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File comment: At 'Seldom Seen' in the Victorian high country Dec 2010
Buchan_343.jpg [ 659.78 KiB | Viewed 2549 times ]
Hi all... I have had my F1 since '97. Had 40,000 kms on it then, 10,600 kms now.
Never missed a beat except for an ignition miss when I used to take it on track days at Phillip Island (since retired from that, I have a 74r for that job now). I gave it a cosmetic rebuild in 2000 as well as a new set of rings. Finding a cracked swing-arm, it turned out to be a worthwhile exercise.
I still ride it. I love doing overnight rides as on day one, I sometimes struggle to get in sync with the F1. Day two I feel like Iam in familiar teritory and it all comes together. It is a bit different to modern riding styles; my normal road ride is a 2002 ST2.
During the 'rebuild' Aussie tuner Bob Brown was helping me and he suggested a new exhaust. The headers are 1/4 inch bigger. The new pipe was built with 'seat of pants feel' by the guy that built Bob's systems in the 1980s for Kevin Magee. It wouldn't rev. Bob remodelled the carb slides to similar shape as a Darmah. Rejetted it was all good. Unusually for an F1, it pulls really strongly from 3000 rpm. Great bike to ride in the hills on an every day ride. It's nowhere near as highly stung as most F1s.
Bob always said 'horse power is not everything, if its easy to ride you can ride it faster'. It works for me!
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File comment: At Buchan before teh ride to Seldom Seen
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