A few thoughts on MY Brutale 910s
I am not a mechanic so there maybe some small technical inaccuracies in this text - go easy on me!
- So I have a friendly connection with my local independent bike shop, and the owner is a factory trained MV [and Duc] mechanic.
I relay some of the issues [posted on our board] we have with our bikes and listen intently to my 'Sage of Wisdom' and hang on every word.
So for the last few saturdays I have spent some time with their help and effort moulding my Brutale more to my liking.
Suspension: pic1 gives you an idea of spring preload.
Although I haven't measured the exact spring rates on the Marzocchi and Sachs units, properly setting up the sag has made a huge difference in
the ride quality - even then I was still getting some nasty jaring over freeway expansion joints so on advice added a couple of clicks to the rear high and low speed compression which dramatically changed the situation - now I have great compliance, excellent corner entry, apex and most especially on exit.
This was my big problem with my brute - corner exits. Getting on the throttle hard at the apex made the bike so light on the front that it would often head shake and made me nervous, and made me think that getting a steering damper a necessity. With the rear squat removed, by adding pre-load, I now find the bike tracks brilliantly out of a turn and the front stays planted. I did have to back off the rear ride height adjuster quite a bit to restore the bikes 'neutral' attitude after the pre-load changes and to slow down the steering to get more stability.
While the suspension is not perfect, it is damn good and I can now rail through turns with excellent corner speed! wicked! and fun!
Driveline:
Adjusting the chain slack is a cinch - anti-clockwise rotation with the tool is apparently the way to do it and greatly reduces driveline snatchyness.
Gearing and tps pic 2
Sometimes I find my Brute a bit of a handful - it always wants to GO! and sometimes I want to just 'poodle' [english expression] along at a more 'relaxed' pace. I started to think about going to a larger front sprocket or smaller rear, but a 16 won't fit on the front [not enough clearance apparently]
so am thinking about going down from the 43T standard to a 40Tf4. Something I didn't know is that you should always have odd/odd or even/even
number front and rear otherwise the chain only engages on every other tooth shortening chain and sprocket life. Live and learn. So a 41 or a 39 then.
When I mentioned all this - 'hey my bikes too much of a handful and I'm a pussy' My guy said ' what's the TPS degree setting? 'Don't know' said I.
When measured [using the diagnostic tool] the TPS he found that it was set to 2.3degs, effectively richening across the range - he reset it to 2.0 degrees. [Factory is 2.1]
With this done the bike is sooo much easier to ride - the change has 'extruded' and 'extended' the throttle take up range so the bike doesn't feel so ON/OFF and the power comes on more progressively greatly enhancing rideability [and a bit better fuel economy too!] [your findings may vary] I personally like this slightly softened feel - you may not.
Also take into account that my bike has a custom 'Airfuel' Fuel injection map.
This mod also negates the need to unclip the second throttle return spring because the throttle is much easier to modulate.
I will still try a new rear sprocket - a 41T so I can ride longer distances on a tankful and bring down the cruising revs a tad - 150 or 200 per tooth. approx. 110 miles to a stop for gas is not a long enough distance for me on a Sunday morning.
Electrical issues: pic3
To be fair I haven't had any like some of you guys but it seems that water in the cpu is closely connected to the problems - you can see in the picture how easy it is to get water in the rubber boot
from riding or cleaning the bike so you all need to go out and buy some dialectic grease and squirt some around the seal, This may stave off future problems a bit.
Handlebars and levers.
I cut all the pins out of the bars so I could rotate the bars towards me a bit - more comfortable for me. This also improved the rear view in the mirrors quite a lot. Although they still shake. The guys at the shop told me to pay attention to the motor-mount bolts torque settings as this can have a substantial impact on vibration - especially if you have fitted frame sliders. I'm going to fill the bars with
lead shot to try and quell the vibration a bit. Soft grips help but are to wide on the throttle side and make my hand hurt from the thickness - I'm going back to stock. Airfuel had some cool grips but I can't remember which type.
Sidestand
Pay attention to the side stand bolts - you have been warned - again.
Tires/tyres
Mine are almost shot at 2645 miles - will go cheap and cheerful PilotPowers - do Michelin make a 190/55? that would be cool, um yummy more edge grip...
