Foggy Petronas FP1

[GENT]

We need more info on this! Interesting bikes them, not hearing the best on reliability front but would be good to know an owners experience. I'd love the Tuono version if it wasn't 10k and council spec vs the RS version.

His RS660 story won't help anyone and Louigi and Marco from Aprilia may be knocking on his door due to bad publicity

I notice even MCN's test bike has had a new engine.

Although so did their V4 Multi. Who said Italian bikes were now fine

I placed my order for the 660 over a year ago, and in October 2020 i found out i was getting one of the first 12 and the first in the northwest / northwales.
It arrived and had a big filmed un-crating ceremony which was nice.
The weather was crap so i agreed the dealer could keep it on a plinth and show for a week.
when i did get the bike i enjoyed 300 miles on it and it was perfect, lent it to RIDE and for Matt to use up in Scotland, and it came back with 600 miles.
It went for its first service and had a gear change shaft recall done - fine.
Not this is one of the early bikes as such not prone to failure of the top end or snapping conrods so no recall or rebuilds required luckily.

However it lost power a few times after this, first time i assumed was the QS or my clumsy size 11, however it happened a few more times, and one time i was 2 up and overtaking a truck and it lost power i went from 85 to 25 only for the truck to pass me right back - i don't mind admitting that shit me up.

It was like running out of fuel on a carbed bike, the way you would fumble around for the tap, the more throttle you give the slower it goes, you know what i mean.

So i returned it again and no fault codes stored and it was hinted it may not be happening and i might be imagining it - it was at this point i did things formally and was about to reject the bike formally.

The sales guy then took it home again, and it did exactly the same on him, he nearly dumped it on a roundabout so went straight back to the workshop plugged in - and nothing, just no codes stored or errors.
At least now i had his backing and it shit him up too.
Roll forward a week and Piaggio want data from cold to running, just as he whips it round the back the bike cuts out and throws a MIL on the dash, result - they push it in and diagnose a fucked fuel pump relay which immediately clears and energises the system again.

New relay fitted and so far 2 sessions at Oulton its been ok, but it was only a liability on the road.
I wont use it again till i fit a new chain as this one looks like its been dragging the QE2 over the mersey now.

Oh and the shock lol - first ride i noticed the shock was shit, Piaggio agreed and replaced with a new one under warranty. i bought a K Tech anyway as replacing one mickey mouse shock with another seemed a bit counter productive. New one is loads better and worth the money

Also ref the Tuono 660, i have ridden one, forget it, it just doesn't work the same as the RS, no comfier, yes the bars are higher but as they are wider you shift your position to an odd position making your upper arms ache where as on the RS its more likely your wrists. Also the seat angle works perfectly on the RS, not on the Tuono, to canted forward for the riding position putting pressure on your inner thigh far more.
The RS feels far more natural and not too sporty. think of the position the same as an old CBR600FX / FY era bike but with a load more grunt and similar top end.

[Cousin Jack]

Super write-up and great photos.

And probably the fastest-ever accumulation of (well-deserved) likes!

[Supermofo]

It was like running out of fuel on a carbed bike, the way you would fumble around for the tap, the more throttle you give the slower it goes, you know what i mean.

Having had a fuel tap diaphragm go on my Firestorm when in the outside lane of the motorway at 95 and then needing to get to the hard shoulder with the clutch in to stop it dropping speed at an alarming rate I know exactly what you mean. I needed new pants for sure that afternoon.

[Yorick]

I like his style of writing. Honest and interesting

[lostboy]

I like his style of writing. Honest and interesting

I had a catch up with him on the phone yesterday and he's a top bloke IRL as well!

[GENT]

So a small update on this.
DVLA came up trumps and i got the V5 - so the bike is now road legal.

A few weeks ago i lent the bike to a pal who is a journo for a major bike magazine so he could do a real world real use review of it. He also snagged one of his pals to ride it whom used to race the FP1 back in the day too. This will appear on shelves in the next couple of weeks (Fast Bikes)

Anyway the couple of hundred miles they did on it, it did highlight a few issues. some of which have been sorted, some about to be.
So the bike was delivered straight to Griff at AP Workshops in the midlands who as a favour offered to fix some of the issues, do a proper PDI on it and get it ready for me for Donington last weekend for my second outing.
Issues that needed sorting
Fork seals - they popped and emptied their contents.
Generator - one of the coils has retired so charging is not optimal (however it does charge fine when the lights are off)
Rectifier - replace with the one i sent to him from a Piaggio X8
Clutch Slipping - Hmmm ok this might be an issue.
Oil and Filter change - the oil was like piss.
Coolant Change - it was wet, still is.
He also went through the bike, all the bolts and fitted a number plate and road tested it.



