VTR1000.ORG

Hi

Found the forum and thinks its great. I am a VTR newbie just passed my test in November and got myself a lovely 1999 Red VTR. Previously rode my Yamaha XT125x to learn the basics on.

I know its a big step up, but I'am taking it really easy. In fact so much so that my partner tells me I am riding like her Gran.

Being new to the VTR and big sports bikes in general I just wanted to know if the following is normal. When I take sharp bends or roundabouts ( I do brake well beforhand) my rear end slides a few inches and seems to spin losing grip, sometimes this is quite unerving.

Happens a lot in the wet. Plenty of tread on my rear tyre! Never had this problem on my little yamaha.

Anyone got any ideas?

If you go down gears and dump clutch rear will lock up and slide.
practice matching revs

If you accelerate hard in a bend the torque will spin the rear, especially if its in the wet.

Could have crap tyres on........they make a big difference, BT 020 are good sports touring tyre

BT 014 Good sports tyre.

Check suspension settings, and chain tension

really hate to agree with Paul but.......

I think that it will get better with practice, going from a 125 to a 1000cc v twin is quite a leap in power and, more importantly torque. a slight blip of the throttle on the storm can send alot of torque to the rear wheel and in the wet will make it slide a little.

You just have to be really careful whilst you get used to the different power levels and build up slowly untill you get the hang of it.

As Paul said make sure you have good (as in sticky) tyres. Do a search on here and you will find many threads regarding the best tyres etc.

Take it easy and welcome aboard.

just adding my 2pence...

remmber the XT handles differenlty, the tyres will transfer power to the road in a different fashion! As said before a small increase in throttle postion will mean a large increase in power unlike the XT.

When riding in the wet, theres less grip whatever bike your riding, try not to think about leaning in too much in the wet, its more important to have the correct speed, gear and throttle postion for the corner! As im sure your aware it works like this:

1)traveling at speed, you see corner ahead
2)start to back off on the throttle and get the correct road postion
3)gently apply brakes and start to change down gears*
4)enter the corner, keep looking where you are going, not where the bikes going
5)during the corner keep a smooth throttle action
6)as you go round, look for the corner exit and plan your line ahead of time
7)look at that postion and roll on the trottle as you exit the corner!

* = I dont think anybody has mentioned to you the whole engine braking thing! Due to the LARGE amounts of torque on tap you can use the gearbox as an effective brake! Dropping a gear or two on your 125 would of had little effect on speed but doing the same thing on the VTR will happily shave off some speed. Try finding a nice open dry stretch of road thats safe, accelerate to around 60 then drop it down a couple of gears and notice the difference!
When dropping down a gear the rear will spin up more, praticing dropping gears will hopefully give you more of a feel for rear wheel spin up!

What tyres are you running?

Nobody mentioned this before, all the above is good advice, but check your tyre pressures.

Very important, especially in the wet. If your tyres are under inflated, the tread pattern squashes up and doesn't shift water properly, resulting in much less grip.

If the rear is sliding, theres something not right there, either with the bike or how you're ridint it.

Though it could just be the roads in your area, some councils use road salt mixtures that are very slippery and could have the rear spinning if you give it slightly too much throttle.

As squiff mentioned, because of the engine breaking, when you're off the gas on the storm, it unloads the rear end, making it light and then the storms power can spin the rear more easily.

Go through the corner the same as you normally do and pay attention to how you brake, change gear, how much lean you're giving it and how hard you're gassing it coming out. Then see if its that you're being too aggressive for wet and greasey roads. You can just anchor on, throw it on its side and then nail it on the XT, but not on the VTR. If its not that, then most likely to be tyres or suspension.

You could get an experienced big bike rider to have a ride on it as they'll be more able to tell if there's something that doesn't feel right.

*edit* can you tell us: what pressures your tyres have? over, under or spot on? how stiuff is the rear shock set? does your VTR have any mods on it? (jacked up rear, dropped front, lowered gearing, quarter turn throttle or similar could all make the rear spin easily) does anyone ride with you? what did they say about your riding? You could even ask the school you did your test with about it, maybe they'll follow you and see how you're riding.

Thanks for the advice guys, I do use engine braking, even rolling the throttle down acts like a brake on the storm!Wow. In fact I am now taking corners at embarrasingly low speeds (not slow enough to drop the bike though!)

