VTR1000.ORG

Hi From the Uk I've just returned to biking after 10yr layoff following a serious leg injury, but despite owning some nice fast cars in that period I still missed the bike, so I 've just bought a early '97 VTR 1000 Firestorm
see pic



It's done 28,000 miles and totally stock, it's just had a major service (3570!!!) by Honda so mechanically it's tip top and overall the condition is so good it's difficult to believe it's nearly 14 yrs old, this is both credit to it's previous owner and tribute to Honda build quaility.
I took it out for a steady 'getting to know you' ride yesterday and did around 160 miles before rain stopped play.
And it preformed pretty well, nice torquey engine (although it is thirsty getting through nearly 2 tank fulls of fuel in 160 miles) the only real problem is the suspension, the front in particular doesn't inspire confidence even under modest braking the the forks are bottoming out and the tyre skipping over ripples, the other thing is it doesn't like to turn in, I've spaced the rear damper top mount 5mm in the hope that it will sharpen up the steering a bit.
Any advice on sorting out the forks much appreciated, I'm not going to change the forks for Blade items so I'm thinking a change of spring and oil will do the job.

Afternoon Budd and welcome

Looks a tidy bike

As regards the forks-I went the blade route on mine although I have heard Roger Ditchfield at Revolution Racing does and ace job with the standard units. If not just do em yourself, as you say

They are a weak point on the Storm-I thought the suspension was good on mine until I rode a bike that had some As regards the 2 tanks to 160-thats either a very thirsty Or you like to cane it? Or your not using the gearbox/throttle right

What did you ride before? Was it a twin?

JB

PS, is that at TVR hiding in the shadows too

Hi Budd. as JB already said, you dont need to fit new forks, but you should try and fix them before raising the rear end too much or it may get a bit unstable.

The front end fixes are as stated above. Roger will rebuild them with new springs, the damper valve remachined and new oil for your weight and riding style. cost about £200, or you can fit springs and oil yourself.

I went with Roger as he knows most things about how to get the best out of a firestorm [chassis or engine] and am very happy with the change.

your bike looks good, yellow wheels and colour matched belly pan thing are non standard, but add to the good looks

thanks for the welcome guys, and it is a very tidy bike, as I said you wouldn't think it was 14 yrs old, I've actually owned a VTR previously, so I knew what to expect, I bought one new in '98 unfortunately it didn't make it to it's second birthday before it cart wheeled into oblivion pity because it was a nice bike, with my first one I raised rear ride height 5mm fitted Hyperpro fork springs and 7.5 wt oil along with Dunlop 207 GP stars it handled pretty well (although apparently not well enough to stop me crashing it,) I lost the front on a round about at about 50 mph but due to how quickly the front folded I was convinced there was something on the road but I was unable to find anything obvious in the road, probably a lack of talent rather than any fault with the bike.
It plays on the mind when you don't really know why you fell off, anyway that was 10 yrs ago, and I've not ridden since and your right that is a TVR in the garage, it's the Griffith 500 I bought after tipping off the VTR, I decided to hang up my leathers and have a play with cars instead, but the bug is always there and when this bike came along I had to have it, I still love the Griff and my Impreza but your right traffic is so frustrating although getting caught in a the rain is no fun on the bike at least with the Griff I can put the roof on!!
re the fuel consumption, when I say 160 mls on 2 tanks the tank wasn’t completely full when we set off, we went from Wakefield to Filey then on to Scarbough and the light came on after 82 mls, I filled it up with £15 and did another 80mls home the light hasn’t come yet, but I’d expect it to on before to long, and we weren’t riding hard (although not hanging around either) I was following my policeman pal on his GS 1200 adventure (which by way of comparison took £30 of fuel while still showing 1/3 of a tank remaining!!!) so we were travelling between 90>100 most of the time with little blasts up to around 130 (the BM tops out at 130) , before anyone comments on this it was 5am Sun and the roads were dead.
So while it’s thirsty compared with other bikes I don’t think it did to badly for a VTR, I took my old one to the TT in ’99 filled it in Ramsey had a proper early morning blast around the TT course we did a lap back to Ramsey then another blast over the Mountain to Douglas, the fuel light came on at the end of the start finish straight in Douglas which worked out to just under 50 miles from top up to fuel light on.

AMCQ46 wrote:Hi Budd. as JB already said, you dont need to fit new forks, but you should try and fix them before raising the rear end too much or it may get a bit unstable.

The front end fixes are as stated above. Roger will rebuild them with new springs, the damper valve remachined and new oil for your weight and riding style. cost about £200, or you can fit springs and oil yourself.

i went for the cheaper option, put some progressive springs in the front, reduced preload and heavy oil - fantastic in corners cost me 70 notes.

benny hedges wrote:

AMCQ46 wrote:Hi Budd. as JB already said, you dont need to fit new forks, but you should try and fix them before raising the rear end too much or it may get a bit unstable.

The front end fixes are as stated above. Roger will rebuild them with new springs, the damper valve remachined and new oil for your weight and riding style. cost about £200, or you can fit springs and oil yourself.

i went for the cheaper option, put some progressive springs in the front, reduced preload and heavy oil - fantastic in corners cost me 70 notes.

yeah that's how did it first time round, I was wandering if things had moved on any in the last 10 yrs, but it looks like a Fireblade front end is the best option, although I think I'll be going with the springs and oil for the time been.
What springs did you use? I used Hyperpros with 7.5 wt oil, but the yanks tend to favour Race tech springs I've also seen WP springs are these the main offerings and what are the differences (if any) ?

budd wrote:

benny hedges wrote:.
What springs did you use? I used Hyperpros with 7.5 wt oil, but the yanks tend to favour Race tech springs I've also seen WP springs are these the main offerings and what are the differences (if any) ?

i used some german ones, Wirth - very good quality and finish.
on offer at wemoto but took about 10 days to get here.
got a progressive rear spring from ftr as well but not got round to fitting it yet, need my stepladders from work to use as a A frame

front end feels spot on now but rear still bounces a bit - soon sort that tho

Cheers I'll look into those, l'm building a Impreza race car at the mo so funds for the VTR are tight to say the least, while I don't want to cut corners budget is a major issue and I don't really want to start a new project while the Impreza build is on going, that said if I can got hold of some cheap springs then I can spare a couple of hours to fit them and change the oil.

If your only at Wakey Budd I'll keep my eyes peeled for you-I'm only a stones throw away

ow do matey, welcome to the forum

Jbrebel wrote:If your only at Wakey Budd I'll keep my eyes peeled for you-I'm only a stones throw away

I live in Ossett just outside Wakey, where are you ? and do get over to Sherburn? if the weathers something like I may have a ride over on Sunday.

marravtr wrote:ow do matey, welcome to the forum

thanks for the welcome, loving the avatar

budd wrote:

Jbrebel wrote:If your only at Wakey Budd I'll keep my eyes peeled for you-I'm only a stones throw away

I live in Ossett just outside Wakey, where are you ? and do get over to Sherburn? if the weathers something like I may have a ride over on Sunday.

Barnsley me matey Well, Wakey side of Barnsley actually so not as far to travel I do go to Squires but very occasionally-if I'm out or about I'll drop you a PM