Good post. I've owned my '01 Superhawk for over 14-years now. Definitely change out the cam chain tensioners for manual ones - if you can, do 'em up with some safety wire. Research the maintenance of them as the miles go by; also note things may be slightly noisier with manual cam chain adjusters - you'll have to live with it. The automated cam chain tensioners springs are prone to failure. This was supposedly to be remedied with the '01 and newer series, but my rear had failed, and I've heard of others of that series ('01-05) failing as well. The rectifier: I've got mine with a CPU heatsink strapped to the aluminum face; with silicone thermal paste in between mating the surfaces - try to get a legitimate thermal paste (the grey/silver stuff), as silicone as the tendency to "weep." I don't have the Honda front fork fluid name/spec off the top of my head, but I believe it has been changed from SS-7 to SS-8 - I upgraded to the SS-8 around the time when I did the fork seals. In addition, keep an eye on the rear exhaust header - mine had been prone to slipping off and causing a real degradation in performance. I've had to DIY stainless steel cable braid around things to keep it in place, and am still "testing it." As my ride is now 20-years old, I am eyeing an upgrade to SS front brake lines. If you're in the market for parts from the Honda shop, note that some of the part numbers have changed/revised - keep an eye on this in the diagrams. I haven't had the best of luck with a K&N high-flow-rate air filter, and others have had difficulty as well. Word of mouth has it that the Factroy Pro jet kit supposedly easier to tune in comparison to the DynoJet kit. Also of importance, is the ignition advance (mounted on the side of the carbs); they have been found to be set to be "higher" than the manual specifies (700+ ohms?) - I don't remember what I found mine at, but it was higher than the specified 500ohms (+/-10ohms); have the carbs synced prior to making the adjustment. For my mild riding, I've found the Pirelli Angel GT series (Now, Pirelli Angel GT II), have been outstanding for getting mileage in excess of just above 20k miles. The rear is a dual compound, and the front is a single compound. I don't remember the "high tensile" RK chain I've been going with, but highly recommend it - invest in it - don't get something cheap, or you'll be doing adjustments more than you want. Also, over the last year for the age of the bike, I have found cracks developing in the carb diaphragms. I have seen resellers out of China for new ones, at ~$25 each - I do not know anything about them, but am "looking at them." One of the most important things... ...I would not fiddle with the pilot screws - leave those alone - the end - the end. (Sigh! :\ ) I have upgraded the headlight bulb with a DC-based HID bulb setup, and I like it - but remember that it is not a true HID projector setup, and you may be impeding other's view after dark if not set properly. When it comes to the wheel and steering stem bearings, I've gone with All Balls Racing bearing kits. I also went with their fuel tank petcock kit, instead of the Honda one - the original [Honda] one had developed a tear in the diaphragm. Also as I have chased "glug-glug" sounds of air entering into the fuel tank after riding, I have questioned the carbs not getting the fuel they need during riding and have moved the fuel diaphragm vacuum line to the front cylinder lately - i am monitoring this. I believe I have an air leak that is influencing the throttle response and can see a dissimilarity of vacuum draw when I open the throttle that is considerable when I have the mercury synchronizer hooked up - with more vacuum coming from the front cylinder - which is why I have moved the vacuum line to the front heads intake. Oh, and try not holding in the clutch master cylinder for an extended period of time - this can cause something in the gearbox to lose its place it seems and things sound unsightly when you let it out. Also, be careful when power shifting from 1st to 2nd, as it can slip out at times and permanently screw up the shift-dogs (Do i have the terminology right?). I have found SuperhawkForum.com and VTR1000.org to be go-to resources for my ride. Cheers. :) -Matt

Great vid. Getting the tensioners changed and fitting 20 mm risers

Good video mate! Thanks.

i changed my cam adjusters for manual ones, but did'nt have to take carbs off, i to had a problem with the regulator , boiled my battery. i fitted a yamaha r1 , , work's great and does'nt get hot.. great vid m8

Good advice & thanks for sharing 👍

Good advice. I used to have a '99 VTR1000, loved it after suspension was properly sorted. My camchain tensioner failed (despite me asking Honda to check it several times) but I was incredibly lucky. Despite jumping a tooth, no pistons or valves met up, it just made the most horrendous sound. Sold the bike after that as I lost confidence in it. Honda refused to acknowledge the problem.

