SF2 Owners, Help, Please?

The Sock

The Sock

Hero member
Location
London, England
As an avowed one bike guy, I've had a recent aberration: Had a Triple since '76; owned a single ('77 Chott) for several years, in the '80s; I've now acquired a Twin.
A pair of initial photos 2.jpg
It's a '74 SF2 and will need a bit of tidying up. I know little about them, so will be asking various questions of The Forum Members to update my knowledge base.
Firstly, battery recommendations. I'd like one that fits in the original location. The Green Book gives Fiamm no. 61F3, but I can find no guide to equivalents.
Dimensions: 178 x 123 x 163mm. I've found what appears to be a contender, from Tayna
Euroline Battery.jpg

I'm a little concerned that it only claims 100CCA, my Triple one has 350 and it struggles in sub zero temperatures.
Does anyone have experience of the Euroline or can suggest a better alternative?

Also, air filter. No sign of any markings on the one in it but, as you can see, way past its 'use by' date
Suggestions welcome (keep it clean?).

IMG_8292.JPGIMG_8293.JPGIMG_8294.JPG

More questions to follow, no doubt.
 
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Congrats ! Assume you have ridden them over the years. I use the same battery twin and triple. Twins start very easily, Deka ETX16L is the current flavour since odesseys became hard to get. My sf2 has that same air filter, can't remember what it crosses over to, but it was slightly smaller, but worked ok.

Hope it's running points.......
 
The Sock said:
As an avowed one bike guy, I've had a recent aberration: Had a Triple since '76; owned a single ('77 Chott) for several years, in the '80s; I've now acquired a Twin.
View attachment 97835
It's a '74 SF2 and will need a bit of tidying up. I know little about them, so will be asking various questions of The Forum Members to update my knowledge base.
Firstly, battery recommendations. I'd like one that fits in the original location. The Green Book gives Fiamm no. 61F3, but I can find no guide to equivalents.
Dimensions: 178 x 123 x 163mm. I've found what appears to be a contender, from Tayna
View attachment 97831

I'm a little concerned that it only claims 100CCA, my Triple one has 350 and it struggles in sub zero temperatures.
Does anyone have experience of the Euroline or can suggest a better alternative?

Also, air filter. No sign of any markings on the one in it but, as you can see, way past its 'use by' date
Suggestions welcome (keep it clean?).

View attachment 97832View attachment 97833View attachment 97834

More questions to follow, no doubt.
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Sorry Hamish, can't help with any info, but congratulations on getting yourself a lovely looking yoke. Looking forward to your thoughts on the twin, compared to the triple.
 
Same battery as Marty, they're made in the USA to suit a certain V-twin that vibrates, so they resist that. Strongest best valve and rep I have found.
 
Nice score, Hamish!
Have you ridden it at all? does the engine run smooth or is it a shaker?
Looking forward to your reports :)

Gerald
 
martymoose said:
Congrats ! Assume you have ridden them over the years.
Click to expand...
Mike Morris loaned me his SF at a Mallory Park Track Day, back in April '78, to put in a bunch of laps. In the last six months, I've ridden Aidrian O'Meara's SF2 short distances,a couple of times, but that's my total experience of the 750 Twins, so far,...
martymoose said:
I use the same battery twin and triple. Twins start very easily, Deka ETX16L is the current flavour since odesseys became hard to get.
Click to expand...
Can't seem to find Deka in the UK, Marty. Found a seemingly identical, different label, same ETX16L number. £210 +0% VAT + Delivery. :oops:
martymoose said:
Hope it's running points.......
Click to expand...
If it is, it won't be for long. ;)
 
Gerald said:
Nice score, Hamish!
Have you ridden it at all? does the engine run smooth or is it a shaker?
Looking forward to your reports :)

Gerald
Click to expand...
Yes, I wasn't up for buying one without running it. It started on the button, all gears selected well and it pulled well. The battery and electrical ancilliaries were U/S, but a morning in the garage has everything working, bar the horns. Just about to sort them out.
Rode it thirty miles, across London, to get it home. It's buzzier, through the footpegs than my Triple, but not horribly so.
Just going through the carburettors now, then tappets, cam chain tension, oil change and put some miles on it before I attack the cosmetics.
 
I got GCS to rebuild my SF2 engine then sort of lost interest. The engine has been sat on a wooden trolley so long that the wood (or whatever it was made of) has collapsed. I'm going to have to get organised with it sooner or later.
 
Good one Hamish!! You'll discover plenty to like about the SF if it's a good one and hasn't been monstered by a DPO. In terms of vibes, they can vary so much once ham fisted owners have got to them!

As for batteries, I used to run Yuasa 18AH back when they were genuine Japanese and never had an issue with starting. The hi comp SFQ is running a LiFePo with 520CCA, weighs about 1kg, but not sure a so-called 'starting battery' will maintain charge in a genny-powered SF ... SFQ runs an ND alternator.
 
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71 SF has had a SLA 12-22 12V22Ah Landport AGM for the past year.
Seems to be holding the charge and starts on the button.

Gerald

​

 
Hamish, I too have an SF2 though not quite as sorted as yours, I bought two batteries last November, one for a Morini 500 and one for the SF2 off Tanya, they were Extreme Racing XR600 AGM @ £52.25 each plus delivery £6 work fine, obviously smaller, same size as Odyssey. As for the filter, I have ordered a K&N universal rectangular filter ref E-3952 for just under £60 off eBay, it's just about perfect size by my tape measure

Regards

Kevin
 
Congratulations- I love the looks and handling of my SF2- it takes corners surprisingly well. It came w an Odyssey battery that's been always reliable and holds a charge for a long time-starts on the button once warmed up. Dam Classic or Wolfgang(of course) has air filters and supposedly a cut down K&N filter works, but I've used K&N pod filters w/ the rubber snorkels to angle away from the frame. I haven't noticed any difference using the OEM filter or the pods.
I updated the brake master w a newer Brembo unit for much better braking. There are a few fiddly things that are hard to access, and keeping the carb and choke cables correctly routed is a must. All in all, it's a great bike
 

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kainsworth said:
Hamish, I too have an SF2 though not quite as sorted as yours, I bought two batteries last November, one for a Morini 500 and one for the SF2 off Tanya, they were Extreme Racing XR600 AGM @ £52.25 each plus delivery £6 work fine, obviously smaller, same size as Odyssey. As for the filter, I have ordered a K&N universal rectangular filter ref E-3952 for just under £60 off eBay, it's just about perfect size by my tape measure

Regards

Kevin
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Cheers, Kev!
Organising that battery.
Filter was on 15% Discount till 21st July, so £48.73 and it's on its way to me.
 
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Paul Marx said:
K&N air filter is great.
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My experience with replacement air filters in 2 SF2s and a GTL over close to fifty years is that none of them fit as well as the original.

The K&N is a little narrow, the VW style Weber replacement is a bit wider (and can be significantly less expensive e.g. Jbugs VW filter) though still not fitting around the embossment of the back plate so my approach is to put a strip of draught excluder self adhesive door sealing foam strip around the groove in the retaining plate to fill the gaps resulting from imperfect alignment.
 
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