Anyone race/track ride their firestorm.

[Biggeeman]

As subject says I would like to hear from regular track day rider/racers that use
The vtr firestorm.

If you do how does the bike hold up, robust enough to handle a good thrashing?
How do they compare against the regular 600/1000 in line 4s on straight line performance.

Reason I ask to ownership of 03 model and I seem to enjoy riding it seems to handle a fair back road pace
Just thinking of next year track days pushing it a lot harder. I do understand its a sports tourer and not a track built fire blade. Just like to hear form your experiences thanks.

Any help would be great guys.

[lloydie]

im building one click on the miss piggy below as there is some good info in there already .

[Virt]

I've got a track day on it early next month, I'll probably be doing a write up of how it copes.

Will admit this will be my first track day, and my first major experience on the 'storm so take it all with a pinch of salt

[Biggeeman]

im building one click on the miss piggy below as there is some good info in there already .

Nice build I will keep my eye on it good luck with that
My bike wil be in stock trim don't plan on swapping any parts out, apart from consumables

[Biggeeman]

I've got a track day on it early next month, I'll probably be doing a write up of how it copes.

Will admit this will be my first track day, and my first major experience on the 'storm so take it all with a pinch of salt

No sweat mate provide feedback anyway
Keep yourself safe, watch Simon crafar DVD motovudu it provides you tips and tricks for fast safe riding mate

[popkat]

Sort cam chain tensioners and the engine can take a lot of track punishment, you need to sort the forks out and fit a better rear shock for handling, Gearing just go one bigger on the rear, any more = too much revs, the big twin doesn't respond well to it, the torque will pull it off the slower turns.
Performance not up to a 600 il4 let alone a 1000, in fact not really up to the performance of a late nineties 600, with those you could fairly easily get up to 110hp and be carrying less weight with better handling. the storm will make about 100-105hp unless you spend lots to gain power. the best mod for track riding would be a slipper clutch as the down changes can lock the rear wheel, without one you need to be more planned.

They are pretty good track bikes as the power doesn't come in hard, you can get some really good lean angle on them and feed the power early, corner speed is where you'll make your lap times.

[monkeyslider]

Yes mate not the fastest but they do sound nice on the down shift at paddock hill,standard front fork are soft as everyone will tell you.I fitted late 90's blade forks & self set them up,standard rear shock braced swing arm & dunlop qaulifier 2's .If money was no object yes I would love an rc 45 ,but sadly we have we all have commitments & we make do with what we have maybe a little tweek here and there might help...

[Biggeeman]

@popkat and monkeyslider

Thanks for the reply's think yous have summed it up for me
the bike is good for street blast its never going to be a track eater which i get this vibe from it, well unless major parts are replaced
and or upgraded forks, slipper clutches shocks etc. Which i wouldn't be willing to do think
i will keep it stock and just use it for its intensions Wheelies and making loud noises just general mincing about
it seems to do that really well, after i buggered about with the stock suspension the bike felt better but its no
blade damm.
i will need to work harder save up ma pennys for a track specific bike keep the storm as a backroad barker it is a fun bike to ride cant be bothered selling it.

[vtrkid75]

on my 3rd storm now and all 3 have been used on trackdays from novice to inters groups really well , i set the suspension up right and raised the rear shock with a spacer to quicken up the steering and these bikes do really well, a few years ago i left a brand new rsv mille for dust and then a bloke on a ktm rc12 followed me round, he told me after that if i could do those lean angles and speed round cadwell he could on his ktm. if that doesnt show you how good these storms are then i dont know what does.only issue i had was the regulator going on my 1st trackday which screwed the battery, bump starting a twin is no fun.

[Storm in a teacup]

Hi
I have just bought a Storm to use as a track bike so was interested to see this tread and to learn a few tips..
I already have stiffer springs in the front forks and braided front hoses to help wih braking, but don't have the budget for big changes.
Are you in Kent "Monkeyslider" as I see the Brands Hatch ref? Do you use Lydden track too?

[Biggeeman]

on my 3rd storm now and all 3 have been used on trackdays from novice to inters groups really well , i set the suspension up right and raised the rear shock with a spacer to quicken up the steering and these bikes do really well, a few years ago i left a brand new rsv mille for dust and then a bloke on a ktm rc12 followed me round, he told me after that if i could do those lean angles and speed round cadwell he could on his ktm. if that doesnt show you how good these storms are then i dont know what does.only issue i had was the regulator going on my 1st trackday which screwed the battery, bump starting a twin is no fun.

hi could you not just drop the forks through the yokes instead of raising the rear does the same the speeding up steering i guess was the mod worth it did u suffer stability issues after this. Do you also have any engine mods what tyres on track are you using.
any tips for getting that tram line feeling at the front mines feels very vague the more i push the worse this becomes.

cheers.

[popkat]

Sort the forks out.. It's easy, about £80 on some linear springs, between 0.85-0.90 depending on your weight. raise the back a little, lower the front a little and you've got a good starting point, you can't just adjust the std forks to be good, they don't work. If you just lower the front there will be more chance of instability, also less ground clearance, remove the hero blobs and the pegs may scrape a bit but not enough to cause real grief, your front down pipe will get close or touch on full lean too.
So you don't need to spend much to get out there, but you can spend a lot more on making better.

[Biggeeman]

Sort the forks out.. It's easy, about £80 on some linear springs, between 0.85-0.90 depending on your weight. raise the back a little, lower the front a little and you've got a good starting point, you can't just adjust the std forks to be good, they don't work. If you just lower the front there will be more chance of instability, also less ground clearance, remove the hero blobs and the pegs may scrape a bit but not enough to cause real grief, your front down pipe will get close or touch on full lean too.
So you don't need to spend much to get out there, but you can spend a lot more on making better.

Hi mate are you modifying std forks or completely different forks when fitting new springs?

[popkat]

Right here's my exact set up that won races and still holds a race speed record (Lydden)

Forks : Standard forks with 0.875 linear springs, 10wt fork oil and 140mm air gap, forks pushed through yokes 10mm (5mm for road)

Rear shock : Ohlins as it came from Ohlins, 3mm spacer to raise rear

Standard front sprocket, rear sprocket 1 tooth bigger.. Tried 1 tooth down on the front but too high revving changing down would make the back lock too easily.

Sprint steering damper, runs up right hand side of frame

Arrow Cans on stock headers

mfw chamfered pegs in standard position mounted on standard hangers, just brushed on full lean.
(nearly wore right through the front downpipe, but some of this was to do with the camber of certain corners)

Dynojet kit

Standard air filter with all the paper removed (for road had a K&N filter)

Bike made 101.9bhp at the rear wheel with the K&N and 103.9bhp with the modified std filter.

This was all done in year 2000 (well before this forum) the forks I worked out myself, check posts on here to see over time others have come to the same conclusion. it's a good race set up, you do need the steering damper though, for road work it could be a bit flighty hence bringing the front back up 5mm.

I raced it in a twins and triples class (no fuel injected bikes), not the fastest thing out there but as I said in an earlier post was able to get the power down early and carry good speed onto the straights.

A slipper clutch would work wonders with this bike but it would cost more than some bikes sell for, as long as your planned and smooth it can be a lot of fun without one though.

[Biggeeman]

Great reply popkat thanks for the info.