My Official Intro Thread
07-21-2010, 12:02 AM
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My Official Intro Thread
I actually picked up my 98 Firestorm yesterday, took it to DMV and got a title and plate for it... it came from Canada and sat dormant in a guy's garage for a year and a half.
Here's the rundown:
-It's yellow. I love yellow
-The metric ODO shows approx 86k km. - the guy threw in a US instrument cluster; not sure if I'll install it or sell it
-Stock CCT's
-D&D exhaust, the left can and pipe are ground down pretty well from road rash
-Front fairing is wonky; twisted somehow
-Forks/triples need reset-- wheel points to left slightly when bars are straight
-Frame sliders were some ugly pale yellow and one bracket was slightly bent downward.. I'm giving these away once I get replacements..
I bought a new battery today and rode the thing around a bit.. pretty solid, pretty loud. I absolutely love it. It's just what I needed after selling my Falco and then buying a VFR, which I sold Saturday to pay bills and buy this.
It needs some cleaning up and straightening up but was an absolute steal and it feels great to be back on a twin..
Here are a few pics.. more to come:
Here's the rundown:
-It's yellow. I love yellow
-The metric ODO shows approx 86k km. - the guy threw in a US instrument cluster; not sure if I'll install it or sell it
-Stock CCT's
-D&D exhaust, the left can and pipe are ground down pretty well from road rash
-Front fairing is wonky; twisted somehow
-Forks/triples need reset-- wheel points to left slightly when bars are straight
-Frame sliders were some ugly pale yellow and one bracket was slightly bent downward.. I'm giving these away once I get replacements..
I bought a new battery today and rode the thing around a bit.. pretty solid, pretty loud. I absolutely love it. It's just what I needed after selling my Falco and then buying a VFR, which I sold Saturday to pay bills and buy this.
It needs some cleaning up and straightening up but was an absolute steal and it feels great to be back on a twin..
Here are a few pics.. more to come:
07-21-2010, 08:30 AM
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Thanks for the warm welcome(s)..
I'm in Roseburg, Oregon.
As far as comparing the Falco and SH.. similar, they are. I can't make a valid assessment until I get this thing running a little smoother.. I need to either run the 1.5 year old gas out of it (which is what I'll do) or drain the tank and start with some ethanol-free super and some other dandy additive or cleaner or something..
The riding position is very similar. Not being mean, but it's hard to compare an Italian bike to a Japanese one, even though the Falco seemed to be a rip-off of the SH. My SH doesn't pull as hard as the Falco did. But again, I should tune the thing up and change fluids before I decide.
I'm in Roseburg, Oregon.
As far as comparing the Falco and SH.. similar, they are. I can't make a valid assessment until I get this thing running a little smoother.. I need to either run the 1.5 year old gas out of it (which is what I'll do) or drain the tank and start with some ethanol-free super and some other dandy additive or cleaner or something..
The riding position is very similar. Not being mean, but it's hard to compare an Italian bike to a Japanese one, even though the Falco seemed to be a rip-off of the SH. My SH doesn't pull as hard as the Falco did. But again, I should tune the thing up and change fluids before I decide.
07-21-2010, 11:43 AM
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Thanks for the warm welcome(s)..
I'm in Roseburg, Oregon.
As far as comparing the Falco and SH.. similar, they are. I can't make a valid assessment until I get this thing running a little smoother.. I need to either run the 1.5 year old gas out of it (which is what I'll do) or drain the tank and start with some ethanol-free super and some other dandy additive or cleaner or something..
The riding position is very similar. Not being mean, but it's hard to compare an Italian bike to a Japanese one, even though the Falco seemed to be a rip-off of the SH. My SH doesn't pull as hard as the Falco did. But again, I should tune the thing up and change fluids before I decide.
I'm in Roseburg, Oregon.
As far as comparing the Falco and SH.. similar, they are. I can't make a valid assessment until I get this thing running a little smoother.. I need to either run the 1.5 year old gas out of it (which is what I'll do) or drain the tank and start with some ethanol-free super and some other dandy additive or cleaner or something..
The riding position is very similar. Not being mean, but it's hard to compare an Italian bike to a Japanese one, even though the Falco seemed to be a rip-off of the SH. My SH doesn't pull as hard as the Falco did. But again, I should tune the thing up and change fluids before I decide.
Nah, seriously.. I'd like a Falco... And yeah, I always though they where a direct rip-of of the Superhawk/SV and ironicly that was supposed to be a rip-of on the 900SS... Both ended up being better than what they copied...Once you get the Superhawk running the way it should, it should pull as hard as the Falco, but the Falco keeps going a bit after the hawk has run out of steam...
