Anybody SPORT-tour on a Falco?

[Jmac_bandit]

Title says it all, and yes I have tried search.

During my musings on craigslist I have seen several of these beauties for quite reasonable prices.  The rotax mill sounds like an absolute blast.  I fully realize that the Mille would be a complete torture rack, but the Futuras are few and far between.  Most of the falcos I have seen are also nicely modded and really well taken care of, usually carbon Akra exhaust, some with quite low miles, and surprisingly low asking prices.

Any significant differences between the falco and falco R?  anybody make racks for them?  I would probably just throw soft luggage on and go?

[Orson]

I think ksann owned one for a while. If I remember correctly, he was quite happy with it.

You might try sending him a message.

Another ST.Ner also owned one for a bit, although I can't remember who it was.

[DFH]

Mate of mine has one... He has done about 50K on it with little problems... hit a cow once ( that was funny 'cos he is a vego).  Sport tours very well indeed with the addition of Ohlins rear shock & adjustable clipons.. the stock bars are worse than the RSV1000. Very good bike at twice the price...

[falcofred]

I picked up a used 2001 with just 2350 miles on it back in 03. The previous owner had installed a one tooth smaller C/S sprocket, Staintune slipons, a Fox twin clicker shock, Two Brothers bar risers, and a Sargent seat.   Perfect, I didn't have to change anything but oil and tires.
I put on a RKA tank bag and tail pack and toured on it in the S.E. USA for a couple of seasons.
No problems other than the clutch slave cylinder which I replaced with an aftermarket one.
It was the best sounding bike I have ever owned, but I missed hard luggage and traded it and some $ for a slightly used 04 Ducati Multistrada.

[scottzilla]

As a former Falco owner I have an opinion on this.
First, the Falco is a very pretty bike.  It's not uncomfortable but it is a sport bike so how far and how long you can go on it varies from person to person.
As delivered the bike is an embarrassment in the. Suspension department so this will have to be addressed.  

[Jmac_bandit]

So how would it stack up against a Buell XB something, Suzy SV, etc?  

My head says go with the tried and true SV, but the Falco stirs my soul( , but the XB's handle great and are practically no maintenance...the conundrum continues.

[Castaway]

So how would it stack up against a Buell XB something, Suzy SV, etc?  

My head says go with the tried and true SV, but the Falco stirs my soul( , but the XB's handle great and are practically no maintenance...the conundrum continues.

Having owned a Superhawk for many years miles, I'm a fan of V-twins. I often looked at the SV1000 and the Falco as comparable bikes that could be replacements for the SH. Due to various conditions, I bought a V-Strom back in Sept and to my surprise the motor wasn't as well sorted as the Honda's. The clutch basket is vibey and the motor 'chudders' around 3500RPM. I believe the SV1000 suffers the same, unfortunately.

[Jmac_bandit]

Having owned a Superhawk for many years miles, I'm a fan of V-twins. I often looked at the SV1000 and the Falco as comparable bikes that could be replacements for the SH. Due to various conditions, I bought a V-Strom back in Sept and to my surprise the motor wasn't as well sorted as the Honda's. The clutch basket is vibey and the motor 'chudders' around 3500RPM. I believe the SV1000 suffers the same, unfortunately.

heard that too, If I went SV I would probably go with a 650.  Only reason the hawk doesn't make the list is the small gas tank and poor fuel economy.

[fxrbill]

I bought a Falco last year have had no issues riding it long distance.It does have risers.I am 57 and my other bike is a ST1300.Have had no issues with the bike other than wrecking.My fault and not the bikes.I did change the rear shock as the stock blue shock is worthless.Average around 40mpg and the bike always feels planted even in the crosswinds.For any issues most answers can be found here http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/index.php . My ST didn't get ridden much last year.

[Mookie]

I loved my black 01 Falco.  Ohlins rear, wave rotors, factory race exhaust and some sticky tires.  One of the best balanced bikes I've ever ridden.

Rode it all over the West coast.  Including a trip from San Diego to Seattle in 36 hours - triple digit sight seeing indeed  

You might be surprised but the falco and the Mille aren't all that different ergonomically.  The Falco has slightly higher bars but they've both got pretty long tanks and do require a bit of a stretch and a lean to reach them.  Never had any reliability problems, great torquey motor that would wheelie everywhere. The only problem I ever had was the pneumatic valve for the slipper clutch went bad - cost me $5 to replace.  In 24k miles it never even needed the valves adjusted.  

[scottzilla]

So how would it stack up against a Buell XB something, Suzy SV, etc?  

My head says go with the tried and true SV, but the Falco stirs my soul( , but the XB's handle great and are practically no maintenance...the conundrum continues.

