain the fuel tank completely. Conked out just inside the Fielding boundry about 400mtrs from a gas station. Put the contents of the 5ltr container in the tank, select prime on the fuel tap and fired here up for the return home. There is a generous 4ltr reserve on these bikes which is around 80-100kms. The trip reading is the kms done on the XF650 so far this month.

Oh, if you are wondering what I used as a cutting compound for the light grey paint job, and I know you are. It was JIF. Available at any good grocery store for around $5 an bottle. Lemon fresh is my favorite. No need for that flash $80 a ltr light cutting compound stuff they flog off at all..

[Bonez]

A piece was missing from the fairing rh rear mounting screw area. When I bought the bike. I'm in the process of repairing it. A piece of CBX750 lower cowling was cut to shape and welded in place using a soldering iron and some plastic tyraps. A very easy job. Just don't over due it as the plastic wil char and fall apart. Then used bog to tidy things up. First attempt wasn't too at all but need to do refinement of the process. I used a small scrapper to cover the mounting nut so no bog or shit in to it.

Had to use a plastic washer with the correct internal was used to reduce the size of the mounting hole. The washer was way too big too fit so I forced it on to the end of a vivid marker pen cap still on the maker and reduced the outside diameter to the correct size on one of Connies belt sanders by spinning it around while the sanding belt did its thing. Perfect fit so super glued it in position.

[Bonez]

Changed the clutch actuator shaft oil seal this morning. A very straight forward procedure and can be done on any casing external seal which doesn't have any sort of locking mechanism. Tools-battery drill, 1.5-2mm drill bit, a long course thread screw, pliers, some grease, maybe a bit of tub/piping or long reach socket to push the new seal in position, contact cleaner of some sort, fine emery paper along with a small bit of nylon scouring pad, and of course the replacement oil seal.

Remove anything that interupts acces to the seal/shaft area. I had to remove the header heat sheild for better drill access. Release cable tension on the clutch shaft actuating arm and remove the arm off the shaft.Either at the clutch lever enr or any adjust at the actuator arm end. Flush the seal area with the contact cleaner to flash out any crap and dry the top of the seal ready for drilling

With the drill and bit carefully through the metal outer ring just so it piece through without damaging the ali casing or shaft. Just go gently and takes less than 30 seconds.

Insert the screw into the hole you created in the old oil seal and remove the seal with the pliers and discard the old seal.

Check to shaft for wear. I need to dress my one with some smooth emery paper and nylon scouring pad. Again flush the area with the contact cleaner to flash out any crap you creating while dressing the shaft.

There is usually some sort of lip inside the hole where the shaft and seal are located to sop the seal being pushed into the engine. The one on my bike was about 8mm down from the outside of the casing.

Grab your new replacement seal and put a bit of grease around the inside and outside diameter edges. Place the seal around the shaft and into the hole. All I had to do is just push it down using just my fingers and use a flat was to push home flush with the casing. Sometimes a bit of tube, pipe or suitably sized long reach socket may be required.

Once the seal is fitted to your satisfaction refit and tighten the actuating arm. Refit any items you removed like the clutch lever. Then adjust the clutch cable to factory specs. Fire up and let the engine warm up, inspect for any leakage. If non put your riding gear on and take it for a 10km or more ride and inspect the seal again for leakage. Hopefully there is none. Put all your tools away. Job done.

As mentioned earlier it is a straight forward job and just take your time.

[Bonez]

I was in SuperCheap Autos last Friday to see if my favorite m/c oil was on special and spotted RISLONE super concentrated Fuel Injecter Cleaner was on sale at around $7 total. It's fine for carbs as well.

The XF650 was playing up intermittently. At first I thought it was bad fuel until I found out the carb drain tubes weren't draining fuel when their screws were loosened off. To me this indicated lacquer build up as I managed to clear one tube with 22 thou lock wire.

I bought the a bottle of the cleaner because, well, it was cheap compared to the other brands which were over twice the cost. The instructions say put a 1/4 of a bottle in the tank on the XF650(18.5ltrs full). Me being me put half a bottle in the tank.On the weekend I used a tank and a half of fuel. During the rides you could notice the difference. Better throttle response and no hick ups at all from the bike.

I've always been a bit skeptical of using any type of additive in any vehicle but this certainly did the job. I'm very please with the out come.:niceone:

[Bonez]

Located the pesky oil leak yesterday-a pin hole leak through the cam chain tensioner seal. Would not show up staticly(ie not ridng) until around 2500rpm. Fixed until the bike needs something more major work done to it.

Went for my usual 50km test to make sure it was fine and it was.

