miweber929

You’d be surprised how well that system actually works, and the twisties is where it shines. It’s not really a mobile center of gravity as much as it’s allowing the weight to stay lower, or as low as it can be no matter what the bike is doing. By that I mean you don’t feel a movement or change because it just moves along with the bike. My Sprint GT has that “floating” mount on the side bags and the top case also is allowed to slightly shift. Other than the additional noise it makes over bumps, it’s a great design that works as intended. .

Love it, and perfectly said!!! I had a ‘14 Triumph Thruxton for a few years that didn’t handle particularly well, wasn’t very fast, wasn’t exactly comfortable, wasn’t real smooth, wasn’t even real good on gas but with (budget) upgraded suspension and a TTP Stage 1 setup with TOR pipes was one of the few bikes I’ve owned I truly regret selling. Something about riding it was so raw, so pure, so just agricultural in nature it always made the ride a real experience like nothing else. There’s a vibe to it you don’t get from “modern” machines.

Congrats!!!

No, leave it sit until it’s time to unwrap it for good.

No and here's why: Way back when tires that were sticky were only good for 2,500 miles and riding 2 days on a CBR600RR and a CBR929RR would make riding the last thing you want to do after slabbing it for 2 days. We'd have to change tires before and after the trip. What we did as stupid 20 somethings was work until Friday at 5 PM, jump in the car pulling the bikes on the trailer, drive all night to get there, switching back and forth driving every few hours, get there at 5 AM (we lived in Wisconsin at the time so it was almost exactly 12 hours between Milwaukee and Maryville), ride all day Saturday and Sunday, do the same thing getting back and go back to work Monday morning. We were dumb. It's also freaking flat until almost Tennessee so 10 out of 12 hours is boring. Nowadays is different, but the sentiment is still the same: I'd rather relax and enjoy the drive and be ready to go when getting there. Also, if you do have a mechanical, flat tire, small get off, whatever, you can just drive home. When I go with my wife we take 3 days to get to the house we rent, play around for 10 days and take 2 to get home, and pull my Kenden behind my Jeep. When I go with the guys I have a 6x14 enclosed trailer I can haul 4 sportbikes and all the gear in behind the truck.

YCRS is awesome, one day I will do it. A member of my Ducati page is a teacher there. I've done numerous track days, but this is just a different place altogether. I would ride it first before buying a bike specially for there. Your Tracer will work great, and you'll have a blast on it, just see what you feel after a trip. My guess is once you go you'll want to go back; the guy who went on the trip last fall with the Sprint bought it for there and now wants a Daytona 675 instead. He's hooked, lol!!! I go at least twice a year now.

