betoney

For a quick test, prior to getting stuck in a rain storm you could wear them in the shower for 5 minutes to see if any water gets through underneath.

So very true. I was recently talking with an older guy, he and his wife were both in their 80's and using walkers to get around. He mentioned he used to own an older Goldwing, we got to talking about road trips and telling him about riding through Oregon, California, Utah and Colorado and he said his #1 regret was not traveling more on his bike before it was too late. He would take day-rides with his wife but never got out of the state on road trips, and now those opportunities are long past. Ride while you are able.

You can ride it like a dirtbike (where its impossible to put both feet on the ground due to the tall seat height) and slide your butt off to one side when you stop. One foot on the peg and the other on the ground, switch sides depending on which direction you are turning. After riding off-road for almost 50 years, its just habit that I never put both feet on the ground at the same time when stopped even though its completely possible with a 34" inseam.

Yes, I believe he moved about a year ago.

The 2015 is notorious for having a snatchy throttle, while you are snowed in is the perfect time to send the ECU in and get it flashed for smoother fueling. Both 2wheeldynoworks and Vcyclenut are right here in Washington and have same day turn around.

The pants that @BBB linked are very similar to the ones I suggested though mine were originally marketed for off road riding so the material might be heavier. For the price, the Oxford pants would be well worth trying out.

Glad you were able to make it back safely and without needing to call for a tow. It could have been a completely different story if you got stuck in Friday afternoon stop and go traffic.

It sounds like you are going in the right direction with a "sport" screen on order. I have tried different screens as well as a deflector but get the smoothest air with a shorter screen. Hopefully the sport screen works for you.

I have had a pair of MSR Pak Pants for decades that I keep in my side bags. They are a slip-on, slip-off over pant rain shell. Grab a pair if you can find them used as these specific ones are discontinued. If you shop for off-road motorcycle or hiking gear you might find something similar. I have been on a few road trips where the weather seemingly went from summer to winter and then back to summer again throughout the day, usually going over high elevation mountain passes. The over pants have wide leg openings with zipper and an elastic waistband, they easily slip on and off in no time when the weather suddenly changes.

Not sure if the snow will have melted in the higher elevations by the weekend but wishing you luck for some good riding. 👍🏻🍻

Side-by-side the profile of the X is very much like the FJ/Tracer, just larger in every dimension with an extra 400cc. I was looking for something like a Tracer/FJR hybrid, fun motor but a little more "mature" feeling in its delivery and more spacious cockpit with room to move around. Stable and planted for long highway runs yet still fun in the twisty mountains and canyons, a nice contrast to the small, agile, rowdy feel of the FJ. My side bags, tank bag and GPS just transfer between the bikes when needed.

The Shoei pads and liner are removable/ replaceable, I throw them in the wash once in awhile.

Thats the beauty of adjustable suspension, unless your damping is completely messed up or your clickers are maxed out with a high or low viscosity oil, you "should" be able to adjust your clickers to fine tune for general riding. Do you happen to have any motorcycle suspension shops within a few hours of your location? or a track that hosts track days? The track days will usually have a suspension tuner available that can give you a baseline adjustment for about $50.

Start off by figuring out how many clicks of rebound damping you have front and rear. Turning the adjuster clockwise closes the damping orifice and counter-clockwise opens the orifice. If for example you have 10 clicks between fully open to fully closed then 5 clicks from fully closed is your mid-point, start there and see how it feels. If its too "bouncy" or feels "wallowy" then ADD rebound damping - clockwise. If you are turned all the way clockwise and it still feels loose or bouncy you can try a higher viscosity oil and start over at your mid point. Higher viscosity oil will make your damping respond slower. Does the Niken have compression damping adjustment? if so then do the same as with the rebound, turn the clicker from fully closed to fully open and determine how many clicks of adjustment you have to work with and start at the mid-point as a reference and fine tune from there.

How are you liking your VFR -F? I have owned my VFR-X for a year now and am really enjoying the bike. I split my riding time between the FJ and the VFR, 9,000 miles so far and its been flawless.

Sounds like you are ready for the season. Any epic road trips coming up? I'm hoping to get back to Colorado this summer for one of my trips.

What others have done is take the side stand to a welding shop (or do it yourself if you have the equipment) and have them cut it in half. The side stand is hollow so a steel bar can be inserted inside and have them weld it back together 10-15mm longer, you don't want to take out too much of the lean. I am not aware of an adjustable length side stand available for this bike.

Ive been watching the weather, parts of S.D. county got snow... 😲 and there is a winter storm warning at higher elevations near Julian. Hopefully it clears up by the 1st and you can enjoy the riding. Snow in the San Diego Mountains Friday morning, the NWS measured the following snowfall totals: Mount Laguna: 22 inches Palomar Mountain: 15 inches Julian: 10 inches Warner Springs: 3 to 4 inches FWIW, I recently flew to Mesa, Arizona for a week and wanted to drive up to the mountains (Prescott/Jerome/Sedona/Flagstaff area) for sight-seeing and to scout a future road trip on my bike. The day we arrived and the day we left had nice weather, the rest of the time was rain, hail, dark grey skies and COLD wind, Flagstaff got about a foot of snow and highways in the area were closed due to icy conditions. Good Luck!

If you do a search, it has been discussed many, many times over the years that the manual is wrong concerning chain tension and some excessive torque specs.

Bell helmets offered this about 10 years ago, not sure if they still do it. Bell 3D Scan

Its not a matter of "toughness" as I have no problem with back-to-back 500+ mile days on my FJ with the custom built seat. I ended up "fixing" the Corbin for $30 by using a Badass Moto 3D Mesh Seat Pad 🤷‍♂️

My 2015 OE battery is still in use as well. I’m not going to take the chance and push my luck though, I have a replacement ready to install.

Do you normally ride with ear plugs? They make a huge difference.

I agree, even at 20x that mileage, I would bet that the number of lines that have failed is zero.

The 2016 FJ09 does not have compression adjustability on the fork, so the big difference between a re-valve and complete cartridge replacement would be that the cartridges would have one leg that has compression adjustability and the other with rebound adjustability.