Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Shifty wrote:They're actually a pretty damn good bike, having owned one for a fair while I can give you a few tips!

Perfect gearing is one tooth down on the front sprocket, three teeth up on the rear... less than a hundred bucks and it will be like a whole new bike.
Braided lines and good pads will transform the brakes, $250 very very well spent.
Pilot powers are the go.
The suspension is pretty average but you can ride around it no problems.
They are absoute bike porn with a set of pipes, or even the stockers drilled out.
I hope you are friendly with your local service station attendand, if not then you will be soon!

Check out http://www.ozfirestorm.com for a bunch of one-eyed 'Stormers.

When you say "Perfect gearing", could you elaborate there a bit please? Top End/ Bottom End?

sicarius wrote:Nah, V TWIN . 998cc 90deg V2

{Whatever that means }

"V" means the engine is shaped like a V
"Twin" means the engine has two cylinders
"998cc" is the capacity (roughly a litre)
"90 deg" means that the "V" shape is 90 degrees apart
"V2" is another way of saying "V Twin"

sicarius wrote:When you say "Perfect gearing", could you elaborate there a bit please? Top End/ Bottom End?

Makes it a bit more punchy all 'round.... great for around town and in the hills. You'll obviously lose some top speed but honestly 230km/h vs 260km/h is still more than you'll ever need.

Shifty wrote:

sicarius wrote:Nah, V TWIN . 998cc 90deg V2

{Whatever that means }

"V" means the engine is shaped like a V
"Twin" means the engine has two cylinders
"998cc" is the capacity (roughly a litre)
"90 deg" means that the "V" shape is 90 degrees apart
"V2" is another way of saying "V Twin"

Well Thank You. Here I was thinking back to my high school days and Sniper Training where ' V ' meant " Velocity "...

Nice ride!
Shhhhhh keep it quiet, but it would probably be my 2nd choice too, well.... after the zed that is. Looks like a good buy! Gotta love the sound of a twin!

Shifty wrote:

sicarius wrote:When you say "Perfect gearing", could you elaborate there a bit please? Top End/ Bottom End?

Makes it a bit more punchy all 'round.... great for around town and in the hills. You'll obviously lose some top speed but honestly 230km/h vs 260km/h is still more than you'll ever need.

230kph might'nt be enough... I have it on very good authority that these new XR6 Turbo Highway Patrol Cars will do in excess of 250...
I understand what you're saying bloke.I'm told that a good exhaust system ( Microns) ) will improve the engine response too ??? (Really?)

sicarius wrote:

Shifty wrote:They're actually a pretty damn good bike, having owned one for a fair while I can give you a few tips!

Perfect gearing is one tooth down on the front sprocket, three teeth up on the rear... less than a hundred bucks and it will be like a whole new bike.
Braided lines and good pads will transform the brakes, $250 very very well spent.
Pilot powers are the go.
The suspension is pretty average but you can ride around it no problems.
They are absoute bike porn with a set of pipes, or even the stockers drilled out.
I hope you are friendly with your local service station attendand, if not then you will be soon!

Check out http://www.ozfirestorm.com for a bunch of one-eyed 'Stormers.

Thanks Shifty...I'm familiar with OzFirestorm Forum...You might remember that it was ozfirestorm who (because I rode a ZZR250 at the time)"redirected" me in the earlier days to KSRC forum. I'd never have known about KSRC if not for those guys...
Oh...and "Fuelstorm"? You're not wrong there bloke. 16 litres yesterday to do a trip from Ipswich, into the city, down the motorway to Dreamworld - up over the mountains and through to Canungra...out to Beaudesert, Boonah, Aratula, up the Gap and in to Warwick...
I put $13 in the tank at Warwick to refill it. (@$1:45pl).
A friend of mine used a fuel conditioner called "PM Lubricants - fuel conditioner". She could get about 40k more than the rest of the "Storm" riders. I cant find anyone that stock it.
But yes, they can get a bit thirsty...speaking of, I've got one now...a hard earned thirst, and a hard earned thirst deserves a hard cold beer...and the best beer for a hard earned thirst is VIC..............................................


