My Skorpion Sport

[sanddune51]

Took a train up to the extreme North West of the UK picked up the Skorp and rode it approximately 400 miles back to the extreme South East of the UK. Brilliant sunshine and blue skies up North and dreary drizzle and dark skies back home in Kent.
Bike performed well all things considered, but will need one or two things attending to.
Throttle is extremely slow acting and needs two bites to get full throttle. I'll have a go at making a quicker action tube to fit in the standard housing.
Carburation feels miles off. Really lean or has a massive air leak. Carb stripdown and investigation called for.
Standard master cylinder offers good overall stopping power from the front disc but feels really wooden with a massive apparently unadjustable span.
On the positive side, the old girl got me home without incident and sports a new pair of diablo's and a new X-ring chain so I shouldn't grumble too much.

As it stood an hour and a half ago when I arrived home. I'm pretty happy with it

Mark

[edfmaniac]

Nice looking bike. There's a Yamaha throttle tube that kinda fits and is a shorter throw. I couldn't find it in the archives but it's there somewhere and requires a little bit of rotary tool work before it will fit properly. I'll continue to look for it. Brembo pump is recommended, PS-11 for a relaxed rider who wants more lever travel and PS-12 for aggressive riding with a shorter throw. Caliper too if you can swing it but the pump alone will make a massive difference in feel and control.

[phoenix76rb]

Congrats! Awesome to have a new Skorpion! I haven't ridden mine that far yet, but did take my first hour+ ride today. Glad you made it home safe. Look forward to hearing more about your bike.

[tigcraft]

Took a train up to the extreme North West of the UK picked up the Skorp and rode it approximately 400 miles back to the extreme South East of the UK. Brilliant sunshine and blue skies up North and dreary drizzle and dark skies back home in Kent.
Bike performed well all things considered, but will need one or two things attending to.
Throttle is extremely slow acting and needs two bites to get full throttle. I'll have a go at making a quicker action tube to fit in the standard housing.
Carburation feels miles off. Really lean or has a massive air leak. Carb stripdown and investigation called for.
Standard master cylinder offers good overall stopping power from the front disc but feels really wooden with a massive apparently unadjustable span.
On the positive side, the old girl got me home without incident and sports a new pair of diablo's and a new X-ring chain so I shouldn't grumble too much.

As it stood an hour and a half ago when I arrived home. I'm pretty happy with it

001.JPG

Mark

Sorry that didn't post right!! What year is the bike by the way?

[sanddune51]

It's 1996 on an "N" plate. It is showing 24,000 on the odometer. The Vendor assures me this is in kilometers rather than miles and I see no reason to to disbelieve him. Is he correct? Either way the bike is clean and well looked after and hasn't covered a huge distance.
I'm sure I 'll have a few more questions as I go along.


Mark.

[tigcraft]

Yes they always read kilometres in distance and mph for speed. Eric

[sanddune51]

As a first step to improving the bike I want to fit an Ignitech igniter. Had a look under the riders seat, where I'd expect to find the standard ignition box ....... so where have the Mz engineers hidden it away?

Mark.

[Srinath]

Under the left side cover - just like almost any other jap bike lol.
Cool.
Srinath.

[sanddune51]

Cool indeed Thanks.

Mark.

[zippy49]

Took a train up to the extreme North West of the UK picked up the Skorp and rode it approximately 400 miles back to the extreme South East of the UK. Brilliant sunshine and blue skies up North and dreary drizzle and dark skies back home in Kent.
Bike performed well all things considered, but will need one or two things attending to.
Throttle is extremely slow acting and needs two bites to get full throttle. I'll have a go at making a quicker action tube to fit in the standard housing.
Carburation feels miles off. Really lean or has a massive air leak. Carb stripdown and investigation called for.
Standard master cylinder offers good overall stopping power from the front disc but feels really wooden with a massive apparently unadjustable span.
On the positive side, the old girl got me home without incident and sports a new pair of diablo's and a new X-ring chain so I shouldn't grumble too much.
Mark

There is an adjuster on the carb set that sets the lag between the primary and secondary sides. Screw that down a few turns, the throttle response should improve. A carb rebuild would also help.

Your comments on the levers are spot on, please does anyone know of an adjustable alternative?

[phoenix76rb]

I am thinking of replacing both the master cylinder and the non-adjustable lever on my Skorp with this item:

http://www.oppracing.com/product_displa ... -wlever45/

Expensive. Haven't made up my mind yet.

[sanddune51]

I actually think the caliper works well but it may or may not be really heavy.
I have this which will do the job in spectacular fashion, but it does seem like overkill for an old Skorp

Mark.

[edfmaniac]

I am thinking of replacing both the master cylinder and the non-adjustable lever on my Skorp with this item:

http://www.oppracing.com/product_displa ... -wlever45/

Expensive. Haven't made up my mind yet.

The 13mm pump is a bit too much power for the stock caliper set up. It would be like a light switch and prone to sending you over the handlebars. My PS11 is almost mushy but provides a nice long linear throw and still has more than enough power for emergency stops. The 12 may be the way to go if you are looking for something more aggressive, yet still controllable.

[phoenix76rb]

I am thinking of replacing both the master cylinder and the non-adjustable lever on my Skorp with this item:

http://www.oppracing.com/product_displa ... -wlever45/

Expensive. Haven't made up my mind yet.

The 13mm pump is a bit too much power for the stock caliper set up. It would be like a light switch and prone to sending you over the handlebars. My PS11 is almost mushy but provides a nice long linear throw and still has more than enough power for emergency stops. The 12 may be the way to go if you are looking for something more aggressive, yet still controllable.

I chose the 13mm because several Ducati 600cc and 750cc air-cooled models with single front disk and the Brembo caliper that Grimeca copied on the Skorpion use a 13mm piston Brembo master. Is that incorrect?

These are the bikes that used this particular Brembo master cylinder as original equipment:

KTM 640 LC4 SuperMoto 2005-2006
KTM 660 SMC 2004-2007
KTM 690 LC4 SM 2007-2009
KTM 690 LC4 SM-C 2008-2009
KTM Duke II 2000-2006
KTM Supermoto 2007

Another 13mm Brembo front master cylinder....

http://www.oppracing.com/product_displa ... -wlever50/

(this one with the non-adjustable brake lever) came stock on the following bikes:

Ducati Monster 400 1995-1997
Ducati Monster 600 1993-2000
Ducati Monster 600 Dark 1998-2000
Ducati Monster 600 Dark City 1999-2000
Ducati Monster 600 Metallic 2000-2001
Ducati Monster 750 1996-1997

I read this treatise on matching calipers and master cylinders:

http://vintagebrake.com/mastercylinder.htm

I think the front caliper on the Skorpion is a four piston design, with two 30mm pistons and two 34mm pistons:

http://www.oppracing.com/product_displa ... side-40mm/

so the closest approximation of the swept area of the rotor in that chart was (I think) 32mmx4 pistons, which gives a leverage ration of 24.24 with a 13mm master cylinder piston.

Any additional thoughts?

[edfmaniac]

After re-reading some of Bill J's posts on the topic, he does put the 13mm within the range of pumps for the Skorpion. He was just warning against using the bigger pump on the enduro bikes that come with our engine as they would be too grabby for off road use. I stand corrected but am still really happy with the 11 on my Skorpion.