Riding the storm hard... and newbie tips.

[Hanuman]

spent a good while looking at the back tyre earlier.

the sides are showing signs of wear now... suspose i just need to live in the corners a bit more to even it out

really starting to feel more relaxed on the saddle. it's quite flickable really.

[craigybaby]

i must be doing something wrong because i find cranking my storm over really hard. it's really slow getting to go from one tilt to the other

[BruceK]

cheers, just been looking at my local RoSPA group, think i'll join - probs be a larf.

If ya fancy A trip to Manchester, I'll take yer out for the day. I used be an Observer with the manchester group. We'll have ya peg scratchin before ya know it. As the fireman said, it'll cost ya a butty. We just like to ride with people who are interested!

Lee.

Lee, is this offer open to any other 'storm owners? I commute daily on mine in all weathers but struggle to keep up with my younger brother if we ever get out for a blast ('99 blade). I'm only in Bradford so Manchester is pretty close.

Cheers, Bruce.

[Stormin Ben]

I've learnt to stay off that back brake as the ass wobbles and doesnt like it when braking hard before a corner

Thats not the back brakes fault, its the rear shock.
I'm guessing the preoload is wound on quite a bit (ie more than the 2 which is recommended)
What happens is the shock is topping out and therefore can't track the road
Don't discount the back brake, it is very much your friend

I've read reports on the stock brake and suspension set up and it appears i'm aproaching needing some modifications - or i'm riding like a clown or I need to set up the suspension - and frankly I havent a clue how to go about it.

Cheapest options
Replace front springs and oil -£70 ish
Second hand shock off ebay -£200ish
5mm spacer on top of rear shock -£peanuts

WRT all the comments on IAM
It is very much dependant on the observer you get
I nearly jacked it in after the first ride coz the tw@ on his VFR criticised me for a) hanging off and b) nodding at other bikers
However I asked for a different one and got a 55year old on a old Pan
What a guy!!
He was right up my chuff the entire hour and I was really flinging the bike about. Really good feedback, really good comments, faith restored

The reasons I would advocate doing IAM training
1) The roads they generally ride-out on are really challenging -you'll find loads of great roads you never knew existed
2) When you're just going out for a blast, if you wake up and its raining you dont bother, when you've got a purpose (ie IAM run) you do get out there and learn a lot
3) It makes you think about your riding, and having someone proficient pointing out what you can improve is also well worthwhile
4) Get over the 60mph thing!! Not having the option to blast up to 150mph on the straights makes you concentrate much more on getting the corners right. Picking the right line, getting the speed right and powering through a bend really well is a real buzz. Think about you last few ride outs -how many corners did you take at more than 60mph? Not that many I'll bet (and if you did you need to find some better roads!)

[xenophon]

^^ Do you go to the meetings at Tally Ho? I went to Sutton RoSPA for a while, but got fed up of being blanked by the "old lags". I keep threatening to go to B'ham IAM, but genuine reasons have stopped me going. Worth a shot then?

[Stormin Ben]

Yeh, I'd say so
Plenty of guys on sports bikes there (as well as plenty on BM's )
In fact the chief training officer and a couple of others instruct on the Rider skills days (and were offering a slider scraping service )

Haven't been along for a year or so due to limited time after the nipper was born but would recommend it to anyone


Ben

[Squiffythewombat]

Please dont get me wrong here, i think i might of explained myself rather badly earlier:


I dont by any means disencourage anybody to goto any advanced rider training scheme! For the newbies, back to biking guys, weekend warriors and the all weather guys they will give you some great tips.

Just in my expeirences, all the people ive met havent been too great or friendly or maybe its just my years of bad habbits and crap car drivers...

[meintjiesj]

I also have had good and bad experiences from my IAM sessions. My normal instructor was great, a guy from the Borders. Real good advise that you can actually use.. Then before the final test ride I had to go out with one of the senior observers. He failed me after 20 min, saying I was an agressive rider, my lines were dangerous and my slow speed riding wasn't up to scratch. I know I am an agressive rider and I claim my piece of the road, but after 10 years of riding in town traffic that is what you do.

My two tips for better handling. Pirreli Diablo tires - After 700 miles in pissing Scottish rain, two other guys out of the group crashed and I didn't have one incident I will probably be staying with them tyres. Second is a good setup from Rodger at Revolution racing. Not cheap but worth every penny.

