ValleyRider

I have the Yamaha side cases and run a 50L Givi top box. I always ride solo. I weigh 210. Never had a problem in the last year and 10K miles. Just out of curiosity, I decided to run the bike without the side cases for a bit, and I honestly don't notice a difference. I'm a good rider in the sense that I don't crash, but not good enough to notice that bit of weight dropped off my bike, apparently! My only precaution is not to, you know, carry around bricks or anything. I grocery shop on my bike all the time. I keep the heavier stuff in the side cases. Same when touring--clothes go up top, roadside emergency kit and anything else with some weight, I try to keep in the side bags.

So glad yours is running strong at 54K! I understand there's one gentleman on the forums who's gone over 200K on his bike. I think mine is a keeper, too.

Hello all, new to the forum. Thought I'd give some feedback on life with my bike at 17K. I have a 2015 that I bought last year with 7500 miles. It goes in for a quick tune-up today at 17000 and change. My bike is mechanically stock but came with some nice goodies--frame sliders, luggage, Seat Concepts seat (which is OK, not great). I also installed Oxford heated grips. I'm six foot four--the tall touring shield that came on my bike caused buffeting and contributed to an unpleasant "loose" feeling in the front end above 75 MPH, lower if big trucks were nearby. The main cause of this was that the steering head bearings were a bit loose. Mechanic said they gave them "a quarter turn," whatever that means (I'm not mechanical), and the problem was fixed. But I also swapped out the shield for a CalSci tinted shorty, which is great. Fabulous customer service from those guys, too. I have had one minor issue after using this bike in all weather for a year. One time on a cold day, the heated gear stopped working after I turned the bike off. It was a blown fuse. Since then I've always turned off my grips and disconnected my heated jacket lead at least a minute or two before shutdown. Then I use the kill switch first, then turn the ignition key. Never had another problem. I've done all maintenance by the book or before schedule. Had an indy do the throttle body synch at 14K, when I was noticing things running a little rougher. After that, it still felt a little rough, with noticeable vibration in the grips, in a very specific rev range, right around 4K. My particular bike had always been very smooth. The mechanic went through it, did some research, and reports that it is normal wear and tear in the clutch basket. The bike shifts perfectly, and over the last 2K miles, I feel either I've gotten used to the vibes or they've calmed down. I hit 90mph plus here and there on the wide open stretches of my highway commute and corner with some spirit in the twisties, but I've never leaned it all the way over to the peg feelers. I weigh 210 and have a top box and factory sidecases. With all that, the tires were ready to be changed after about 7K. She's a runner. While I was chasing down the light front end/headshake issue, I sprang for a Stoltec Moto fork cartridge kit. Stoltec's customer service is top notch. It changed the bike COMPLETELY. So much more fun and easy to ride, so much better behaved in the turns. I had never upgraded front suspension on my 6 other street bikes over the years, though I've bummed plenty of rides from friends who have decent kit--Triumph Speed Triple and various BMWs stand out as having had good suspension in my memory. With this fork kit, for the casual riding I do, the Yamaha more than holds its own. Like my previous Yamaha (MT07, great bike), this thing has been bulletproof, relatively cheap to maintain, and an outstanding value. It's good at everything. It's tiring after 5 or 6 hours, much more noticeable if I need some highway time in there. For those longer trips, I want to add a real sport tourer to the garage, but can't afford two bikes at the moment. Well, I could, but I don't love the used options in my price range. I find the FJR cramped in the legs with too much forward lean to the bars, and I test rode it and found the engine far less fun than the CP3. It was also top heavy, though it was a non-issue once she was rolling and I found the handling lovely. The Kawasaki Concours seems like it may be too heavy, and after stupidly taking some test rides at Max BMW, I found that what I really want is a BMW RT. I definitely cannot afford the maintenance on those beasts. My independent mechanic billed for 5 hours of labor for the last service, which included changing both tires and the throttle body synch. Does that labor figure seem high to anyone? With a set of Michelins and the sales tax, that service ran me 1400 bucks, which hurt. I hope it's just oil changes and the like from now until the big 26K service, when the valves will get checked and I'll need tires again. Cheers to all for a great fall riding season. If any of you are in Western New England and want to ride sometime, hit me up! -Jeremy