keithu

My list: Alps in Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. Slovenia and Croatia. Alaska, BC, and Yukon. Sognefjord in Norway.

Welcome! The only thing better than two bikes in the garage is three bikes.

I wonder what the front emergency lights are attached to. There isn't much substantial in the area shown.

Congratulations on your recovery!

Yep, 3.25 gallons of aux fuel. I set the bike up for a six day endurance rally which was sadly cancelled this year. But it also comes in handy in eastern Oregon where the roads are incredible but gas stations are few and far between.

Perfectly normal, and there are many contributing factors. Source: Fuel Economy in Cold Weather Cold weather can reduce your fuel economy. Our tips can help...

Yeah, the last straw on my Interceptor was the discovery of chocolate cams during a valve adjustment. Alas that was just one of multiple problems I had with that thing. 😖 But like I said, that was a long, long time ago. The CB1100X is definitely one I'd consider to replace the FJ-09.

I also had a pretty terrible experience with a BMW ('85 K100RS), but I'm not opposed to owning another Beemer at some point. Prior to this FJ-09 my most reliable motorcycle was a Triumph.

Correct. An extension isn't absolutely needed with a deep well socket, per se, but I would use one anyway to make the socket and plug easier to hand-loosen once the bolt is cracked loose. Since this is the old style drain plug that points straight down, yes, I assume most of the oil will just go straight down into the catch pan. There's no reason it should shoot out in an arc like it would with a side facing drain plug as found on the 2016+ FJ-09/Tracer and most cars. The oil filter is another matter. It will make a mess, no way around that. I might be able to fashion a makeshift funnel for the oil filter out of aluminum foil, but I'm sure that won't work perfectly. No big deal, it's pretty easy to reach inside the skid plate so I should be able to clean most of it up. Good point, I hadn't thought of that. But that's one of the reasons I wear nitrile gloves during oil changes. Some trivia: After owning a Triumph TT600 years ago I realized that it could be possible to do oil changes without removing bodywork and other obstructions. Triumph designed a couple of little cutouts into the TT600 fairing to facilitate oil changes. You couldn't see them unless you were laying on the ground, but it was possible to change the oil and filter on that fully-faired sportbike without removing a single fairing panel. The drain plug was accessed through a little hole in the fairing about the same size as the hole I drilled in my SW Motech skid plate. It was one of several ingenious, maintenance-friendly features of that bike.

I finally installed a sump guard. I ordered the SW Motech guard. I don't relish the idea of removing this thing every time I do an oil change, and since I still have the old-style oil pan with the bottom-mounted drain plug it was easy to modify the SW Motech piece. I mounted the guard temporarily to mark the oil plug location, and then drilled a small pilot hole in the pan. After refitting I found I was off by 5mm, so I repositioned the guard on the drill press and used a Unibit to drill a 1 1/8" (29mm) hole. It lines up perfectly and I should be able to do oil changes with the guard in place.

I fully acknowledge that my experiences are unusual. My last Honda motorcycle was a 700 Interceptor that was a massive POS, but that was almost 30 years ago. My wife also once had the world's most unreliable Honda Accord. 25 years later and she still breathes fire if anyone utters the accursed "Honda" name in her presence. She wasn't pleased when I bought a Honda-engined lawn mower a few years ago, but it has been excellent thus far. In fact the lawn mower helped me get over my longstanding grudge. I was seriously interested in the Africa Twin Adventure DCT until I started researching it. These AT fuel tank/fuel pump issues seem to be pretty widespread and Honda isn't doing much about it. I keep reading about people losing months of riding waiting for replacement parts from Honda and thinking, "If I want that experience I'll just buy a KTM."

It would definitely go on my list of possible FJ-09 replacements, whenever I get around to that. Right now the Tracer 9 GT is at the top of that list, followed by the S1000XR. The CB1100X concept is very promising. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of trust in the Honda brand, so I wouldn't even consider this bike until the '23 or '24 model. I know for many folks the Honda brand is synonymous with quality, but do a quick search on, "Africa Twin fuel tank problems." They seem to have a serious, ongoing quality problem with that bike that they won't acknowledge. My personal experience with Honda motorcycles has been pretty dismal, albeit that was all a long time ago.

