daboo

Now I need to stop by your place. When I replaced my BMW F800GT, I ended up with a BMW F900XR. (I liked the looks better than the new Tracer.) It'd be interesting to set your bike up next to mine and just see how they compare. I'm glad you got the helmet. It was an excellent deal. Chris

SW-Motech Trax 37 liter aluminum side cases (both left and right). Color: Silver. Used, but still in great condition. Top opening...which means you can open them to get your rain gear and not spill everything else out on the wet pavement. Plus, they can be stuffed, and stuffed and stuffed with all your gear...or your Costco purchases. These are the cases only. You'll need to get the mounting hardware for your specific bike. Asking $346 for both cases, plus shipping. One new case on Amazon is $444...and you still need to buy the other side. I had planned to use these on my F900XR, but SW Motech doesn't sell the bike-specific mounting hardware. Chris

Sorry for not answering your posts. I didn't get a notification, so didn't know you'd asked some questions. Yes, it is an intermediate oval. @2and3cylinders, it fits fine other than being loose. I bought the L and it fits me fine. On the L, the chin bar is a little close, but not a problem. I should've known I'd have a problem fitting an XL, since this is the only helmet that I've owned that was an XL. I love the AGV Sportmodular. It brings a smile to my face everytime I pick it up. It's that light. A great review on the AGV Sportmodular can be found here: I want to move the helmet. I paid over $600 for it originally, and have lowered the price to $299, plus shipping. Chris

I look at things similar to you. First, the gen 1 Tracer was the greatest bike ever made according to the magazine reviewers. Then when the Gen 2 Tracer came out, the earlier model was okay...but the new model is the greatest bike ever made. And now that the Gen 3 Tracer has come out, what was once the greatest bike ever made...is not nearly so good. The Marketing folks get paid to make us feel like we absolutely need that latest and greatest model, when the old model wasn't bad at all. I look at how much the new bike will cost, and since it does the same purpose as the old bike does...how much improvement will I get? And how much will that cost me? Like you found, there's very little improvement...but a tremendous amount of cost. And nothing against the owners of the latest generation of Tracers, but the Gen 2 models were beautiful bikes. In order to compare apples to apples, you have to ask what is the old bike's cost. The Retail value of the old bike may have made it a €4500 difference in cost, but it sounds like they gave you the Trade-In value, which was €3500 less. Finally, back to the OP, if you only had 6000 km on the bike...it's still new. You haven't even hit your second oil change yet. Chris

When I had my BMW F800GT, the first owner had installed Clearwater Darla's on it. IMO, they were a waste of money. The light was definitely bright, but because of the spread or light spray from them, I ran the lights dimmed most of the time. When I traded it in and bought the BMW F900 XR, I knew from previous bikes that some of the inexpensive lights on Amazon were just as good and about 20X less expensive. The first lights I bought for the XR are the COLIGHT 100W Motorcycle Fog Lights 3,0000 LM Amber White lights. Funky name, but you get used to it on Amazon. Bottom line is these have a yellow fog light and white spot light. The yellow light is a true fog light. Broad wide beam with a sharp cutoff. Bright. The white spot light is extremely tight and the beam is a rectangular pattern. It is tight enough that you can use it in traffic. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BBFLR8CB?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 This isn't a "photoshopped" make believe picture. My mouth dropped when I saw this with my own lights. I ended up buying a second set of lights. Why? Because I made a mistake on hooking these lights up. There's a blue wire that supposedly cuts off power to the lights when you turn the bike off. I didn't hook it up since I just wanted to make sure both lights actually worked. So I thought I had a defective set of lights. I tried to return them to Amazon and they said keep the lights and they'd give me a refund. I tried three times to send them back, but the Amazon customer rep wouldn't go for it. I figured I'd play with them later and see if I could get them to work. It turned out to be my fault and if I'd hooked up the blue wire, they would've worked on the first try. So in the meantime, I still wanted aux lights. My primary purpose was for conspicuity, so I didn't care about turning the night into day, just to be seen. I bought these and liked them a lot. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CD1HH2XG?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details Great lights, but they are like the Clearwater Darlas...they aren't a tight focused beam and the light "spray" can be bothersome unless you use the second switch position which is slightly dimmer. Both sets of lights were mounted to crash bars. I was looking for the triangular effect. Between the two sets of lights, if cost is not a problem, I'd go for the COLIGHT. I see prices have gone up since buying them prior to Christmas. The COLIGHT was $99, and the second set were $39. Either way, they are still a deal. My XR has LED lighting and the low beam is a wide flat beam. The COLIGHT is aimed so the yellow fog light is just below the XR's low beam...and the white rectangular spot beam is right in the middle of the XR's low beam. I can run the yellow light all the time which is great for putting more light on the road and for conspicuity. If more light is wanted, I can just add in the white spot beam. And then when I hit the XR's high beam, I light up the area past the rest of the lighting. Chris

