wordsmith

Well put! I still believe that if our FJ/ MT-09 was a person it would be confused as to its identity!

Why do you find it odd? It depends on where you ride... short shifting is a common way to change gears in city traffic, whether it's a car or a bike... or would you rather ride 1st gear at 6,000 rpm between lights? I think the OP is looking to calm things down in 1 and 2 for urban use. I go into Mode B for that purpose - it's what it's there for, surely?

Great pix, fj29er! Thanks for sharing.

It's only about six miles to the other side. I would have gone for it on my YZ250... And may never have been seen alive again...

kerno - what reduction in rpm did you achieve with this mod? And any unwanted/ significant loss of acceleration?

That 'very pronounced engine whine' may well be an over-tight chain. Common wisdom here is to ignore the factory spec, which is far too tight, and give about 25-30mm (a touch over an inch) of drive chain slack as pictured on page 7-23 of the Owner's Manual. It gives an immediate and considerable reduction in 'whine'. And wear decent ear-plugs!

Did you get the 'roo's insurance details, kimmie?

Great to know... big thanks for flagging this, and a big heads-up to anyone with the gadget on their bike. Added a note in the APS thread.What is the APS pls? LATER - did a quick search and found some info - thks.

A further update on this topic: I think the pic below of a filthy rear hugger (on my BMW R1200 R Classic) shows clearly the benefits of a decent rear hugger, especially for those who may often ride through wet, dirty, salted, icy, or muddy roads (not me, touch wood!) The white grime on the bike was from road-works that I’d had to traverse in Tasmania – it may have been cement dust or some such stuff put down on the road, but whatever it was, it made a real mess! But note that the underside of the rear sub-frame is relatively unspattered! Anyway, I have bitten the bullet on a black plastic DIY rear hugger, although it’s not specifically designed for our bike. I’ll have to modify it somewhat (if possible), and work out a means of secure attachment, probably onto the embryonic OE hugger. But at a cost of a mere AUD$14 plus AUD$4 postage from China, what have I got to lose when considering that the PUIG hugger shown here on my BMW costs an eye-watering GBP£179 (USD$231 or AUD$291)? Add about 50% for a carbon-fibre job… For me, the visual impact on that empty space above the rear tyre is probably more worthwhile than any real function, but why not. (below) - the PUIG rear hugger installed. Note the coverage given to the rear tyre. (below) - after the road-works crossing. I was cross too!

Made up a small rear hugger extender from a bit of scrap aluminium plate, secured to the underside of the hugger with some thick construction adhesive, lightly clamped while curing. It only adds about 11cm (4.5”) to the length and probably is of little benefit, but spray-painted matte black it looks OK. To fit the extension piece I first removed the hugger, which is secured by three hex-head screws in aluminium bushes, and that made the task quite a bit easier. I’m still looking for an inexpensive plastic mudguard (possibly from a trail bike) that I can adapt to give more cover to the rear tyre, but meantime this will do, as I haven't yet seen a decent aftermarket rear hugger that I like. (below - lightly clamped-up while adhesive cures) (below - fitted on the bike)

All’s well that ends well. The Australian vendor from whom I bought the unsatisfactory (for me - YMMV) Seat Concepts Sport Touring seat kit has now, after much friendly banter and argy-bargy, offered to swap it for a SC ‘standard’ seat kit. I had one of the SC ‘standard’ seats on my previous Tracer, and while not perfect it was better – what isn’t! – than the rock-hard stock OE perch. So kudos to Richie, owner-manager of AdventureMoto, located in Dural, NSW – 02 9651 3355. No kudos to Seat Concepts, the manufacturer, who just didn’t want to know. I have now (August 24th) concluded my dealing with AdventureMoto. They sent me a new Seat Concepts 'original' or 'standard' kit (SKU 42-1309) being their earlier replacement for Yamaha's OE torture device. I'd had this kit on my earlier Tracer and found it OK - not brilliant, but OK. Of course, quite reasonably I had hoped that the later Touring version would be a further improvement, but in fact it was a step or two backwards, being little if any improvement over the stock OE seat, merely extending the pain onset from one hour to about two. The Touring kit (SKU 42-1310) - incidentally still mis-labelled as for the FJR - has been returned to AdvMoto. When time comes to sell the Tracer I'll probably re-fit the SC seats and sell the on-its-way BAGSTER unit so as to recoup some of the $550 or so cost. Now that the dust and fury has settled, I must say that this was a pretty fair compromise from the vendor. About the makers, less said the better.

