£500 to spend on mods

[Styler4077]

Hi all after some info,
Stormin Ben? you may be one of the guys to ask. But others please join in and add your suggestions.

Brand new here, brand new on the road at 50 years old been racing and sprinting for 17 years. love my storm don't like the front after 30 miles....

So here goes,
£500 to spend,
Maybe I get the jist (maybe)
£200 on modified front fork from racing guy listed on this site.
Who's rear ?? I'm big 115Kg and my wife want a ride also....
change the rear sprocket up 2? more when I need a new chain.
Rest of the bike is standard... What else.

I want colour coded wheels but I have a reason for that :-)

Styler4077

[sirch345]

I take it you mean Roger Ditchfield at Revolution Racing to sort the front forks out, he'd probably recommend a Penske rear shock, but I think that will be well above your budget, unless you're lucky enough to pick-up a second hand unit may pay to give him a ring and have a chat about it

Chris.

[Styler4077]

Thanks,

Yes that's the guy mentioned a few times, so £500 - £200 for the front. Sorted...

At the rear
Would a SP1 or Sp2 fit?
Would that be better?
What about a brand new unit? The bike's rear shocker is 5 years old and having travelled 24k miles ???
or who does a replacement unit?
What would the cost be and how much left out of £500?

Thanks for the reply

[beckster]

Well STYLER,
£225 gone for the front forks,thats £275 for a shock,unless you get lucky and get a top spec.shock off flea bay you're looking a Hagon Rear shock,i think they are about £255 but are good value,that leaves £20 for a one tooth less (15)front sprocket and no change for your bus fare home

[alan]

Thanks,

Yes that's the guy mentioned a few times, so £500 - £200 for the front. Sorted...

At the rear
Would a SP1 or Sp2 fit?
Would that be better?
What about a brand new unit? The bike's rear shocker is 5 years old and having travelled 24k miles ???
or who does a replacement unit?
What would the cost be and how much left out of £500?

Thanks for the reply

No the sp wont fit try and search for a good second hand unit on ebay i was lucky i got an ohlins off someone from this forum and he lived local which was a stroke of luck.
alan

[Styler4077]

What about about this type

Honda Showa Rear Shock

[cupasoop]

Thats the standard one

[Stormin Ben]

Hi Styler,

My advice is now pretty worthless as its all been covered already

Get the forks done first -you'll notice a MASSIVE improvement

Then strip the rear end down, check the linkages, replace any knackered bearings and thoroughly grease it before putting it all back together -you should notice a reasonable improvement in the quality of the ride

Replace the sprocket. My preference is for a +2 rear but a -1 front is an even more dramatic change

Remove and clean the brake calipers, fit braided hoses and some Carbone Lorraine A3 brake pads

Rear shock -less clear cut on this one
IMO, when the front of the bike is working really well, the rear is much less of a problem.
Especially as you are in the more -erm generously proportioned size bracket coz the stock shock is generally oversprung for the less well covered but for larger riders and pillion carrying it is actually about right

Then keep an eye on ebay for a decent aftermarket one to come up and don't forget to budget for getting it resprung


Hope this is of use to you, feel free to ask more questions and we'll try to help you out

Cheers

Ben

[Styler4077]

Thanks Ben.

Went out today and did 60 miles on her for a run round with a mate who also has a VTR.
As you said, rear spring set v hard, dropped it down to position 3 maybe lower next time. Must better. Am I big? at 6ft 3in I have to be big..... heavy :-)

Mines a 2001 (2000 model I assume) font setup better tan my fried as his just dives when you apply the stoppers.

Front forks badly rusted so will have to get them red chromed before work can be started on them.

Stephen

[Stormin Ben]

Have you seen the thread in the for sale section -there's an Ohlins shock up for grabs

As to rear preload, I'm 6'3" and 15st in riding gear and I've never had it harder than position 2 (1 off the softest setting)

[Styler4077]

Thanks for that Ben,

I'll set it to number 1 this week and try it.
What have you set the rear screw to?
And what about the front?
As we are the same height but as I'm 17.5 stone fully fitted what have you set your up to?

Any help gratfully received.

Stephen

[Stormin Ben]

I found position one slightly soft in that it ran into ground clearance problems when ridden in a spirited fashion
Three was too hard for me except on track so I migrated to two

As to rebound (the screw on the bottom) I think I was about 2/3 out from min but it is very much a question of taste -its what you'er comfortable with. Better to spend an hour going up and down a favourite stretch of road adding and removing it til you get a feel for what it does.

As to what mine's set to -not much help I fear there mate coz I've got a Penske rear shock and a Blade front end.
The front is really lovely and the rear is a vast improvement over stock but the spring is a bit soft and I'm too skint to be able to change it at the mo
Though to be fair this is only really noticeable on track in fast direction changes and it works beautifully on the sort of roads I tend to favour (lumpy bumpy minor roads with no fear of speed cameras )

[robin1000]

The best way to sort out the suspension is at a track day, you with me on this Ben?
When I was racing my Storm the suspension front end was done by Dave Parkinson and I had a Penske rear. The rear is superb, worth the whole of your budget imo, and then set up the standard front using different grade oils. If you're only using the bike on the road, even fast, the standard front is up to the job. As Ben said, braided lines and, for me, EBC double H pads, the standard discs are more than adequate.

[stevieVTR]

Don't know if this is any use, but it's what I used to set mine up and it was definately an improvement (quote stolen from a post by Kitch, I think...)

Standard:

Forks: preload - 4 rings showing / rebound - 1 turn out from fully in.
Shock: preload - position 2 / rebound - 1 turn out from fully in.

Thats the factory setting, Roger (Firestorm guru and all round top bloke from Revolution Racing) advised me these settings for stock suspension:

FORKS
1) wind the pre-load adjuster (14mm spanner) until only one ring is showing
2) Set the rebound (screw at the top of the fork) until you have "the fastest possible return, but under control" - this will be around 3/4 to 1 turn OUT from fully IN
3) Ride the bike accordingly !!!!

DAMPER
1) Set the pre-load to the LOWEST level (step 1 )
2) Set the Rebound (screw at the bottom of the damper) to "fastest possible return etc. etc. ---"

that's based on me asking for a setting based on my 13 stone and for road / occasionally spirited riding.

Also, EBC HH pads and a set of braided lines make all the difference.

[Stormin Ben]

The best way to sort out the suspension is at a track day, you with me on this Ben?

Yes and no!!
As the VAST majority of my riding is done on the road that's where its set up for. Consequently its a wee bit soft on the track but is a trade-off I'm prepared to make