Changed the oil and filter-Done. Used my usual non-motorcycle specific brand as usual. At $28 max and around $22 on special at SuperCheap Autos. Its a non brainer really. OEM Suzuki filter because they are the cheapest around. The remaining oil from the 4ltr pack was put into 1qt containers. a handy amount to carry around in a small shoulder bag.

Between the CB550F and XF650 I've clocked up just over 850kms this month. A little higher than my monthly average since Christmas, which is around 750kms per month. Still six days to go :msn-wink:

[Navy Boy]

I was in SuperCheap Autos last Friday to see if my favorite m/c oil was on special and spotted RISLONE super concentrated Fuel Injecter Cleaner was on sale at around $7 total. It's fine for carbs as well.

The XF650 was playing up intermittently. At first I thought it was bad fuel until I found out the carb drain tubes weren't draining fuel when their screws were loosened off. To me this indicated lacquer build up as I managed to clear one tube with 22 thou lock wire.

I bought the a bottle of the cleaner because, well, it was cheap compared to the other brands which were over twice the cost. The instructions say put a 1/4 of a bottle in the tank on the XF650(18.5ltrs full). Me being me put half a bottle in the tank.On the weekend I used a tank and a half of fuel. During the rides you could notice the difference. Better throttle response and no hick ups at all from the bike.

I've always been a bit skeptical of using any type of additive in any vehicle but this certainly did the job. I'm very please with the out come.:niceone:

Thanks Bonez. I'll give this stuff a try in some of mine. :yes:

[Bonez]

Thanks Bonez. I'll give this stuff a try in some of mine. :yes:Know worries mate. I've never had to pay more than $30 on a 4ilr pack.

[Bonez]

Fitted a Shinko E-705 bias tyre on the rear last week. A far far better tyre than the Mezt Tourance radial that it replaced. Greater lean angle without sliding out of corners. I'm very pleased with it. Did a 400km ride on Sunday with out any dramas at all.

[george formby]

Fitted a Shinko E-705 bias tyre on the rear last week. A far far better tyre than the Mezt Tourance radial that it replaced. Greater lean angle without sliding out of corners. I'm very pleased with it. Did a 400km ride on Sunday with out any dramas at all.

They are excellent value and hard wearing.

Be wary on bad tarmac in the wet, tar snakes, shiny patches etc. The 705's weak spot, skiddly diddly and quick with it.

Don't ask how i know this.... :shit:

[Bonez]

They are excellent value and hard wearing.

Be wary on bad tarmac in the wet, tar snakes, shiny patches etc. The 705's weak spot, skiddly diddly and quick with it.

Don't ask how i know this.... :shit:Well went over the Wimblonton-Dannevirke road with a ton of those and slick tarmac without issue.

Thanks for the heads up though George.

[george formby]

Well went over the Wimblonton-Dannevirke road with a ton of those and slick tarmac without issue.

Thanks for the heads up though George.

Splendid.

I only had moments in the wet, I suspect the reasonably hard compound contributed. Riding in mental rain mode it was not an issue, stayed upright, it was the suddenness that surprised me compared to other tyres I've used. Possibly used to bigger name brands that use more silica.

Bike weight and torque may have exacerbated this.

Excellent gravel tyre!

[Bonez]

Nice wee 433km punt today..

[Bonez]

But wait there's more:-

[Bonez]

And more:-

[release_the_bees]

And more:-You should have moved the tag while you were there:

https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/103520-NZ-wide-pass-the-tag/page123

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

[Bonez]

You should have moved the tag while you were there:

https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/103520-NZ-wide-pass-the-tag/page123

Sent from my SM-G965F using TapatalkI'm not interested in children's games, Owl parked his wife's black Triumph twin there in another life. The days of the ol Manawatu crowd were great.

[Bonez]

A cracker ride over to Wiapawa and back yesterday. It was Dads 80th and my wee prother and I had lauch with him to celebrate. Also it was his first decent ride on the BMW R80/Sidecar combo. It was great fun. Laughing the whole time and reminiscing about days by. Dad was the reason me and my bro got into motorcycles.

Dad bought the '89 BMW R80 for 20 years and was the second owner. it was his pride and joy until he lost his right leg due to a blood clot. I bought it off him and had it for 10 years, keeping it in the family so to speak. Wasn't impressed with it really.. Shins bashing on the carbs, side sand in a supid place and retracted with out rider input.

When I started to get my Honda CB550F back on the road a bit over a year ago I sold the Beemer to my little bother who turned 60 in January. Used the money we agreed on to get the CB550F sorted out and road legal. Bro put a nice Indian made side car on the R80 and after a lot of reading' as well as talking to other riders with sidecars world wide he got it set up perfectly.