07-21-2010, 07:40 PM
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After sitting for a year and a half, it not doubt needs a good carb cleaning. The pilot jets are quite small, and even though my '05 has never gone much more than a week without being ridden, I had a pilot (slow) jet completely plugged several months ago. It ended up causing a dead cylinder before I finally pulled the carbs and cleaned them. I had to soak the pilot jets in carb spray for about 30 minutes to get them cleared out.
Oh, and Welcome!
Oh, and Welcome!
07-21-2010, 11:20 PM
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After sitting for a year and a half, it not doubt needs a good carb cleaning. The pilot jets are quite small, and even though my '05 has never gone much more than a week without being ridden, I had a pilot (slow) jet completely plugged several months ago. It ended up causing a dead cylinder before I finally pulled the carbs and cleaned them. I had to soak the pilot jets in carb spray for about 30 minutes to get them cleared out.!
07-21-2010, 11:49 PM
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And congrats!
07-22-2010, 10:39 AM
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-Got pulled over for doing 43 in a 30
-Was issued a verbal warning!
-Started the bike and pulled across the street and filled up with premium
-Overfilled it and got a bunch of fuel in the vent drain area or whatever
-Started the bike, rode 3/4 of a mile to enjoy a cold beverage
-30 minutes later, got on the bike and rode 1 mile on the way home, where it sputtered and ran on one cylinder
-Got home, opened the fuel cap, closed the fuel cap, started it.. still funky
-Went to bed
-Got up this morning, started it, still running on one cylinder
-Drove my car to work
I'm wondering if there's something else I should do relating to the vent from the overfill area around the cap before I start tearing carbs off..
Again, thanks for the welcome!
07-22-2010, 12:06 PM
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Agreed, it's not fair to compare a jap and an italian... The italian bikes would be first to the finish line if they made it there without running into a service intervall... Nah, seriously.. I'd like a Falco... And yeah, I always though they where a direct rip-of of the Superhawk/SV and ironicly that was supposed to be a rip-of on the 900SS... Both ended up being better than what they copied...
Once you get the Superhawk running the way it should, it should pull as hard as the Falco, but the Falco keeps going a bit after the hawk has run out of steam...
Nah, seriously.. I'd like a Falco... And yeah, I always though they where a direct rip-of of the Superhawk/SV and ironicly that was supposed to be a rip-of on the 900SS... Both ended up being better than what they copied...Once you get the Superhawk running the way it should, it should pull as hard as the Falco, but the Falco keeps going a bit after the hawk has run out of steam...
07-22-2010, 03:26 PM
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nope. around a track First place was the Ducati, then the German Monster, then the jap bikes and the KTM, then the Aprilia RSV4. I think you are thinking of the month before when they did the Master Bike comparo.
07-22-2010, 03:28 PM
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And the BMW is powerful but the Ducati is a dream machine. It has over 90lb ft of torque and weighs almost a flat 400lbs dry. The Aprilia was heavy and underpowered. On the drag strip the CBR beat all of the bikes. Including the BMW.
07-22-2010, 10:01 PM
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And as for this:
I then opened the fuel cap and closed it (didn't hear anything to speak of) and started her up and away I went..
Still going to go through the carbs, but I can ride in the meantime, and that's awesome.
So how should those drain hoses be situated anyway?
07-22-2010, 11:22 PM
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Glad to hear it! I don't run a stock tank, so I can't comment on the drain hoses. I do know that even with my harris tank (though I have heard of this with the stock tank as well) right after filling, any hard acceleration, wheelies, hard braking etc, can cause this situation. I have a lever release on my cap, so if it starts dropping a cylinder, I just reach down and flip that up for a second, which is all you need to stop the starvation of that cylinder. With a locking gas cap, it might be a little harder, but with re-routing you should be able to eliminate this happening regularly. I normally run a little less fuel in mine around town (it's a larger tank anyway so no big deal) and then just fuel up prior to any larger trip.
Enjoy the new ride. And take a bit of time to figure out whether your front end is tweaked.
Cheers,
Ross
Enjoy the new ride. And take a bit of time to figure out whether your front end is tweaked.
Cheers,
Ross
07-22-2010, 11:32 PM
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Will do, for sure. That's next on my list. I'm searching for confirmation, but I haven't done any front end word before so I don't know how to best attack that. I don't have front and rear stands yet (gave them away with the Falco-- why do I always do that!) but I'm wondering if I can just loosen the triples up with a buddy and see if we can straighten things that way...
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