VTR1000.ORG

Hello Everyone,

I've just joined as I'm after some advice ... And Potentially may become a usual face (Depending on your advice mainly ) ...

Basically for the past 12 Months I've been on a Yamaha FZS600 Mk1 and loved every minute of. That too has a reputation of being a very under rated bike. But the gearbox has failed on mine and is most likely going to be striped, quite sad as everything else is top notch. Here's a Pic:



Anyway, now the G'Box has gone I need another vehicle as I can only Ride bikes (Don't get on with Cars) and the Fazer is my only Steed. She's still ride-able at the moment, but on the prowl for something new.

I've been wanting a V-Twin for some time now and having searched the wonderful world of Ebay I've found that I could potentially get a pretty good Firestorm for around the £1,500 mark.

However this would be my commuter, my weekend steed and my touring buddy, so I'm just wondering on people's views on the Firestorm being used for this. Would it suit my needs?

I have read about the lower Fuel Economy, but this can be fine with sensible riding and not too much town crawling.

I also want something more sport based than he Fazer and something with a little more poke, and I'm sure the FS fits this bill fine.

I don't have the biggest budget in the world, hence another reason for liking the VTR.

Anyway, Once again, Hello to everyone and I appreciate any feedback you can give me.

Thanks a lot,

Luke.


P.S. It's me 19th Today =D

Sorry Luke, but you've come to the wrong place for advice on Storms, we all hate them here
Some say they don't handle , they're slow , and thirsty
I luv mine though it's absolutely hilarious fun
Go for it buy one, you know ya wanna
Ps Happy B/day, I was 19 once....I think I was anyway......

hey there,,,

have you got an insurance quote for a storm first?

it might have changed over the years, and my circumstances might have caused my quotes pre 30 years old to be a bit steep...

pre 30 i was getting quoted £800 ish 3rd pf&t.
now its like £110 fully comp..

but as for a workhorse, love toy and genral weekend slut its awesome for all occasions...
i have only had mine for about 3months and use it for what you intend to.. and so far it fits the bill..
but if im honest... i really miss my street fightered 600 hornet for the same tasks....

if insurance is making it a no no
get a hornet..... change the sprockets front and rear and prepare to exercise those grinning muscles....
if i didnt have a hard on for the sound of a vtwin with race cans on i would be back on a hornet right away

Insurance has been checked ... I can be sensible at time it seems ...

TPF&T I can get at £444, less than what the Fazer was last year. Admittedly, the Faz is now £260 something, but meh, I fancy something a little more poky.

If I didn't get a Firestorm I'd most probably fix the Faz up and get a 14t front sprocket on there as that can also prove to give it a nice little extra grin producing take off.

I just adore the sound of V-Twins ... A Friend has a tuned RSV1000R SP (Special Edition one) putting out 160+ Bhp and my god the sound is utterly Ball shattering. Bloody hurts when your standing right behind the 'zorst when he first up too ... That's literally Ball Shattering ...

When you say you miss the Hornet, how so?

Is the VTR that much more powerful? The Hornet is closely matched to the Fazer (but with shorter wheelbase for a bit more stunt-ability) so just wondering what you think to the difference?

What are the VTR's like on the daily commute? And how bad is the Fuel Economy compared to the Hornet?

I'm also tempted by a Triumph TT600, but that's for another forum. So I'm just stuck really.

But I utterly adore the sound of V-Twins ... I'd love to try one, just can't get any test rides at 19, so the test will be once I buy one. I'm not allowed on the mille lol ...

Anywho, Thanks so far, more thoughts welcome ... Well ... most thoughts welcome, some could probably be kept to yourselves, might affact my young influential brain ...



Cheers All,

Luke.

You have to!

I ran up around 30-40k on my storm doing the commute, track days, general ragging. Couldn't fault it at all. Petrol consumption on the motorways not that much different from most things, it's when you wring it it gets expensive!
The difference between the fazer and a storm is huge. I've ridden most types of fazer and while they're a good all round bike, it'll never move the earth like the storm will.

If you want something that's easy to work on, will do you all round and still show peeps up on the track then you can't go far wrong.

Still miss mine;( still get to see it though, and stroke it, and better stop there!

In fact my mate who bought mine may have to sell... watch this space!

Morning All (Just) ...

Thanks for the comments so far.

I also found a ZX9R last night and found they aren't completely out of my budget. How would the Storm compare to one of them then? Again, I know its the battle of V2 compared to IL4 and I know top speed the kwak would piss all over the storm, but as I don't plan on using those speeds then how does the storm compare accel wise?

This is proving to be more difficult than expected, seems to be more choice about lately.

Hah! that's what I sold my storm for!
Lots of grunt with the 9, obviously not quite as torquey but like you say, top speed...! The low down grunt of the 9 was what made it a viable alternative to the storm.

Both capable bikes, but, and I'm sure this will please most on here, the storm wins the grin factor race every time. I got the 9 as a do it all type thing and it's done just that, but there's days I yearn for the arm wrenching. I hardly ever get to use all the hp now, whereas the storm got it's blast out more often than not.

Hmm ... Seems the ZX9R is also a popular choice then with you lot ...

I've had a read of yours FirestormMike and interesting it was too. I understand what your saying with personality, it's nice having something with a personality. i've usually had odd things if you get me, never fussed about the "in thing", I'm just happy with I prefer. However for this choice I have to ask because as mentioned above, I cant have test rides at 19, every company I go to require you to be 21, I guess for insurance purposes.

What you didn't mention though was how the Kwak compared acceleration wise? I don't often go high speed, but I do like me acceleration and love the feeling of something really pulling. I first got that one the Fazer after the move up from a 2-Stroke 125 (again, was an odd machine, was an import never brought over to the UK except for a show in 1992 ) ... But that's gone completely on the Fazer and I'm pushing even harder trying to get something close to that feeling again.

