wordsmith

Installed the new [strong]Stebel Magnum horn[/strong] (AUD$28), a simple five-minute plug-and-play task using the original horn bracket, but I expect to have to relocate it when installing the on-its-way AdventureTech light-bar and front LEDs. I’ve had a Magnum on a number of other bikes, and while it’s not obnoxiously loud its attention-grabbing mini-Mack truck two-tone note does seem to cut-through to texting or dozing drivers, and I find it effective. It does need to be mounted correctly, with the horn pointing downwards, even if only slightly, so that water does not gather inside. I managed to drown an earlier Magnum when carelessly hosing the bike down, and all future editions have been covered tightly with a plastic bag when the bike is being washed. [em]W[/em] 2015 Matte Grey Tracer – now at 33km from new. [em]Stebel Magnum horn; 2” blind-spot auxiliary mirrors;[/em][em] [/em][em]http://i.imgur.com/sWxdLbC.jpg[/em][em]http://i.imgur.com/fPATrnK.jpg[/em]

exactly - the main stand on this bike has a good pivot action - just make sure both feet of the stand are on firm ground and then use your right foot to load the lever with your body weight. Thank you both. Trouble is - my body weight is feather-light (I'd kill to be a seven-stone weakling), and I foundin the past that pulling on the pillion handle just wants to move the bike forward rather than up! But the pvc tube works OK! [em]W[/em]

Suncoaster - PM sent, 5.28pm April 6th. [em]W[/em]

http://i.imgur.com/onUIhlj.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/ZFZgnws.jpg I’d like to avoid cutting the palm of my hand in half when hefting the bike onto its main stand, using the lhs pillion foot-peg bracket to assist the lifting process. I found some clear pvc tubing about half an inch in internal diameter (larger would have been OK too); cut a piece 4” long; slit it along one side; and slid it onto the inside rear surface of the upper footpeg support, securing it with a black zip-tie. Instant comfort when lifting! And I fitted a pair of 2” diameter ‘dead spot’ mirrors to the main mirrors to improve the breadth of field of rearward vision. Some M-Store mirror risers are on the way to complete this improvement. And - I managed to remove the tank sticker without ruining the paintwork underneath. Used a semi-blunt nylon decorator's spreader to prise and lift it off in narrow strips after soaking it with petrol. What a job! [em]W [/em] [em]2015 Matte Grey Tracer with 33km from new[/em]

[em]"Taken an unfortunate turn for the worse?"[/em] [strong] [em]Nah![/em][/strong] I went back to BMW (R1200 R). But I would not have returned to the Tracer - in a search again for lower, lighter, more 'flickable' and frankly more exhilarating performance - had I not enough confidence that I can now improve it in areas I found lacking before, given my and many others' experiences over the past twelve months. It's a great platform, but does need work, in my view. [em]w[/em]

Today I brought home my new MT-09 Tracer, my second. It’s almost exactly one year – on April 9th 2015 to be precise – since I took delivery of my first Tracer, which like this new one was the Matte Grey version, my preferred choice. In fact I’m told that this is the very last one of this colour available here in Australia, and I went to some trouble to finally source it. Nudging 77 as I am – in fact if I want to be precious I can say that I’m closer to 80 than 70! – this is undoubtedly going to be my last bike, so I’ve got to get it right. Possibly the most important thing I also brought home was a pretty good understanding of what I need to do to fettle the new bike to a degree that suits and satisfies me, based on my experiences with my first Tracer. With that bike I found early on that the suspension and seat were both harsh and uncompromising, and eventually managed to fix both to an acceptable if not perfect degree, though not without some cost for a new imported seat. The past twelve months have been full of new aftermarket products and many helpful ideas, tips, hints, and experiences posted on this Forum, all of which puts me streets ahead of where I was a year ago. I’ll have a couple of early long-ish day trips on hilly and winding country terrain that will be ideal to commence the running-in period for brakes, gearbox, engine. From that, I’ll also be able to see just what needs to be done, assuming that Yamaha hasn’t fixed both the suspension and seat shortcomings. It goes without saying, of course, that these are my personal experiences and views – as always YMMV! [em] One man’s seat is another man’s poison[/em], and so on. The short 27km ride home didn’t give rise to any surprises, nor any indications of improvement in these two areas, but it’s early days, of course. Last time, my dealer was able to improve the suspension to an acceptable – but not perfect – degree, so I’ll be having that discussion again. But I do find the Tracer ergonomics – very BMW GS-like, IMHO – suit me very well, and even the screen, which is a source of much unhappiness here, is OK for my needs. (For comparing different bikes, go to <cycle-ergo> - it’s an extremely useful tool). Other useful enhancements that I also had on the earlier bike will quickly follow, hopefully all practical and useful and with no bling, things like added hi-viz lighting front and rear: mirror risers: new audible horn: Grip Puppies: amber LED indicators: rubber-topped foot-pegs: small 2" diameter blind-spot mirrors: and a pair of adjustable levers. Here in Oz we are fortunate that new Tracers are delivered with very useful good quality hard panniers, about 20L each, so I’ll supplement those with a small 28L lookalike top-box. That should be it! Two things that definitely won’t need attention, of course, are the stonking engine performance and the excellent gearbox – it’s an exhilarating package! The new bike has cost me $15,300 ride-away with twelve months registration. I think I may have paid a bit over par for it, given that it’s a 2015 model with discontinued paint, but I don’t much care for the ‘16 colours, and especially the blue anodised fork – again, YMMV! Comprehensive insurance is $402. Stay tuned for further progress as I work through a list of things to be done. [em]Wordsmith [/em] Queensland, Australia [em]2015 Matte Grey Tracer now at 33 km from new. [/em]