betoney

Whats ridiculous is the manual recommending to check and replace the plugs so often. Completely unnecessary. I have never checked or inspected mine, only had them changed when the valves were adjusted at 23k and 44k on my FJ and at 25k and 50k on my previous FZ1, every time the mechanic said that the plugs looked great and did not recommend changing them any sooner. YMMV.

And this route across Washington is amazing! I would include the North Cascades Highway from Burlington to Omak as well, absolutely stunning ! Google Maps

If you have never been to Idaho, Highway 12 over Lolo Pass is essential - Lewiston to Missoula. Or if you are North of Spokane, - Sandpoint to Bonners Ferry to Kootenai Falls to Kalispell will bring you right outside Glacier National Park. Heading South from Spokane, Highway 95 through Grangeville all the way to Boise is very scenic. Out of Boise, Highway 21 through Lowman and Stanley is UNBELIEVABLE! If you have the time while you are in Montana, Beartooth Pass is well worth the trip from Butte. It is considered one of the top 10 rides in the country. We rode Beartooth Pass and then Chief Joseph Highway into Cody, Wy for lunch and then continued across the Bighorn Mountains in the afternoon. - Epic is the only word to describe that route.

Sounds good. I am currently recovering from an injury to my arm, hope to be back on the bike by Spring.

Agreed. On my trip through Utah/Colorado/Wyoming/Idaho this past September we encountered 100F+ in Moab, heavy hail and rain in the Colorado Rockies, torrential monsoon-level rain riding up through Flaming Gorge area into Wyoming and bitter cold freezing fog crossing the Sawtooth Range outside Stanley Idaho. Not being prepared could have definitely ruined the 10-day ride.

That is a sad sight to see. 😢

I went to a lot of home improvement stores looking for a light gauge mesh sheet and couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. I finally went to WalMart and bought a kitchen strainer and cut the pieces to fit and painted them bright silver. The side panels can be disassembled with replaceable star washers. 😎👍

I am not huge into bling or decorative (carbon fiber or anodized billet aluminum) pieces but I did add a few silver accent stripes just to make it a little unique and add some contrast.

You missed the entire point of my reasoning that I stated previously. If I am currently 3/4 through a set of tires and am leaving on a 3,000 mile road trip, I swap them out for fresh tires, what do I do with the tires that have 1,500 miles left on them? dispose of them. If I had a 2nd set of wheels then I could swap back to the previous wheels for the remaining 1,500 miles of tread life. An extra set of wheels doesnt take up much room, I already have a few sets of tires waiting, why not have them mounted and ready to go on a spare set of wheels?

That sounds AWESOME! Make the most out of the PNW's somewhat limited riding season. 👍

+1 175-185 is my normal, I have hit 200 or above only 3 times.

Out of curiosity, I tried this myself yesterday. Recent snows meant no road testing, just backed out of the garage a few feet with the air temp a few degrees above freezing. I started the bike and immediately set the grips to high, which for my settings was heat level 7 (I have mine set 3/5/7). I ran the bike for close to 10 minutes and the grips never got hot, just comfortably warm - no gloves or grip puppies, just bare hands on the grips. Normally, while riding, I occasionally use medium (lvl 5) with winter gloves and my hands get very warm and I never use the high setting. I'm not sure if there is an ECU setting that limits the heat output at idle or only changes at a certain operating rpm but my grips normally get much warmer than what I experienced while letting the bike idle.

If it wasn't so expensive, I would like to do the same thing. Many times I have used a set of tires to within the last 1,000-1,500 miles of their life and had an upcoming road trip coming in a week or so. Once I have swapped a tire, I don't want to swap an old tire back on just to use the last 1,000 miles of tread, it would be nice to simply swap wheels when the need comes, or have one set of wheels with sport tires and one set with S/T tires.

Motul full synthetic is between $17 and $22 per liter (7100 or 300v?) Changing it with only 2500 miles of use seems foolish to me, kind of expensive to throw it away for no reason.

Very nice, the bike is coming together piece by piece! Bring on the Spring weather! When removing the rotor mount bolts use heat and direct, even pressure. The threads have Loc-Tite and it could be easy to round out the head of the bolt.

@new1709rider - Thank you for getting these parts fixed so they work properly. That looks so much better than anything I could have attempted without the proper tools. 👍

A spacer. Something to wedge in the socket to keep the plug tight. When I used my 12v socket, I would have to wrap electrical tape around the plug to add width and push it in tight, by buddy also has a '15 FJ and would occasionally push a thin piece of cardboard between the plug and socket but it would eventually vibrate loose on both bikes no matter what we tried.

We ALL have our Homer moments. 😎👍

Great job fabricating the parts, very functional. 👍

That is what I was going to suggest. Keep us posted with your findings. Good luck. 👍

Did the issue start when you installed the cartridges or have you had the cartridges installed for awhile?

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Welcome. The FJ/ Tracer is a great bike as its big enough to feel comfortable on long road trips on the highways but small enough to be light and nimble in the twisty mountain and canyon roads. - I do a lot of both. The GT comes very well equipped from the factory, most of the personalization you might need to do will likely be comfort and ergonomics. I would highly recommend a radiator guard right away, the rest is all personal preference. I have wanted to venture down that way for years, specifically Gila National Forest and SE Arizona, the riding looks fantastic.

@dazzler24 - On page 2 of this thread he mentioned normal routine maintenance but needing to replace the fuel pump at 53,000 miles. At the rate that I ride (14-15k per year) it would take me about 15 years to achieve the same milestone as @olddawg. I would be thrilled if that is the only major issue.

Congratulations, that is quite an accomplishment. That averages to over 3,500 miles every single month, where do you ride to? I mean, are you still riding to new destinations every month?