Gold coast newbie with a cheapskate 1300

[bikebugger]

Gday everyone.
Picked up a cheap second hand ST1300 today so I thought I'd hit the ground running and get myself into the forums asap.
I live on the lower end of the gold coast and being a mad keen photography enthusiast I am excited by all the luggage options and road trip potential of this bike.

Now when I say I got it cheap the bike is not without its faults, and for the price I decided to take the gamble.
It is a non ABS 2003 model with 33000km on the odometer, though the dash cluster has an ABS warning light permanently lit. I suspect that the bike has been in a prang, as there is heavy scuffing on the Pillion grab handle and the paintwork looks a little fresh for the bikes age. Maybe if the bike has been repaired, a dash cluster and ecu from an ABS model was installed on a non ABS bike after the prang? Lastly I have an intermittent FI fault code 26 (knock sensor???) that doesn't seem to be affecting performance at all, and seems to appear more as the bike is warming up, not when hot. The previous owner did not supply any manuals or service history but assures me it's up to date, though with these things not adding up i will admit I'm a tad suspicious. 
In my mind I paid 4500 dollars for the bike so if things turn bad hopefully I won't lose too much money on it if I'm forced to sell, though I'm hopeful that all this stuff proves to be minor.

Looking forward to being part of the ST community.
Cheers,
Cam.

[Wild Rose]

Hi Cam
Welcome to OzSTOC from Toowoomba the home of the 2015 National Rally in March next year 
Sounds like you got a good buy but don't ask me about that technical stuff but I'm sure someone here can help you out
Enjoy your ST1300  Enjoy the Forum 

 

[bikebugger]

Cheers Leo, fingers crossed she ain't a lemon. I've heard a lot of folks talking about honda reliability so hopefully they're right!

[ST2UP]

Welcome to OzSTOC Cam,

I think your on a winner at that money with just a little TLC 


With only 33 k's you have some catching up to do on a 2003 model 



Enjoy mate


 

[StinkyPete]

Hi Cam, and welcome to OzSTOC from SA.  Perhaps we will meet at the National Rally  in Toowoomba in March.   

[bikebugger]

Maybe..I do have some time off owed to me and toowoomba isn't too far away for a mini Road trip.... Will give me some time to iron out the kinks beforehand as well.

[bikebugger]

[Gadget]

Good Morning Cam and welcome to OzSTOC.

With the intermittent FI light you might need to look at this post about cleaning the 5 way connector to the MAP sensor.
I had the FI problem on mine from fairly early on and when I did this the problem disappeared and the fuel economy improved.
 http://ozstoc.com/index.php?topic=5870.msg75321#msg75321

I used a round toothpick (almost a perfect fit) and then Pipe cleaner dipped in metho.

[Sicman]

Welcome On In Cam 

[Biggles]

Great buying!  Many of us paid 4 times that for our STs.  You'd pay that just for a good engine.  The paintwork looks good in the photo, but then red always does.  33,000 kays is nothing on these bikes.
I'd be disconnecting that ABS light- hate having any warning light on.  The trouble is you become habituated, and when another warning light comes on for real (e.g. oil pressure) you fail to notice it until too late.

[Nigel]

Yes welcome aboard Cam, there all a bit mad here but that suits me.............from way down south..

[alans1100]

Hi Cam, welcome from SA.

Something amiss here. You have a non-ABS bike with what seems to be ABS gauges and an ABS light that won't go out. Strange!!!! If you don't have ABS then why would there be a warning light to be put there? The non-ABS wiring loom wouldn't have that circuit in place but I could be wrong.

There doesn't appear to be an ABS ring on the front wheel but on it's own that doesn't mean much. If there is no sensor or mount on top of the final drive then it's non-ABS for sure.

 

[bikebugger]

Thanks everyone.
I suspect that an abs dash cluster and ecu may have been installed after a prang and that the light is on sure to the ecu not receiving any information from the abs. Indeed I do suspect the milage isn't genuine if my suspicions regarding the abs turn out to be correct, but for 4500 I took a chance. I should probably do a wovr check but I'm not sure I want to know the truth....

