32 month boredom review

[ducatilover]

as title suggests, its been 32 months since i purchased the spada.
now for some reason i love the damn thing. over the last 32 months the spada has continued to let me learn how to ride better. i would reccomend it to anybody, but, the spares availability is hopeless
the bike handles ok. standard springs in the front are too soft, 15w fluid and some small spacers helped a little.
the bike goes well for a naked 250 twin. i have squeezed 34rwhp out after more time than i will admit on the dyno [i get that for free] it has maintained its vtwin tourque but gained 5rwhp with me screwing around. it does 100kmh and can pass, so thats the straight line covered.
stopping is this bikes biggest let down, i sourced some better pads and threw new piston seals [oil and dust seals] in the front and rear, then promptly filled it up with DOT 5.1 synthetic fluid [be carefull with that stuff, you can fuck the master cyl piston] so i got a reasonably shorter stopping distance and most of all a better feel and no more brake fade
comfort wise the bike is spot on, im only 5 foot 9. the seat it rather low, bars are at a very relaxed point imho they should be lower [mc19 clip ons will help] i have covered several long trips of 500km and over in a day happily.

reliability
now this is where im sad, i have thrown two brake seal kits at her, both times kero bathing the bare caliper and cleaning everything.
two sets of fork seals, but the first were not fitted properly.
one fuel tap, the rubber diaphragm in the vacum pump perished. this ended up costing me $380 through econohonda [great guys ring them 07-884-8810]
then the carbs shat themselves, only $120 from buckets'n'bitz in wellington and an easy job to do thankfully.
valve clearances have been adjusted three times now to cure that noise that was a cam chain tensioner ratchet slipping, cannot get new tensioners and they are in the head, playing with them is not my idea of fun.
ate spark plugs before dyno tune.
new airfilter is $93
thermo swith for fan went bung, so i made a manual switch and mounted it on the dash.

the bike has done 45000ish km now, i have noticed it has been in a big drop. the colour codes dont match, ignition key, tank and seat lock are all different

anybody who owns a spada - buy a trx500fa oil filter, its the same.
never buy IRC RX01 rubber, it is shit.

hope somebody enjoys this review/ramble

i love that puss rocket

[yungatart]

Only 100 k/ph...it should be good for 170.
Hope you have done the cam chains (there are 2 - and they are a bitch to do! DAMHIK) ... at 45000km they are needing done and if you don't it will get very expensive!
hXc loved his Spada, it was only sold to help finance his overseas trip.
It was extremely reliable tho, never once let him down. He thrashed the nuts off it for about 20000 ks before he sold it.
Rear suspension was defintely on its way out and would have been done if he had kept the bike. It had done 55000 k approx when it left him....as far as I know, it is still flying around.

[ducatilover]

Only 100 k/ph...it should be good for 170.
Hope you have done the cam chains (there are 2 - and they are a bitch to do! DAMHIK) ... at 45000km they are needing done and if you don't it will get very expensive!
hXc loved his Spada, it was only sold to help finance his overseas trip.
It was extremely reliable tho, never once let him down. He thrashed the nuts off it for about 20000 ks before he sold it.
Rear suspension was defintely on its way out and would have been done if he had kept the bike. It had done 55000 k approx when it left him....as far as I know, it is still flying around.

chains were easy to do open a link on the old chain and fit the new one to it, turn the rear wheel whilst in 6th and feed it through until all the old chain is out, join new chains and reset the tensioner. took 2 hours
im wondering if mine has had a new speedo unit fitted. its only done 45km and its been terrible

[yungatart]

Nah, not the chain..the Cam Chains...totally different animal!
It should be easy enough to find out if yours has had a new speedo...look at your rego papers..it has mileage when it changed hands, if there is a major discepancy, it will show up.

[ducatilover]

Nah, not the chain..the Cam Chains...totally different animal!
It should be easy enough to find out if yours has had a new speedo...look at your rego papers..it has mileage when it changed hands, if there is a major discepancy, it will show up.

i am talking about the cam chains. i have magicly made it as a mechanic now and i didnt find it to be a hard job at all. im the only nz owner of this spada so it has no history

[imdying]

filled it up with DOT 5.1 synthetic fluid [be carefull with that stuff, you can fuck the master cyl piston]

No, it won't do anything to the piston.

both times kero bathing the bare caliper and cleaning everything.

But that will... Don't ever use kero on anything to do with your brakes. Meths is ok for scrubbing it with, but hot soapy water works fine and doesn't damage anything. Obviously don't use corrosive super soaps.

[ducatilover]

No, it won't do anything to the piston.

it can shrink the piston as i was lead to believe

[imdying]

That'd be a pretty neat trick

[ducatilover]

yes i suppose it would, so is there nothing to worry about when replacing a glycol based fluid with a synthetic? im only a baby mechanic

[Sully60]

That'd be a pretty neat trick

Hell yeah, I'd say you'd get the attention of more than a few metalurgists with that one.

[ducatilover]

perhaps i had a brain fart and meant the seals in the master cylinder, fucked if i know. old age and sickness is stuffing me so lets now make that point redundant

[Sully60]

perhaps i had a brain fart and meant the seals in the master cylinder, fucked if i know. old age and sickness is stuffing me so lets now make that point redundant

Aww come 'ere

The first rule of KB is there is no KB, oh hang on that's fight clubSeriously don't take it too seriously.

Just having a giggle dude. It sounds like the 32 months were far from from boring if you've done this much and learned so much about your bike.

[ducatilover]

Aww come 'ere

The first rule of KB is there is no KB, oh hang on that's fight clubSeriously don't take it too seriously.

Just having a giggle dude. It sounds like the 32 months were far from from boring if you've done this much and learned so much about your bike.

im just grumpy because im sick
fight club was a good movie though....
im going to re-paint the frame black again if i feel ok tonight.
fucking stomach ulcer!

[Sully60]

im just grumpy because im sick
fight club was a good movie though....
im going to re-paint the frame black again if i feel ok tonight.
fucking stomach ulcer!

Sorry to hear about the illness so no bourbon or coffeee huh? I'm injured (only enough to keep me off my feet) at the mo so I kinda get where you're at.
So if the frame is going black what colour do you have planned for the wheels?

[ducatilover]

Sorry to hear about the illness so no bourbon or coffeee huh? I'm injured (only enough to keep me off my feet) at the mo so I kinda get where you're at.
So if the frame is going black what colour do you have planned for the wheels?

bugger mate!
black frame, standard gold wheels is my current like and black tank with classic gold decals. and when i can find it im throwing an mc19 or mc22 top fairing at her. black ofcourse