My New Café Racer MKII

When I got my 2016 Mk2 bike , I rode it 200 miles home & was surprised by the flat spot/no power/no response/ bit like a 2 stroke that had the wrong jets in , it was ok above 35/40 mph , However after the 500 mile service when the decat pipe was fitted along with the short stubbiest the bike woke up & came alive , so don’t got too deep atm changing & adjusting too many things , before & after here View attachment 79562View attachment 79563
Thanks for the encouragement, It's good to see you're getting on well with yours.

Where did you get your 500 service? If you don't mind me asking how much were your pipes? Can't find that out yet as the factory is non responsive..

I think I will go for the louder long pipes..
 
Factory done the service at Donnington Hall , decat pipe was like bout £300 & pipes were £795 , made at the time by Motad , the longer straight pipes like the original were same price
 
If the factory stays mysteriously shut then Thor or Krazy Horse will probably service it and Theil Motorsports in Germany make fabulous pipes, long and short, with removable Db killers. They also make a nice decat link pipe.

And yes, all seem to come from the factory too hard on the suspension. Well worth the low cost of taking it to a pro according to those wot dunnit.
 
Thanks for the encouragement, It's good to see you're getting on well with yours.

Where did you get your 500 service? If you don't mind me asking how much were your pipes? Can't find that out yet as the factory is non responsive..

I think I will go for the louder long pipes..
Somebody on here was selling a set of long loud pipes not so long ago..
 
Looks that way doesn't it ... I have a manual with a wiring diagram but I think it might be older with a different ECU, was there more than one service manual produced?

Took her out for a 90 mile trip to S.Wales again on Sunday, the roads were less busy and I was able to keep the revs up to 4 - 4.5k, she's a lot happier there but still bogging when I open the throttle, have to be very careful when overtaking. Haven't checked the plugs out yet ..
I absolutely loved how she handled and braked, not tweaked the suspension yet but needs to be softer for my liking, I'll follow some of the advice for the guys.
here..

465 miles now ... Hope the factory opens shortly
Gazz, I will send you the manual I have which is for the later bikes. Mine is an early one, so if you don't mind sending what you have to me in return maybe we will both win.
 
Mine ran like a dog low down before the dealer swapped ECU’s over and I changed the pipe - first service. I liked the original long (authentic) look so had a local exhaust manufacturer gut the cans and replace the cats with straight through pipe sections. Ran beautifully thereafter, sounds great. Much cheaper option if you don’t mind modifying the original longs.
 
Mine ran like a dog low down before the dealer swapped ECU’s over and I changed the pipe - first service. I liked the original long (authentic) look so had a local exhaust manufacturer gut the cans and replace the cats with straight through pipe sections. Ran beautifully thereafter, sounds great. Much cheaper option if you don’t mind modifying the original longs.
What did your exhaust guys do, did the core drill them or cut the end cones off gut and re weld?
 
Gazz before you break out the angle grinder, remember the quiet pipes might come in handy at future MOTs...
 
Gazz before you break out the angle grinder, remember the quiet pipes might come in handy at future MOTs...
Gazz before you break out the angle grinder, remember the quiet pipes might come in handy at future MOTs...
If the factory stays mysteriously shut then Thor or Krazy Horse will probably service it and Theil Motorsports in Germany make fabulous pipes, long and short, with removable Db killers. They also make a nice decat link pipe.

And yes, all seem to come from the factory too hard on the suspension. Well worth the low cost of taking it to a pro according to those wot dunnit.
I emailed the factory on Tuesday about oil filter availability and got a reply back almost immediately telling me the parts operation is currently closed but that they would be back in touch.
I’ll share my 961 woes while I’m here, I’ve got a limited edition California, 50 of 50, I figured 50 of 50 for the 50th anniversary on my 50th birthday. It is black and gold, because that’s what I wanted so is the only limited Cali in that configuration. I had it supplied with straight through pipes, decat and remapped from new and she runs like a dream. Now the not so good, one morning my garage smelled strongly of petrol and having checked the vintage stuff, let’s be honest I thought the likely culprits, I was horrified to see it was the Norton. She has 190 miles on the clock and a tank that doesn’t hold petrol. A quick check of the forums and I can see this is a regular problem, my vintage bikes are over 80 years old and don’t leak petrol, not good enough. I contacted Norton who by this time had gone bust, however the new owners sent me a brand new tank free of charge as a good will gesture, so well done them and a big thank you. I have however been working on a repair for the distorted pump flange and carried out the first fix with complete success. My long term fix is to machine up a threaded reinforcing collar to sit inside the tank for the pump to sandwich the original plastic flange and stop it from warping and leaking. The new gasket I made up is holding up on it’s own at the moment but isn’t the full solution. I guess the wise advise is to use Esso supreme unleaded which in most of the UK doesn’t contain ethanol at the moment. I have already reached the conclusion that I will need to run on avgas for my classics if Esso add ethanol at some future date. I guess the advantage to me is that avgas still has lead in it so I can stop having to use VSPe additive as I do now.
last issue with the bike was the rear brake deciding to fill up with air, that really is beyond belief and a pain of a job to resolve but not difficult. I removed the near side silencer, removed the abs sensor, unclipped the brake line and cable from the swinging arm and then the calliper from the carrier. Placing a large open ended spanner between the pads, to stop the pistons pushing out, I proceeded to bleed the system. I inverted the calliper to get the nipple at the top, air rises after all and no problem, I was absolutely astounded by the amount of air which came out. Ten minutes later job done, all refitted and a quick test ride proved problem solved. The question is where does all that air come from?
Sorry for a long answer to a short question.
 