I think Rainmaker might have something when he mentions "Chain tension". A biking mate of mine took a look at the bike and the only thing he could fault was "the chain", as it appeared to be a "bit slack".

He is goin to sort it out for me shortly. The other thing is, the tyres are Dunlop D208 and I noticed a few people saying they don't perform to well in the wet?

One thing I haven't thought of is to let my partner ride the bike for a bit, she normally rides a TDM 900. See if she feels the sliding.

thanks again for the sage advice, great to talk to people who know there stuff!

Red wrote:The other thing is, the tyres are Dunlop D208

Dunlops were fitted to mine when i got it, and hated em to bits, fitted bridestone batlax bt 014`s, never looked back ( The front was new, and i gave it away free of charge to someone!!!)

Been told that Michilen Pilot Road are excellent for the wet.

Cornering was never a problem learning on the riding schools kawsaki ER 500. The 500 was only a few pounds lighter than the storm. Never felt nervous on it. Well only on my test day

Will get the chain sorted and when I am flush get some new tyres.

Thanks for the tips guys and the welcome. I love my Storm its a dream come true

As Michelins go, it's a trade off between grip and longevity. All the 'pilot' range are very good in the wet, but reports of 'road' users say they do slide a bit if you push them, but last a longer time.

Pilot Road - long life (5-7k miles), ok grip
Pilot Sport - less life (4-6k miles), good grip
Pilot Power - even less life (3-5k miles), excellent grip
Pilot Power 2CT - least life (3-4k miles), best grip

Obviously, how and where you ride is important to how much grip you need vs. how long they last.

Most riders I know favour Pilot Powers, and if you can afford to change them twice in a year (depending on your mileage), I'd go for them over the Pilot Roads. If you just ride on motorways and A roads a lot and do big miles, Roads or even Macadam 100's will save you some money.

Bridgestone, Pirelli, Avon and Dunlop all do similar ranges too (BT012, Diablo Corsa, Viper SS and 208GP would be my guess at most similar to Powers), but Michelin do seem most popular on a number of bikes which should mean something.

I'm slapping some shiny new Powers on before the end of the month. The above is all non-expert opinion too, but I have been researching a lot as I need some new ones too.

I think you guys are getting a bit side tracked here.

It's not a 10hp yam or a 40hp kwak your on now, it's a big 100hp v twin. Stop twisting the throttle so much coming out of tight corners and the back will stop sliding.

cupasoop wrote:I think you guys are getting a bit side tracked here.

It's not a 10hp yam or a 40hp kwak your on now, it's a big 100hp v twin. Stop twisting the throttle so much coming out of tight corners and the back will stop sliding.

He He Hee!
Nonsense Give it some stick and practice your rear wheel steering you'll be a master by summer time and no one will be able to touch you coming out the bends

Seriously though Red here's another little thought.
Are you keeping the revs down? If they are up around 5'6-7 K your bike going to have a sh1t load of power and engine breaking on tap and the slightest wiff of throttle will make a big difference.
Try not going down too many gears for the corner and have the revs at about 2-3k when pulling out of a bend.
Oh! and get rid of those Dunslops for sure

Pete.l
P.S Welcome Aboard

Pete.L wrote:He He Hee!
Nonsense Give it some stick and practice your rear wheel steering you'll be a master by summer time and no one will be able to touch you coming out the bends

That one crossed my mind but I didnt want to be held responsible for killing the guy.

Thanks for bringing it up though...........

Cuppa Said

That one crossed my mind but I didn't want to be held responsible for killing the guy.

Thanks for bringing it up though...........

Don't you just hate it when your conscience kicks in?
Makes you do all kinds of sensible stuff you don't really want to

Welcome aboard Red

Like you said, get your partner to try it, considering she normally rides a TDM 900, she should have more experience on a bigger bike than you

But be careful how you go, as that's a HUGE step from a 125cc to a 1000cc, by doing that (I know you're not the first and probably won't be the last) you've not had the chance to gain any experience on bikes in between. If you had gone for a bike, say a 400cc, 500cc or 600cc then later on you would be more prepared for the 1000cc.

Just take care

Chris.

208s.... arnt they made from recycled condoms?

Seriously change the tyres for some Bridgstone 010/020/014's they are the best!


(side note, im running whats left of an 020 on the rear now, the difference in grip loss in the wet between the 020 and 014 is amazing!!!)