My name is Matt, I am in Newport, South Wales. Been riding for 15 yrs, with a gap of a few years in the middle. Had all sorts of old jap sports bikes, but now currently riding a Fazer 600 (99) which I ride everyday (I work in Bristol based at Avonmouth so go over the bridge everyday). Just sold the car as I can't stand paying the French £6.20 a day in the car to cross the bridge if the bike is off the road for any reason, so I have just got my first Firestorm, mainly as a second fun bike, but to get me to work if needed.
It's my first Litre bike and the first V twin since my old CX500 back in the day.
So far only really ridden it up from Cornwall on Tuesday, and I am already in love with the engine. It's had the front CCT done when it broke on the previous owner, but had a look last night and will be doing the safety mod as listed on the forum.
Just going to tidy it up a bit first but it NEEDS some loud pipes. Can't believe quite how crap the original ones are.
Anyway, good to be here, I am already an active member on a different general biking forum, but thought I would meet some likeminded people here.
Let me know if you're local to me and fancy a rideout.
Matt
Budget storm gradually on the road to spangliness.
welcome aboard Mr Coops, Iam a fair distance away from yourselves but pass by fairly regularly, enjoy the bike, I have a question, wht the frik' are you paying the french anything??
i take it the bridge toll system is owned by a french firm......
welcome to the forum matty, check your r/r whilst your at it, you need the later finned version....
edds11 wrote:welcome aboard Mr Coops, Iam a fair distance away from yourselves but pass by fairly regularly, enjoy the bike, I have a question, wht the frik' are you paying the french anything??
The bridge is owned by the french (cheese eating surrender monkeys) and instead of paying off the loan, they just remortgage each year, so instead of the bridge being free after a certain length of time, as promised by the government (sic) it will never be free, instead it will get more expensive each year ad infinitum.
Budget storm gradually on the road to spangliness.
Welcome tothe team... You might find that not only is it one of the best bikes yu ever owned, but this is also one of the best forums you have ever joined 2 for the price of 1.
As for pipes, you can drill out the baffles on the std pipes, or buy a set of aftermarket cans. Only the extra weight made me stop using the drilled standard cans, the noise they make is perfect
edds11 wrote:welcome aboard Mr Coops, Iam a fair distance away from yourselves but pass by fairly regularly, enjoy the bike, I have a question, wht the frik' are you paying the french anything??
The bridge is owned by the french (cheese eating surrender monkeys) and instead of paying off the loan, they just remortgage each year, so instead of the bridge being free after a certain length of time, as promised by the government (sic) it will never be free, instead it will get more expensive each year ad infinitum.
Greetings
The bridge was built at a cost of £380 million and is owned by the company Severn River Crossing Plc. As of November 2010, Severn River Crossing Plc was owned
35% John Laing, British developer infrastructure operator
35% Vinci, French concessions and construction company
15% Bank of America, American multinational banking and financial services corporation
15% Barclays Capital, British multinational investment bank
The company's 2011 annual report showed the same companies still owned, through subsidiary companies, all the issued ordinary share capital of the Plc.
Ownership of the crossing and the original Severn Bridge will return to the UK government when the project's required revenue, as defined in the Concession Agreement with the Secretary of State for Transport, has been collected. In 2010, the concession was expected to end in 2017. In 2012, changes were made to the agreement to reflect the effect of changes in VAT and Corporation Tax and the costs of installing credit card handling systems. The net effect was to increase the required revenue from £995.83 million to £1,028.91 million in 1989 prices
Seems to be that imposition of VAT has made it more expensive and extended the overall cost
Welcome to the forum fella, its a great source of knowledge and expertise. The natives are pretty well trained and can come out with funny one liners from time to time.
Well, I took a punt on my VTR and put a cheap bid in on ebay, I think I won it partly because it was in cornwall and no one wants to go that far. Anyway, I bought it knowing it would need some tlc and a bit of tidying up.
Had a good look round it today, looks like the previous owner was a it of a muppet, scotch blocks aplenty, about 6 connectors between the fairing and indicators!
Anyway, found various issues apart from the tatty paint.
There is a twist in the forks, Forks appear straight, but the bars are twisted to the left. Took the top yoke off and had a little go at straightening, but tbh, used to a centre stand, this is a PITA without a winch! Mate has a garage with a hoist, so we are going to lift the front end so we can slacken everything off and see if it just a twist or something is bent.
No clutch switch, has to be in neutral to start which is fine till you stall it at a roundabout, and as the clutch is quite low compared to my fazer, I will probably do that. I have temporarily linked the wires together with a spade to spade wire, so at least I can start it in a hurry.
Back light is held on by the wiring only, the clips either side in the tail unit have broken off, I think it's been reversed into the garage wall at some point.
Choke switch is hanging out and seems to be too long to go back in to the holder, I dont know what it should look like or if it has the wrong choke cable, but it aint right as it is now.
Chain needs adjusting but surprisingly is not knackered and it has new tyres, Engine is sound, runs smoothly hot or cold and has no nasty sounds, box is fine, smooth changes with no issues, everything on it is actually working, Suspension is all smooth, no squeaks, or bubbling noises from the forks, think it's set up wrong tho as everything feels very hard and I am 18 stone, so it must be rock hard!
Struggling with the decision now, do I ride it for the summer, due to the time of year (obviously sort the mechanical issues) or get straight on with a complete strip down? I will want to strip it just because I like doing it, and want to know everything is spot on. Think I will probably use it for the summer and start a rebuild in the autumn.
Have been offered a VFR swingarm to go on it if I want from a friend who bought it for her VTR till she crashed the vtr. I feels a project coming on.
Anyone on here got any useful bits I might need?
Budget storm gradually on the road to spangliness.
a wonky rear light is common. you only have to try and push the bike with your hand on the rear light and you will snap those plastic brackets, you can glue them up tho....
other members will be along shortly with advice and piss taking....
As has been said, it's a great forum. Lots of us dont have storms any more but still hang around here as you get lots of decent folk with a more 'mature' attitude to things....
or just build a great big Dam that can be driven over. 
