For those that dont know, my bike was running horribly when cruising at lower speeds, it was also running very very rich indeed. So much so, that when I washed my bike next to the wheelie bin and ran the engine to dry it, the wheelie bin turned black with unburned fuel from the exhaust...not good!
Anyway, a trip to Paul at Dynobike in Malton today provided me with what feels like a brand new bike, buttery smooth in every gear and I can finally ride with confidence instead of feeling like I'm fighting a bucking bronco. After the rock up by Castle Motorcycles in Castleford, who basically handed me back a bike which was unfit to be on the road, today was a breath of fresh air.
Initial dyno run showed the bike was running extremely rich (already knew this due to the smell) so no wonder performance was complete trash at low RPM.
After stripping the carbs currently fitted and finding the emulsion tubes to be oval (examining the carbs under a UV for any slight defect), he set about building me a good bank of carbs from 2 bad banks. He explained what he was doing and how such a defect would affect performance. Not so complex really, a conical needle in an oval hole is never going to regulate the fuel flow correctly.
The other bank I had, which had been installed previously (cough stalls and shitty performance) had some screwed up jets. Basically, the muppet who owned the carbs previously had drilled out the jets for some reason, far too much, then tried to solder them to the right diameter. They were a mess. What kind of pillock bothers with that when a set of jets costs £10 at most? Sigh.
He tried one setup and just was not happy, so set about the whole process again from scratch, informing me that he'd rather get things perfect with my current kit if at all possible, or I'd need a Dynojet kit. I was prepared to buy a Dynojet kit, but Paul was tenacious in his approach to making my existing kit work. It's nice when you feel like the mechanic is actually working in your best interests, not just to line his own pocket. Have to give Paul props for that as its so rare nowadays.
In the end, he used some new jets, selected following a fresh dyno run and some major tinkering with the carb internals (dont ask, I've no idea).
Worrying times (to me) followed, however, the end result is that i now have a bike that runs a million times better than when I took it to him. Not only that, but my fuel economy has almost doubled in the process. It really was running THAT rich, no wonder if stalled with choke.
Paul is still not 100% happy with the setup but he said the fuelling is only a tiny bit lean if the throttle is blipped, something I only do very rarely. He did explain the technicalities of it but asked in detail about my riding style and after I explained, said that I should not experience any problems, but that if I did, to call him and he'd do me a special labour rate for fitting a Dynojet kit (considerable discount).
Overall, 4 dyno runs and 3 carb setups were tried, in the end, I cannot fault the service I received from Paul, he's a true professional and indeed, a string of professional race teams also agree. He has many winners actual race bikes in his workshop from time to time, including Manx TT winners, BSB racers, sidecar racers, motorcross and pretty much everything else inbetween.
Good price, great service and follow up if needed at no extra charge. Cant ask for more. I highly recommend this guy.
End figures for my bike are 105bhp @ rear wheel and 68ft/lb torque, give or take a decimal.
A 2008 Fireblade came in for a dyno run, it went to 157 bhp and 73 ft/lb. The Fireblade owner was shocked at the figures for the Storm, really does have a lot of torque.....!
I FINALLY LIKE MY VTR!!!!!!



PS. I should add that Paul only deals with fuelling/dyno, that is his specialism and he wont take on general work.