You have gotten some great advice so far and I really agree with all of it for the most part, I will differ on a few minor things. I've been going down there at least once a year since 2001 or 2002 when we discovered my good friends in-laws lived right off of 129 in Maryville. My friend and I trailered bikes down there to go riding the next trip after him helping them initially move, I had read about the Dragon in a magazine and said we should go down to try it and the rest is history. I could write a book on the fun we've had, but I will try to keep this shorter than that, lol!!! Try to I personally feel the "perfect" bike for the area would be a lightweight to middleweight 4cyl or a twin since the roads are tight and twisty with turns coming fast and furious so light weight and instant throttle are key to going at a quick pace. Having said that, ANY bike works great, and the Yamaha triple shines down there. But in my rides over the years we've had everything from an FZR400, to an ST1300, to an FZ1, a Ducati 996, Superhawk, GSXR750, pretty much every generation and model of CBR from 600s to 929 to 954 to 1000RR, my Ducati Supersport and last years group was my Tracer GT, my dad's XSR900, a CBR600RR and a first timer on an older Triumph Sprint ST. There are far more I didn't list, a couple years ago was 600RR, ST1300, 600F4i, Supersport S and a WR250R.....just saying anything works The locals will generally ride supermotos, 600's or dual sports from my experience if that means anything. Unless you've ridden a racetrack, in the mountains or in the canyons on the west coast nothing will prepare you for the roads down there: smooth, twisty, tight, lots of bikes going all sorts of speeds. Locals are flying faster than you think is possible because you once considered yourself a good rider until you see them go so effortlessly, slow Harley groups taking up entire lanes with their weaving and inability to corner, adventure riders, supermotos, etc. Just keep your head on your own ride and don't let others affect you. I am not kidding about the roads, you cannot fathom how good they are all over the place but YOU need to ride YOUR own ride. It's very easy to get caught up in following someone and get way above your head fast. Anyway, here is what we did last year since the "new guy" had never been there before: first day was taking him on some area roads, we did 28 South going from where we stayed in Bryson City to Highlands. We then cut back north and meandered around a bit to get him used to the way thing can go and called it a day after several hours of riding the curves. He said when we did the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway and the Foothills Parkway the next day he was VERY happy we did it that way, it got him used to what was to come. The Dragon is another thing all together. Its VERY tight, technical and the curves never end. You don't realize how long 11 miles and 318 curves can be until you ride it and there are very few stretches to get a "release" of the curves. It is mentally and physically challenging so just take it at a safe pace, don't let it sneakily get you because it can and will so use the multiple pull off's to rest and let other riders go around you. Once you get through it a few times, then look to increase the pace a bit. If you get tired, stop and rest, that is the #1 cause of wrecks on the Dragon and in the mountains. Over the years and many trips there have been a few wrecks, ALL were riding over their comfort, or fatigue related (lets make 1 more run and be done kinda thing). The Tracer will be a blast, I run it in second gear the entire Dragon and let the engine do the speed regulation; I do the same thing on my Ducati, the sportbikes over the years and really anything but a small cc bike will be fine in the one gear. Traffic reports are a bit overblown unless you are trying to make speed, but early morning and evenings are the best times as are weekdays. As far as LEOs, well, we've never had an issue on the Gap (there was a run-in years ago in a town outside of it but that's a story for another day) as long as we were reasonable. A few years back we were chatting with the motor officers up there and they said flat out if you are riding controlled and not ridiculous they will let you be; they have bigger fish to fry with the boy racers, toy cars, and the cruisers scraping all over and drinking while riding. The speed limit I think is down to 25 now (it was 55 or 45 when I started going way back when) and as long as you are reasonable and controlled you'll be fine. The first few times you will honestly find 30mph somewhat difficult to maintain. STAY IN YOUR LANE!!! Other mentioned it and I agree, the other roads around the area are just as good, if not better, there is more to see and while challenging they are not as outright fatiguing as the Gap but you should ride it at least once to experience something like no other. Someone earlier linked the America Rides Maps: They. Are. The. Best. Thing. out there for getting to know the area and the roads. You can easily get lost and end up in places that the GPS tells you are a road but trust me, they aren't. That's where the maps shine. Last advice: Remember, especially if you ride down to get there, you need to be able to ride your bike or be able to drive back. My dad was being dumb in 2016 and totaled his '06 FZ1 on a corner at the end of day 1 on a 4 day trip we were doing down there. He was airlifted from where he wrecked just outside of Highlands, NC to Greenville, SC with a few broken ribs, a broken wrist and major internal bruising. So instead of a fun trip, my friend and I had to ride 2 hours to meet him at the hospital, spend the night there, ride 5 hours BACK to Maryville to pick up the trailer, load up drive that rig 5 hours to Highlands to get his wrecked bike, then drive the 2 hours to Greenville to pick him up. All because he was being a smartass at 68 years old and thought he'd pass us going into a tight corner and overshot it. There are no shortcuts to get to these big cities, the interstates are almost as curvy as the backroads. Hope this helps!!!

Welcome!!!

The other plus to sending in to a an authorized service center, or the NC headquarters, is if there is a valving update they will do it during the service, usually at no charge. I bought a used Ohlins shock for a CBR1000RR I once had, sent it in to be rebuilt and resprung for my weight and they updated the valving to current specs at no charge. They did the same thing to the shock I had on my CBR650F.

Welcome!!!

Welcome!!!

Not sure if you’ve seen this thread or not but a couple of us have picked them up recently from venders all over, one may be willing to ship to you or if you know someone in the US that can help……

Remove the resistors and replace the flasher with an LED capable solid state unit. I think 4 resisters may be too many but it’s hard to tell. Replacing the flasher relay is a guaranteed fix.

I used to be all about the miles in my younger, single days where 15,000 or more per year was not uncommon while living in Wisconsin where you loose 4 or 5 months due to winter. But as time has gone on, I’ve gotten married, have other hobbies and work is brutal my miles have dropped off with only minimal commuting because my main work location is starting to become an unsafe place to park anything valuable. Now I’m in the 3,000-4,000 a year range spread across several bikes. The way I look at it, however, is now the smiles per mile is a much higher ratio because while I don’t ride as much, when I do ride it’s better quality. Most of the time I’m either taking trips to the Smoky’s or riding two up with my wife who also loves to ride. A lot of times were just puttering around with her on her Metropolitan scooter and me on my Monkey or Navi, grabbing dinner or hitting the neighborhood. Might only be 5 or 6 miles but it’s sometimes better than a day in the saddle But I have made a few changes over this last summer where I go for a ride by myself at least once a weekend and bought the Tracer in hopes that traveling becomes easier and more comfortable which it absolutely has. I’m hoping to get back to a 6,000 -7,500 miles per season which I think is the sweet spot. Thing is, though, I bought a Jeep Wrangler at the end of ‘21 and with the top down I can carry a lot more and still get the open air feeling so who knows??? I used to see a lack of miles as something I’d look down on someone for but I get it now.

Interesting to read all the love for pinlock shields. I think they are good, but my glasses fog up way easier with them installed than without so I have to crack the shield anyway and as much as they are wide I still see quite a bit of it in my field of vision. It’s better than nothing, but not the earth shattering change they’ve been presented as. Having said that all my helmets have the Pinlock on every shield. As far as the Transitions lens, that too wasn’t worth the added cost to both my old Bell and my RF1200 in my opinion. It acts quickly, that I like, only having to have 1 shield is also great, but it just doesn’t get all that dark so in bright sunlight my eyes still get fatigued. I always have a tank bag so the clear shield has a place for it to live, they are only like $50 and not $200 like the transitions is and changing it takes under a minute. To each their own, though. I personally wouldn’t but the Transitions again.

