Flat bars or Tuono!!!

[Watty]

Fancy sitting more upright these days, so just pondering Thoughts, opinions, insults!!??

[popkat]

Firestorm does more more of the time than a Tuono. early tuono only has a few more bhp but feels more as it's revvier and they want to go all the time. get a decent length test ride on one and make you own mind up, if you don't need more power (or feeling of more power) then the storm is imo a better all rounder..

[Watty]

Firestorm does more more of the time than a Tuono. early tuono only has a few more bhp but feels more as it's revvier and they want to go all the time. get a decent length test ride on one and make you own mind up, if you don't need more power (or feeling of more power) then the storm is imo a better all rounder..

Tbh the storm has more power than I can use at 100% so certainly not after more power! Head is saying Tuono but heart is with the Storm

[AMCQ46]

Try flat bars on a storm, it's a great mod.

I had a go on ck's touno and it was good, different and fast, but I still wanted to get back on my storm as I know how to get the most out of it.

Popkat is right, you need a long test drive, as even fitting flat bars on your bike will take a bit of getting used to, so a whole new bike needs even more time

[bigtwinthing]

If you go for flat bars, i suggest a flip up screen unless your vertically challenged, simply because you are a bit further up and back, and the wind hits you. My flip up was only £38 and was amazing. CNC can be a nightmare company to deal with. I bought mine through Moore Speed racing and was totally hassle free. Fitting took me a day with trimming the fairing with a dremel. The transformation was amazing for me though. (6ft and oldish! ) It looked and rode great. Fine for me until i spotted the CB1000r. I have some pics if you need to have a look.

[budd]

Tuono 'R' don't get me wrong the Storm is a great bike I loved mine and will probably end up with another at some point, but the Aprilia is in a different league, not necessarily just engine power (and the 60 degree twin is more powerful and loves revs compared to the Storm) the mine difference and what sets the Aprilia apart is its construction. Honda built the Storm with its eyes firmly on the balance sheet and used budget cycle parts Aprilia on the other hand lavished the best components possible on both the Mille and the Tuono, with premium products from brands like Brembo, Showa (Ohlins & OZ on the R) .
And high quality parts are only the half of it the whole bike is incredibly well designed and put together, as an example take a look at the APE swing arm it's a work of art !!! and you see this type of over engineering and attention to detail all over it.

you get an idea of what a bike is all about when you read the various forums, I bought my first Storm in '98 before the internet and straight from the showroom it was obvious to me it had issues mainly brakes and suspension, these issues continue to dominate the chat on VTR forums both here and in the States where talk suspension mods, brakes conversions abound on APE forums these subjects are barely discussed not once have I heard mention of a brake conversion or debate on which springs to fit, this suggests to me that the Aprilia is pretty sorted straight out of the box whereas the Storm needs a little fettling in order to tease out it's potential.
Downsides to an Aprilia? well the APE is much more focused than the Storm this could either be good or bad depending on how you look at it, the Storm is very user friendly in fact it's usability is a credit to Honda it as always amazed me how well it uses its limited assets, overall day to day performance belies the sum of its parts, it's very rewarding to be able to use most of the performance most of the time. The Aprilia isn't as user friendly and demands more input accessing the extra potential isn't easy and you sometimes get the feeling you are holding the bike back rather than the then bike been the limiting factor, I suppose it's a bit of a challenge trying to extract the extra level of performance it undoubtedly possesses.
as people have said in previous posts try to get an extended test ride, you won't get much of a feeling for the bike from a quick ride around the block.

[simo]

No, not one of those. In the MCN where people ask advice, there's always problems. A M8 has one, can't find neutral, probably as the clutch drags all the time and petrol leaks from the tank. Dealer in Thirsk doesn't want to know. I think you can do better than that Watty.

[Steve6088]

if you don't need more power (or feeling of more power) then the storm is imo a better all rounder..

The rsv/tuono is a hell of a lot quicker than a storm, not just a bit. It is hardly an illusion of feeling more power. Rode a storm for years and just bought an rsv. The handling takes a bit of getting used to though.

As much as I liked my firestorms, the rsv is a much more sorted bike without having to mod it. As long as you're prepared for the bike being less reliable and spare parts costing a small fortune.

[Ckennedy]

Tuono, tuono, tuono!!!!! You know you want too. Wind protection is a bit sh1t. Which may be a problem as it just begs you to go quicker. Mine had 124.5bhp with the 2-2 akra system on it and most storms are around 100?

[AMCQ46]

lots of defectors to the Italian temptress............... just remember, like a real Italian Mistress they are beautiful when young, but they don't age so well

[Ckennedy]

Mines doing fine as she is thank you Al 12 years young and still going strong

[budd]

No, not one of those. In the MCN where people ask advice, there's always problems. A M8 has one, can't find neutral, probably as the clutch drags all the time and petrol leaks from the tank. Dealer in Thirsk doesn't want to know. I think you can do better than that Watty.

Tell him to contact Aprilia Performance and speak to Griff they sort him out, the neutral issues is easy and cheap to fix by replacing the 'clutch jet' it's a common problem the OE clutch jet is to small and makes neutral all but impossible to find when stationary, the replacement as a bigger jet (hole) and relieves the pressure making neutral easy to find, IIRC they are about £10 and simple(ish) to fit.

[Ckennedy]

There's easy fixes for some of the faults on the aprilia. Every bike has faults, just look at the storm. Everyone does mods to them for reasons. Get a good one to start with and look after it and it'll be fine. I've had no issues with mine. Well dodgy connection on fuel pump plug but 5 mins and 10p later and all is good. Everyone has good and bad experiences with the same bike as someone else.

Just find something that suits you watty and you'll stay happy

[budd]

There's easy fixes for some of the faults on the aprilia. Every bike has faults, just look at the storm. Everyone does mods to them for reasons. Get a good one to start with and look after it and it'll be fine. I've had no issues with mine. Well dodgy connection on fuel pump plug but 5 mins and 10p later and all is good. Everyone has good and bad experiences with the same bike as someone else.

Just find something that suits you watty and you'll stay happy

very true,a lemon is still a lemon no matter what bike you buy, it pays to buy the best you can in the first place.

[firestorm_al]

No, not one of those. In the MCN where people ask advice, there's always problems. A M8 has one, can't find neutral, probably as the clutch drags all the time and petrol leaks from the tank. Dealer in Thirsk doesn't want to know. I think you can do better than that Watty.

Replace the clutch slave cylinder with an Oberon or equivalent and bleed the system well. I can't go from first to neutral so put it into 2nd and give the lever a small tap down to knock it into neutral.

The fuel leak will be caused due to the composite plastic tank "growing". The ethanol in modern fuel reacts with the plastic causing it to swell. The leak is most likely coming from round the fuel pump and is a result of the swelling tank. You can usually remove the pump and reseal it (can't remember what the recommended sealant is though. You will know it is swelling when you go to get the tank back on as the front tabs will no longer line up with the frame holes. There are a few techniques to getting it back on as I discovered with my Falco.

Al.