Later Bloke

Fuel conditioners are just a wank, it's all about the state of tune and the way you ride... fuel consumption is affected primarily by the load the engine sees (which is why on a flat HWY your fuel consumption is always better... not pulling up a hill, not increasing speed, all it needs to do is maintain it). I had the later model VTR with the larger tank and a hard-ridden run would get down around 180km, while a really sparingly used tank would get 260-270km.

The consumption you mentioned seemed pretty fair for a big carb'd twin.

red_dave wrote:One of my ghey mates has staintune pipes on his...

Also isn't he your qld mate who polished the hell out of the frame? it looked damned nice, but take one drunk mob with greasy fingers and he'd be fecking FILTHY *evil grin*

If I had your bike I would consider getting one of the Geelong carbon craft belly pans (race type)...
http://www.geelongcarboncraft.com.au/st ... uct_id=183

In Any case... Grats on the new bike....

I would like to own every kind of bike at some point.... A V-Twin might be next for me.... Although it will be hard giving up the horses I have right now.



Makes the bike look a bit raunchier.... Just my humble opinion though.

Stereo wrote:If I had your bike I would consider getting one of the Geelong carbon craft belly pans (race type)...
http://www.geelongcarboncraft.com.au/st ... uct_id=183

In Any case... Grats on the new bike....

I would like to own every kind of bike at some point.... A V-Twin might be next for me.... Although it will be hard giving up the horses I have right now.




Makes the bike look a bit raunchier.... Just my humble opinion though.

Thanks mate. hey is that your VTR? Love the lower fairing and the pipes. I agree it makes it look a whole lot raunchier...

Nah, its from the GCC website, but a mate of mine had a similar one (although in yellow with black pinstripes).

sicarius wrote:I was getting mighty pissed off with all the hassles I've been having with my little Ninja 250... And to be perfectly honest, I think I was getting more angry at myself than at anyone in particular...I should've known better than to have bought a japanesse import. I was looking through some trader post ads today when I saw this 1998 Honda VTR 1000 for sale. For $5000, honestly, a bloke would be mad to have walked away from it. You guys and girls here at KSRC have been fantastic to me and I pained long and hard over it, but, in the end, my need for speed,reliablity and grunt wore me down. I'm sorry guys. I went out and bought myself a Honda VTR 1000 Firestorm today....
Anyone wanna hook up for a ride?

JEEBUS!
Looks like it fell into a vat of silicone!
Very shiny.

mate they are a fuel guzzler!!

sound great.. the model u got has a 16L tank.. expect abt 160km out of a tank if u ride it hard...

very forgiving, torquey as, and fun to ride!!

Neka79 wrote:mate they are a fuel guzzler!!

sound great.. the model u got has a 16L tank.. expect abt 160km out of a tank if u ride it hard...

very forgiving, torquey as, and fun to ride!!

Yeah, Thanks Neka. I'm wondering if the 2007 model (with the 19 litre tank) would fit this model?There has to be a way of improving on 160kms...even 200.

I love the bike. As you said, it's fun to ride...and er, forgiving, as you also mentioned. I'm not the best rider going around, but this thing makes you look good. I'm just practising my lines, trying to position the bike properly...basic stuff. I'm getting more and more confident each ride. I guess thats about the time something tragic happens ...
I also think the front suspension needs softening... it really is quite hard. The back could also be lightened a little. But overall, it's a good bike. Someday, when I've learned the basics and I'm ready for the next level, I'll buy a new Kawaski ZXR-9...

Did you know that you can buy a complete NITROS2 kits for $500. ? Thinking thinking thinking.
Nah, I'll tinker around and try a few mods and see what it's capable of before parting with it.