Have a great day all. And rememderif you do go for a ride "prior preparation prevents piss poor performance"

Ride safe now ya'll.

Just saying....

[Bonez]

A great run on Sunday. Dropped off a new pair of riding gloves Dad could use when in my little bros sidecar outfit. Runs both ways over the Saddle Rd were drama free and the traffic behaved very good. Left dads place at Havelock North on to Wiapukarua to Flemington, Ormondvile, Dannivagas then the back roads to the Saddle Rd, Ashurst and then home. Got home at 7;30. Around 370kms all up in glorious Central/Southern Hawkes Bay weather.

Past my usual 700-800 monthly kmage with a few more days to go.......

Get out there folks and enjoy your ride no matter what age, make, model, type or capacity it is.

Keep safe.

[Bonez]

Little bro and dad on the R80 sidecar setup on dads 80th birthday. .:niceone:

[Bonez]

The weather was great yesterday so I went for a nice wee poddle in Pahongina Valley. A bit of gavel traversed and no real dramas. Two pheasants poppped up to get out of my way. I'm sure a saw a few KB trolls pop there heads out from under a few bridges:msn-wink:

I've decided on a name for the XF650 Goat. When I told Connie this she remarked "Is that because Big Billy Goat Gruff rides it? You know the one the got rid of the troll." I looked her ib the eyes and she stared back then we both cracked up laughing. :lol: Laughed so hard my my sides hurt. Laughter is the best medicine. i got the ladies at Computer to make some decals up. $5 done there and then. Great people they are. Also grabbed another can of the light grey toutch up paint as my current can was getting low.

Over 900kms clocked up between the two bikes this month so far....

[Toocs]

Hello neighbors.

I'm in Northern NSW, Australialand and bought an XF a couple of months ago. Best thing about it is that is just laughs at the stupidly big pot-holes we get around here. Hardly feel the ferkers! Then again, maybe I'm just an old bustard and my senses have gone to crup.

Pulled the front end off a week ago and fitted new steering bearings and fork seals. The thing had been ridden on straight roads in WA (Western Australialand) all its life and was not at all happy with falling into corners. It is now :-)
Trickiest part was getting the lower race off the spindle. Just kept at it with all manner of 'persuasive' devices (mainy various types of levering) and got it after a couple of hours.
Driving the new race on squarely (bearings like to be treated straight) was also a tad tricky but not too bad. Wound up getting some water pipe which was about one mil too small to go over the spindle. Made a longwise cut right along it with a narrow angle grinder blade so the pipe could expand and then smacked the crup out of it with a very big hammer to get it down the spindle. Worked well and wasn't even too hard to get the pipe off the spindle when done.

Next is to soften the rear shock a bit. Thanks for all the tips, Bonez.

Cheers

[Toocs]

Bit curious as to to why this thread title was/is? saying FX 650 when the bike is actually an XF in most parts of the world.

Was/is that a New Zealandia thing?

[Bonez]

Premo run this afternoon on back country roads outside city limits up hill down dale. Around just under half unsealed carriageway. Cracker weather. seem to have been a combonation of issues-carbs gummed up with lacguer, one more than the other and duff spark plug. Neither plug was tightened up a bit more than finger tight and hotter than recommended. This were replace at a local Suzuki dealership, no dought to sort out the so called "running rich" issue they had on the repair docket I got from the previous owner. They certainly did nothing with the cards due to the amount of lacquer I removed. It now has the standard NGK plugs fitted which are perfedtly fine for the type of riding I do. Tightened up to the typical thread strip and backed off half a turn ;) All good.:niceone:

[Bonez]

Bit curious as to to why this thread title was/is? saying FX 650 when the bike is actually an XF in most parts of the world.

Was/is that a New Zealandia thing?It's just to confuse the numpties in the KB Knitting circle, that's all.:msn-wink:

[Toocs]

That unsealed stuff can be a lot of fun - but depends what type it is. A few years ago I grabbed an unsealed beer I had on the far corner of the bench and took a big swig. #$@%& I had forgotten what I deposited in it while caught short on an long-distance phone call with a mate.

Got into some 'regular' unsealed road (carriageway?) the other day too. A couple of hundred K's of decomposed granite with a lot of quartz in it. Spectacular scenery through old gold country, but the track i like riding on marbles! the FXXF XFFX did well and only dropped it once. Last time I was up there I dropped it a couple of times and had to limp home with blinkers taped on and chain guard strapped to the seat

Scored a low K 2010 TDM on the weekend. Understeers like buggery so ordered correct tyress for it last night. lolol Had been planning to update the old Falcon, but that'll have to wait a while.

The XFXFXFXFX thing will still be used for the tough stuff though!