Yup, I have a friend on another forum who lives in CA and bought a nearly brand new ‘12 CBR600RR a few years back on FL and tried to bring it into the state. He told me that not only is it not able to be currently registered in CA, they’ve flagged it to ever be able to again. I’m not sure how that works, if it’s true or is even legal to do but I had suggested he buy a used cluster with over 7500 miles on it, register the bike then put his old one back on and he said even that won’t work on his bike because it’s been flagged.

Pipe arrived yesterday while I was out of town for work. Can’t wait for spring

I'm a huge Akra fanboy because I feel like they are one of the few manufacturers that actually deliver on their price points, but Yosh has always been a close second in my experience. I see the Akra that maintains the center stand is closer to $1,200, though, and why I decided I wasn't going to do a pipe on this bike. That was until I saw the Yosh..... Mine shipped out to me today, should see it by next week

Love this!!!! I ride with my dad whenever I can, he started me just before my 4th birthday on a Z50 and I’ve loved it since. He’s 72, I’m 50 and we still have a blast. This is him and I in the Smoky’s this fall, him on his ‘21 XSR900, I was jumping on the Supersport to take a spin before everyone else showed up later that day.

I think this is true to a certain extent but like @kilo3 said it’s more of a cost thing. Grom’s, Navi’s and the other small “city” bike sell pretty well, and a lot are going to younger people looking for cheap transportation. Go to any big city and the BIRD style scooters are everywhere, being ridden at breakneck speeds, electric bikes are selling well; honestly I think the younger generation is more open to many things that us older people aren’t. I’m going to probably not get a lot of agreement for this but I think a lot of what is slowing the growth of motorcycling down can be attributed to the current riders. How many of us have told our kids motorcycles are dangerous because we rode crazy on our 80s and 90s sportbikes? How many of us ride like assholes, cutting in and out of traffic, wheelies, riding crazy fast, huge bright lights or being aggressive while we ride? How many of us throw the loudest ass pipe we can find and bang off the rev limiter all the time because we believe the “loud pipes saves lives” BS that gets spewed? Maybe not as many as a lot of other forums I visit but enough still do. If I didn’t ride I know my wife would still hate motorcycles because she grew up in HD heaven Milwaukee, WI with all the loud ass pipes everywhere, people riding bar to bar just being jerks. I introduced her to sportbikes, trips, traveling, riding controlled fast and she now loves it. How about some positive things we could do: how many of us see a youngster in the neighborhood who rides and invite them for a ride with you? How many help the younger riders with questions and not berate them for not knowing, being young or automatically dismissing them? How about inviting them over to work on their bike a bit? Theres a lot of reasons the 2 wheeled lifestyle is getting smaller. But we don’t always help ourselves stop it.

Well, Yamaha now has 6 in stock, lol!!! I as well had planned on leaving the bike stock but after seeing this pipe and watching a video where someone did the swap I decided to bite the bullet and order one. I dug around over the weekend and found this site had them listed, and was the only place it seemed I could order it from, none of the "normal" parts sources had them: https://www.yamahasportsplaza.com/oemcatalogs/p/all/yamaha_motorcycle_accessories-performance/5d28a52a87a8661224cf6e07/yoshimura-tracer-900-y-series-full-exhaust-system Order placed, called Yamaha Sports Plaza this AM and confirmed it's a good order, on it's way to them and Yamaha now only has 6 left. I won't install until summer since everything is tucked away for the winter, but looking forward to it.

If you want to. But the centerstand tricks as posted above cost you nothing. PitBull stands are absolutely worth their weight in gold in the long run. My PB rear stand currently lives with my dad because right now I have SSSA bikes or the Tracer with the centerstand so it just sat but I originally bought it in ‘00 when I bought my Superhawk and it still is as strong and stable as the day I bought it. I have a couple cheap ones laying around I use for spares but PB is my go to stand every time.

The larger sport TOURERS are getting scarce but the SPORT touring segment seems to be doing OK: Tracer GT, Ducati Supersport, SuperDuke GT, GSXS1000GT, Ninja 1000, Honda NV1100 (in non-US markets, but still) to name a few..........

That’s what we’ve done with ours, though once I move it into a permanent “shop” I’ll bolt the base to the floor and use the hitch mount I got for it if I need to use it portable.

The bike has a one piece exhaust so finding a “cheaper” one is going to be tough unless you’re willing and able to cut your OEM pipe since you’ll have to replace the entire thing. You may want to search Delkevic and message them on their plans for a 21-22 pipe. Lots of people say they are decent quality, I’ve seen a few and they decent enough for the price. Here’s a link to the older models page so you can at least see what they would normally offer: https://delkevic.com/motorcycles/yamaha/2020-models/tracer-900/