Which has the most oomph 0-60, then 60-100 and 100+ (To 140 max) in your opinion?

As to finding ZeroZero's thoughts ... I've searched both names and 'zx9r' to no avail, cant find a bleedin sausage ...

Grinner: if you had the choice of either again, no money involved, which would you choose? And which do you feel is quicker on acceleration?

Fueling wise I think the Kwak wins there to, with a possible 50Mpg with M'way cruising, or that's what some have said anyway and the VTR is about 40Mpg max at cruise? (By cruise I mean 85-90 Mph)

Thanks all, it is proving an interesting read


P.S. Why doesn't the subscription thing work and send me notifications of replys

Hi again, I must be like a bus, no posts for years then three in a day!

Acceleration wise, the storm always 'feels' faster. That's probably the most politically correct way to post it on here! The kwak will put your eyeballs further back in the head though once it gets its stride. We've had them both side by side but it's always difficult to tell if both parties are being as full on if you know what I mean.

Given the choice again and with hindsight, it's still too tough to call. The storm has all the elements of what biking means to me. Factors include looks, sound, performance. I chose the kwak because it does it all and retains some of the 'soul' I want from a bike as well as being quite 'refined', ie long tank range, comfort and fast as ....

I can't pretend to know what's going to be right for you, but I don't plan on getting rid of the 9 for a long time if that answers your question.

grinner wrote:Hi again, I must be like a bus, no posts for years then three in a day!

I noticed that with the 2003 joining date and only 180 odd posts =P ...

It seems to me both you are saying the ZX for speed and acceleration, even possibly for handling and again for fuelling and touring, but the VTF for personality and sound and for slightly better riding position?

Am i kind of gathering it up right?

Don't mind Vibes, in fact I quite like the buzz of vibes kicking ya. Bit like my old 125 2-Stroke, that was stupidly vibey, not powerful vibes but buzzy vibes if you get me ...

You really need to have a good long ride of a firestorm to see if you would get on with it.

I'd love to try one out, but can't a Dealer wont and sure as hell a seller who agrees to test rides probably wouldn't let someone at 19 test ride either. People don't seem to trust us younger generation ...

I can pretty much guess what the ZX would be like, just a more powerful version of the fazer, by that I mean i know what an IL4 is like, so I assume the ZX will be sort of similar, but more poke.

Hi Luke,
I'm with Mike (FirestormMike) on this one, you really do need to try before you buy, one way or another You'll either luv it or hate it, it's all down to personal choice IMO

Good luck with which ever bike you end up with, keep us posted

Chris.

alien.46.uk wrote: I'd love to try one out, but can't a Dealer wont and sure as hell a seller who agrees to test rides probably wouldn't let someone at 19 test ride either. People don't seem to trust us younger generation ...

take the huddy off lol


The thing with the V twins is easy riding you can power out of a corner with no dropping down 3 gears to stay in the power band and no manic gear changing when getting a move on you ride the torque of the engine it makes it deceptively quick on twisty roads out and out speed, tank range and probably handling the kwaker will have it hands down but o that lovely growl of a V twin
On the way down to Donnington this week we had to go though a tunnel it had me costing along with the clutch in just revving it and listening to the sound reverberating of the tunnel walls I was grinning like a Cheshire cat and the guy behind me shaking his head lol

I've had two hornets and i'm now on my second 'storm. Went to Geneva and round the Alps on the hornet and it didn't feel wanting - although as soon as you get on anything with more grunt you'll feel the hornet is underpowered and revvy.

As for the ZX9 - its in a different league, and not necessarily better. The only one to go for imho is the later 'E' model - all the others are a bit lardy - and they're silly expensive. The VTR is better looking, better built and more reliable (who ever heard of carb icing on a VTR!?). Go Honda.

Just make sure it's not a slow red one.

Have you had an insurance quote for the ZX9 ? I think you might sway towards the Storm when you do!!!
Have a mate with a ZX9 and altho I like it myself it is like a bus compared to the storm ( no offence intended ZX owners).
The sound of the twin can not be beaten.
Fuel wise the best I had from the storm was 103miles till the light came on.
Not any worse, mile for mile than most other bikes of the same capacity, the limiting factor being the smaller (than other bikes fuel tank) and by 80 odd miles most of us would prefer to get off and strech the legs anyway.

Cheers

A.M.

tattie wrote:Have you had an insurance quote for the ZX9 ? I think you might sway towards the Storm when you do!!!
Have a mate with a ZX9 and altho I like it myself it is like a bus compared to the storm ( no offence intended ZX owners).
The sound of the twin can not be beaten.
Fuel wise the best I had from the storm was 103miles till the light came on.
Not any worse, mile for mile than most other bikes of the same capacity, the limiting factor being the smaller (than other bikes fuel tank) and by 80 odd miles most of us would prefer to get off and strech the legs anyway.

Cheers

A.M.

I have indeed and came out cheaper than the storm @ 404 and more than one quote at less than 450, where the storm only had one under 500, the rest were 700-800 lol ...

So technically the ZX is cheaper.

As for the ZX9 - its in a different league, and not necessarily better. The only one to go for imho is the later 'E' model - all the others are a bit lardy - and they're silly expensive. The VTR is better looking, better built and more reliable (who ever heard of carb icing on a VTR!?). Go Honda.

That's interesting. The model I'd be looking at would be the C1/C2 models? What's your reckoning to this model?

Whatever I get, I'll stick around here if that's OK with you lot ... You seem a top bunch of people ... *Group Hug*

take the huddy off lol

No huddies here ... Usually combats and black T-Shirt ... And i like metal if you get me drift However, im not Goth or emo either ... just my own mix