Tango'd Storm

[scubadog]

You lot on here will get me into so much trouble

The missus is gonna kill me

Just bidding on a single sider on ebay

Steve, make sure you get the right arm - see my last post.

Scoob.

[scubadog]

Judging from the pics you've also used a multi-spoke front wheel too. That makes it look right, balanced - same style wheels front and back. Looks really good! What size tyre did you get on the VFR rim?
Scoob

[rst steve]

You lot on here will get me into so much trouble

The missus is gonna kill me

Just bidding on a single sider on ebay

Steve, make sure you get the right arm - see my last post.

Scoob.

Yeah it's a 1999 vfr800 fork type. Hope it all goes to plan

[scubadog]

You lot on here will get me into so much trouble

The missus is gonna kill me

Just bidding on a single sider on ebay

Steve, make sure you get the right arm - see my last post.

Scoob.

Yeah it's a 1999 vfr800 fork type. Hope it all goes to plan

Course it will. Don't these bike builds always go to plan? Yeah right...
If you need any more info, give me a shout.
Scuba

[motormouth]

I was just wondering if the front end is entirely a GSXR , what year and size if so ? Also what changes did you have to make to the front end before installation ? Thank you for your time .

[scubadog]

Hi there.

Well spotted - it's a GSX-R front end consisting of the following:

GSX-R750K2 USD forks, bottom yoke, stem and axle assembly
GSX-R1000K1 6-pot Tokico calipers
GSX-R600 SRAD (1998/99) front wheel
GSX-R1000K3 mudguard
Aftermarket wavy discs

Fitting this lot is actually quite a straight-forward process with very few complications. Forks are standard, ie no changes to internals etc and they have the perfect spring rate for the Firestorm. Well, I think so anyway. Just trying to remember all the mods I did, but here's the main stuff:

One-off top yoke to fit the Firestorm headstock and GSXR fork positions. I wanted a billet top yoke so didn't even try and find a stock one to fit. I'd be surprised if the stock GSXR top yoke fit without mods but you never know...
Machining of the GSXR stem to fit appropriate (ie Firestorm) head bearings. The GSXR stem is just the right length - almost identical to the Firestorm stem, but it needed a little time in the lathe to make it just right. Can't remember all the cuts but happy to slip the front end off the bike if you wanted to come over and have a gander.
New fork stops on the bottom yoke and a little bit of careful grinding of the frame stops to suit. I just drilled and tapped two holes in the top face of the GSXR bottom yoke and used stainless cap-head bolts (can't remember if they were M8 or M10) as the stops. I ground the frame bit by bit until I got the best lock-to-lock range without anything hitting. One thing I will say is that you may find a reduced lock-to-lock range on the steering but nothing too drastic (loads of stock bikes have worse!!).
The K3 mudguard needed a bit of drilling to fit the K2 mounts and I did a bit of trimming while I was at it (the latter not being absolutely necessary - it was only for looks).

That's about it. I did some careful tidying up of the stock GSXR bottom yoke before polishing it, just really cosmetic to make it look nicer. If you need any more info drop me a PM and I'll send you my direct contact details.

Cheers
Scubadog

[motormouth]

I am just exploring my suspension options . I was unsure whether to go with the 929 / 954 set up or the GSXR , it seems that the CBR setup is a little easier of a install . I would prefer the GSXR radial mount but not sure if i want to invest the time . Anyhow thanks for all your input and your bike looks great .

[burty]

without question one of if not the best fighter storms i have ever seen quite simply stunning i would gladly sell one of the mrs`s kidneys to own that you are indded a lucky man with great taste

[scubadog]

Ta very much burty. A few mods since these pics were taken... polished and windowed engine cases, shock spring powdercoated orange to match paint and a few other bits n pieces. My missus is surviving well on her remaining kidney...
Scoob

[darrenmartin]

WOW (i think that just about covers every thing) Awsome m8 absolutly awsome.

