I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!

VTRgirl · Post by **VTRgirl** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 7:03 am

Hellooooooooooooo!!! Missed you all

.

Had a FABULOUS holiday down in Sydney. Clocked up almost 5,000 kms (4,719.4 to be precise

) in about two weeks, including 1,000 in one day on the way down & the same on the way back. Not a bad effort me thinks. I got sunburnt three times (which is the exact number of times the rain stopped

), but still had a blast. Rode all the twisties Sydney's surrounds has to offer several times each with whoever I could find. Big thanks to Larry for showing me some of the sights, including the famous Robertson pie shop (where the pies aren't as good as the bakery down the road, but hey, it's the place to be...)!

Met some folks from the Aussie forum. Had 9 Storms for one ride along with a few VFR hangers on

. I could go on rubbing everyone's noses in it, but I'll stop now. Hopefully it'll keep me satisfied for my rideless recovery period over the next few months after my operation on Monday

.

Anyway, it's always good to be home with my cat, my broadband (how anyone ever copes on dial-up I don't know) and of course, you lot

.

eddvtr1000 · Post by **eddvtr1000** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 8:19 am

welcome back pettle, good to hear you had a good hol

oh well there goes the peace then

Pete.L · Post by **Pete.L** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 8:34 am

Sounds Fab Girl.
5000k I'm well impressed

Our country's not big enough to go that far in one go.
I must ask....

Hows your Ass?

400 K (if my math is correct) is about as far as I've done in a day on my Storm and I could wait to get off the thing.

Pete.l

iggy1966 · Post by **iggy1966** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 8:55 am

Good to have you back.

Pleased you had a good time amd hope the cat did'nt miss you too much.

RAINMAKER · Post by **RAINMAKER** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 9:40 am

Good luck with the sex change.................well you ride like a bloke

VTRgirl · Post by **VTRgirl** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:33 am

It's not THAT kind of op, Paulie!

Honest!

Glad you all missed me

.

And Iggy, my poor cat hasn't let me out of his sight since I got back. Just about hopped in the bath with me yesterday! Purring like a mad thing. We're a hopeless pair. I'm not sure who missed who more...

Alienist · Post by **Alienist** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:17 am

I just got the most bizarre image in my head after reading your post VTRgirl.

I'm not happy with it tho. Honest.

Post by **sirch345** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:07 pm

Welcome back VTRgirl, pleased to hear it all went well and you're back in one piece

it sounds like you had a wonderful 2 weeks

Good for you

Quite an impressive mileage there, especially the trip there and back

How did the bike perform

Chris.

Don't mention dial-up speeds to Kaz, abit of a sore subject!

VTRgirl · Post by **VTRgirl** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:39 pm

sirch345 wrote:How did the bike perform

The Storm went like a dream, Chris, just ask any of the OZFireStormers I met up with. Actually, it was great to meet another couple of girls who could well & truly hold their own with the lads. Kaz & Saz, believe it or not (no, not our Kaz)! The three of us put most of the boys to shame

.

I think I posted something already about the fuel economy... I've got a 16L tank & found that even some of the 19L bikes were hitting reserve before me. Now this is not because I ride like a granny. Let me make this quite clear (c'mon, Larry, back me up here...)

. We all know the Storms are a tad on the thirsty side, but I was surprised to hear how different they all were. I normally hit reserve between 200 & 210kms (125-131 miles). That's with a K&N and Microns. Dynojet on the way... Maybe I just got me a particularly good'un. I run a fairly expensive high performance oil & a fuel additive from the same company (http://www.pmlubricants.com.au/pm_home.htm), so maybe that makes the difference.

Alienist · Post by **Alienist** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:49 pm

Hi VTRgirl,

I get good economy out of my storm as well. red light is just coming on at around the 210 mark and once at 220 and I've got the 16L tank as well. Using BP Ultimate 98 with K&N, Vance and Hines pipes and Stage one Dyna jet.
Which fuel are you using??
Nice to see you had a good time. 5000km is a great ride in anyone's book.

VTRgirl · Post by **VTRgirl** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:57 pm

I generally stick to the Ultimate, Vortex or Ampol Gold, with the PM800 additive. I try to steer clear of the smaller companies and definitely no Shell. Optimax + FireStorm = Stop.

Alienist · Post by **Alienist** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:13 pm

Ultimate is the best I've found for mine. Never tried Ampol Gold though, we don't get it here. I don't have any problems with Shell fuel. when i was pit crewing for a Hyabusa drag bike we used shell premium for a while and it was fine, before moving up to ELF and higher octane fuels

.
The worst for mine is Vortex, absolutely terrible. The bike stalls and runs rough, no idea why. It runs better on regular unleaded.

VTRgirl · Post by **VTRgirl** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:18 pm

Hmmm... Have been getting quite fond of the ol' Vortex of late. Don't have too many Ampol's around here & the BP is closest to home, so it's usually Ultimate for me too. Don't know what it is with the Optimax, but I've heard from several people that Storms have just given up running with no excuse after using it. Haven't heard of any issues with other bikes though.

Alienist · Post by **Alienist** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:30 pm

I don't think there are any Ampol stations here at all.
Strange with Vortex. i couldn't run it in my dirt bike either.
Lots of back fire when throttling down and every once in awhile
nice long blue flames from the exhaust.
Though I believe the station was caught for cutting its fuel.
I've tried Vortex from else where in the Storm, with the same problems.
I thought Vortex was being pedaled by Caltex as a cleaning style fuel???

VTRgirl · Post by **VTRgirl** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:35 pm

I haven't heard of anyone else having trouble with Vortex. Might start a thread on the Oz site asking who prefers what. As far as I know Vortex is just the Caltex name for their premium. Got me worried about it now...