If you're married, hand it to your wife to undo. Chris

I just bought a F900 XR, so I've joined the chain gang. After looking at a lot of different oilers on the market, this is what I ended up buying. GIDIBII Motorcycle Chain Lubricator Oiler Auto Hand Control Motorbike Oil Cup Part (Black) It works on a very simple principle. Fill the cup with your favorite oil. Twist the cap a quarter turn every few hundred miles and your chain is oiled. No vacuum hoses, electrical connections or wind to complicate the issue. The jury is still out on how well it works, but so far I'm pleased. Chris

AGV Sport Modular Helmet, size XL. Glossy black. Near perfect condition. My mistake is your gain. I ordered an XL based on the sizing chart. I should've ordered a Large instead. Otherwise, I love the helmet. AGV has made probably the lightest modular helmet on the market. It weighs almost a full pound less than other premium helmets...Revzilla says it is 3.2 lbs. Full carbon, including the chin bar. Everything on this helmet is designed to minimize the weight. Even the chin strap D-rings are made of titanium. The visor comes off with the simplest tool-less design I've ever seen. Ventilation is superb. And it also comes with a Pinlock visor insert to keep the visor from fogging. I like it enough that I didn't hesitate to order another...but in the correct size. Asking $449. Edit - Lowered to $299. Chris

It's hard to capture what the scenery there is like. Imagine Mt. Shuksan right in your face. But what you're really seeing is all this...and Mt. Shuksan is still huge and magnificent in your view. Chris

It was a virtually perfect ride to Artist Point. Temperatures were about perfect. The ride started out in the mid-60s F. When I got to Artist Point, the temperature was in the mid to high-70s. Light breeze. Just enough breeze to make it the perfect temperature, even with a black t-shirt on. Traffic was almost nil. The few times there was someone in front of me, they turned off leaving a wide open road ahead of me. You really couldn't ask for better. There were a few clouds for the "artistic" side of things at Artist Point. Parking lot was almost full...and that on a Friday. No Forest Rangers, so didn't need to buy a Discovery Pass. They still had sand on the corners going that last couple miles. So it hasn't been swept or anything since they opened it. My pet-peeve the last several years, is the state still wants their Discovery Pass paid for...but they aren't doing anything for the money. And the views were great. Over by Picture Lake. Some jerk pulled over to give me a hard time for parking there. My reply was, "Sorry, I can see your lips moving, but I can't hear a thing you're saying." (It's true...once the earplugs are in and the helmet on, I can tell you're talking, but I can't make anything out unless you shout.) Finally after attempting it again, his wife got him to move along. It's a good thing we have wives. Artist Point is one of my favorite rides. It changes by the season, so in the early summer there are still pools of melting snow with the most beautiful blue you've ever seen. In the summer, it is like it is in the pictures. In the fall, the colours of autumn come out. Hwy 542 or the Mt Baker Highway is the way to get there. You can't get lost. Artist Point is the end of the road. The ride up Hwy 9 north has some nice full-speed sweepers to put a grin on your face. As you turn onto Hwy 542, the sweepers become more and more numerous. And tighter and tighter. If you get a moment to look down at your GPS, it looks like someone dropped a piece of spaghetti into a pile on your screen with all the twists and turns you see ahead of you. I paid more attention this time and there were two corners with a recommended speed of 10 mph. Yes, 10. And all around you are some glorious sights unfolding before your eyes. There are no guardrails that I can remember...so don't spend too much time looking around you. Once you get to Artist Point, there are two trails. Both are to the right as you enter the parking lot. One trail climbs about 25 ft and heads to views of Mt. Shuksan. There is a hiker in the middle of the picture to give you some perspective. The other trail has about the same elevation gain. Maybe 50 ft, and then you're walking along a fairly level trail towards Mt. Baker. Mt. Baker kept snagging the clouds as they went by, so the peak wasn't clear most of the time. But it was still awesome. If you look closely in the center of the picture, you'll see some hikers.

