Gear Ratio?

[Boubepo]

Well I've had my Storm for a couple of weeks now and despite the seat being scorched by the local forest fire, I'm very impressed with it. The seat is at the Upholsterers shop at the moment, so the bike is off the road for a couple of days.

I like the style and the uniqueness of the Storm and the sound! It's more comfortable than I thought, I've put some Bridgestone S20"s on so the handling is not bad either.

Couple of things I've noticed, which are perhaps normal? the gearbox is quite clunky, especially between 1st and 2nd, I'm due a new chain and sprockets so I'm hoping this might smooth it out, even if it's only slightly. The other thing I've noticed on the subject of 1st and 2nd gear - There seems quite a gap in the gear ratio between 1st and 2nd. Where I live I need to ride about 1km through very tight corners, bends, hairpins and a series of small hills, before I hit a major road, in fact I'm lucky if I have a straight more than 30m during this 1km.

During this period of riding, I've found 1st seems to low and second too high, it feels like the gear ratio should be closer between these two gears, or even another gear should be between the two. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it just me?

[lloydie]

Put a 15t front sprocket on the front .
That will make 2nd more useable but it will make 1st unusable for anything other than lofting the front up at a twist of the wrist :-)

[Furrybiker]

I found one more tooth on the rear made a difference in town, and yes clunky seems normal! I tried adjusting the chain as advised but it didn't really make much difference.

[tony.mon]

Try bleeding the clutch, that can make an improvement.

Watch out for the small reservoir, though, as it's easy to pump the lever a couple of times to many and empty the reservoir.
Once that happens you have to pump fluid through for about 20 minutes to get it bled properly.

[Boubepo]

Thanks for the replies and advice, my Storm is 15 yrs old so I expect a bit of clunky'ness from the gearbox but I also have a 20yr old CB100 SF and the gear change is relatively smooth, so I'd like to try and smooth out the VTR if it's possible.

Tony - you mentioned bleeding the clutch, I understand it's a case of pumping and releasing the air but if I'm honest I don't know more than that. Can you give me a quick run down, how to do it please, bear in mind I have the mechanical ability of a 5 yr old

Have to say, other than the two points I've raised, I love the Storm and can understand the love and enthusiasm I can see here, it has something very special - very special, that's enough for me!!

[lloydie]

pump release tighten .pump release tighten.pump release tighten refill .pump release tighten.pump release tighten .pump release tighten.pump release tighten refill .pump release tighten.pump release tighten .pump release tighten refill .pump release tighten .pump release tighten.pump release tighten refill .pump release tighten.pump release tighten .pump release tighten.and remember to refill when it starts to run low .

also crush drive rubbers help if yours are hard and old.

the firestorm has a tractor like gear box it will always be clunky .

this will help smooth the gear shifting
http://www.factorypro.com/Prod_Pages/pr ... ift_STAR_ Kit_

[VTRDark]

With regards to the clunky gearbox. When was the last time you checked the oil level. When my gearbox gets a bit more clunky than normal, it's normally a sign that I need to top the oil level up.

(:-})

[Boubepo]

Thanks for the comments/advice - I will look at changing the chain/sprockets and bleeding the clutch and see how it goes, it would be nice to smooth the gear change out slightly, that's for sure.

Thanks also lloydie for the Evo gear shift link, has anyone ever tried this mechanism? looks quite expensive for what it is and not sure how easy to fit?

[tony.mon]

Thanks for the comments/advice - I will look at changing the chain/sprockets and bleeding the clutch and see how it goes, it would be nice to smooth the gear change out slightly, that's for sure.

Thanks also lloydie for the Evo gear shift link, has anyone ever tried this mechanism? looks quite expensive for what it is and not sure how easy to fit?

Pretty easy to fit, about an hour and a half all in.
You'll need to have a new clutch gasket to hand.
ALso you'll need to drain the coolant; if you're careful you can do this on the side stand without taking the oil out but the occasional drip of coolant often falls into the open engine and so I generally replace oil and oil filter while I'm there.