I emailed the factory on Tuesday about oil filter availability and got a reply back almost immediately telling me the parts operation is currently closed but that they would be back in touch.
I’ll share my 961 woes while I’m here, I’ve got a limited edition California, 50 of 50, I figured 50 of 50 for the 50th anniversary on my 50th birthday. It is black and gold, because that’s what I wanted so is the only limited Cali in that configuration. I had it supplied with straight through pipes, decat and remapped from new and she runs like a dream. Now the not so good, one morning my garage smelled strongly of petrol and having checked the vintage stuff, let’s be honest I thought the likely culprits, I was horrified to see it was the Norton. She has 190 miles on the clock and a tank that doesn’t hold petrol. A quick check of the forums and I can see this is a regular problem, my vintage bikes are over 80 years old and don’t leak petrol, not good enough. I contacted Norton who by this time had gone bust, however the new owners sent me a brand new tank free of charge as a good will gesture, so well done them and a big thank you. I have however been working on a repair for the distorted pump flange and carried out the first fix with complete success. My long term fix is to machine up a threaded reinforcing collar to sit inside the tank for the pump to sandwich the original plastic flange and stop it from warping and leaking. The new gasket I made up is holding up on it’s own at the moment but isn’t the full solution. I guess the wise advise is to use Esso supreme unleaded which in most of the UK doesn’t contain ethanol at the moment. I have already reached the conclusion that I will need to run on avgas for my classics if Esso add ethanol at some future date. I guess the advantage to me is that avgas still has lead in it so I can stop having to use VSPe additive as I do now.
last issue with the bike was the rear brake deciding to fill up with air, that really is beyond belief and a pain of a job to resolve but not difficult. I removed the near side silencer, removed the abs sensor, unclipped the brake line and cable from the swinging arm and then the calliper from the carrier. Placing a large open ended spanner between the pads, to stop the pistons pushing out, I proceeded to bleed the system. I inverted the calliper to get the nipple at the top, air rises after all and no problem, I was absolutely astounded by the amount of air which came out. Ten minutes later job done, all refitted and a quick test ride proved problem solved. The question is where does all that air come from?
Sorry for a long answer to a short question.
Good work there !
 
What did your exhaust guys do, did the core drill them or cut the end cones off gut and re weld?
Hey Gazz

They cut out the cats and inserted straight through pipe. The cats are surprisingly heavy BTW! Then removed the end cones, gutted the long silencers and obviously, welded the cones back on. They ended up doing this more than once as they were not happy with the sound/tone first time around.

Good point from FE though, don’t have to worry about MOT over here. Suspect mine would’nt pass that standard!
 
Greenman, seems you’re a man of good taste sir, black and gold 50 of 50 for your 50th... I did the same!

But I sold mine. And just in time if I’m honest. The current situation of closed spares shop and unavailability of spare would drive me nuts...!

Rather ironic really, I’ll bet you can still get spares for your vintage fleet Greenman, but not your modern !
 
I emailed the factory on Tuesday about oil filter availability and got a reply back almost immediately telling me the parts operation is currently closed but that they would be back in touch.
No need to wait for the factory boys to wake from their slumber.
Try one of the alternatives:

Bosch P9147 or Mann HU610x

Gently remove original o-ring with existing filter, inspect and clean the o-ring. If not damaged, reuse o-ring with new filter.

