Port Elizabeth Firestorm Support Group

[Brian 99 firestorm]

Good day guys.
Iv'e been planning on starting a support group for the Storm owners in our area.
Last week i made contact with the first possible member. I'm offering highly discounted prices on repairs and spares as a service to firestorm owners as none of the shops locally seem to understand and appreciate the storms for what they are and the owners end up being unhappy with their bikes. Hence the fact there are so few storms still in commission in our area. Sad really. I'l keep the forum posted with the support groups progress.

[Brian 99 firestorm]

Does anyone perhaps have a clutch cover lying around somewhere. My first client busted his up and i suspect there might be pickup damage too. It has been welded up, but i don't trust the welding.
Thanx!

[Wicky]

Honda VTR1000 Firestorm Clutch Cover > http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-VTR1000 ... 2eca7bde27

i suspect there might be pickup damage too

Is the water pump/bearing damaged?

[VTRDark]

v'e been planning on starting a support group for the Storm owners in our area. ...................

Good on you. sound to me like your one of the few keeping the spirit of the Firstorm going in that part of the world.

Does anyone perhaps have a clutch cover lying around somewhere.

They are starting to get rare these days. The odd good one pops up on eBay or here from time to time but are always more expensive than the other side. More and more people are starting to use the Carbonardi carbon covers over the casings.

(:-})

[Brian 99 firestorm]

Not sure if the water pump or bearings were damaged during the crash, but he has complained of a missfire and erratic accelaration after the other mechanic attempted to rebuild it. Thats why i thought the pick up may be damaged. Might be dirt in the carbs as the clever dude never corked the fuel tank when he sprayed it and the client noticed paint flakes floating in the fuel. I'l see whats happening when the guy brings the bike and inform you guys. Thanx For the positive feedback. Wish we had such passionate guys this neck of the woods...

[thumperslaw]

Great news

Hope it goes well for you. Send us a link to the facebook page

[Brian 99 firestorm]

Hi guys.
Sorry for the long delay. The storm i question finally arrived at my shop on Tuesday, sounding very sad indeed, almost just running on one cylinder. Pickup and water pump seems ok, but looked like someone tried to plant potatoes in the carbs and the worst possible mod ever has been done by someone who felt the need to hear the storm snort through the air box. Yep, its running a stage one dynojet kit with BMC filter with intake snorkle removed and inline with where the snorkle mounts, they cut halfway through the air box!!!!! . All the sound with akrapovic high mount cans, but no performance. Under jetted for our coastal conditions and this was done by our local Honda agents??? Anyway, after plenty cleaning and tuning and fiddling, she's running well, but the infamous cct failure is raising its ugly head, so fitting manual cct's before taking her to the road. Will keep you guys posted.

[Wicky]

The Storm is very very sensitive to airbox/breathing mods - as even a change in type of filter can have significant negative effect on performance. What works as a performance tuning mod on an IL4 doesn't necessarily translate to an improvement on the VTR - as you've discovered it more often than not runs horribly worse.

Sounds like the bike owner modded his bike according to this 'guide' http://www.ablett.jp/bikes/vtr/air_box_lid.htm which failed dismally to add anything and ended up running crap cos it was lacking other major tuning mods i.e Proper full Stage 1 set up.

Best get airbox, snorkel. filter etc. back to standard to get a working & functional stockish baseline.

[Brian 99 firestorm]

First things first. I have the carbs semi sorted for now. Running her on 190 main jets front and rear to try and compensate for the huge opening in the air box till we can get a replacement lid for her. Biggest problem now is the failing cct's. Not even gonna risk starting her, as it sounds like she's on the verge of destruction!! Have to get them sorted this week, then the hunt begins for the air box lid, rear brake pedal, side stand switch, coolant reservoir, etc, etc. Like i stated, the poor girl is looking and running very poorly, but i'll get her back to standard.

[Brian 99 firestorm]

On another note. Has anybody perhaps gone through the exercise of having 0,5mm oversize JE pistons made or does anyone perhaps have a set they would want to part with? I did some reading on the net and it seems they only manufacure in sets of 4? My storm is on about 60 000km and i think i may need to do a rebuild on about 80 000km or so. She's starting to intermittantly give a slight puff of smoke on deaccelaration and i want to start preparing for whats coming.

[lloydie]

i will be going .5 j&e early February and will need someone to order them with

[Brian 99 firestorm]

Great!!
Keep me posted, and we can share the load!! I'll get the finances in order in the meantime and when it gets closer to the time, we can sort payments and stuff out.
Thanx!

[DorsetBoi]

i will be going .5 j&e early February and will need someone to order them with

I'm curious, how much are the high comp pistons?

[Brian 99 firestorm]

I checked on friday and a set of std high comp pistons, pins and clips would set me back about ZAR 3200,00. Thats excluding import taxes and all but i think that did include shipping. Not sure how much the oversize ones go for, but i know they only manufacture in sets of four.

[tony.mon]

Just be aware that although you can order os rings from Honda there will be a delay of some weeks because they only make them when they have a few orders in place.

And you may struggle to find someone to rebore the cylinders, as most reborers use vertical mills, and these cylinders are at 45 degrees to the crankcase surface.