its arrived!

[NeilD]

P1020088 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr

so first ride today...

after having had a couple of Steamers it all felt familiar but different..

suspension feels harder, but in a good way... noticed even when I pushed it off the centrestand that ti didnt instantly dive , so I wonder if its had springs/oil uprgraded..? its got a kayaba shock which looks nice and shiny, so is that what it came with from new?

the seat came set at the highest position, but can get balls of both feet on the ground so will leave it for now..

screen seems to work quite well  for me, although I shall have a peruse of the 'screen threads' later..  likewise what appear to be renthal bars are good, initially I thought I might have to rotate them back slightly but ok at the moment..

fuel gauge.. it was reading about 3/4 full, after about 50 miles it dropped to just over the fist mark so I stopped and put £10 worth in (less than 2 galls) and it was back to 3/4 again???
on a related note, I reset the trip when I put fuel in however when I turn the bike off then restart it defaults to Odo so you lose the trip reading... or am I pressing the wrong buttons?

so pretty good first impressions, BUT and its a big but, I'm not sure if I can live with the odd behaviour when trying to stick to  30/40/50 mph.. looking through the threads on here its seems to be a common problem, although I'm not sure if mine is just the normal 'issue' or if its worse.. when the bloke dropped it off today he commented that he gave it a run around yesterday and mentionned how smooth the engines are and had none of the usual FI snatchiness.. this is now making me wonder if its actually 'me' thats the problem rather than the bike  :(  other than that it starts, ticks over, pulls away and runs fine on an open throttle, its just at slower speeds I was constantly trying to find a gear in which it would run nicely..  need to find someone local with the same bike and let them ride mine and see what they think.. if it is normal, then I'm afraid it wont be staying..

[Timbox2]

If it hasnt got it, get an Open can and the offroad tune, but, I see it has a scottoiler, they have caused a few probs on girlies as they have to be plumbed into the idle circuit and if there are any leaks, its kangaroo time.

Luverly looking bike though, stick with it, It'll never be as smooth as well set up carbs, but it can be made Ok.

[Brooks Short]

P1020088 by GUZZINEIL, on Flickr

 BUT and its a big but, I'm not sure if I can live with the odd behaviour when trying to stick to  30/40/50 mph.. looking through the threads on here its seems to be a common problem, although I'm not sure if mine is just the normal 'issue' or if its worse.. when the bloke dropped it off today he commented that he gave it a run around yesterday and mentionned how smooth the engines are and had none of the usual FI snatchiness.. this is now making me wonder if its actually 'me' thats the problem rather than the bike  ..

Make sure you arent't lugging the engine at those low speeds. Keep the rpms above 3500-4000.

[Chris Canning]

Alot of what you discribe is a man who's just making the conversion from carbs to injection.

My traillie conversion was when I went from an Africa Twin to an 885i in 99,and an FJ1200 to an 1100s,I rode a steamer a while back,I wasn't sure if the throttle was connected to the motor by 3rd class stamp or Pony Express you just get so used to fuel injection it's so much more instant quirks and all.

You need time to learn how to ride it,be it dabbing the back brake to get the bike to squat before using the front,or just how you use the throttle,people complain about the motor hunting at set speeds,DON' DO IT  :D ,it's like tooth ache and you just keep agravating it with your finger.

Tim said about the tune and open can,he's right and I'd do 15wt in the forks,taking the blanking plate out of the air box,but most of all a 19t engine sprocket,talk about life becoming relaxed,even at 90!!

But really what it's all about is welcome to the 21st century,thats not said as a sarcasm,but I've been were you are now,10 years ago and there's no way back.

Nice bike,by the way  

Forgot,I have athe Tiger,K1200r sport,R1100s and an XT660x,on a fixed throttle setting they all hunt.

[NeilD]

yep its the 'hunting at fixed throttle' thing that I'm struggling with... its something that I picked up on when I test rode the 800 and put it down to poor prep rather than it being a 'feature'  :D  I've a week off work and looks like we might have a decent couple of days weather so will get some miles on it and see how we go...

ref the '12 minute' reset mentionned elsewhere - what does that do and is it worth me doing it?

