Last Time I mention the Blade

[Beamish]

I am sorry for going on about a non Storm but I was always interested in other bikes and peoples reviews as a Storm owner so I will post this last stat.
I took the blade to a familiar Storm stomping ground and realised that although it felt like I was taking the bend slow I was 10-15mph up on the Storm I wasnt hanging off either The suspension is a different class, hard but takes all the crap Lincs roads deal out but the main difference is.......
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145miles before selecting reserve
I rode the first 100 miles like me gran but bloody hell got to be happy with that!

Anyhoo 4 pots are wrong! Will be buying a Ducati if Honda dont bring out a new Firestorm I think, miss that initial low down grunt and the bark of a V. I reckon I will have a dab at KTM they might have the answers I seek. Dont get me wrong the Blade is a great machine and I think I may have it a while but I am but a mere mortal and with male DNA that causes massive petrol swings and strange decisions.

P.S I am wined up so the post may be utter shi*te

[snipper]

know where you at beamish ... loved the storm then got an R1 which is mental but would love an sp1 / sp2 but funds wont let me ...
this is a nice friendly forum so if permited i will hang about

snipper

[chuxsta]

dont get me wrong i do love my storm... i really do....

but i really cant see what every one has a hard on over them for...
even my dad had one and he still raves on about how good it was...

apart from the sound it makes i still cant see what every one sees in them...
well i can, but it just dont float my boat...
i cant put it into words....
probably cause im over half way through a crate of beers right now..

its fast yeah.. have blown away many of other modern bikes from the lights... and it handles like a dream...

but i have only had the GRIN factor since i had naughty cans on it..

dunno maybe i need to ride a 4pot for a bit to realise what i have...

[pariah]

Being a new comer to a strom I must say I was impressed wid the bike.

Nice style that dont age, still looks as good as new ones even after her 7th birthday. Responsive when you want her to be. kind to new riders and unforgiving. Built proof ( apart from ccts ) . Easy to service even though parts are dear.
I dont feel like a tit on a skewer when riding her. Un like i,v seen some riders on diffrent bikes.

Personally for a sprorts tourer , they got it right. Yeah some minor dislikes I agree. But on the whole I think they biuilt a good machine and should revamp for a new model considering how popular these machines are.

Oh , as for the fireblade. My friend rides one of them like a nutter . I let him take the storm out to see what he thought to her. When he did eventually return some time later , he was all praise . Nice size, fast loads better braking than his blade. Fully impressed especially with what I paid for her.
Blade and storm, sorry guys . Yh talking to different styled and designed bikes hear. Full style race against a tourer, yh carnt even beging to compare the 2 really.

[bikerpiker]

The v-twin rumble ,thats what i like about the storm,and thats with standard cans with holes drilled in baffles.....possibly about to be removed altogether
Comparing with my bike i replaced,- Daytona 1000/4 ,Storm much lighter and smaller.
I honestly don't notice any difference in engine braking, - and im forever taking hands off handlebars and sitting up straight for a few seconds due to aches n pains

Everybody talks about the torque,..well ,there are certain parts of my route home,where on the Daytona i'd take the low speed curve in 6th gear,where on the storm im in 5th,or it starts jerking a bit. Maybe thats carburation or something,who knows.
Speedwise,pretty much the same i reckon, the old daytona was pretty fast,could leave a mate with a bandit 12 pretty easy. Apparently they had "hot cams,,,,whatever that is,,,and high compression pistons

Handling.......the Triumph was heavy,but point it,and it would go ,and the brakes were good as well.

Its deffinately the noise of the vtr that does it for me,and also i got a fairly modern looking bike for £1200 odd ......oh, the fact that E-bay is full of parts for them is quite handy if required as well

At risk of being shot ...heres a pic of my auld Triumph,.....in the best colour as well..maybe thats why it was so fast

[pariah]

Yeah I know, I was seriously looking at getting the Triumph Sprint RS before deciding on the storm.
Nice style, but Iwas told the finishes on the triumphs dont last that long.

[bikerpiker]

Dunno about that mate...mine was a j-plate '91, ..53,000 miles ,was excellent finish,vitually unmarked,was allways getting compliments no corrosion to speak of ,sold it less than a year ago.
Possibly newer models not as good as the early ones,i dont know.

OOps,,sorry,this is a firestorm forum

[Zakalwe]

OK, long post (sorry )

Re IL4 versus V-Twin low-down torque, I have compared my 04 blade to my old SP1, using Junction-33's dyno. Using the same dyno place should remove any difference between different dyno setups. The only variable was ambient air temperature.....the SP1 run was done on a cold damp morning (ambient was about 7C....great for engine power, whilst the Blade run was done at about 18C)

The SP1 was running a custom map and giving 130 RWBHP. The blade was standard (no Power Commander), with a flapper mod and the exhaust baffle drilled out.


The fuelling as standard was all over the place on the blade. On a wide open throttle the ECU was dumping loads of fuel into the throttle bodies causing the engine to die, then surge.

OK, I accept that my blade is younger than Beamish's, but the torque and power curve is not too bad for an un-optimised blade. At it's worst, it is probably down 8BHP compared to the SP1 (at 7000RPM). Given that it is putting out 92BHP at that point I would guess that that would be getting close to a standard Firestorm output. Of course at 9,000RPM the blade just continues to rev, whereas the twin is running out out revs and the power curve has peaked. The blade ran on to give 147RWBHP.

Since the dyno run, I have fitted a Power Commander, which has made a massive difference to the low down poke. My butt-dyno leads me to think that it is now making more low-down BHP and torque than the SP1 (I am waiting to get a custom map made up and then will post the comparison). I would guess that with a custom map I will get >150RWBHP *and* more torque than the SP1 at every point in the rev-range.

Beamish I would be surprised if a standard 'Storm made more low down poke than your Blade if I am honest. It will make its power in a different way though....the IL4s are so smooth that you don't notice the power building up.

[bluesman]

Here is scenario for you. Spend few quid on suspension on Storm, take it to Canyon de Verdon, keep it above 5000 rpm and try to compare it with Blade - you find that neither have advantage in REAL twisty road. And just when you realize that suspension and all engine power does not help other guy at all and Blade not getting ahead of you both get blown by crazy guy on 600 cc self-made thumper supermoto in a hairpin. I did feel real advantage of Storm engine in such road when I finally stopped using brakes at all and run purely on engine braking using 5500-7500 range. But I did spend quite a few quid on suspension. And - yes, we ALL got passed by supermoto made from Aprillia Pegaso of first edition. And I was not able to catch up until we had some straights...
Not all is about speed....


Could not resist