New firestorm- I love it (but my butt don't)

[fatfreddy000]

Well, here I am sat in a service station somewhere south of Manchester.
Picked up the storm early afternoon and rode her with trepidation at first through the rolling windy's from Hexham toward Penrith, then south on the m6 through a very gusty Lake District.
Shame about the high wind today it has made the ride a lot tougher but it's better now I'm on lower ground.
Loving the bike- my first v twin. It has super grunt! Don't seem to be much point revving it above 6 or 7000 rpm unless in top gear for the speed.
She just feels so happy revving low.
My only real issue at present is the seat and riding position.
I am 6'2" and am finding it hard to get comfy.
I can either tuck myself right into the tank so that my body weight is partially supported by it or sit further Back in the hard but copious seat and try and hug the tank with my knees.. in either case I find that I don't feel very secure and as the seat is so shiny and slippy I tend to get thrown back or forwards when accelerating or braking.
I am not used to sports bike riding position so I hope I will adjust to it.
The seat could do with a non-slip cover of some sort.
Does anybody else find it too big so they can't locate there bums properly?
I was sat in 6th gear for an hour or cruising along just occasionaly whipping the throttle back to be astounded by the instant torque and power that translated to very rapidly finding myself travelling at speeds I should probably not mention (is it safe to do so here?) Effortless, just seems to be ticking over.. It feels like there's so much grunt there it could do with another bloody gear.
And on the twisties (after half an hour of feeling her out) she was elegant, dropping and rising with ease. I do find the throttle a little unpredictable and had to judge When trying to control speed on the hairpins and more extreme corners- just not too smooth I guess.
Few jobs I've noticed so far need doing are service rear brakes- theyre solid and barely work, replace gear shift pedal as it's bent and I wouldn't wanna try and straighten aluminium.
Replace lh foot peg as one of the mounts has broken off
Secure tail light more securely..
There are some other bits that have slipped my mind.
Sort out the radiators which are both smothered in silver paint, fins, grill and all.
I filled the bike right to brim upright and rode just over 115miles before stopping with no sign of fuel warning light yet, and I certainly wasn't driving conservatively.
Hope the workshop day was a success.
Yep, I knew I'd enjoy a v twin, just so much character..
Back on now for another hour and another 100 miles or so to Birmingham services. and another pain in the butt..

[grumpyfrog]

Glad your enjoying your first "short" trip.
Seat should not be that slippy. Are you in leathers or textiles? Tank grips are another idea for stopping "balls meet tank" occasions.
Sounds like you are already going to be another convert to VFR or flat bars.

[Watty]

Enjoy the ride . Miss my baby but not the tank range!!

[Wicky]

First thing I bought and helps with high speed cruising was a flip screen - even though I'm average height 5' 10" and slightly tuck in extremities inc a slight duck. So with your 6'+ you'll have bits of anatomy left poking out in airflow. Not sure how Yeti even taller than you copes getting about...

As mentioned leathers should be less slippery than textiles - or get the seat recovered in some grippier vinyl. Got mine done by a local firm for £40.

[alanfjones1411]

I know the feeling.But it's worth the butt ache.

[agentpineapple]

glad to hear that you're enjoying the bike. you mention slower corners and a slight lack of throttle smoothness. i'd suggest setting the tps to as near as 500ohms as possible. it might help.
but mostly you'll need more time in the saddle to get used to the bikes quirks. as wicky said, a flip screen helps when mile munching. I've also had my seat reshaped and recovered. no more crushing of balls under heavy braking....
there's several firms out there that can sort the seat out. iirc yeti/ian is 6ft 10 and he manages ok...
i'm back in the uk next week. I might be picking my cab up from lea bridge rd. so we might get a chance to meet.

[lloydie]

Then you need lube

[lloydie]

Sounds to me like you just need to spend more time on it so you can ride it like a twin and not a il4 .
The vtwin likes to rev and don't like being at 3k or lower , as for the seat ,yes it's hard and slippery as it's a sports bike .

Little concerned about your broken foot peg ! What mount has broken off ?

[Watty]

Then you need lube

[sirch345]

I was sat in 6th gear for an hour or cruising along just occasionaly whipping the throttle back to be astounded by the instant torque and power that translated to very rapidly finding myself travelling at speeds I should probably not mention (is it safe to do so here?) Effortless, just seems to be ticking over.. It feels like there's so much grunt there it could do with another bloody gear.