I get to Donington on Saturday and my Bike is there ready for me to use and enjoy,
Have never ever ridden Donington it was a baptism of fire really, and stuffed into the Inters group i proceed in setting a new lap record around there for being the slowest lol.



The bike however was ossum.
The charging while not right with only half the gene working, does not cause issues over 3k rpm and as long as the headlight is off.
The Clutch - ok so this is slipping when hot but this is not the actual clutch, i am convinced its the master of the slave when hot is either expanding or not releasing fully. Either way after 3 laps i nursed it under load and it was fine.
So 4 sessions done, tyres suitably frazzled the bike is in a better state than me.

The next day i took it out for the first road ride. Sticking fairly local i end up stopping for a cuppa and bump into a mate, very quickly it is attracting a bit of attn, so i kit up ready to just jump on and ride away to avoid interaction with folk.
On the road the bike is astounding, its extreme yes but no way near as extreme as say the Yamaha R7.
It feels quite similar in many ways to the 749R, similar size and weight and even riding position but with more noise and orchestra about it and quite a bit more punch and grunt. I always felt the 749R was over geard anyway.



With the clutch, a strip of the slave saw a seal that was looking slightly distorted, so a lift and shift of the master / slave from the other bike saw in it fixing the issue
Clutch itself is perfect, i reckon its the master at fault and needs rebuilding - so will post that off to Silverstone and get that serviced.

So still a few little jobs to do to the bike, get the Gene rewound to get it charging at any RPM with the lights on just in case i want to actually use it in winter, and a couple of small service and maintenance jobs to get it ready for Anglesey later this Month

More to come . . . . .

[weeksy]

I wonder what people think when they see it on the roads, whether many suspect it's something else under a bit of paint for example ?

[Skub]

I wonder what people think when they see it on the roads, whether many suspect it's something else under a bit of paint for example ?

There are a fair few bikers who have no interest in,or knowledge of racing,so I'd say that cross section would see a race rep paintjob and not what it actually is.

But hey,their loss.

[GENT]

I wonder what people think when they see it on the roads, whether many suspect it's something else under a bit of paint for example ?

I reckon Skub has it spot on.
99% of bikers have no idea and care not.
those that know - know, but even then won't believe their eyes and assume replica or a paint job on a 675 or something.
one of the reasons i love it - i can park it anywhere (apart from Donington at the CBT) and no one bats an eyelid - unlike the RC45 which seems to attracts flies around shit - shit being the operative word here and a bike i have no bones in admitting my personal distain for and one i feel very much rides on its reputation of the far more special RC30.
Not that the 45 is a bad bike - far from it, its faster . . . . . . . . . erm . . . . . . oh yeah its newer than the old RC30, but by christ its not exactly a looker from the front or rear, yet still gets people frothing for some reason.

So anyone wanna buy a nice import 45 with twin stack Yoshi with 30k kms on it ? bargain at 27k.
Reason for sale - i want another FP1

[KungFooBob]

I'll swap you a 92 GSXR1100, bog stock minter with only 12k on the clock for the 45

[Jody]

I'm one of those people that honestly wouldn't know what it is if I saw one, I'd obviously heard about them and vaguely remember the racing team, but it's from an era when I'd moved away from road racing and was racing MX (when I wasn't abroad), so I had little interest - although I've enjoyed reading this thread and then reading a bit about the bikes.

The RC45 has been my dream bike since it came out, but there is a lot of crap/non-original bikes about and I've never been in the right place at the right time to buy a good one. I almost did about 10yrs ago when one was in a shop, I hesitated too long and it was gone in a few days.
I bumped into a bloke on one when out riding in the UK before covid and he also suggested that they don't really live up to the hype, especially if it's always been your dream bike and you have high expectations - might have even been you, it was at Devils Bridge in the NW.

