A bit of help and thought?

[nora2004]

So, here I am, once again trying to decide on what to do with the bike!

Ive had the Storm since July, done about 2.5k miles on her including 2 trackdays! Spent a bit of money on her making her look a whole lot nicer and perform a bit better too, but I crave more!

Not on power, the Storm produces more than enough power to be very capable on the road, and even on track too tbh! Its the handling aspect Im wanting more of!

Im in 2 minds as to whether keep the Storm and throw a bit more money at her, or do I sell up and buy a sportsbike, been looking at early r1's and 929 Blades, both seem reasonably cheap and both have very good performance!

If I were tro spend more money on the Storm it would be in a new rear shock and a brembo M/C, maybe a front fork brace and bracing the swinger, then getting someone who knows alot more about suspension than me and getting them to setup it! lol

Ive already invested in getting the forks re-valved and sprung, Sp1 calipers, braided lines, pads and a 929 M/C, but I keep asking myself, is spending money on a rear shock and setup going to get the handling matching a 929 or R1?

Or will I be in the same boat with with either of those, having to spend money on forks, brakes etc to get what I desire?

I just dont know what to do, well I do, I want to win the lottery and go and buy brand spankers new S1000RR, but doesnt everyone! lol

So to people who have had experience of a nice shiney rear shock and a good setup, what was the difference like, was it worth it, would you do it again looking back etc?

And I suppose I have to ask, what sort of shock am I best of looking at, fast road riding and monthly trackday usage, rough price?

Your help and thoughts is much appreciated as my brain hurts! lol

[AMCQ46]

Nora,

I have played with a couple of aftermarket shocks on my Storm with 2nd hand WP unit to start with and now a Nitron Road spec shock...........have a look at some of my post in "pimp my ride" section

getting the spring rate correct for your weight makes a big difference to the Storm, and then the quality of damping in the aftermarket shocks is a bigger step again.
BUT will it then be as precise as a Blade or an R1? ............I doubt it!........ the frame, triple clamps, swing arm, wheels on the storm are not as well engineered at the parts on newer sport bikes.

There are however a couple of considerations [well for me any way]
1) Now I am not racing, I dont care if I dont have thebest handling bike on the market, as long as it is capable of agressive riding, and it is fun, I dont mind.............it is fun to be on the underrated bike and shock those boys on R1s and Fireblades, and the smile is not based on how fast you are going, it is about how involving the ride is.
2) if you get a 6yr old Blade or R1, you will need to spend the same money on a new shock, as it will be past it by now, and you may also have to get the forks reworked......and after all that you still have an IL4, which for me is not the same character as the V2.

So the answer is....it depends! there is no wrong or right way to go, so just follow your heart.

hope that helps. if you are in the area, you can have a ride on my bike and see what you think with an aftermarket shock.

[marravtr]

get ya'sen a nice SP1

[cheekykev]

get ya'sen a nice SP1

I totaly agree, or an SP2, oh and keep the Storm to do the donkey work if you can

AMCQ46 is giving you good advise, get the suspension sorted out, i did mine, it's a lot better now, ok there's better handling bikes but it'll be good enough for fast road use and you'll still have the fun and character of a V twin.
If you still want more then do what i did, this will make a big difference but with very little outlay, go 1 tooth down on the front sprocket and 2 teeth up on the rear, that will wake you up if you still want more go and see a shrink

[Captain Vimes]

I had a 929 a couple of years ago and I have ridden a couple of R1's. TBH once you have either of these bikes you will probably want to start spending money again unless they have been really looked after, i.e. FSH and low milage. I have just given up Blade's and ZX9R's to ride something that I can push a little more without losing the licence/ending up in casualty. But then I have been ridding for over 24 years so maybe I have just got the superbike bug out of my system!

[Animal]

I have had the forks re-valved by Roger of Revolution set-up for my weight. With just the forks done it gave more confidence in the corners. Hitting the brakes on a bumpy road would'nt break your wrists like it used to. But soon as you hit the throttle hard coming out of corners it bucks and weaves and can have you out of the seat, especially on a bumpy road. It really needed a better shock. So I bought a second hand Penske set-up fro my weight. Now it's a different bike. Absolutely awesome.