[Biggles]

Even if it's 90,000 kays, it's still great value.  It looks fine, and if the engine sounds fine it's also most likely in good nick.
If you look at the US STOC site you'll find ST13s with very high mileages still going strong.
You just need to do a major service- replace ALL the fluids and you'll be confident she'll go anywhere.   

[bikebugger]

One thing I'm very interested in sorting out is the wind buffetting. Had this same issue on my old strom and it was one of the reasons I sold it. Previous owner gave me two screens but neither is very good. Riding around with no windscreen however is excellent. Tempted to dremel the stocker....

[Marcus]

One thing I'm very interested in sorting out is the wind buffetting. Had this same issue on my old strom and it was one of the reasons I sold it. Previous owner gave me two screens but neither is very good. Riding around with no windscreen however is excellent. Tempted to dremel the stocker....

Welcome to OZSTOC.

Don't put the windscreen up, that will fix your problem. (I only put mine up when it rains, but then I don't like riding in the rain anyway)

[Sicman]

One thing I'm very interested in sorting out is the wind buffetting. Had this same issue on my old strom and it was one of the reasons I sold it. Previous owner gave me two screens but neither is very good. Riding around with no windscreen however is excellent. Tempted to dremel the stocker....

Get a BikeQuip screen from the UK. Inch wider each side and 1.5 inches taller with upward facing lip. It lifts the air up by about a foot & it removes shoulder pushing air and also makes for a quieter ride for your pillion.

[StinkyPete]

The BikeQuip screen is an amazing improvement over the stock screen, and quite a number of us are using it.   

[STeveo]

Welcome Bikebugger.
No matter what previous owners say, it is best to give all fluids a change so you then know how much they have done come service time.
Re screen, I got mine made in Melbourne at 'Screen for Bikes' and I had it made 75mm higher and 50mm wider each side with a 'flare' to push the wind past me. Rode most of the time with my visor up it was so good.

[Wombat]

welcome from perth 
 

[West Aussie Glen]

Hi Cam, welcome from SA.

Something amiss here. You have a non-ABS bike with what seems to be ABS gauges and an ABS light that won't go out. Strange!!!! If you don't have ABS then why would there be a warning light to be put there? The non-ABS wiring loom wouldn't have that circuit in place but I could be wrong.

There doesn't appear to be an ABS ring on the front wheel but on it's own that doesn't mean much. If there is no sensor or mount on top of the final drive then it's non-ABS for sure.

Hi Cam,
Although a little hard to pick up from your photo the other item amiss for a 2003 model is the black plastic fill/cover plate just above the pillions foot rest these only came on later models I think from 2008 on. Their will also be a similar plate on the left hand side surrounding the rear shock adjuster.

[Shiney]

G'day Cam, welcome to the forum : hatwave

I also use the BikeQuip screen and highly recommend it
However if you like the feeling of the bike without a screen cutting a standard screen down is very much an option. I have had this done to my standard screen and it works great

(I'll put up a pic of it for you when I get a chance )

[Biggles]

Hi Cam,
Although a little hard to pick up from your photo the other item amiss for a 2003 model is the black plastic fill/cover plate just above the pillions foot rest these only came on later models I think from 2008 on. Their will also be a similar plate on the left hand side surrounding the rear shock adjuster.

It's starting to be a question of "Is it a 2009 ST13 frame with a 2003 front wheel?"
Why would they put such a cover plate into an earlier model (unless the spares source bike was post-2008 and they figured "Why not?")

[Shiney]

G'day Cam, welcome to the forum : hatwave

I also use the BikeQuip screen and highly recommend it
However if you like the feeling of the bike without a screen cutting a standard screen down is very much an option. I have had this done to my standard screen and it works great

(I'll put up a pic of it for you when I get a chance )

Hear we go.
I dragged the cut down screen out of the shed for the pics (it's a bit COVERED in dust )
For the pics I just held the cut down screen up in front of the BikeQuip screen.

[bikebugger]

Looks great shiney. Maybe if I take a ride up to strathpine you might be kind enough to let me try it before I butcher mine! The previous owner supplied me with a taller screen as well which actually isn't too bad at all, but it does get mighty hot back there without the air flow. In the mean time I'm dreading the thought of removing the side fairing to have a gander at this knock sensor wiring. If it turns out to be the ecu I don't know what I'll do. Let's not think about that for now!