 
Gazz before you break out the angle grinder, remember the quiet pipes might come in handy at future MOTs...
Yes, that's a good point, I'm actually in negotiations to buy another standard pair, maybe do what Stephen did to his, I would like to buy a decat mid too but can't seem to find one at the moment, theTheil ones look great as do their long pipes with removable baffles but a bit pricey for me at the moment..
 
I emailed the factory on Tuesday about oil filter availability and got a reply back almost immediately telling me the parts operation is currently closed but that they would be back in touch.
I’ll share my 961 woes while I’m here, I’ve got a limited edition California, 50 of 50, I figured 50 of 50 for the 50th anniversary on my 50th birthday. It is black and gold, because that’s what I wanted so is the only limited Cali in that configuration. I had it supplied with straight through pipes, decat and remapped from new and she runs like a dream. Now the not so good, one morning my garage smelled strongly of petrol and having checked the vintage stuff, let’s be honest I thought the likely culprits, I was horrified to see it was the Norton. She has 190 miles on the clock and a tank that doesn’t hold petrol. A quick check of the forums and I can see this is a regular problem, my vintage bikes are over 80 years old and don’t leak petrol, not good enough. I contacted Norton who by this time had gone bust, however the new owners sent me a brand new tank free of charge as a good will gesture, so well done them and a big thank you. I have however been working on a repair for the distorted pump flange and carried out the first fix with complete success. My long term fix is to machine up a threaded reinforcing collar to sit inside the tank for the pump to sandwich the original plastic flange and stop it from warping and leaking. The new gasket I made up is holding up on it’s own at the moment but isn’t the full solution. I guess the wise advise is to use Esso supreme unleaded which in most of the UK doesn’t contain ethanol at the moment. I have already reached the conclusion that I will need to run on avgas for my classics if Esso add ethanol at some future date. I guess the advantage to me is that avgas still has lead in it so I can stop having to use VSPe additive as I do now.
last issue with the bike was the rear brake deciding to fill up with air, that really is beyond belief and a pain of a job to resolve but not difficult. I removed the near side silencer, removed the abs sensor, unclipped the brake line and cable from the swinging arm and then the calliper from the carrier. Placing a large open ended spanner between the pads, to stop the pistons pushing out, I proceeded to bleed the system. I inverted the calliper to get the nipple at the top, air rises after all and no problem, I was absolutely astounded by the amount of air which came out. Ten minutes later job done, all refitted and a quick test ride proved problem solved. The question is where does all that air come from?
Sorry for a long answer to a short question.
Hi Greenman, that was a nice gesture from the factory, would be nice to see some photos of what you've done.

Living in the SW I've not seen (or maybe not noticed) any Esso stations for a long time..

I've not had any problems with the rear brake but I've read others have.
 
Mine ran like a dog low down before the dealer swapped ECU’s over and I changed the pipe - first service. I liked the original long (authentic) look so had a local exhaust manufacturer gut the cans and replace the cats with straight through pipe sections. Ran beautifully thereafter, sounds great. Much cheaper option if you don’t mind modifying the original longs.
Did your dealer swap the ECU or re programmed it?
 
I have now changed the head temp sensor, it seemed to make a difference, when I open the throttle now and it doesn't die so readily, it feels like it it's trying to clear itself and then most of the time now it actually picks up, nothing like my MK1 850 but its some progress.

I'm still running rich but the electrode is cleaner here's a pic..

My New Café Racer MKII


My running in 500 is almost up now, Crazy Horse said they could do it but as I am having some issues and the bike has just been registered as is brand new to the road I am hoping for some good will from the new owners to help me with my problems..
 
Did your dealer swap the ECU or re programmed it?
From memory (back in 2017) when the pipes were opened up, just after the first service, the dealer changed Omex for SC ECU and loaded the ‘open pipe’ map - transformed the bike. Think I have that right, others will correct, but initial bikes had Omex, then switched to SC and then back to Omex - confusing.

94C41873-3BC4-4D20-A949-9B8083FD1425.jpeg
 
My bike has 535 ish miles now so 1st service is due, I will go to 600 but then I think I will wait. It's running a little better with the new sensor and iridium plugs but still rich and still misbehaving.

I phoned the factory and left a message, they confirmed by email that they are not open for parts or service yet and would contact me when they are back in operation..

I want to fit decat and more open pipes before my visit. I wanted to buy the Norton decat but it looks like I've got to wait, I've also looked at the German Thiel decat , looks well made and reasonably priced. As it's 'adjustable' so I'm guessing the Norton longs will fit without any issues.. I think Fast Eddie had the full system on his..

Anybody in UK or Europe got a decat pipe and silences for sale? I found a set in USA but the shipping was prohibitive..$450
 
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