Now, chaps, keep it clean!

There's not much, if any, 'bling' on my bike, so I had no qualms about adding a discreet copper-gold pinstripe tape to the fore-and-aft crease just below the tank. It picks-up the gold-coloured front fork, and the gold chrome Tracer decal and similar copper-gold pinstripe on my painted pannier lids. All just giving a minor but tasteful visual 'lift' I think to the rather sombre dark colours there.

It says a lot, doesn't it, that this (highlighted) should be regarded as exceptional and worthy of comment, irrespective of who the vendor may be!

Try fitting Grip Puppies, as many here do.... but be sure they are the original and real GPs, not some skinny useless lookalikes...

People with this attitude towards customers are sowing the seeds of their own destruction. I spent a lifetime in retailing and understand how hard it is for any business to win customers, and how easy it is to lose them to a competitor with similar product but a more enlightened attitude towards those who wish to spend money with them. In your case, betoney, one has to ask what the cost would have been to SC if they had accepted the fault and dealt with it on a no-cost basis. Pennies only, instead they suffer reputational damage.

That's good for you, betoney. Regrettably it just doesn't work for me. I'm still working on a resolution from the Oz vendor-distributor and/ or Seat Concepts, but the deathly silence is not encouraging. Might be $275 down the drain. Consecutive 400mi (640km) days are getting up there a bit and my upcoming ~4500km trip will see the longest single day at 614km. That'll be enough! All’s well that ends well. The Australian vendor from whom I bought the unsatisfactory (for me - YMMV) Seat Concepts Sport Touring seat kit has now, after much friendly banter and argy-bargy, offered to swap it for a SC ‘standard’ seat kit. I had one of the SC ‘standard’ seats on my previous Tracer, and while not perfect it was better – what isn’t! – than the rock-hard stock OE perch. So kudos to Richie, owner-manager of AdventureMoto, located in Dural, NSW – 02 9651 3355. No kudos to Seat Concepts, the manufacturer, who just didn’t want to know.

Great thinking - cannot afford to waste that stale gas!

My last BMW R1200 R LC Roadster came without handguards, and while I don't really need them in this benign climate I kind-of missed them, for my previous GS had 'guards. So I bought a pair of cheap (AUD$14) universal trail-bike 'guards from E Bay, tweaked them just a bit to fit, sprayed 'em matte black - et violin, almost OE. Pix show the complete $14 kit as delivered, and the finished job on the Roadster.

I wish I understood a word of this!

Pic looks fine to me!

I know - there has been a lot of chat about this not too long ago when I put a query here about options 8-| . But some are reputed to be useless, and/ or not available here in Oz, and/or very exxie. And anyway I like my behemoth!

I obviously pack too much. How do you guys do it??? The trick is this - lay out on your bed everything you plan to take. Then discard half of it, and start again. Less is more, much, much more! (And my 21kg would be a lot less but for the fact that I'm carrying with me a foot-pump weighing about 2kg, given one of the primitive and extremely remote roads I'll be travelling, far from any call for help)! Best for August 2nd, kimmie - ooooh, only one more sleep!

Sorry, poor attempt at humour. I misread trial-pack as in "trial packet" of something like chocolate, or cheese, or something vaguely analogous to the lure of touring. This winter-time heat is getting to you, Robert!

Que?