Johan

[Squiffythewombat]

He failed me after 20 min, saying I was an agressive rider, my lines were dangerous and my slow speed riding wasn't up to scratch. I know I am an agressive rider and I claim my piece of the road, but after 10 years of riding in town traffic that is what you do.
Johan

Exactly!!!!! Just because they have such and such certifcate and know the highway code like its the back of their hand doesnt nessisarily mean they are a good rider! INMO!

[Hanuman]

[quote="Stormin Ben"]


I'm guessing the preoload is wound on quite a bit (ie more than the 2 which is recommended)
What happens is the shock is topping out and therefore can't track the road

[quote]

Cheers

can you advise how to adjust as I believe it is pretty tight on the back end.

Perhaps the previous rider had more weight on than I.

kinda feels as if it wont settle in and is hard.

I'm only 12 stone.

like i said, felt great weighed down by the pillion, was as flickable as a snot.

[slim_boy_fat]

Chances are there is not much wrong with your bike, but its no bad thing to get it checked out make sure suspension is operating as it should.

The well publicised issues about the storm suspension are probably much over blown, no doubt the rossi would spank any of us on a storm even if we were on his race bike!!!

At 12 stone standard suspension that is working well is perfectly acceptable for the road, it may need setting up. You can either get someone else to do it of have a go yourself. Put the suspension back to standard setting and have a fiddle. Have a ride and have a fiddle. Its not rocket science and if it all goes too far out, back to standard and start again. Might be worth investing in a decent book about suspension. Many of the bike mags have articles on it.

Back brake i tend to use it all the time, especially bout town for slowing at lights etc, evens out the wear on the pads. The rear brake can be very useful for tightening your line in a bend and scrubbing a bit of speed off. As not all of use get corners spot on!! Obviously use with care too hard and you could lock the rear tyre but you would be surprised how hard you can use the rear.
The back brake seems to be very misunderstood by allot of bikers, probably only on the track where you are braking at maximum and the rear wheel is close to lifting would you probably not use it.

If the tyres are squared off then buy new ones!! Michelin 2CTs are looking good. Your grip in the dry will be fine even with a bit of squaring off but the groves which (displace standing water) in the middle may be getting a bit low and could cause aquaplaning.

On te road not many people get their tyres right to the edge, especially the front. you would have to be scraping the pegs hard to do that. Probably easier to do on a roundabout at 25mph than a high speed corner at 70mph

[Stormin Ben]

Cubic
You need to dig the Honda toolkit out from under the seat
In there you'll find a C-spanner and the handle for it
This hooks onto the toothed collar on the top of the shock
Each increment is marked and you want to be aligning the number 2 with the step thing on the shock (not sure if this makes sense) ie one from minimum

On the road not many people get their tyres right to the edge, especially the front.

Agreed -although it does depend on the tyre profile of course


My front Diablo Corsa (road use) had a sizeable chicken strip




Whereas my Rennsport (track use) erm doesn't

[Hanuman]

I looked under the seat after I bought the bike.

No tool kit

[Stormin Ben]

Not a great loss TBH

Get yerself down to your local tool shop and they should be able to provide you with one to fit for not a lot of wonga

Or, if the thought of spending money brings you out in a cold sweat, get a hammer and a drift and tap the collar round with that

[feef]

my 'storm didn't have a tool kit either, but if it's anything like the Yamaha toolkit, it's not so much a pack of tools, but a pack of cheese-shapes that resemble tools.

in terms of handling and performance, I've had my 'storm a week and a half, and have been enjoying it immensley, although still getting used to it. It came with brand new Dunlop 207s on it, which are now scrubbed to 1/2 an inch from the edges. I'm not the greatest rider in the world, and have only got the pegs down on the FJR once, and toe down on the thunderace (with rearsets) at Cadwell.. I'm sure with time, and experience on the 'storm i'll get as quick as I am on the other two.

I do find that the storm is less stable than my yams, and frequently get a little shake of the head when powering out of bends, that I don't get to the same extent with the other two. I do admit I'm on bumpy roads, which wont help.

anyone got the stock suspension settings? I might try setting it back to stock and then playing with it from there. i've no idea if it had been played with before I got it.

a