Glad to hear all went well with picking up your new bike despite the gale force conditions

This is a public forum, so anything you post can be seen by anybody.

It might be worth checking what sprockets are fitted seeing as you were looking for 7th gear. Standard sprocket gearing is 16 tooth front and 41 tooth rear,

Chris.

[Murv]

Would be well worth giving the seat a good scrub, a well-meaning owner may have polished the saddle to make it look good in the ad.

I did it a few years ago on my YZF. Whilst polishing the bike, couldn't see any reason not to polish and buff the saddle whilst doing the rest of it. So I did. And it looked fantastic
First ride-out, first fist full of throttle and I damn near slid straight off the back. The large squeeze of panic braking that immediately followed saw me hurtling back down the saddle the other way. Fortunately, my not inconsiderable bulk was prevented from sliding straight over the bike and off the front by my knackers lodging securely on the tank...
I rode home very gingerly, then scrubbed as much of that cursed polish off as I could, but it still took a few miles to abrade it back to how nature intended.
Just a thought!

[KermitLeFrog]

Yes, they are very different to an il4. As said above, keep the revs up, don't try and lug them. On country roads I never get above 4th gear. 5th and 6th are basically an overdrive.

Make sure there's as little slack in the throttle cables as possible and on very tight corners keep the engine speed up, slip the clutch if needed and control speed with the back brake (so get that working smoothly).

Enjoy!

[fatfreddy000]

[quote="KermitLeFrog"]Yes, they are very different to an il4. As said above, keep the revs up, don't try and lug them. On country roads I never get above 4th gear. 5th and 6th are basically an overdrive.

Make sure there's as little slack in the throttle cables as possible and on very tight corners keep the engine speed up, slip the clutch if needed and control speed with the back brake (so get that working smoothly).


Yep, I certainly need to get used the bike, it's a very different experience.
I do have a little slack in the throttle cable that can be adjusted.
The problem I was having was that on entering the hairpins in was trying to get the speed and revs right in time so there was no sudden jolt of power change while cornering.
I will be able to use the back brake for control once it's been stripped and rebuilt!
I was not effective at getting a smooth transition though so the revs were dropping too much and I was having to slow down and not lean as much.
so throttle cable adjustment and a lower gear and practice to solve this issue.
I totally love the bike, just need to make a few tweeks to suit me.

[fatfreddy000]

glad to hear that you're enjoying the bike. you mention slower corners and a slight lack of throttle smoothness. i'd suggest setting the tps to as near as 500ohms as possible. it might help.
but mostly you'll need more time in the saddle to get used to the bikes quirks. as wicky said, a flip screen helps when mile munching. I've also had my seat reshaped and recovered. no more crushing of balls under heavy braking....
there's several firms out there that can sort the seat out. iirc yeti/ian is 6ft 10 and he manages ok...
i'm back in the uk next week. I might be picking my cab up from lea bridge rd. so we might get a chance to meet.

Yep the seat is like a sheet of teflon.
It a shame cause it's about the tidiest part of the bike.
I think it will have to be recovered with something courser, maybe I will add a little extra padding too, I could possible rough it up in the mean time as suggested.
Message me if/when your at lea bridge and I come find you if I'm about..

[fatfreddy000]

Would be well worth giving the seat a good scrub, a well-meaning owner may have polished the saddle to make it look good in the ad.

I did it a few years ago on my YZF. Whilst polishing the bike, couldn't see any reason not to polish and buff the saddle whilst doing the rest of it. So I did. And it looked fantastic
First ride-out, first fist full of throttle and I damn near slid straight off the back. The large squeeze of panic braking that immediately followed saw me hurtling back down the saddle the other way. Fortunately, my not inconsiderable bulk was prevented from sliding straight over the bike and off the front by my knackers lodging securely on the tank...
I rode home very gingerly, then scrubbed as much of that cursed polish off as I could, but it still took a few miles to abrade it back to how nature intended.
Just a thought!

Immediately after picking up the bike I had to come down a steep hill which caused my elbow to side up against the tank and all the weight to be taken in my arms then on accelerating hard in second my butt shot back and further pulled on my risk causing the front wheel to jump a little and me to abruptly cut the throttle causing me to fly forwards again. Not very graceful.
I will rough up that seat and think about recovering or applying something course/sticky as it's actually a bit dangerous the way it it..