Hi all of you Firestorm riders. Ride hard but be safe...
Got a slight gearchange problem if anyone can help me. Restoring a 1999 bike and almost complete. It happens very occasionally when selecting 1st gear with the clutch in and going to pull away, just as I begin to let the clutch bite, the engine will suddenly rev high and disengage the clutch but then bite again....this is very unnerving as at this point the bike tries to do a wheelie but once engaged in gear and moving it settles down as normal. All other gears are fine, its just going into 1st gear and trying to pull away that the problem shows itself......any ideas please. Bit nervous riding the bike at the moment. Cheers
Gearchange problem
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jchesshyre
- Posts: 590
- Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2016 9:09 am
- Location: Chester, Cheshire
Re: Gearchange problem
Check that someone hasn't adjusted the gear lever such that it's touching the exhaust when pushing down on the pedal. I accidentally did this and it made selecting 1st gear difficult – you could be half selecting it then jumping out of it hence the revs racing etc.
Re: Gearchange problem
Cheers for the info. Will check my gearchange linkage 
Re: Gearchange problem
I think what you are describing is the clutch grabbing when you try and pull away with the revs tiger than 4000rpm.
this is a problem that effects some firestorm clutches more than others. when my oil gets hot it can be quite bad, but when cold it is almost OK.
I have tried various clutches and plates, and it was good for a while but is back now, and I just work round it by using low revs to pull away and when the clutch is out, then I give it full throttle.
you should check that you assembled the clutch plates in the correct order and especially the anti judder spring that goes in 1st.
this is a problem that effects some firestorm clutches more than others. when my oil gets hot it can be quite bad, but when cold it is almost OK.
I have tried various clutches and plates, and it was good for a while but is back now, and I just work round it by using low revs to pull away and when the clutch is out, then I give it full throttle.
you should check that you assembled the clutch plates in the correct order and especially the anti judder spring that goes in 1st.
AMcQ
Re: Gearchange problem
Cheers. I think you're onto something there. You are right, if I keep the revs down and pull away slowly then it does'nt happen. It's only when I need to pull away fast that it sometimes appears. So annoying, especially when your at a roundabout and need to get away in a hurry....what do you think is at the heart of the problem? I'll check the clutch plates/ anti judder spring and see if there is anything else that is obvious. Thanks again
Re: Gearchange problem
every storm iv had has done that and iv tried most things to cure it, in the end i just keep the revs down a bit to get it rollingwasang wrote: ↑Sun Jul 04, 2021 7:11 pm Cheers. I think you're onto something there. You are right, if I keep the revs down and pull away slowly then it does'nt happen. It's only when I need to pull away fast that it sometimes appears. So annoying, especially when your at a roundabout and need to get away in a hurry....what do you think is at the heart of the problem? I'll check the clutch plates/ anti judder spring and see if there is anything else that is obvious. Thanks again
the older i get,the faster i was 
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jchesshyre
- Posts: 590
- Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2016 9:09 am
- Location: Chester, Cheshire
Re: Gearchange problem
Ah nice one, didn't realise this was what you were describing.
Mine did this really badly when I first got it with 29,000 miles on. Took the clutch apart and found that someone had put the judder spring and spring seat in the wrong way round. Rectifying this improved things a bit, plus I fitted new heavy duty EBC springs, but it still happened, just took slightly more revs to do it than before.
Thousands of miles later (as I approached 100,000, am now on 109,000!) I fitted an EBC SRK full clutch kit (springs, and both sets of plates) and try as I might I can't get the clutch to grab. So while they're not totally cheap, if you want to totally get rid of it I'd recommend one of these clutch kits. You could probably get away with the set that doesn't replace the steel plates (I believe it's the SRC one), or even one of the standard EBC ones, but no idea if these would solve the issue as I haven't tried them...
Mine did this really badly when I first got it with 29,000 miles on. Took the clutch apart and found that someone had put the judder spring and spring seat in the wrong way round. Rectifying this improved things a bit, plus I fitted new heavy duty EBC springs, but it still happened, just took slightly more revs to do it than before.
Thousands of miles later (as I approached 100,000, am now on 109,000!) I fitted an EBC SRK full clutch kit (springs, and both sets of plates) and try as I might I can't get the clutch to grab. So while they're not totally cheap, if you want to totally get rid of it I'd recommend one of these clutch kits. You could probably get away with the set that doesn't replace the steel plates (I believe it's the SRC one), or even one of the standard EBC ones, but no idea if these would solve the issue as I haven't tried them...
Re: Gearchange problem
Thanks for the invaluable info about the EBC clutch kit. I will definetely look into this if I don't find anything wrong with the existing clutch. I would like to try eliminating the problem as it makes riding a bit tricky in traffic. Cheers
Re: Gearchange problem
Wasang, another mod you can try is in this link below, I had almost forgotten about as I did it so long ago I don't think It's related to your problem you posted originally, but I and others thought it helped with gear changing in general:
viewtopic.php?p=336739#p336739
Chris.
I don't think It's related to your problem you posted originally, but I and others thought it helped with gear changing in general:viewtopic.php?p=336739#p336739
Chris.