[george formby]

That unsealed stuff can be a lot of fun - but depends what type it is. A few years ago I grabbed an unsealed beer I had on the far corner of the bench and took a big swig. #$@%& I had forgotten what I deposited in it while caught short on an long-distance phone call with a mate.

Got into some 'regular' unsealed road (carriageway?) the other day too. A couple of hundred K's of decomposed granite with a lot of quartz in it. Spectacular scenery through old gold country, but the track i like riding on marbles! the FXXF XFFX did well and only dropped it once. Last time I was up there I dropped it a couple of times and had to limp home with blinkers taped on and chain guard strapped to the seat

Scored a low K 2010 TDM on the weekend. Understeers like buggery so ordered correct tyress for it last night. lolol Had been planning to update the old Falcon, but that'll have to wait a while.

The XFXFXFXFX thing will still be used for the tough stuff though!

T'is that you asking about tyres on ADV?

You may find the 900 a bit of a pig on gravel. Yamaha managed to improve the engine over the 850 but lost the sweet handling. The 850 rides more like an old 750 Super Tenere on gravel, the 900 more like a BMW ( more front bias)'

Anyhoo, looking forward to reading your thoughts on the bike.

[Toocs]

T'is that you asking about tyres on ADV?

You may find the 900 a bit of a pig on gravel. Yamaha managed to improve the engine over the 850 but lost the sweet handling. The 850 rides more like an old 750 Super Tenere on gravel, the 900 more like a BMW ( more front bias)'

Anyhoo, looking forward to reading your thoughts on the bike.

G'day George.

Yeah, that was me on ADV. Had to settle for just a rear Michelin Pilot thing for the back (main offender) 'cos the mob I'm buying from didn't have an appropriate front in Michelin that wasn't going to cost me some silly amount. But the rear was, I reckon, the primary offender.

I don't plan to get it out in the dirt very much - mainly for doing distance. I have the xfxfxfx for the dirty work.

I really am blown away by the torque though! Pulls like a steam train! Well looked after for it's 20,000K's and very good-looking in black.

As I may have mentioned on the other site, the Delkevics it came with sounded excellent, but the law wouldn't have agreed so I swapped the cans back to the standard ones which came with the bike and packed the Delkevics away until I work out better baffling for 'em. No hurry but I will get around to it soon because they are significantly lighter and neater.

Was going to do a regular service on her for my second job of the day, but the first job - bottling 60litres of beer - showed up some problems with gear that needed to be fixed. So I spent a good part of the day getting better drums and fittings and then giving the XFXFXFX a good wash.

Won't have the new tyre for the TDM on for a few days as I have to wait for it to arrive from Melbourne and then fit it. BUT I will get to pull some of her clothes off and make better friends with her tomorrow when I give her a service :hug:

Cheers mate

[george formby]

Dunno if you have looked at Carpe.TDM (http://www.carpe-tdm.net/ipb/) yet, if not it is an excellent forum with a huge knowledge base. Very helpful.

[Toocs]

Yeah, I've been there a few times now. Last time was today, reading about disconnecting the intake flapper. Someone had already done it.
Also checked the air filter and, while at it, found the airbox-to-throttle ducts were not properly tightened. Probably the work (unwork?, malwork?, beerwork?) of whoever did the flapper mod. That reminded me I need a new set of ball-end hex keys. The filter didn't look too bad and it's only done 20,000 (recco change of air filter is 40,000!!!) so I'll leave that for the time being.
Nicked down to the local Yam shop on the Suzi FXFXFXF'er and got some fresh compression nuts for the screen etc. too.

Ticks over and runs nicely but I suspect it could do with a slight balance tweak on the throttles. No hurry on that.

Beer o'clock here. Cheers :niceone:

[george formby]

Yeah, I've been there a few times now. Last time was today, reading about disconnecting the intake flapper. Someone had already done it.
Also checked the air filter and, while at it, found the airbox-to-throttle ducts were not properly tightened. Probably the work (unwork?, malwork?, beerwork?) of whoever did the flapper mod. That reminded me I need a new set of ball-end hex keys. The filter didn't look too bad and it's only done 20,000 (recco change of air filter is 40,000!!!) so I'll leave that for the time being.
Nicked down to the local Yam shop on the Suzi FXFXFXF'er and got some fresh compression nuts for the screen etc. too.

Ticks over and runs nicely but I suspect it could do with a slight balance tweak on the throttles. No hurry on that.

Beer o'clock here. Cheers :niceone:

:shit: That's dedication that is. "Beer o'clock here", unplugs internet!

My 23 year old air filter looks like new. Cheers for the heads up, the inside may be turning into meringue.