[seb421]

Ta very much burty. A few mods since these pics were taken... polished and windowed engine cases, shock spring powdercoated orange to match paint and a few other bits n pieces. My missus is surviving well on her remaining kidney...
Scoob

sh1t hot mate look forward to updated pics

[VTRDark]

Yep sh1t hot. I really like it. Very well done. What's the rear seat/fairing unit. Another good contender for the Superhawk of the month I think.

They only thing I am no keen on, and that's just my personnel taste is the front fairing and headlights. Your solution for the radiateor and fans with the use of sensors is very clever indeed. So nice to see a front mounted rad on a naked storm.

(:-})

[scubadog]

The tail unit's a Ducati 748S single seater with a 748 Biposto subframe, suitably modified to fit. I made the undertray our of 2mm strainless steel sheet and had it powdercoated.

To be honest, I've been thinking about a fairing change for some time now. I need a fairing to tidy the front and hide some wiring that lives in the headstock area but haven't seen one that really grabs me. And a new one will need paint of course and that might be difficult to match. So it may happen, it may not.

Guys, the bike is off the road in the middle of a rebuild at the moment. Nothing major in terms of changes, just a strip, clean and rebuild. At the moment just the engine and frame are unstripped and sitting on a bike stand ready for the rebuild. The complete front end's off (including yokes & stem), as are the entire swingarm assembly, seat unit and subframe, electrics, radiator, pipes etc etc. So if anyone wants me to post new info or more detailed pics of some of the components while they're off the bike then just let me know.

I must admit I'm pleasantly surprised at the renewed interest. I posted those pics about 2 years ago and thought they'd all be buried under a pile of new stuff since then!

Thanks for all your comments!!
Scoob

[VTRDark]

I really like that tail unit and it has built in indi's very stylish. I'm gonna keep my eye out for one. I would either adapt the standard storm subframe or have one custom built. I would not want it at such a raised angle as yours is but more of a standard storm angle, maybe a tad raised. I think it would look good with my SP1 angled style cans as well.

I take it the seat, indicators and tail light are standard Ducati 748S parts as well. The only thing that puts me off is even more lack of storage space. Is the seat removable and where did you put the seat lock? Any real headaches/problems I would need to watch out for with regards to getting it all to fit?

I was thinking about an R1 tail unit at some stage but yours wipes that of the cards. I would even go as far as saying I prefer it to the Mario Nava tail unit

Very stylish.

Thanks for the info Scoob.

(:-})

[scubadog]

If there's anything I've learnt from building modified bikes it's this: nothing's as simple as it at first looks...

I started off with what I thought was a neat solution, the aftermarket LED stop/tail/integrated indis unit I got off of ebay from a German company. Beware, there's some really crap replacement lights out there which is why I spent a little more on the German one. This one was nice cos it has clear lenses too. But there was a problem...

Stock Ducati tail lights slope backwards, which is fine when the seat unit's at the normal angle. But no one could see the stop light working due to the angle of my seat unit!! Pic below should give you an idea what I mean. So I modified the aftermarket unit by wiring the stop and tail LED circuits together, giving me a bright tail light which everyone could see. That meant I had no stop light, so I then added a seperate LED strip light under the seat unit for the stop light. The reason I abandoned the integrated indis and went for micro indis is because of the MOT. I'm still not sure if the integrated units are road legal! BTW, the front indis are mounted on redundant fairing lugs - earlier pics on this thread should show them located under the steering damper (left) and under the crankcase breather filter (right).



The seat unit is an original Ducati 748S item, which I fitted because it was the nice single seat version. Ducati seat units are neat in that they are hinged at the front so, when you release the seat lock, the whole seat unit pivots forward and doesn't have to be lifted off. I wanted to retain this so I modified the Firestorm's rear tank mount and bolted on the Ducati front hinge/mount (photo below shows the new mount tacked together before finishing). I've also retained the stock Ducati seat lock at the rear. There's a photo earlier in this thread that shows the whole underseat layout. Oh, and my welding's improved massively since then...




And you're right, there's NO storage space under my seat as all the electrics are there now. A small price to pay in my view!!!

Scoob