Only if he was castrated as a result of the crash.

You should stick to premium since that's what the Tracer calls for. It will run on regular - I've had to do it a few times in rural areas where 87 octane was the only thing available - but since there isn't a knock sensor it probably isn't safe to run regular, er, regularly. I was referring to E10 premium (10% ethanol) vs. E0 premium (ethanol free). In some areas (maybe where you live) they don't even sell E10 premium, all premium is E0. But in other areas everything is E10, even premium.

That is remarkable. The only times I've ever gotten even close to 50mpg was when I was puttering around at 45-60mph and going easy on the throttle. But I'm 6'3", weigh 250lbs, I run a large windshield and I always have my saddlebags mounted. I'm sure my fat ass and un-aerodynamic accessories are to blame. I don't think ethanol vs. non-ethanol fuel makes much of a difference. I usually run E10 here in the PNW because that's usually the only thing available. But I burned a lot of non-ethanol fuel this summer in Montana, the Dakotas, and Minnesota. If the clear gas yielded better fuel economy, it wasn't enough for me to notice. I seem to get the same crappy MPGs regardless of fuel type.

My typical economy is also in the 40-43mpg (US) range. I have a large windscreen (26" Madstad) so yeah any speeds above 70mph really kill the mileage. I usually look for a gas station around 270-300 miles. Of course I'm cheating with a 3.25 gallon aux fuel cell on the back:

Congrats! Impressive miles. I've had mine for 5.5 years and have only racked up 36k miles. 50-60% business travel cuts into my riding time. I'm still on the original battery too, if that gives you any hope.

Slight thread hijack: I was in the Navy for eight years and the only really good cruise I got to do was around Cape Horn. I sailed on the USS Abraham Lincoln's maiden voyage from Norfolk to North Island in 1990. I had a flight deck watch the night we rounded Cape Horn; with a steady 60+ knot wind it was like standing on the roof of a car driving down the freeway. My buddy and I felt it was best to not go anywhere near the fantail. Good times. 😎 I did a shorter cruise on Nimitz from Bremerton to North Island. We sailed out of Puget Sound on a summer Saturday evening, and people out BBQing in their yards would variously wave or moon us.

Like any good cheese this one has gotten stinkier with age.

My wife and I are watching the 1980 film Flash Gordon and I think I found the inspiration for the new Tracer 9 instrument panel:

The UK still uses miles for speed and distance measurement.

I see you paid a visit to my summer cottage. Thanks for checking in on it, and I'm glad to see the grounds crew are keeping things up. The political situation kept me away this year.

+1. The Darien will be comfortable year round in leftern Canada where you live. It's vented and there are a variety of heated and unheated liners that zip in. It's expensive up front, but you'll still be wearing it 15 years from now.

Well they're in the business of selling motorcycles, so yeah. I suspect the main reason Yamaha didn't offer cruise control on the original FJ-09 was so that people would have a reason to upgrade when they came out with the GT just a couple of years later. All the hardware was there except the control buttons, which they already had on the FJR and Super Tenere. It would have been trivial to add cruise control to the FJ-09's firmware. But some of these other new features, like the IMU and semi-active suspension cost time and money to develop, so it makes sense that these are offered later and result in a higher MSRP. The Tracer has been a wildly popular model for Yamaha, and there is direct competition from Kawasaki, Suzuki, Triumph, and BMW. BMW openly stated that the F900XR was aimed at the Tracer. Given this, Yamaha needed an update to maintain sales. Rapid development cycles like this used to be reserved for supersports, but now there seems to be an arms race among sport tourers. I won't complain about that. At $14.9k the Tracer 9GT isn't quite the bargain it used to be, but in terms of value for features it still compares favorably to its competition. The USA isn't getting the base Tracer, but maybe that leaves open the possibility that they'll finally bring the Tracer 700 here.

I didn't think they could do worse than the current key position, but I was wrong. I can definitely see myself dropping the key down into the voids inside the bodywork. Maybe BMW's keyless ride isn't such a bad idea after all.