Not a Sprint

[Sin_Tiger]

Like Lee, I've come over all EFI. If I'm honest, I've always had a love hate relationship with carbs, they never seem to do what they say on the tin, no matter how many articles I read about them.

While the 1200 4 pot Trophy has turned out well, although there's still a fair bit of work I want to do at the front end, she's proving very reliable, comfy and plenty quick enough, if a tad thirsty. I think she's still running a bit rich and may have to resort to a specialist with a rolling road to make a significant improvement.

Enough about Edna, the reason for this thread is to tell a bit of a story about the 1999 955i Sprint ST that I recently purchased.

I'd been looking around for a while and missed a couple when there were a few on the market locally at sensible money. That seems to have changed, not sure if it's just the time of year or people are starting to realise how under rated they are compared to used VFR's of the same era. Never having owned a 955i, I managed to blag a ride on a friends high mileage (80k miles) Sprint ST. I was suitably impressed, if this is how a high miler performs  , the riding position (all be it with 25mm bar risers) was a lot more comfortable than I was expecting and the weather protection more than adequate for long rides, I was sold 

I really would have liked to have gotten an Aston Green version, I've only seen a couple and I think that colour suits the bike as opposed to traditional BRG. Failing that my next choice was for the Pacific Blue, the red looks a bit Mondeo to me and the silver a bit too VW. I had already narrowed my search down to an average mileage at a price that reflected how much work / money I'd have to throw at it and had a preference for the earlier Gen 1 even despite the Gen 2 being quite a bit up on power. If it already had panniers, so much the better but not a show stopper as I have a stock of bits that I could put together to make that work.

When this one came up, I got in touch with the then owner and established he was a decent sort, was open and forthcoming about the bike and what he told me about his ownership and what little history he knew, which was reflected in the MoT history. I decided to do a detour on my way home from a short break on the east coast in Brora to visit him in Arbroath. It turned out to be worthwhile, bike was pretty much as described, a bit scruffy around the edges but nothing that suggested it shouldn't own the MoT that was about to expire. It started and ran as expected, we went into a bit more detail about the not so good bits and he wasn't precious or dismissive. We struck a deal, on the agreement that he'd keep the bike until I could arrange to collect it and pay the balance, since he already had a bike that he was more comfortable with, he was happy and more so that it wasn't going to get broken for spares, nobody wants to hear that 

Several weeks later with a friends trailer hitched up and cash in my pocket, we made the 3.5 hr trip across country to collect it, the MoT had expired and there were more parts than I could carry on the back of it. Otherwise it was a perfectly roadworthy machine and bless that man, rather than just leaving it at the back of his abode, he'd taken it for a ride around on private roads to keep everything operating correctly.

With it back home and tucked up in the garage I made initial assessments and am trying very hard to stick to my plan of getting two of my other bikes moved on before taking anything apart, hence the Title, this isn't going to be a fast turn around.

What have I got? It's all there and working, nothing "hingin aff", the panniers and mountings that came with it unfitted have seen the rough end of a rattle can and wasn't 100% complete but I managed to put together all the bits needed to get the job done. The tyres are fairly recent and hardly worn, the shock appears to be a Nitron replacement, the forks are OK but need new seals which came in the deal, brakes are all working fine, there's a Scottoiler but the under seat position isn't ideal, no heated grips, it has a dark tint double bubble screen and an after market spoiler which I'm not sure I'll need, an almost new top box which will probably get moved on, it already has 25mm bar risers which is a bonus and the R&G frame sliders. There are a few scratches as you'd expect but no "tarmac tartan" on the side panels, a handful of small non structural cracks that are fixable, the Scorpion end can has a few dints in it and could probably benefit from a repack, the tank has a few bubbles but not as bad as some I've seen. The belly pan is a good replacement that has been repainted properly and is a good match for the rest of the bodywork , it's suspected the reason for this is that some previous owner has been bumping it over a high kerb, which also explains why the downpipes have heat bandage wrapping and why it came with a good used replacement downpipe. The battery, although charging up OK, will beat me to a care home by a long way. The fuel gauge was showing full and I immediately assumed it was faulty wiring as they are prone to that but to my surprise when I popped the filler open it looks to be less than 1 litre off brim full, whether the gauge actually reflects the contents is yet to be proven, hands up anyone who has bought a used bike with a full tank    no I didn't think so 

Well, it's now under a cover and I'm doing my best to keep it that way for a while, so don't hold your breath.

[Lee337]

Despite Tabitha being a 4 pot 1200, I actually prefer the 3 pot 955i engine.

Even with Tabitha Trophy being set up on a rolling road, she has less power than Tallulah Tiger.

I think you'll enjoy both the torque & power delivery when you get her sorted.

[London_Phil]

I loved my Steamer, but oh dear me, the carbs.... Replaced them, changed from Mikunis to Keihins, never ran right unless used every day, and even then...
800XC, leave for a Month, hit the starter and good to go.., other than the old Harley, who's carb is basically a funnel from the tank, with no adjustment except idle jet, which is easily reached, and has a big adjuster on the end, I really don't think I want Carbs again.

[Sin_Tiger]

the old Harley, who's carb is basically a funnel from the tank, with no adjustment except idle jet, which is easily reached, and has a big adjuster on the end, I really don't think I want Carbs again.

If you keep carb bikes today, I think one of the best investments you can make is an ultrasonic cleaner, send two sets of carbs to a specialist for cleaning and you can buy a decent machine with the same money 

[Sin_Tiger]

Well I couldn't help myself  started looking for bits I don't have and checking ebay for prices.

The front indicators being integral to the front panel I like and the fact that they're clear lenses is also nice as they don't look out of place regardless of colour but the rear are those square rear ones and don't look like they belong.

Since I will have to move the rears onto the extension brackets and the ones that are currently fitted have already been broken and shortened, I thought I'd look for replacements. In the process I came across these clear lensed semi oval stalk items which were fitted to some later models such as the Daytona 650, Sprint ST 1050 and possibly the early 1050 Tigers. As you can see they're not a million miles away from the front flush units in both shape and pattern and they look like they belong with the stop and tail being an uncoloured lens (aftermarket I suspect), so a pair of those are now in the project box for that bike.

[Lee337]

I like the look of them. I tried to get hold of clear lenses for the Tiger a while back but couldn't find any. Squaredeals-UK had them on their website but after ordering them I got an email to say they were no longer available. These look like a suitable alternative & think they certainly suit the Sprint more than the originals.

[ghulst]

Well, that "no work on this bike" policy lasted all of four days. Well done!
Well done on the purchase as well. That looks like a pretty sweet purchase. Obviously there are somethings that need to get sorted, but I've seen worse. It might be the angle of the photograph, but that top case looks as if it almost fits the bike itself. It is huge. :D