9 replies to this topic

[AndyInShropshire]

Hello all, I've just done my first proper few rides on my '03 900. I'm hidden away near Craven Arms; previously I was Cambs area with a long-term Ducati ST4S, before that a 916, VFR750, TDM850 (sold 2006) and various '70s to '90s bikes. I still have the Triumph 675 Daytona in my pic next to the TDM, but it doesn't quite fit most of the riding I do these days. Way back I raced a bit at amateur level, 250s and 600s.

 

My 900 has covered 52k miles in its 22 years, has partial history and seems in good fettle. Quietest engine I've ever known, possibly, and the bike seems to do everything better than my old 850 did. Felt great on a run across towards Machynlleth/Dolgellau on Sunday; very easy to cover miles on this bike. With a 31" inside leg and surrounded by tiny/gravelly roads I feel like I could use an inch or two lower seat height, and a pal nearby has lowering bones which we may try. Seat is an aftermarket 'MotOK', very comfy but not sure it that's just a cover or a repad too. It sits on the the usual 8mm rubber bungs (6 of).

 

Quirks? Not much so far. At low speed it has the usual snatchiness; I've got as far as confirming the ECU has the black/brown wire disconnected, but would like to investigate further. It has standard pipes but I have some Remus ones which I'll try at some point. Tyres are an odd mix of newish Metz 888 front and squared-off Angel ST rear, which you can feel a little in the handling. Suspension feels fine at moderate pace but I'd like more/better damping at the front especially for more enthusiastic riding. For the moment though, I'll familiarise some more and enjoy...

 

 

[Catteeclan]

Welcome Andy. You may well start the old which is best fight but the 900 is my favourite too.

I've had 3 and my 2002 is by far the worst for the snatching but I'm kind of used to it. Trevini keeps his totally standard and has good results. Fixitsan has had an ECU remapped which stops the fuel cut on overrun and delivers more power. I had a power commander on my earlier 2 which also helped but never cured it but others had their bikes on a dyno and made a bespoke map.
There's also the intake air temp sensor move to a cooler spot trick.
Plenty of options to try. 

[fixitsan]

"Fixitsan has had an ECU remapped which stops the fuel cut on overrun and delivers more power."

 

My remapped ECU is on the shelf, unused, currently. When I bought the current bike it came with a PC3 fitted, which is pretty good. I implemented fuel cut defeat by cutting the wire between the neutral switch and the ECU and then grounding the ECU side, very simple. I've advanced the timing 4 degrees too

 

So the Samios remapped ECU is probably up for sale I guess. I ran it in place of the PC3 and the differences were minimal, to be honest,

Iit's the equivalent of a PC3 and hardwired fuel cut defeat together. The Samios ECU has smoother timing maps than the standard ECU from what I understand, so it's an all-in-one solution to smoother riding.

Edited by fixitsan, 14 May 2025 - 10:33 am.

[fixitsan]

Hello all,

 

Suspension feels fine at moderate pace but I'd like more/better damping at the front especially for more enthusiastic riding.

 

 

 

Hello there

 

To improve the front end (I was 17 stone at the time) I played with fork oil weight, and came up with the idea of filling one leg with 15W, and the other with 30W.

 

30W is very heavy but together with the 15W leg it gives you the ability to use the adjusters like one for firm damping and the other for lighter duty. I still use this, it still helps to prevent front end dive under braking, and slows the rebound to take out  the bouncy feeling I had with both legs using 15W.

 

Might be worth a try it might just be enough to give a bit more confidence.

[dapleb]

Hello dare. West of Shrewsbury ear. If ewe want a pootle lettuce snow. I won't even mention you being wrong about the 9er vs 850. ;0)

[leehenty]

Ooh he’s opened that old chestnut…..

[Snowbird]

Ooh he’s opened that old chestnut…..

Daps is right though......

[dablik]

Daps is right though......

Yea but..........he meant 850 pallabel engwin 

Welcome back Andy, lovely neck of the woods your in, been and stayed in Clun a good few times for ride outs..

[trevini]

Hello all, I've just done my first proper few rides on my '03 900. I'm hidden away near Craven Arms; previously I was Cambs area with a long-term Ducati ST4S, before that a 916, VFR750, TDM850 (sold 2006) and various '70s to '90s bikes. I still have the Triumph 675 Daytona in my pic next to the TDM, but it doesn't quite fit most of the riding I do these days. Way back I raced a bit at amateur level, 250s and 600s.

 

My 900 has covered 52k miles in its 22 years, has partial history and seems in good fettle. Quietest engine I've ever known, possibly, and the bike seems to do everything better than my old 850 did. Felt great on a run across towards Machynlleth/Dolgellau on Sunday; very easy to cover miles on this bike. With a 31" inside leg and surrounded by tiny/gravelly roads I feel like I could use an inch or two lower seat height, and a pal nearby has lowering bones which we may try. Seat is an aftermarket 'MotOK', very comfy but not sure it that's just a cover or a repad too. It sits on the the usual 8mm rubber bungs (6 of).

 

Quirks? Not much so far. At low speed it has the usual snatchiness; I've got as far as confirming the ECU has the black/brown wire disconnected, but would like to investigate further. It has standard pipes but I have some Remus ones which I'll try at some point. Tyres are an odd mix of newish Metz 888 front and squared-off Angel ST rear, which you can feel a little in the handling. Suspension feels fine at moderate pace but I'd like more/better damping at the front especially for more enthusiastic riding. For the moment though, I'll familiarise some more and enjoy...

 

 

Hi Andy.

 

As Catteclan mentioned, my 900 is completely stock (other than a K+N air filter). Mine has never been bad for snatching compared to some, but what I found helped with mine was paying meticulous attention to the throttle body balance. The TPS setting also benefitted mine by being in the upper portion of the range specified in the manual. I tried the air box mod and it made little or no difference too mine, so I put it back to standard. Every bike seems to be individual by the seems of things. The bike is just coming up to 73K miles now, of which I've done all of them except for just under the first 500 and has never really deviated from being  how it is now to ride. The engines are happier in the 3.5-6k rev range generally, so apart from slow town riding, never really spends a lot of time below 3k and almost never below 2k except when idling. 

 

I have run Remus Revolutions in the past (still have them in the shed) and found they made the lean surge around 2800 rpm worse. Definite improvement on the top end with a power commander fitted (also sitting in my shed) just running the PC supplied fuel map for the cans. 

Suspension wise, I have YSS emulators in the forks and it's a vast improvement on the front end for relatively  little money. I also run an MT09 Ohlins rear shock which seems to work well too. Setting the suspension for your weight is well worth the effort.

Edited by trevini, 15 May 2025 - 09:30 am.

[LAURENCEAUX]

Welcome Andy. You may well start the old which is best fight but the 900 is my favourite too.

I've had 3 and my 2002 is by far the worst for the snatching but I'm kind of used to it. Trevini keeps his totally standard and has good results. Fixitsan has had an ECU remapped which stops the fuel cut on overrun and delivers more power. I had a power commander on my earlier 2 which also helped but never cured it but others had their bikes on a dyno and made a bespoke map.
There's also the intake air temp sensor move to a cooler spot trick.
Plenty of options to try. 

My '09 900A is bog standard and I've learned to keep it near 3000rpm, with gear choices, especially when crawling through town traffic. The old girl is the best bike overall that I've ever had. Happy riding lads and lasses.

Edited by LAURENCEAUX, 15 May 2025 - 09:40 am.