NSRider

Hello! This is my first post after being a heavy forum reader since purchasing a 1998 Firestorm in March. Had wanted to write earlier and pass along my sincere thanks to all who have kindly shared so much helpful technical information with owners – it’s made all the difference digging into a new bike for the first time.

The bike was a ‘barn find’ for me – never rain driven and with a little over 20,000 km (about 12,500 miles). Was away from bikes for four decades of family & career and started off again a few years ago with a 500. Figured I had one more bike in me before my ‘best before’ date arrived and lots of research led to the VTR.

Have attended to the CCT’s, putting a new one on the front & stopper mod on both. Only thing I can share from the CCT work is a really cheap fix for the small lock key Honda supplies. A Home Depot plastic wing nut, hot knife blade, and some wire sure eases finger pressure. Also replaced the OEM R/R with a newer MOSFET unit and pic shows the install plate I made up (suggested by an earlier post) and end result.

What may be of interest to those looking for a small and tidy rack is my install of Little Horse Cycles’ VTR tail piece. Based on old posts about his original rack, I contacted Andrew and asked whether he was still making them. While I knew they were fabricated to fit the OEM seat, I decided to order one and mod it for my Sargent seat. What was a nice surprise is that his latest rack was steel (original was aluminum), it sat lower on the pillion (clean look), and was strengthened (side pieces added).

Pics show rack on the Sargent seat and I've included small insert images of it mounted on the Honda seat + small Autokicker pack I use for gloves, cellphone and misc stuff on short trips. Modding it for the Sargent took some time (front rack pads end up floating in the seat cavity created for the documents canister) but all is solid after fitting two steel brackets + filing small reliefs in the seat base & fairings. None of this is required for the OEM seat.

I sent all my install pics and dimensions to Andrew and he said he’d likely make a ‘bolt & go’ Sargent version if someone can send him a loaner seat. I corresponded with Andrew through the Little Horse Cycles Facebook page, so best check with him on the latest pricing – mine was the first steel unit he made.

Sorry for the long post and limited pics (only allowed five as a new poster). Again, many thanks to all for your detailed and knowledgeable contributions over the years. You’ve made owning & maintaining the bike easy.

Steve
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canada

Hangfly