What's the first mod?

[YellaThrobber]

Hi Guys

My Storm is stock and I've done nothing to it since I bought it 2 years ago. I'm looking to make a few changes through this year, so I wondered what modifications you would recommend I start with.

Cheers, Drew

[neil]

Fill a plastic bottle with petrol (about 500 ml is OK) store it in behind the red seat fairing (other less popular colours are available). This is your backup petrol to get you to garage when you run out. It has been useful for me in the past

[tony.mon]

CCT's to manual OR do the stopper mod.
Either way, it'll save you a shedload of money when they eventually let go.

No point, IMHO, in spending money on lovely carbon bling if your bikes laid up with a wrecked engine.

Then (depending on budget and taste)
my new favourite, Hyperpro fork springs (£100) or Rogered!
Replacement rear shock, secondhand from E-Blag at whatever you choose, but cheapest new one from about £250, while you're there make sure you check and regrease the shock linkages (maybe fit grease nipples?)
Jet kit and dyno setup

After that, the world's your oyster, but don't forget training for you, because if you're a better rider you'll get more out of whatever you're on

Just my opinion, anyone else got a recommendation?

[MacV2]

AS Above, not that ive done any meself yet, but I doff my hat to the suppirior knowlage of Proffesor of spannering Dr T.Mon!

What about the R1/R6 reg /Rect mod. Of course if your going to do this ensure you buy the right one to fit.....unlike me...Doh!

Mac

[Giddsy]

And don't forget the two cheapest but essential mods to a stock bike - drill the silencers or take baffles out completely and 3 to 6mm spacer under the rear shock to sharpen handling, essential imho.

Enjoy!

[YellaThrobber]

Hey Guys

Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty new to any of this stuff, so could I just ask you a couple more questions?

Is there a preferred shock manufacturer or are we talking replacing the old Honda part for another, newer, Honda part? And, what exactly would a Reg/Rec do?

Oh, I love the bottle idea!

Cheers, Drew

[benny hedges]

And don't forget the two cheapest but essential mods to a stock bike - drill the silencers or take baffles out completely and 3 to 6mm spacer under the rear shock to sharpen handling, essential imho.

Enjoy!

theres a guy on ebay selling ready made 3mm spacers for a few £ each,
suggest you buy 2, see what the handling is like with one and if necessary fit the other.
easy to fit, just take off the seat, loosen off the nylock nut on top of the shock to give plenty of slack, get someone to lift the back end of the bike or lever it up while you slide the spacer under the bracket - on top of the shocker.
tighten it all back up, seat back on and go throw it into some bends

feels like it tips over a bit more willingly going into corners instead of you having to work it and shitting yourself when it goes wide!!

[flying banana]

cct,s for peice of mind and plenty of grease under the boot rubber for the starter motor

[tony.mon]

Hey Guys

Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty new to any of this stuff, so could I just ask you a couple more questions?

Is there a preferred shock manufacturer or are we talking replacing the old Honda part for another, newer, Honda part? And, what exactly would a Reg/Rec do?

Oh, I love the bottle idea!

Cheers, Drew

For reg/rec function, see this thread:
http://www.haymouth.co.uk/phpBB3/viewto ... =9&t=16482

Re rear shocks, depends on your budget, whether you take pillions, do track days and your weight.

Various folk have different choices, I run a Hagon with a remote adjuster, for me it's fine straight out the box without a custom spring.
Others run WP, Ohlins, or you can get the original one rebuilt- there's a rebuilding service listing on E-bay for about a hundred.

Try other people's Storms who live near you, ignore other mods, just concentrate on what the back end's doing and see if it's what you're after.

[YellaThrobber]

Hi All

Thanks for the advice. I'll get cracking!

Cheers, Drew

[YellaThrobber]

Hi Benny

Did you see those spacers recently? I've searched fleabay for 3mm spacer, rear shock spacer etc and either I'm a retarded monkey (most likely) or I'm not finding them.

What did you search under?

Hope you can help.

Thanks, Drew

[tony.mon]

I have some spares, pm me your addy.....

[mik_str]

Word of advice (as per Sir Roger): do NOT shim the rear shock until your forks have been re-worked or you may run into problems of instability. In terms of the shims, you can easily make your own by simply buying large flat washers and cutting an opening/slot so that yiou can slide them into position (worked for me).

More cheap mods:
- removing short intake runner on front cylinder and replacing with long one (identical to rear)
- fit decent brake pads (braided lines too are a good investment)
- gear it down (the VTR comes geared quite tall from the factory)
- shifter linkage adjustment: move arm on shift shaft splines (one or two splines will do it) so that you get it as close to 90 degrees to the linkage arm as possible, thereby optimizing mechanical advantage and improving your shifting action
- shorter throe throttle tube (one from RC45 fits and can be had for little money)
- mirror spacers (to make them actually usable); make your own or pick some up cheap on eBay

hope that helps