[rf9rider]

Nice looking bike mate.
How does it compare to the Steamer weight wise?

[Chris Canning]

yep its the 'hunting at fixed throttle' thing that I'm struggling with... its something that I picked up on when I test rode the 800 and put it down to poor prep rather than it being a 'feature'  :D  I've a week off work and looks like we might have a decent couple of days weather so will get some miles on it and see how we go...

ref the '12 minute' reset mentionned elsewhere - what does that do and is it worth me doing it?

Which ever tune you have in makes a difference,and the 02 plug that you can buy  to fool the ECU makes a huge difference,but I didn't like it,it knocked the edge off the motor.

But mine hunts at fixed throttle,and hence why I don't do it,i'm either on or off and there isn't a problem.

But what interests me is the 'Old dog new tricks' syndrome,I'd been riding carbed bikes for 30 years before I made the change,how old are you  :D

[NeilD]

I passed my bike test in 1979...  :)  had a break whilst I did cars but had carbed bikes for the last 20 years... :lol:  

RF9 - doesnt feel any heavier, seems easier to push around and you can get full lock on the steeering as the master cyls dont hit the fairing like a steamer..    :)

[KuzzinKenny]

Hey NeilD !! congrats  

did it come with the panniers ? i see the brackets are there !!

keep the coolant between the Min and Max or it'll spit it out  :lol:

keep the chain slack  :shock:  :roll:

and mind an always shut the bike off with the key ( not the kill switch )

now go have some fun  

KK

[NeilD]

yep its got panniers KK, just wont fit through the back gate or in the shed with 'em on..  :)

[Chris Canning]

I passed my bike test in 1979...  :)  had a break whilst I did cars but had carbed bikes for the last 20 years... :lol:  

A mere sprog  :D you were talking like your 80 :lol: ,you should adapt easy,just make sure the bike is set up right and get another to ride it  as you said.,or better still have a ride down to Bixxer Bob(John).

As KK said check the chain,it looks way to tight to me.

[metalguru]

Fixed the hunting with a bit of map play and made the performance alot better and smoother without the vibes of factory lean running. Now getting 48mpg (UK) at 100mph cruise one up no luggage!!

[iansoady]

As others have said, the surging is caused by the map (air/fuel mixture). The good news is you don't have to fart around with jets, needles and slide cutaways - the bad(?) news is you need to attach a computer to it.

The standard Tiger map has a big weak hole in it around 2 - 3,500 rpm in order to meet emission regulations. You can see this using a tool like Tuneboy (quite expensive) or TuneECU (quite cheap).

There's loads of stuff here and on triumphrat.net about this issue but essentially at that rev range the engine is trying to run in "closed loop" mode and is monitoring the O2 sensor to decide whether the mixture is richer or weaker than its target, and continually trying to get it right.

My (somewhat earlier) 955i has a map which keeps the mixture richer in that range and also doesn't try to run in closed loop mode except at idle. Result: silky smooth from 2,000 (or even 1,500) rpm upwards even on constant throttle.

[Bixxer Bob]

....or  have a ride down to Bixxer Bob(John)..

Just give me a ring, it's a nice ride down here from Lincolnshire, about 70 miles from Sleaford.  My daughter lives in Navenby so I do the run quite often.  You can give mine a go for a back-to-back comparison.

[NeilD]

cheers BB, will most likely take you up on that offer however, its going back to the people I got it from on Wednesday as I got home on Saturday after a 200 mile run out and it dumped most of the coolant out of the resevoir...the gauge only got up to about halfway but the fan seemed to stay on for ages, and I'd only stopped and left it running whilst I opened the gate, probably about a minute..  :x yes probably 'rad cap' related reading through posts on here, but I currently dont have the room (or inclination!) to start pulling the thing to bits, so as it came with a warranty I'll give them the oportunity to try and sort it out first..   good job I hadnt actually booked to go anywhere on my week off..