Just a few thoughts to add to some very good responses... First, would this adaptive radar send false alarms to my radar detector? Or my fellow rider's radar detectors? Not that I would ever exceed the speed limit...but just asking. Second, the competition really includes all the used bikes in this category. It's not just the 2023 and 2024 models it will compete against, but the slightly older bikes with few miles on them...that were the cream of the class that all the reviewers made it seem like they were perfection. If they were so good 1-3 years ago...are they trash now? Absolutely not...unless you're employed in Marketing for a motorcycle company. I'm riding on a 2014 bike with 96K on it, and if it died, the last thing I'd look at is a brand new bike. I'd probably get another...for about a third of what a new bike costs. I can buy a lot of farkles and gas for the difference. And really, I could care less about all the electronics. When Steve McQueen jumped the barbed wire fence on the motorcycle in The Great Escape, I doubt he had a "sport" setting. He just did it.

The marketing folks all want to convince you to part with your hard earned money so they have more money to buy whatever they want...which probably isn't a motorcycle. Whenever I get the urge to buy something new, I always look at what will I get that I didn't have? ...and what will that cost me? In my case, most of it is getting a cruise control. Do I care about a cruise control that much? Nah...not really. I use a $20 throttle lock that works exceedingly well. So what would it cost me for a new bike with cruise control. Hmmm...trade in value maybe at best of $5K on my current bike. New bike cost of probably $18K out the door with taxes, license, transportation, dealer prep...and whatever additional fees they can tack on. Hmmm...$20 vs $13K. Wow...that's a hard choice. And my current bike gives me a thrill when I walk in the garage and see it, or walk across the parking lot and look at it...or have people when I'm in a hurry come up to me and tell me how beautiful it is. $20 vs $13K...Hmm...I gotta think about this. Actually, not really. Chris Edit: Just read that your bike was stolen. It changes the picture a bit. Assuming you still want a bike...now what? The manufacturers all want you to believe their latest is the greatest. But isn't that what they were saying about the last model...and the model before that? I'm a firm believer in buying used. The first buyer payed all those ridiculous fees and depreciation. And now what was the latest and greatest...is now at a discount. I have almost 95K miles on my bike. It runs like new and is totally reliable. I bought it from a retired cardiologist who had more money to spend on farkles, and never used the bike for his dreams. Find that bike...and smile all the way to the bank.

I put on 14-15,000 miles a year on my BMW F800GT. Contrary to what Betoney wrote, we have good riding weather all year long. As a woman rider once wrote, if you don't ride in the rain, you don't ride in Seattle. Not exactly correct, but I've always remembered what she said. I'm a firm believer in the adage that there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear. In the summer like Betoney said, the Cascades and the passes are open for some fantastic riding. In the winter months, I head down to the coast to the beaches. There's lots of beaches to explore at the end of some low traveled twisty lowland roads. Chris

It took me probably 20,000 miles to activate the ABS on my first ABS-equipped bike. It was in a situation where I had no choice but to grab onto the brakes for all I was worth. Afterward, I thought about the chattering feeling and realized it was the ABS kicking in. Riding without all the aids, IMHO, makes you a better rider and gives you a better experience to enjoy. Even if you have the aids available, you should never put yourself in the situation of routinely using them. There's a feel good riders have of what their bike is doing and the traction the situation has. If you're using the rider aids "heavily", you're pushing the conditions to the limit with no buffer for the unexpected. And you won't have developed any "feel" on your own. One of the joys I get in riding, is the feeling of being one with the bike. Of feeling it respond to my thoughts. I don't want to be disconnected from the experience with anything getting between me and the situation. There's also a feeling of accomplishment knowing that it is my skills making this happen. If I'm using those rider aids routinely, it would be like alternately mashing on the throttle and mashing on the brakes. There's no skill involved in that case. It's all the bike, not the rider. Anyone can do that. Your question in the first post, brought up a funny thought in my mind. In about a year, someone will come on this thread saying they tried it and apologize for taking so long to respond. They'll add that they would've responded sooner, but they've been in the hospital till now. Chris

