Firestorm whats wrong with them?

[Itchy]

Another Itchy whats wrong with this and that bike (Frog take note!) , whats wrong with them other than a very thirsty engine and a very small tank ?.

been recomended one as an alternative to a big VFR, insurance is only a couple quid more ! , I'm not sure if I should jump on the 1000cc mark so quickly though 4ish years experience...

Any thoughts?

Ta
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[G]

Only a bit more power than a 600cc sports bike of the time, maybe less than a current one.
But it's a twin, 'nuff said .

[McGee]

[Johnny GSX-R]

[feef]

it's not THAT thirsty.. it's just the tiny tank that the issue...

not so relevant now, since most have been fettled, but the forks were known for being a bit boingy, and the gearing ratios as standard are a little off.. (eg hairpin at cadwell.. 2nd is too tall, 1st is too short)

2nd gear and head bearings can become knackered thru wheelying.. I find the front end a little skittish on bumpy fen roads, but on smooth stuff, it's fine. I'm fitting a steering damper and rear sets to mine, as well as dropping the forks thru the yokes by a couple of cm, and this shoud help quicken the steering and keep the front down.

All in all, I love it.. great fun, and surprisingly comfy. I did over 2000 miles round france last summer on it.

a
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[ram_doom]

Ride's like a bit of a barge, loads of torque (as you would expect) but I'm not a fan of the handling

The one I rode, also managed to die with a bang and a whimper (and some clattering) due to cam chain tensioner giving up the ghost and throwing the timing out at low speed. Wasn't me riding it at the time

very out of date these days, but they do go cheap
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TL1000s, KDX200

[feef]

[JAMSXR]

My mate has just bought one (cliff), its a good bike needs cans as standard ones sond a bit lame. But its really nice and bags of torque. and as for 4 years not being enough experiance .
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[The Tot]

Firestorms are most commonly caused by arsonists

Jammy G's mate has one and it goes like the clappers. It sounds really nice with straight through cans ( i think he's got ART cans). Having said that, it makes going fast seem really slow according to him.

Oh, i read in Bike that you should be wary of bikes with rattling engines, cos it's definately the camchain tensioner about to go pop!

Get that sorted and you'll be fine. Neat bikes they are.
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
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[fork_oil]

Had an extended loan of one about five years ago for about 6 months. It was an earlier one with the smaller tank, so fuel range was...limited. Fuel consumption was at the bottom end of what bikes tend to achieve, which coupled with the below average (for the time - a lot of stuff now has 17litre tanks) gave the 100 mile tank range.

This one was absolutely as standard as they come. The only mod' was a Scottoiler.

Front end felt a bit vague - which would explain why mods are popular. I hated going round rounabouts on it. Brakes felt a bit wooden too, even though they looked like early 'blade brakes, they didn't feel as good. This one had OE Honda pads and discs.

Decent amount of power and a nice delivery for normal road use. Would wheelie off the throttle in second coming off roundabouts, but seemed to run out of puff quite soon at the top end. Maybe a pipe and jet kit would help?

A few small oddities - speedo looked weird, with the numbers starting and stopping at an odd place (4 to 2 o'clock instead of 7 to 4 o'clock on an analogue speedo. There was no underseat storage, and the pillion seatcover thing was a swine to fit and remove. Build quality whilst above average, was not up to VFR or CBR600FX standards.

Given the price they seem to be, a later one with a larger tank that has had some sympathetic handling, braking and perhaps minor performance mods, would be a decent buy IMO. An unmodified early one would need to be cheap now.

I can make a direct comparison, separated by five years so it's a FWIW, with a standard SV1000S, which is almost exactly the same thing. I'd say the SV was better as standard in every way except build quality, and there probably isn't much in it pricewise unless you're looking at the very earliest 'storms.

[feef]

[ram_doom]

I can confirm that the underseat storage is plentiful on the storm can fit all the bits you use to take it apart and fix it under there easily and a bloodstained rag
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TL1000s, KDX200

[js]

Not much gets past me( fat git me)

One of the best bikes I have owned, the small tank is a pain but hey so what.

https://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o201/vtr_photo/P21309621.jpg
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