By Andylav on Saturday, August 03, 2002 - 10:06 am:

Hi guys,
Called into McWilliams this morning on the way to Forest side for grocery shopping (yawn).
Hadn't got Ronnie's message so was surprised that the bike was 99 at that sort of money (even allowing for dealer's inflated mark)
Still, had a good look round and it's certainly tanked up with extras. SL pipes - nice, but prefer the fighter cans. Sachs shock - good, lower fairing - nice, seat cowl - super, talon sprockets and new chain - great, good tyres with lots of life - hmmmm. Getting interested.
Then I sat on it and my left wrist nearly locked right away (it's the worst of the two). Had a good look for potential for conversion to flat bars and true enough, not much room to prevent fouling without shortening the screen and fairing and it looks as if new cables are in order. I wouldn't trust the shop to do it right for me (the mechanic, if it's the same one, is the guy I have a bit of history with and I wouldn't trust him not to fec it up on purpose) so I don't know really.
I also know both your bikes are red but it wouldn't be my first choice in the Falco. Prefer the black or blue, or even the red of the new MIlle. Had it been one or other of those I might have started to talk to see how much room there was for negotiations but the big Aussie wasn't paying me much attention and I think it's a lot of money for a bike that's three and a bit years old, even with the extras.
So what do you think. It's obviously a very clean, special and well cared for bike - do you think it's a fair price or what would you consider reasonable?
I might end up just waiting for the mass production version of the Tuono. Decisions, decisions - can't find a used Speed Triple for decent money either!
I'm actually kicking myself for not jumping at the chance to buy Cherubs bike that was on here a couple of weeks back. Blue, 02, 800 miles, fighter cans, chip, numberplate hanger and pillion pegs - £4750 or £4950, can't remember which. By the time I'd looked at the price of flying to London and a ferry home it was sold. No surprise really as that was a hell of a deal.
Cheers for now, off for an Indian and a few beers (Not at the Ganges in Ards though as they've just been fined for having rat shit all over their stored meat! Want to catch up with both soon as I'm just down the road
Andy  

By Prilliant on Saturday, August 03, 2002 - 01:44 pm:

Hi Andy. Glad you told me about The Ganges. I was planning to go next week!!!

The red Falcos are actually 2000 models. It may be registered late 99. My own bike is a late 2000 registered Feb 2001. Given that I know a bit of history on the Falco in McWills place I can say for sure it's agood bike. I guess the price is a bit high, I only paid £5100 for mine with less than 2000 miles up, just over a year ago. Then again if you were to add the pipes and stuff it'd cost more than a grand. The big problem is that Falcos are still pretty rare so finding another could take a while.

As for comfort, I have a pinned right wrist from a bad smash 3 years ago but have found the Priller surprisingly good on the move. The hardest part was getting used to the relativly heavy clutch action. It might be worth your while investing in the Gilles bar raisers. The Tuono seems to have a riding position based on the Mille. Obviosly the bars are a bit higher but it still looks pretty front endy. Can't see it being as versatile as the Falco either.

Whatever you decide, good luck. And don't forget if you want a test ride just give me a shout.

Neil  

By Befbever on Saturday, August 03, 2002 - 11:44 pm:

Just thought of something, Andylav: my dealer recently had an accidented Mille converted into a streetfighter, with regular handlebars (not clipons) on the top yoke. No fairing as such. But quite easily to obtain, I would imagine.

I fear the Falco won't be suited for normal handlebars, which I suspect you'd need. The fairing will get in the way.

So, you might want to try and find one of those. I'll see if it's still for sale when he's back from Suzuka.

The Tuono will be a long wait, I'm afraid. I don't think there are any plans just yet for mass-producing a cheaper version.

Hope this helps.

Oh btw, how about Singlesman's Falco at a mere £2999 ? Check the classified ads.
I smell another commission.  

By Pmcc2002 on Monday, August 05, 2002 - 02:13 am:

Just my 2 pence worth. I know the guy that owned the bike and i,m sure if you had any doubts about that falco he would talk to you about it. Its a guy called Uell McCormick from ards. He owns Mcormicks garage beside karmania. It was an aprilia uk bike and i believe has been tuned also. He's now on a 99 mille but still enthuses about the falco. Hes in yellow pages... try him  

By Ronnie on Sunday, August 11, 2002 - 01:47 am:

Hi lads
Just back from holidays in da South.Weather was good,wish I had the bike with me.
Anyway,first thing I did,even before unpacking was to fit the Renegade airbox (ta Griz).
Holding the petrol tank up with the bungee cords is a real good idea,saw it somewhere here.Oh and I HATE the way the seat is held on,must be a better way.
Still not sure whether to keep the vel stack O rings in or not but my God the noise,oh the NOISE.
Sounds like a Dyson on steroids.
Dunno how long I will stick it but when that box starts to howl you just keep openin the throttle,sorry officer.
Renegade sucks,bigtime!!
Good luck Andy,dont think the Falco is goin to suit you.
I would highly recommend a BMW R1150GS.One of the best bikes on da planet.Will outrun a lot of stuff on twisties and be dead easy on your wrists.
The Beemers are a bit dear tho,any big trailie would do you.Mate of mine has one of those Cagiva things with the 900SS Ducati engine. Sounds well and goes like a rocket.Was only £2500.00. A well sorted Triumph Tiger would be good with a decent pipe on it.
Please dont buy a Bandit,common as shite.
I could sell you a KTM 640CC Supermoto if you really want a laugh!
Where are the dry lines,where are the feckin dry roads???
Ronnie 

By Prilliant on Sunday, August 11, 2002 - 06:14 am:

What about a Capo Nord???  