As a former XB owner I have an opinion about this too!
The XB is very comfortable , much more so than the Falco.  Less wind protection though.

[Guy]

I ran into a guy in '06 that was riding his Falco from Portland OR to Salt Lake City

[fxrbill]

Here is a couple of pics of mine with and without traveling gear.The highmount Gunfighter cans require that I put the tri-pack tour system on top of my sleeping bag.

[Dan K]

If you like the Rotax (you should, it rocks) and want more upright ergos, buy a Gen1 Tuono.  I miss mine.

- Dan

[Jmac_bandit]

If you like the Rotax (you should, it rocks) and want more upright ergos, buy a Gen1 Tuono.  I miss mine.

- Dan

In theory I agree with you as I am normally a big fan of naked bikes, but to me the falco looks like a beautiful italian mistress that will make me do naughty things and the tuono just leaves me "meh".  It's completely irrational (as most italian love affairs are)

[Dan K]

In theory I agree with you as I am normally a big fan of naked bikes, but to me the falco looks like a beautiful italian mistress that will make me do naughty things and the tuono just leaves me "meh".  It's completely irrational (as most italian love affairs are)

Understood - that's how I felt about the Tuono.  It just didn't get the riding time I thought it would when I was mostly commuting and touring.

- Dan

[valdoo]

 

You could, I guess....

[Mookie]

In theory I agree with you as I am normally a big fan of naked bikes, but to me the falco looks like a beautiful italian mistress that will make me do naughty things and the tuono just leaves me "meh".  It's completely irrational (as most italian love affairs are)

Especially the '01 year with the silver frames  

[heinzrx]

Understood - that's how I felt about the Tuono.  It just didn't get the riding time I thought it would when I was mostly commuting and touring.

- Dan

I progressed from an '04 SV1000S to an '03 Falco and then to an '07 Tuono.

I'm 48 yrs old and I've done a few 300-mile days and 800-1000 mile weekends on the Falco with some Cortech bags with no trouble.

I loved the SV1KS but discovered that it's sexier Italian counterpart (Falco) was very affordable. I found that the Falco was very similar to the SV1KS but just a bit better in most aspects namely engine, handling and looks. A lot of folks bitch about the Falco's stock suspension but I felt that it was at least a step up from the SV1KS in the suspension and handling department. I took my Falco to some track day suspension guys to get it set up for my weight and riding habits and the improvement was noticable. For my level of riding the stock suspension (setup correctly) was adequate.

I only had three gripes with the Falco and they're fairly minor. First of all, the electronics need to be sorted out. Some of high-current wiring needs to be redone, along with a good battery and a better starter relay. Secondly, the stock clipons are aggressively positioned so long distance comfort was an issue. I was going to buy some Helibars (had some on my SV1KS) but discovered they're no longer made for the Falco. I ended up getting some Convertibars which helped but I found that the Falco's tank/fairing configuration limit the effectiveness of them. Lastly, for a fuel injected engine, it's a bit cold blooded and it has a fast-idle adjustment lever which seems to act like a choke lever. Just seems a bit odd to have to adjust the lever for cold starts on a fuel injected engine.

Aside from that the Falco is an awesome bike. It handles well, has plenty of oomph and you don't see them all over the place. And I was blown away by the fact that the Falco's stock seat was more comfortable than any aftermarket seat I had tried (including Seargent and Corbin) on previous bikes. And the instrument cluster is pretty cool in my opinion...looks dated but is very functional and has a sort of older fighter jet cockpit vibe to it.

The only reason I switched to the Tuono was because the vast majority of my riding was urban commuting and the more upright ergos of the Tuono came into play... plus the fact that I just happened to come across a deal on a low-mileage specimen on Craigslist. I can still do the occasional 300-mile days on the Tuono.

In the end, I feel the Falco is the sexier, more unique bike with it's unique double-truss frame. For an older bike it has very good lines. If most of my riding was canyon carving (and some distance riding) I would pick it over the Tuono.

Heinz

[splyn]

im on my second falco. It is definately more sport than tour from a seating standpoint. i have used mine for everything: commuting (nothing is fun in traffic), afternoon sport rides, sport touring (gone cross country and back http://west.splyn.com), MSF teaching (the box is NOT easy on it), track day coaching (much more comfortable than my race bike for novice speeds). i cant imagine a better bike. i came from a VFR and the Falco just stirrs my soul in a way that no other bike has.

ive done mods to it over the years, but the best ones have been rear shock and revalve/respring the forks. things that have failed have been clutch slave cylinder, battery, started solenoid, a couple dash board bulbs. check out http://www.apriliaforum.com. the Falco forum is filled with a great bunch of geeks with encyclopedic knowledge of everything about this bike.