8 weeks on a Firestorm - the short story.
07-11-2014, 03:18 PM
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Squid
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8 weeks on a Firestorm - the short story.
“Are you going to get another bike?” is the typical question I get. “Why?” comes next, after my response.
Why do we ride? People way more eloquent than me have written laborious amounts on the reasons bikers ride. My first experience on a motorcycle was terrifying - an uncle Up North who we were visiting asked if I wanted a ride - and I did. (A note to parents - if you hear your kid say “Yes” to that offer understand that they are deliberately putting a thrill ahead of their own personal well-being, and that you will see this come back later as an unquenchable fire. So buy her a dirt bike asap.) I don’t think I have hung on to anything in my life as tightly as I did to my uncle, driving that bike. It felt like he was trying to throw me off the back. It was a blue 750 Kawasaki and it made righteous noises. The engine, the shifting, the wind and probably a bit of me screaming are sensations I vividly recall, nearly 40 years later.
As a young man I started to ride and loved it. Then it, kind of, stopped. Marriage, kids and commuting in one of the rainiest places on earth kept me down. There was never a fit for something as superfluous as a motorcycle in the time or financial budgets. But as with most things in life, we get through, and suddenly our younger son has his driver’s license and a car. A huge piece of the time budget was released; the boys can drive themselves. Also, you don’t need a 6-passenger vehicle anymore. It is - actually - a bit like winning a lottery.
Along comes the morning of coincidence - an April Sunday - the house is still quiet with souls sleeping in and a cup of coffee allows a few minutes on Craigslist. A Firestorm appears, a bike for which I have had a smouldering yearning over the years. It is a not-quite distress sale as he finds his garage too full, his time too consumed by work and his need for cash forcing a decision. $2,500 puts me on a well-loved example: Yellow, the fastest colour. Manual CCTs installed but otherwise stock. A few scrapes and scratches from 15 years and 50,000 km but solid, as Honda’s tend to be. So I rode a fantastically entertaining bike for 8 weeks this Vancouver spring.
There are certain points of VTR1000 ownership that fill you with joy and wonder. Who remembers that first time you needed to get moving in a hurry to merge so you give it the business, and the front wheel has lifted 12 inches before the bike has even moved a couple of feet? And the next day you are taking the long way home and the fuel light comes on and you clearly recall filling up yesterday so what the hell do I have a fuel leak I don’t smell any gas and how am I supposed to get to Kelowna if I can’t get 120km out of a tank of fuel in the city??? Some baseline maintenance gave me the confidence that the bike was solid and I started to rely on it for the commute and to get all the errands run. Rain or shine, no big deal. I ran it up to Whistler one day and only held back the throttle for fear of getting done for excessive speeding. 40+mpg and 200km from a full tank were the bike’s highlights from that ride. That, plus the discovery that when cruising a twisty mountain highway on a Firestorm you rarely need the brakes - you just shift up and down and let the engine do all the work.
And then it was gone. Nothing too exciting: a driver changed her mind in traffic, the bike went down and slid 6 feet. The insurance company said “cosmetic damage” and “total loss” in one sentence a couple days later. I didn’t even have a chance to name it properly. All it had was “Thunder-Chicken”, although “Rumble & Burp” was starting to catch on.
There have been a few bikes that I have felt a gravitational pull from over the years. The YPVS RZ350, the SRX600, various Ducatis and the VTR1000 have all captured my imagination. The ribs feel a bit better now, so I am scouring the internets again for another VTR. I am FAR from done with that all the torque and all of those gorgeous V-twin engine noises. Some cute little 600R whined past me the other day and I just didn’t feel it - all transmission noises and high-pitched revs. I know now that the larger 2001+ fuel tank is desirable and that a bike with the CCTs and Rectifier/Regulator updates are indications of caring previous owners. Suspension before pipes is another good indicator. They aren’t as common as they were 4 years ago, but I remain vigilant.
Why do we ride? People way more eloquent than me have written laborious amounts on the reasons bikers ride. My first experience on a motorcycle was terrifying - an uncle Up North who we were visiting asked if I wanted a ride - and I did. (A note to parents - if you hear your kid say “Yes” to that offer understand that they are deliberately putting a thrill ahead of their own personal well-being, and that you will see this come back later as an unquenchable fire. So buy her a dirt bike asap.) I don’t think I have hung on to anything in my life as tightly as I did to my uncle, driving that bike. It felt like he was trying to throw me off the back. It was a blue 750 Kawasaki and it made righteous noises. The engine, the shifting, the wind and probably a bit of me screaming are sensations I vividly recall, nearly 40 years later.
As a young man I started to ride and loved it. Then it, kind of, stopped. Marriage, kids and commuting in one of the rainiest places on earth kept me down. There was never a fit for something as superfluous as a motorcycle in the time or financial budgets. But as with most things in life, we get through, and suddenly our younger son has his driver’s license and a car. A huge piece of the time budget was released; the boys can drive themselves. Also, you don’t need a 6-passenger vehicle anymore. It is - actually - a bit like winning a lottery.
Along comes the morning of coincidence - an April Sunday - the house is still quiet with souls sleeping in and a cup of coffee allows a few minutes on Craigslist. A Firestorm appears, a bike for which I have had a smouldering yearning over the years. It is a not-quite distress sale as he finds his garage too full, his time too consumed by work and his need for cash forcing a decision. $2,500 puts me on a well-loved example: Yellow, the fastest colour. Manual CCTs installed but otherwise stock. A few scrapes and scratches from 15 years and 50,000 km but solid, as Honda’s tend to be. So I rode a fantastically entertaining bike for 8 weeks this Vancouver spring.
There are certain points of VTR1000 ownership that fill you with joy and wonder. Who remembers that first time you needed to get moving in a hurry to merge so you give it the business, and the front wheel has lifted 12 inches before the bike has even moved a couple of feet? And the next day you are taking the long way home and the fuel light comes on and you clearly recall filling up yesterday so what the hell do I have a fuel leak I don’t smell any gas and how am I supposed to get to Kelowna if I can’t get 120km out of a tank of fuel in the city??? Some baseline maintenance gave me the confidence that the bike was solid and I started to rely on it for the commute and to get all the errands run. Rain or shine, no big deal. I ran it up to Whistler one day and only held back the throttle for fear of getting done for excessive speeding. 40+mpg and 200km from a full tank were the bike’s highlights from that ride. That, plus the discovery that when cruising a twisty mountain highway on a Firestorm you rarely need the brakes - you just shift up and down and let the engine do all the work.
And then it was gone. Nothing too exciting: a driver changed her mind in traffic, the bike went down and slid 6 feet. The insurance company said “cosmetic damage” and “total loss” in one sentence a couple days later. I didn’t even have a chance to name it properly. All it had was “Thunder-Chicken”, although “Rumble & Burp” was starting to catch on.
There have been a few bikes that I have felt a gravitational pull from over the years. The YPVS RZ350, the SRX600, various Ducatis and the VTR1000 have all captured my imagination. The ribs feel a bit better now, so I am scouring the internets again for another VTR. I am FAR from done with that all the torque and all of those gorgeous V-twin engine noises. Some cute little 600R whined past me the other day and I just didn’t feel it - all transmission noises and high-pitched revs. I know now that the larger 2001+ fuel tank is desirable and that a bike with the CCTs and Rectifier/Regulator updates are indications of caring previous owners. Suspension before pipes is another good indicator. They aren’t as common as they were 4 years ago, but I remain vigilant.
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