By Ronnie on Sunday, August 11, 2002 - 10:27 am:

Agreed Neil,not a bad bike. Looks a MFI wardrobe though.

Was down the sea front today,dead quiet.Apart from me of course!

Ronnie 

By Prilliant on Sunday, August 11, 2002 - 11:16 am:

Ronnie,

Hard to be quiet on your baby. Gotta hear the Rene air kit. I'm tempted to buy one myself but the suspension needs sorting first. Going to have a word with Clarence Bell re. Ohlins shock and fork springs. I'm actually quite surprised the originals have lasted as long as they have. Almost 20,000 miles up now and still working as well as can be expected. Problem is I had a run on Uel's Mille with Ohlins shock and it really is a quality bit of kit. You can feel the quality just riding along a straight road. Hit a few bumps and the shock smothers them like the stock shock couldn't dream of.

Incidentally Ronnie and Andy, I've started planning a trip to the Mugello and Catalunya GPs next June. Should last just short of 3 weeks all in. So far it looks like 6 bikes going. Falco, Blackbird, Futura (maybe x 2), 998, FJ1200 and posibly an R1.
I'll be plotting a route and getting things sorted so I can start making bookings after Xmas.
If you (or anyone else for that matter) are interested let me know and I'll add you to the list. We are already planning to let the big twins really rip in the Mont Blanc tunnel. My mate Ross tells me that when you hit the rev limiter on the Falco it sometimes shoots flames out of both pipes!!! He was behind me going through a tunnel in northern Spain and got the fright of his life.

I think you could say the touring bug has really bitten hard.

C'mon. You know it makes sense.  

By Ronnie on Monday, August 12, 2002 - 01:09 am:

Hi Neil
would love to do the trip,awkward time for me with daughter at uni and cant get 3 weeks at a time off work.
Will hopefully get a ride out soon.
Dan (Futura) and Shane (1150GS) and my self will be goin down South soon for a weekend of bikes and pints.Will keep you informed.

Ronnie  

By Andylav on Monday, August 12, 2002 - 04:41 am:

Hi guys,
Sorry haven't been posting for a bit - the garden fence saga took all of my efforts over the last few weeks but thankfully it's now finished.
Had a really good hard think about changing the bike and since I'm off to Disneyland in three weeks and won't be back to end Sept., I don't think it's going to be worth while to change so late in the year. So Hornet it is until Easter, at least, but it's well sorted, looking exactly how I want, clean and low miles so that's no hardship.
Uel's Falco is simply beautiful and well worth the money if it was going to be left alone and ridden in that fashion. Unfortunately, I really, really, really love the Falco Fighter look and to buy Uel's bike, spend another £1500 on the bits of the Fighter kit that I like (front kit and pipes)and then undo all of Uel's efforts is both criminal in what it would cost me and what it would do to a superbly set up bike.
So, what's next. Test rides on all of the usual suspects (unless a clean, standard 00-01 Falco in black or blue appears somewhere for £4k) are the Fazer 1000, Hornet 900 and Speed Triple. The Triumph is the only one that I would buy and be happy with in standard form (well, with high level end can) but they're ridiculously expensive and even rarer than Falcos for year old models (plus GS is the only registered dealer over here and I'm not overly enamoured with them). The Fazer and Hornet would both require fairly extensive cosmetic mods to make me happy, which is in turn, yet more expense over the cost of changing.
I think I'll hold fire, wait until the new Bandit (with the GXR1000 engine in) and the new naked Kawasaki (with ZXR9 engine in) are released and viwed in the flesh (Going to NEC this year in Nov)and then try to get a definitive answer as to Aprilia's future plans for a cheaper Tuono. It really would be my ideal - big twin engine, naked'ish looks, flat bars, and hopefully, Falco'ish cost.
Still want to meet you both though and get a blat on one, or both of your mounts. Have your numbers and will get my finger out.
Cheers
Andy
Pie and pints on a bike in the South - hmmmmmmm  

By Andylav on Wednesday, August 21, 2002 - 02:20 pm:

The plot thickens - have seen pics of a falco with flat bar conversion that doesn't foul the fairing or screen. And a custom shop in England can drill and tapp the top yoke and supply riser clamps for £100 all in.
Bugger - back to square one.  

By Prilliant on Thursday, August 22, 2002 - 04:07 am:

They're hard to resist. I had 30 mins on a demonstrator and that was me hooked. Had to buy one. Hope you might have found a good solution to the low bar problem. Remember the test ride offer is still open.