Great video man,you should start flying PPG you'll love it,especially if your a biker!!!

I adapted a Superbike bar with custom riser/adapters, no more numbness on long rides. Braided lines, Manual cam chain tensioners, MOSFET rectifier, Doherty shifter, LED head and tail lights, leather seat, titanium exhaust, double bubble screen….should be good for another 24 years 😎

Bought a Firestorm recently and it came with manual cct's and a quality rectifier. These are without a doubt the weakest link in an otherwise super reliable power train.

EBC clutch and Barnett plates, polished clutch rod, they can grab badly especially when cold. If bike is stock, then jet up one size, then another size for each of the following, higher flowing exhaust, high flow air filters.....the (emissions) flat spot at 4500 is pretty bad, and very bad if it's got a fruity pipe. Keep the correct grade of fresh oil in it, helps both the clutch and original tensioners. Fit braided lines, seems to help a bit with front brake bite. Good road bikes though overall, the engine sounds great, better than the TL of the era and as good as the Duke but without the deathly rattles of a dry clutch. Mines got a wide bar conversion, kind of a bargain bin Tuono feel about it lol

Currently running a 2000 Firestorm and have fitted the manual tensioners,was looking to buy a Fireblade this year,but after reading some of the appalling customer service by Honda comments re the faulty auto tensioners I will be looking at a S1000RR instead.

Definitely get a manual cam chain tensioner installed! Everything you described went wrong on mine! Failed on the highway and bent the valves, was a costly repair. This is a well known common fault on the firestorm you would expect Honda to be able to fix but they don't want to know you and won't acknowledge they messed up. Turned me off Honda for life. Solid bike until that happened

3000 thou on original cam chain adjuster should I be worried ? I love my ride BUT SHOULD I BE WORRIED? if so what does the community suggest I live in NOTTINGHAM, any helpful comments would be appreciated as I love my 3000 MILE RIDE! I truly love my Firestorm and would love to keep it FETTLED, any help would be truly appreciated, THANK YOU :)

Are they pretty easy to install?

I was looking at getting another firestorm but the owner has already fitted manual tensioners and I really don’t trust someone else’s work when it is so critical to get right. If I end up buying I think I’ll get the Honda tensioners and do the stopper mod so that at worst the chain will rattle not jump a tooth

The original ones typically go between 10-20,000miles. So changeing them every 8000 miles would be a good routine maintainence item, for your maintainence schedule. If you fit manual ones, good luck on adjusting the forward cylinder, as its buried in the engine. The rear one shown is easy.

How tight should the cam chain tensioners should be? How do u when to stop?

Great video, but it wasn't clear to me if one needs to remove the tank, carbs, etc. to adjust the cam chain or just to replace the manual tensioner.

After installing the front one, can you adjust it without taking parts off?

How mutch torq did u screw the manual ones in ? I mean how mutch Nm

What year r6 did you used

Bit of a double edged sword this one, a well serviced bike with constantly fresh oil will rarely fail, but an infrequently serviced bike WILL go.... On the other hand I'd be pretty scared of something whacked on there by Billy Bodgybollocks with his Halfords socket set....and cranked up too tight

Which model/year reg rectifier should I use please?

Model of VFR for handlebar???????????? RC36?RC46? 5:50

They look similar to the VFR tensioners.

I have a 2005 what year is yours?

Need a wind sock on ya microphone.

Just use VFR bar's instead

This is what I don't get we all know that they don't make it past 32 33 thousand miles videos are all over the Internet this is a 30000 mile bike once they hit 30,000 or 33 the timing chain tensioner goes out and they blow up but nobody wants to get behind me on this recall I know they stopped making them an 05 but still does not make it right Honda owes me a motorcycle. I took the best care of that like I do all my bikes I got two thousand miles out of it spent $5,000 nobody wants to get behind me on this Recall why? A bike should last longer than 30,000 miles Honda owes me a bike or Fix-It recall something you can't tell me it's okay to buy a bike at 28,000 miles I write it for a couple thousand and it blows up right at 30,000 miles just like all the videos say but I did not see before my bike blew up I can send them to you this page all day long it is a known fact these bikes do not make it past 30,000 miles unless you change that sh-t out