Suzuki RF900 feedback wanted

**madandy** · 12th July 2004, 20:58

Good Ole RF's! wish mine had 130hp...lol

**moko** · 13th July 2004, 00:51

[QUOTE=F5 Dave]
2. Pillion pegs are too high unless you have a 4’ Japanese girlfriend [QUOTE]

Good bike for Auckland then from what I saw there

**Lou Girardin** · 13th July 2004, 06:38

Great bike! Allow a couple of hundred for the carb jets and emulsion tubes and keep an eye on the alternator charging rate and the rest is sweet.

**James Deuce** · 13th July 2004, 07:02

Congrats Redstar - I take it you are enjoying the RF900?

I nearly bought Mangell's one, but because I see him every now and then I didn't want to be the one to tell him I killed it

**fastford111** · 15th July 2004, 20:47

my last bike was a rf900 it was an aewsome bike cheap to run heaps of go but i to had aultinator prob cost me $250 to get the shop to fix it then the batt shit witch took the cdi with it because it over charged due to a faulty voltage regulator but that dosent mean you would have that problem i was told you can fix this problem with a gixxxer part all this wouldnt put me of buying another

**ManDownUnder** · 15th July 2004, 21:29

They don't like the water either... the deep cavities the plugs sit in fill with water if they sit in the rain and they miss like a bastard for a while.

Early models needed 2nd gear replacement at about 30,000kms asw the case hardening wasn't up to it at time of manufacture.

Otherwise - all good with mine!

**moko** · 16th July 2004, 06:23

I dont know if this still holds but back in the bad old days of combusting Suzuki electrics in the 70`s the answer used to be to replace the Suzuki parts with Honda,I think it was pretty much a straight swap reg/rectifier e.t.c. the old CB250N model stuff used to fit all the Suzukis.there`s a company just down the road from me made a fortune in exchange re-wound Suzuki alternators as well but a bit far for you lot,better if the factory had sorted it out in the first place,got Suzi a real bad rep here at the time.Word was that keeping your lights on all the time stopped it for some reason too technical for me.
As for the wet plugs,Yam Fazers have a real lash-up but it works,theres a strip of rubber runs along in front of the plugs!!Yep,they came out of the factory like that but at least it works and I`ve never had any trouble.

**ManDownUnder** · 16th July 2004, 09:11

Originally Posted by moko

As for the wet plugs,Yam Fazers have a real lash-up but it works,theres a strip of rubber runs along in front of the plugs!!Yep,they came out of the factory like that but at least it works and I`ve never had any trouble.

The RF has a kind of rubber "cap" that fit neatly into the top of the plug well but I think it doesn't work too well sometimes, and if/when water gets in, it probably stops it all getting out!

I swapped out the plugs in my RF a while ago and the thread on #4 was rusty... really really rusty.

I wonder why it was missing?

Apparently (so I've heard) the GSX1100 has the same problem with water - same engine essentially just sleeved down/not bored out so much

Having bitched and moaned about the RF's all through this thread, I have one - I like it, they're good, strong and reliable bikes, comfortable as and pull like a schoolboy (I heard that somewhere - I like it)

MDU

**F5 Dave** · 16th July 2004, 09:21

Originally Posted by ManDownUnder

. . . and pull like a schoolboy (I heard that somewhere - I like it)

MDU

Goodbye Pork Pie. When they put the ally head on the mini.

**F5 Dave** · 23rd July 2004, 13:52

Hey I just remembered

the fuel tank needs a mod or two.

Fuel light comes on only after a miserable amount to time.

Just makes you panic unnecessarily. Take the tank off & use a big spanner to take out the fuel level sensor (Big nut with wires). Unsolder the sensor & move it down so it’s top is where it’s bottom is std & resolder. This will mean the fuel light won’t come on till about 255km, about 5 km before when reserve needs turning. This is good because the reserve tap needs a lot of effort to turn it so it gives you some time.

While you are there, reserve is 85km!! Crazy,

means you are carrying all this fuel you never use. Take the fuel tap out & pull the filter off the end. Cut the brass tube in half & refit the filter on. This will give you much more range & still leave you with a decent reserve.

I made a new tap which is easier to turn if anyone is interested in how to make one.

**ManDownUnder** · 23rd July 2004, 13:55

Originally Posted by F5 Dave

Hey I just remembered

the fuel tank needs a mod or two.

Fuel light comes on only after a miserable amount to time.

Just makes you panic unnecessarily. Take the tank off & use a big spanner to take out the fuel level sensor (Big nut with wires). Unsolder the sensor & locate it so it’s top is where it’s bottom is std. This will mean the fuel light won’t come on till about 255km, about 5 km before when reserve needs turning. This is good because the reserve tap needs a lot of effort to turn it. :disapint:

While you are there, reserve is 85km!! Crazy,

means you are carrying all this fuel you never use. Take the fuel tap out & pull the filter off the end. Cut the brass tube in half & refit the filter on. This will give you much more range & still leave you with a decent reserve.

I made a new tap which is easier to turn if anyone is interested in how to make one.

Odd - my fuel light kicks in at 210km... which is about right as I run around the city in 3rd or 4th all the time (a crime I know...)

Maybe justa one off. Lou - you out there... what does your's do chap?
MDU

**Lou Girardin** · 23rd July 2004, 18:56

Originally Posted by ManDownUnder

Odd - my fuel light kicks in at 210km... which is about right as I run around the city in 3rd or 4th all the time (a crime I know...)

Maybe justa one off. Lou - you out there... what does your's do chap?
MDU

Light used to come on at 220 to 240 km's. Used to average a fairly consistant 15.5 to 16 km/l.
The Bandits much the same.

**pete376403** · 24th July 2004, 16:05

Originally Posted by moko

I dont know if this still holds but back in the bad old days of combusting Suzuki electrics in the 70`s the answer used to be to replace the Suzuki parts with Honda,I think it was pretty much a straight swap reg/rectifier e.t.c. the old CB250N model stuff used to fit all the Suzukis.there`s a company just down the road from me made a fortune in exchange re-wound Suzuki alternators as well but a bit far for you lot,better if the factory had sorted it out in the first place,got Suzi a real bad rep here at the time.Word was that keeping your lights on all the time stopped it for some reason too technical for me..

Only two phases of the alternator output were regulated. The third phase was only switched into circuit when the headlights were on, and this phase wasn't regulated. As long as the lights were ok, it (sort of) worked ok, but if the headlight blew (and you might not notice it if you had the lights on during the day) then the battery got hit with the full voltage from one phase of the alternator (75+ volts AC at 5000 rpm according to the GS850 service manual)
Once the battery boiled dry the alternator had no where to put the juice it was generating and it overheated and died, soon after. And you thought Lucas electrics were bad. Eletrex http://www.electrexusa.com/ do a proper three phase regulator. There is also a very good fault finding chart at http://www.electrexusa.com/electrex_fault_finding.html

**GSVR** · 25th February 2008, 09:17

Originally Posted by mangell6

MacD wrote

MacD,

The term 'bearing, is misleading, it is actually called a generator damper according to the service manual, the rubber is to prevent the sudden 'shock' of starting being passed through to the generator.

The easiest way to tell if the bearing is stuffed is that you have a flat battery, the headlight is dim, or it is hard to start, like a car with a flat battery.

On the weekend I saw my, oops, our, old RF900 at the RustyNuts Grand Challenge, got chatting to the new owner and he is really enjoying it.

Mike

Hey YOD this sounds like it may be your problem. Its just a drive coupling rubber. Probably just a few bucks from PTs.