Hmmm...do you wear a helmet? Gloves? Shoes or flip-flops? It's all in the luck of the fall, right??? Don't need a helmet if you don't hit your head. And as long as you don't put your hands out in front of you as you fall, you don't need gloves...unless it is cold, of course. And who needs boots? Flip-flops are great at keeping the gravel from digging into the soles of your feet at stops. Just make sure to keep your feet from touching the ground as you slide, and all will be fine. We put on riding gear each time without questioning it. For some of us, we'll put on an air bag vest as well as part of our kit. I ride in deer-country all the time. I've seen deer standing on the side of the road...but how many did I not see? I'm convinced that when my time is up, the good Lord will take me from here...and that may or may not because a deer ran full speed out in front of me and I hit it. My first deployment of my Hit-Air airbag vest was at a traffic light. I was going to turn right at a busy intersection, as I gave it gas, a person walked out in front of me. My choice was to hit them, or hit the brake. Physics took care of the rest. As I lay there against the hard edge of the curb, I thought to myself that this doesn't hurt. Oh!...the airbag went off. I should've had a couple broken ribs. As it was, all that was damaged was my pride and ego. Riding jackets and pants have pads in the shoulders, elbows, knees and sometimes the back. That's helpful for those impact points. But we generally don't wear anything that'll protect the chest cavity, neck, shoulder blades or tailbone. IMO, the airbag vest helps to fill out the protection beyond what my riding jacket and pants can provide. I've worn mine in temps as high as 116F for hours at a time, and never thought once of taking it off, even under those extreme situations. Chris

About every six months, I check the prices of tires/tyres to see what changes are happening, and if I can discern any trends. With the supply chain broken, tires are the weakest link to any travel I'd like to do. I also like to watch for rebates. What I feel is an overpriced tire at the normal price, can be a bargain when a rebate is applied. Michelin has a $50 rebate currently till March 7th. On March 8th, the Michelin tires will move from the middle of the list to the bottom where the most expensive tires are sorted. FWIW, in the past, Dunlop had a rebate starting around April I think and lasting through the summer. Continental has a rebate in May/June. What will happen this year, is unknown. Tire prices below are for my BMW F800GT. 120/70-17 and 180/55-17. It is worthwhile to shop around. I included prices from two sources this time. Dennis Kirk and Revzilla. I used to think all the online tire prices were the same. Not true. I purchased my last tires from Dennis Kirk at a nice discount from the Revzilla price. My personal belief is that the tires on the chart above are very close in actual performance. The Owner Rating from Revzilla buyers is a reflection of what owners feel about the tire. The least expensive tires, seem to have a loyal following that like those tires. So buying a premium priced tire, doesn't necessarily mean you'll get any better performance. One "bargain" I'm seeing is the Metzeler Roadtec 01 SE from Dennis Kirk. The Revzilla price makes it a very pricey tire. The Dennis Kirk price makes it a very tempting opportunity to buy a tire that is supposedly far better than the older model. Chris

Batteries are "commodity" items. In other words, there's no rocket science involved here. Look for things like the CCA on the OEM battery and then find alternatives that have the same model number (YTX10S) and same capacity (CCA). I bought my last battery that way. When I found one that looked good, I then checked the customer ratings. If they have 10 customer reviews, they might be falsified. But if you're looking at hundreds and hundreds of ratings and virtually all are 4 or 5 star ratings, then you can pretty much be assured that the battery you get will also work just fine. I paid $48 for my last battery. Prices have gone up in the past year, but still, I'd buy from them again. BatteryMart.com has a YTZ10S for $85. Same specs it appeared as the OEM battery. Chris

I've been using Rotella T6 "temporarily" in my motorcycles for the last 180,000 or so miles. None of the bikes have used any oil. The last bike has over 80,000 on it, and runs like new. I think I'll stick with my non-motorcycle diesel truck oil. Chris

