My Suzuki RF900R – The Story behind the bike.
![Image](http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt18/dracsgames/Jason_RF9001_zps66e78f0f.jpg)
The winters in Germany are cold and long. Unlike some other countries, here in Germany we put our toys away for the winter. In general this means the 31st October is the last riding day of the season until the 1st March. That’s 120 days to think of something to do in the next season. So it came to be that I sat down with my wife and said, “the GPZ600R is getting a bit small for the 2 of us to go jollying around on, time for something a bit more sensible? “ She nodded and agreed, not actually aware of what I meant behind the word “Sensible”. As soon as the wife had given consent, there was no holding back and my list of potential Bikes was written on the back of a petrol receipt and the searching began.
During my search, someone mentioned to me, “why not look at an RF900?” I thought to myself, this guy is off his trolley, RF900!?! What’s that supposed to be? See now, in Germany this bike sold even worse than in any other country. It was a bike trying to be sold at the wrong time. Back in the days where everyone in Germany was mashing around on the “Kilo Gixxers” as they are known here, the GSX-R1000 was dominant on the street, and a “comfort touring bike” called the RF900/600 simply had no chance to mature. Add the fact that it looks like a landed UFO from the back, this was certainly nothing any self conscious Suzuki pilot in Germany wanted to own.
All the better for me, as this relatively unknown bike goes for a good price giving your lots of bike for your Euros. I did however have a few things I was looking for. I wanted a nice pannier system, preferably raised steering and it must be comfortable to sit on with a pillion for a few hours a shot, and so the hunt was on!
February 2014 I found her on an online sales platform. The RF900 came complete with luggage system and was being sold for a ridiculously low price. Thinking it was probably sold before the ink dried on the For Sale sign, I thought I would just try my luck and see if it was there. Low and behold it was, so without further hesitation, I drove 200 miles on the coldest winter day we had had for months and collected the bike “as seen on TV”!
“A test ride?!?” said the man, repeating what I had just said with a dropped jaw looking at the fresh dropping of snow in his garden? “A test ride?” he repeated as if I was some sort of weirdo who didn't understand the language. Long story short, due to the weather conditions at the time, a test ride was not granted. Ok, it was -17 and there was a foot of snow everywhere, but I didn't want to go far. I ended up having to settle for a sound test in the garage. Yes, she started great (probably down to the current owner having made sure it started before I turned up, so no demonstration of a cold start given!) and the BOS exhaust sounds great, fantastic.
I eyed a few things up to make myself look like a serious buyer, looking at the tyres, chain and giving the steering a wobble. I think I even gave the horn a toot, and felt like a small kid under a Christmas tree! With that being the complete content of the pre buy check, I wheeled her into my van, we swapped words of wisdom, then we swapped bike for cash, had a joke about the weather, wished each other a crash free season and I made my way 200 miles back home.
The ride home was uneventful. Apart from the windscreen wipers freezing up, nothing else worth mentioning happened. Back home, the bike was rolled into the garage, the door slam shut and that’s how she stayed there for the next 4 weeks. The snow and ice just made any sort of test ride impossible so I had to wait for better weather, and in early march it came.
Four weeks after abandoning the RF in my garage, it was nice enough to go out for a ride. I suspected things were not going to be as easy as I imagined. I have been fiddling with older bikes long enough to know I should spend at least 1 day getting the bike ride ready. I took my helmet into the garage as a lucky charm, maybe she would fire up and I could whoosh right off, but no! It was as I had expected a bit of an anti-climax. I put the key in the ignition, turned to ON, checked the kill switch was off and pressed the starter button. A feeble turn of the engine is all I got! So, within 30 seconds I was adding things to my virtual shopping basket (Battery!) In the mean time I whipped the jump leads onto the car and went for a bump start off my trusty old Opel Vectra.
Well, what do you know, the engine turning over like mad, she still didn’t fire up. Doubt started to creep into my mind, and the thought of having to tell the missus I just spent a load of money on a pile of junk! No, this couldn't be. Deciding to take a look at things logically, my old technical training kicks in. What does a bike need to run – fuel – spark and air. After pulling the plugs and finding them capable of doing the backstroke in puddles of fuel, this was the next thing to go on my list (Battery – Plugs).
After 2 hours of getting nowhere, I gave up, went home and hunched in front of the pc reading up thousands of threads “my rf won’t start!” Ok, so I am not alone. Basically, had I have read how to start the bike without flooding her, I may have gotten a lot further. I now know NOT to whack the throttle open with full choke. She doesn't like that!
After fitting a new battery and plugs, the first test ride pretty much explained the startled face of the previous owner when I asked for a test ride. In afterthought he was damn happy it snowed or he would have run danger of me finding out the RF900 runs like a bag of loose spanners! (Not that that would have deterred the sale, but I would have knocked a bit off of his asking price!). So, what do we do when we have a problem? Correct! We register with all the forums we can find, leech the information we need, fix the bike and THEN introduce ourselves with pictures and stories of mechanical ingenious proving we are expert mechanics.
It was something like that with me. Once I realised I need to at the very least clean, if not, rebuild the carburetors, I was at it hammer and tongs trying to get it fixed before the nice weather turned up. Yes, my RF900 suffered from the dreaded worn emulsion tubes. The thought of a half hearted attempt to clean the carbs, refit them only to find the problem was still there didn’t appeal, so I went full out on this and bought all new jets, needles and a whole load of other shiny brassy things. The “quick clean” turned into a full blown refurbishment and the end result was a factory finish new set of BSDT36 down draughts for the RF900. Sorted.
![Image](http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt18/dracsgames/Members%20Bikes/CAM00278_zps6adcea3b.jpg)
Once the carburetors were fixed, (once fitted they started up as if they had never been removed!) I had a nice bike to call my own. A 1996 RF900 (T) in purple/yellow/grey (I have it from a trusted source, apparently not as fast as the red ones!) with full 135 Bhp. Fully refurbished carburetors and a set of Givi panniers which entail 2 side panniers and a top case giving more than enough luggage room. The BOS Oval aluminum pipe was a bonus on top. The RF900 did not have a raised bar, so I fitted one myself, keeping in line with the German law and guidelines. Fitting generic equipment is next to impossible due to the local laws and regulations, meaning nothing other than having to spend a few Euros on a kit which has been cleared for use on the RF900.
![Image](http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt18/dracsgames/Members%20Bikes/CAM00440_zps2246d241.jpg)
Season 2014 has really yet to begin. The poor weather has made any sort of decent excursion impossible to undertake. Give it another 4 weeks and the summer will come. A new set of tyres are on the cards and I think I will be ditching the Metzelers for a nice set of Michelin Power Pilot 4. We shall see!
To that end, everyone a crash and tumble free season, and enjoy the ride!