Cost me £270 for the forks and Penske cost me £250 its the fully adjustable one slow/fast compression adjustment and all that. Was it worth the money yes.

I know the bike well now having owned it for 11 years from new. Now with over 71k miles on the clock and still I love it. Cant think of anything else I would rather have.

[Stratman]

Cost me £270 for the forks and Penske cost me £250 its the fully adjustable one slow/fast compression adjustment and all that. Was it worth the money yes.

I know the bike well now having owned it for 11 years from new. Now with over 71k miles on the clock and still I love it. Cant think of anything else I would rather have.

I have had mine 10 years now and 45,000 miles. As one of my riding buddies said the other day "that fits you like an old glove now". I know exactly what it will do and when. I had the forks redone (though not "Rogered"), a Hagon shock, braided hoses and sintered front pads. Fitted bigger rear sprocket (can't recall how many but IIRC 2 teeth up). Scorpion cans

Goes where I think her to and sounds gorgeous. So

[Animal]

I have had mine 10 years now and 45,000 miles. As one of my riding buddies said the other day "that fits you like an old glove now". I know exactly what it will do and when. I had the forks redone (though not "Rogered"), a Hagon shock, braided hoses and sintered front pads. Fitted bigger rear sprocket (can't recall how many but IIRC 2 teeth up). Scorpion cans

Goes where I think her to and sounds gorgeous. So

I have a 15 tooth front and 43 on the rear made a big difference on the acceleration, like having another 20 horse power.
The speedo was miles out so I fitted a speedo healer.
I have tried all sorts of exhausts on it. Didn't like the high level variety because of how it kicks your feet out.
I have some standard height JAC's on it at the moment.
Starting to look a bit tatty now so upgrading some of the fixings with stainless steel.
Still really love the bike, just seem to be so tuned in to it.

[geoff996]

Hi I've had my storm for 2 yrs put k-tech springs in and fresh oil, just put a proflex rear shock on (don't know yet haven't had time to play) pipercross filter long trumphets, goes well keeps up with my gixxer1000 upto 140mph HOW FAST DO YOU WANT TO GO. At that speed you can get 28 days. I've been riding for 33yrs storm is lots of fun.Get a track bike if you want thrills at speed, the track is saver and advices is at hand to help develope you skills

[nora2004]

Sooooo, im back!

And ive decided, the Storms staying! lol

Over the last 2 weeks ive done over 1200 mile of stupidly hard riding, and somehow my licence is still intact! lol

Anyway, after I made this thread I set about looking for a new rear shock, really didnt want to pay for a new one, spoke to a few people and got prices etc!

Whilst doing this I was having a think about my front brake setup and realised it was pretty pants, to the point I had no confidence in the front to be able to push hard, I found myself using the engine to brake more than the brakes! As a result my rides would be nice and smooth but not that fast as I wanted to go, resulting in me getting really frustrated! lol

So, looked about replacing my 19mm 929 M/C as its just to hard an effort to stop and to me, gives zero feel! So I opted for a L0 Gsxr750 jobbie, its a 17.5mm radial Nissin and by god, what a difference it made, more braking power than grip at the front end now as Ive found out a few times! lol

Since then Ive done about 1200 mile and I now have that sweet feeling of "I dont want this ride to end" back, so so pleased I can say that!

Although one thing to note, might be useful advice to everyone too, when I bled the brakes I tightened everything back up as normal, then I plopped on a cable tie on the lever to get them tiny weeny little bubbles out! However the next morning I noticed brake fluid leaking from the left side banjo bolt, so dropped on some new washers and re-bled! Then again, another cable tie on etc, only to find the next morning that now the right side bleed nipple was leaking! lol

So, if your gonna do your brakes, throw on a cable tie just to check for leaks, even if your sure everything is done up tight! lol

Anyway moving on, today Ive fitted a Spazzo lever to the new M/C, 43t rear sprocket, new air filter and set the TPS to 500ohms!

And now Im off to go and have a play to see what the new additions are like!