rattle rattle

[matinik46]

Hi people,
got myself a firestorm at last.(and loving it!)
its been owned by the same guy for ten years and looked after.its done 35000 miles.mainly for touring,the guy didnt seem the type to thrash it,or change anything from standard.
although he had it regularly serviced he didnt know if the cct`s had ever been done.
Im used to riding four cylinder bikes especialy oil cooled suzukis so i know a noisy engine when i hear one but this vtr seems like its got all sorts of noises. im thinking its the cam chain i can hear, but it comes and goes.sometimes i can hear it even at tickover but it goes if i blip the throttle,its mainly when coming back down the revs.
now from lurking on here im sure that this has got to be done asap,and im thinking i should go for manuals.
what do you guys think?
what other things make horrible rattly noises on these,clutch,drive chain etc
hope you can help me put my mind at ease
matt

[AMCQ46]

Matt,
Gald you got a storm at last. sounds like the main problem you have is the exhausts are too quiet

The Storm is a bit more mechanical, with those big 500cc pots thrashing round.

Main "normal noises" are
** Clutch......which should goaway when clutch lever is pulled in
** Drive Chain, which may drag on the exhaust link pipe
** Cam Chain, even when CCT's are OK, you will hear some.

35000miles and not knowing if they are original CCT's................change them now [honda or manual], or do the stopper mod.

I did the stopper mod, and kept the same CCT's so only cost was a gasket, but I could have just used a bit of blue hylomar or some silicon.

The instructions in workshop section are very good, I will post a link if i remember

here:
http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic ... 9&start=60

half way down page #5 and a good update on page 7

[matinik46]

thanks for the quick and very usefull reply AMCQ46!
your right about the exhausts!! cant wait to fit something fruity!
but first things first, ive sent "rider on a storm" a msg about some manuals,hopefully he has got some left.
if not does anyone know where else i can get them?
ive heard the clutch rattle which im not worried about cos it goes when i pull it in.
I cant find any evidence of valve clearances been done too,and the carbs are due a balance,this prob dont help with strange noises!?

[benny hedges]

you can get ape camchain tensioners from cbrzone.com or email elcamin0@aol.com and order some, but they are twice the price & imo half as good as roas TT ccts
stopper mod will do for now, but don't remove the tensioners without reading sirch's post otherwise you will (obviously) take the tension off the chain, and depending whether the valves are under spring tension, they will flip back and the chain will jump a few teeth on one or both cam gears, with disastrous effects if you hit the starter!
same with any bike btw not just the vtr...

if you are thinking of doing the valve clearances i would recommend you get yourself a hotcams shim kit - works out cheaper in the long run with hundreds of shims and some nice stickers ;)
not a difficult job, maybe half a day, then the carbs will be off and will definately need balancing.
i got a £20 twin round gauge balancing kit off ebay with all the required hoses, valves, tees and adaptors, saves fkin about.

clutch rattle? helps a lot to change the clutch fluid for fresh and make sure it's bled proper, also turn up the idle speed over 1500 and it more or less goes away.
i have mine around 1700 tbh and it's fine, but does get hot in traffic.

and yes, you need some loud cans you could de-baffle the original ones, but imo you're better keeping them for mot day as you can pick up a tidy set of naughty zorsts for about a ton if you bide your time

oh, and get yourself a 15 tooth front cog - makes the bike much more fun to ride and you will still get a good top end.
don't bother with a haynes manual btw (shite) - get yourself a free pdf honda workshop manual from the link in the workshop forum

[matinik46]

cheers benny hedges,some good advice there,
i was thinking about the front cog,im def gona do that!
as for the clutch i will change the fluid and see what happens.
I dont have the tools or space to do a job like valve clearances,but i recon i can do the cct`s ok.
need them asap!

[fog356]

Hi, does changing the front cog make a big difference, and does it have any effect re an accurate speedo reading.
cheers

[benny hedges]

debatable tbh. i personally dont think it makes a great deal of difference at illegal speeds.
at 70 on the satnav mine reads just over 75 which for me is reasonable - same as my vw.
double that it's all over the place anyway.

if you've got used to standard gearing it feels mad as fook with the 15 on til you get used to it - the accel is ace!

you could go real hardcore and put a 14t on - ive got one in the garage but took it off cos i was wheelying out of every roundabout lol
got a 17 as well, still in the bag, not tried it yet cos i reckon it would be a pain around town in slow traffic.

imo the bike is faster top end with the 15t, simply because the gear ratios are so much closer and the bike will rev to the limiter in every gear, whereas standard it won't unless you tuck in.
(mine wouldn't anyway)

google 'gearing commander' to calculate the speed vs rpm with different cogs and work out how far out the speedo is.
you could always get a overlay sticker off ebay to correct it.

got my spare speedo stripped out on the fireplace atm, intend to play about and see if changing resistors on the board makes a difference to the reading - if it does i'll try soldering a mini pot on it and set it up trial & error off the tomtom on a motorway run.

not a very clear image sorry, but it looks to me as though the voltage to the coil that moves the needle goes through r4 & r5 (resistors) so i figure if i change the value of these resistors it will change the movement of the needle... we will see! 8p resistor has got to be cheaper than a speedo healer lol

[matinik46]

If its only 5mph out at 70-75 dont worry about messing with the speedo.
15t sprocket is on the list of things to do...

[sepia]

think will invest in a 15t aswell.

mine is crap @ taking off.

wheres best & cheapest place to purchase.

steve.

[benny hedges]

i got mine from http://www.bitsforbikes.co.uk - they were about £15 each delivered, next day - good quality too

[sirch345]

i got mine from http://www.bitsforbikes.co.uk - they were about £15 each delivered, next day - good quality too

Will that be http://www.bitzforbikes.co.uk/ then Benny

Chris.

[benny hedges]

thats the one lol - in rochdale... wemoto got them too but £16 plus delivery

[sepia]

thanks guys.

found a guy on ebay selling ones for £13 all in.

will see what ones best.

cheers steve.

[sepia]

got sprocket on way.

should of bought that bolt & washer i needed 1st but the need for speed comes 1st.

my chain has a bit of slack on it.can i just undo front sprocket slip it of with cahin & slip new one on as easy.

i can cope with getting my hands dirty if this can be done.

steve.

[benny hedges]

my chain has a bit of slack on it.can i just undo front sprocket slip it of with cahin & slip new one on as easy.

that's all i do with mine bud, then tension as required... you will notice the difference as soon as you pull away lol