I recall a pukka racer, a Honda rider, (Maybe Steve Hislop) testing the RC45 against a 916 and saying "there's no way I'd spend £18k on the Honda".

[weeksy]

I don't think owning an RC45 has a lot to do with how it rides though, same as things like the Yamaha R7. I'll even throw in them stupid RD and LC things some of you love.
It's about recreating memories and nostalgia.

[Yorick]

I don't think owning an RC45 has a lot to do with how it rides though, same as things like the Yamaha R7. I'll even throw in them stupid RD and LC things some of you love.
It's about recreating memories and nostalgia.

The RC45 and R7 were just built to race. Whereas the LCs were the best road bikes of the time.

[Taipan]

I remember the Foggy Petronas bikes, but if I saw this on the road I'd juts think it was something else with a replica paintjob. No one expects to actually see one of these on the road do they!

[Mr. Dazzle]

But when my 17yr old rode my LC it clearly stirred him, I asked him whether he prefers the LC or his 390 and without hesitating he said the LC because it was more exciting to ride.

I often wonder with these things how much of the "excitement" is actually "flawed". Modern stuff is often just too bloody good isn't it?

[Taipan]

Nostalgia is everything. I owned a RD250/400 and a 350LC. I'd buy a RD400 everytime. Not because its a better bike, it isn't, but because it comes from a time when bikes were more important to me.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I don't mean reliability or anything like that, just the fact that modern vehciles are so composed, so capable that anything old seems characterful. Its hard to find a genuinely bad vehicle these days innit?

[GENT]

I bumped into a bloke on one when out riding in the UK before covid and he also suggested that they don't really live up to the hype, especially if it's always been your dream bike and you have high expectations - might have even been you, it was at Devils Bridge in the NW.

Wasn't me - but i fully agree.
I nearly bought a 45 around 10 years ago or so, i rode it and after i got back i felt uneasy and it just failed to get me frothy. i said i would think about it and proceeded to forget all about it.
A couple of years later another came for sale locally. went to buy, and again i never even got to start it, i remembered how ugly they were when he pulled the cover off the front, so with no deal to be done walked away.
Roll forward to 2 years ago, my mate kept asking if i wanted to buy his which always ended with a no thanks. he hit hard times and needed to raise cash quick pre covid, i agreed to buy it short term to help him out (paid way too much for it) and i collected a month later begrudgingly.
Never gelled with it, always seem to take the keys for something else i find more exciting and visually arousing.
So 2021 has seen it used around 3 times and i keep looking at it and feel no love what so ever.
The older 30 is so much more engaging and fun and a privilege to ride. Not saying the 30 is better, i just prefer it. but am lucky to have both

[Yorick]

I bumped into a bloke on one when out riding in the UK before covid and he also suggested that they don't really live up to the hype, especially if it's always been your dream bike and you have high expectations - might have even been you, it was at Devils Bridge in the NW.

Wasn't me - but i fully agree.
I nearly bought a 45 around 10 years ago or so, i rode it and after i got back i felt uneasy and it just failed to get me frothy. i said i would think about it and proceeded to forget all about it.
A couple of years later another came for sale locally. went to buy, and again i never even got to start it, i remembered how ugly they were when he pulled the cover off the front, so with no deal to be done walked away.
Roll forward to 2 years ago, my mate kept asking if i wanted to buy his which always ended with a no thanks. he hit hard times and needed to raise cash quick pre covid, i agreed to buy it short term to help him out (paid way too much for it) and i collected a month later begrudgingly.
Never gelled with it, always seem to take the keys for something else i find more exciting and visually arousing.
So 2021 has seen it used around 3 times and i keep looking at it and feel no love what so ever.
The older 30 is so much more engaging and fun and a privilege to ride. Not saying the 30 is better, i just prefer it. but am lucky to have both

Nice to hear first hand story.
I loved the sound when they were racing.

[GENT]

And now with some Dyno action.
No pickup could be found without half stripping the bike, so its a power / speed run only.
And hear it being spanked properly.
thanks to Steve at Motrac for fitting me in quickly.
We saw 121.4 at the wheel - considering the engines done 366 miles, it was fairly conservative.
Anyway - enjoy, and if you have not picked up a copy of FastBikes yet, do so its a good read (13 pages)