The last picture is entitled 'How to garage your Buell page 45 of the owners manual'
Matthew
I am not a mechanic so there maybe some small technical inaccuracies in this text - go easy on me!
- So I have a friendly connection with my local independent bike shop, and the owner is a factory trained MV [and Duc] mechanic.
I relay some of the issues [posted on our board] we have with our bikes and listen intently to my 'Sage of Wisdom' and hang on every word.
So for the last few saturdays I have spent some time with their help and effort moulding my Brutale more to my liking.
Suspension: pic1 gives you an idea of spring preload.
Although I haven't measured the exact spring rates on the Marzocchi and Sachs units, properly setting up the sag has made a huge difference in
the ride quality - even then I was still getting some nasty jaring over freeway expansion joints so on advice added a couple of clicks to the rear high and low speed compression which dramatically changed the situation - now I have great compliance, excellent corner entry, apex and most especially on exit.
This was my big problem with my brute - corner exits. Getting on the throttle hard at the apex made the bike so light on the front that it would often head shake and made me nervous, and made me think that getting a steering damper a necessity. With the rear squat removed, by adding pre-load, I now find the bike tracks brilliantly out of a turn and the front stays planted. I did have to back off the rear ride height adjuster quite a bit to restore the bikes 'neutral' attitude after the pre-load changes and to slow down the steering to get more stability.
While the suspension is not perfect, it is damn good and I can now rail through turns with excellent corner speed! wicked! and fun!
Driveline:
Adjusting the chain slack is a cinch - anti-clockwise rotation with the tool is apparently the way to do it and greatly reduces driveline snatchyness.
Gearing and tps pic 2
Sometimes I find my Brute a bit of a handful - it always wants to GO! and sometimes I want to just 'poodle' [english expression] along at a more 'relaxed' pace. I started to think about going to a larger front sprocket or smaller rear, but a 16 won't fit on the front [not enough clearance apparently]
so am thinking about going down from the 43T standard to a 40Tf4. Something I didn't know is that you should always have odd/odd or even/even
number front and rear otherwise the chain only engages on every other tooth shortening chain and sprocket life. Live and learn. So a 41 or a 39 then.
When I mentioned all this - 'hey my bikes too much of a handful and I'm a pussy' My guy said ' what's the TPS degree setting? 'Don't know' said I.
When measured [using the diagnostic tool] the TPS he found that it was set to 2.3degs, effectively richening across the range - he reset it to 2.0 degrees. [Factory is 2.1]
With this done the bike is sooo much easier to ride - the change has 'extruded' and 'extended' the throttle take up range so the bike doesn't feel so ON/OFF and the power comes on more progressively greatly enhancing rideability [and a bit better fuel economy too!] [your findings may vary] I personally like this slightly softened feel - you may not.
Also take into account that my bike has a custom 'Airfuel' Fuel injection map.
This mod also negates the need to unclip the second throttle return spring because the throttle is much easier to modulate.
I will still try a new rear sprocket - a 41T so I can ride longer distances on a tankful and bring down the cruising revs a tad - 150 or 200 per tooth. approx. 110 miles to a stop for gas is not a long enough distance for me on a Sunday morning.
Electrical issues: pic3
To be fair I haven't had any like some of you guys but it seems that water in the cpu is closely connected to the problems - you can see in the picture how easy it is to get water in the rubber boot
from riding or cleaning the bike so you all need to go out and buy some dialectic grease and squirt some around the seal, This may stave off future problems a bit.
Handlebars and levers.
I cut all the pins out of the bars so I could rotate the bars towards me a bit - more comfortable for me. This also improved the rear view in the mirrors quite a lot. Although they still shake. The guys at the shop told me to pay attention to the motor-mount bolts torque settings as this can have a substantial impact on vibration - especially if you have fitted frame sliders. I'm going to fill the bars with
lead shot to try and quell the vibration a bit. Soft grips help but are to wide on the throttle side and make my hand hurt from the thickness - I'm going back to stock. Airfuel had some cool grips but I can't remember which type.
Sidestand
Pay attention to the side stand bolts - you have been warned - again.
Tires/tyres
Mine are almost shot at 2645 miles - will go cheap and cheerful PilotPowers - do Michelin make a 190/55? that would be cool, um yummy more edge grip...
The last picture is entitled 'How to garage your Buell page 45 of the owners manual'
Matthew