Just a thought regarding the evaporative cooling vests. Plan this out really really well before you leave home. On the road, is not when you want to find out your plan didn't work. I soak my vest in the motel room sink before leaving in the morning. I often just leave it in the sink overnight. It doesn't need that much time, but it's just my routine. I put the soaked cooling vest into a couple of gallon-sized ziplock bags. Be careful about where you put it. I've had mine leak once and my tools and an electronic jump start brick suffered. Don't wring it out when you put it in the bag, or put it on. Save some of that water. You may need it. If you have some extra water that you don't need for drinking, that would be good too. When I met those riders in an earlier post, I stopped at a rest stop. The water coming out of the drinking fountain was just the slightest trickle. It was worthless. So having it pre-soaked and ready to go is smart. On that same trip, I pulled into a Mom and Pop diner in a town that had a main street with an "L" turn halfway down. Tiny. It was about 1130, so I got some lunch. By the time I finished, the temps outside were scorching hot on their way towards 100F. In the middle of the restaurant they had set up several tables for a family gettogether. I went outside and got my cooling vest and its bag. This one teenage girl stood there watching me with eyes wide and mouth as I put on this dripping wet vest. She obviously thought I was nuts. All I was thinking was how sweet it was going to be as I rode away with my "air conditioning". Chris

@dazzler24 I wouldn't sweat the heat. Oh my gosh. That was a groaner. Even for a Dad joke. Chris

I've been wearing the Hit-Air MLV-YC for years now. While my "normal" temps aren't all that hot in Puget Sound, the temps when I'm touring definitely are. I actually find it helpful in extreme hot weather. David Hough wrote some great stories about riding in hot weather. One of the things that I picked up on was that at 93F (34C) the thyroid gland can't keep up with regulating your body heat. Mesh gear loses its effectiveness as the sweat on your body dries before it can provide any cooling effect. At 93F, he says to start closing off the air coming into your body. Not all of it, just enough to get the cooling effect off the air that's flowing through. The first summer after retiring, I was heading through Wyoming. Temps were up at 105F. I pulled into a rest stop where two other motorcyclists were at. They said their cooling vests under their mesh gear only lasted about 30 minutes in the heat. Mine lasted close to 3 hours. It was hot...but probably not as bad as it could've been. I've ridden for several days with temps in the triple digits. Last summer I was riding in 119F temps (in the shade). Was it pleasant? No. Definitely not. Did I ever consider taking the airbag vest off? No. And when this one wears out, I'll get another just like it. Chris

First, I'm glad you are okay. The sore back can be an issue in the long-term though. If the bike didn't ride straight, you probably do have a bent frame. At that point, I'd let them write it off and look for a "new" bike. It's an opportunity to move to one of the newer models. I hope you heal well and fast. Chris

I've left the suspension stock on my BMW F800GT. There's no adjustment to the front forks. On the rear, I can adjust the preload and compression rebound. I can switch between "Comfort", "Normal" and "Sport" for compression rebound. It's a suspension made to a price point. But when I rode with some extremely fast IMHO, riders who had almost double the horsepower of my lowly BMW...I kept up with them just fine in the twisties. Hmm... Then I've ridden a couple of the far more expensive BMWs with the Dynamic suspension. On the R1200RT, I liked the feel of my suspension more. On the R1200RS, I felt the suspension felt much rougher...but I didn't feel like I was riding any faster. In the end, I came away feeling like my el cheapo suspension wasn't so bad after all. Chris

On every bike I've bought, I've added reflective tape. I'm very concerned with being seen when the sky is gray, the roads are gray, the cars are gray and the waterspray kicked up is gray and makes it all blend in together. So what I do, is find some reflective tape on eBay or elsewhere. It'll come in various colours and widths. You can choose a contrasting colour or one that blends in with the bike's colour. A cool part of it, is when it is in the right light in the day time, it stands out like factory pin-striping. Chris

The Continental Road Attack 4 will be coming out in January. It remains to be seen what improvements they can make on an already excellent tire...and at what price they will charge for that improvement. I'm going to watch the tire prices, sales and rebates in the coming months. I may just pick up another set of these and store them in the garage. We don't think of tires making that much difference, but they do. The profile of the tire makes a big difference. How much effort do I need to do to make the bike take a line in a turn...or how much do I find they tip in so easily that I'm having to correct. I found these tires to just match my riding style perfectly. When I bought Dunlop RS4s last, I kept trying to figure out why they felt so harsh...and I'd come from a set of Conti RA3s. Chris