maximo

20 hours ago, Brian said:

I guess my question is......will a motorcycle crash be likely to be caused by a distracted cager and my medical bills be covered by their insurance?

When you have insurance, part of what you buy is the legal team that would defend you on your behalf. The distracted cager can be 100% at fault, and assuming he's insured, his insurance would see that you're uninsured, and therefore not likely able to afford costly litigation, they would immediately do a study that would find you some percentage at fault (say, going 39 mph in a 35 zone, or that you were not wearing sufficiently protective gear, or that you had a beer or allergy meds the night before).  Now you're looking at either defending yourself in court (which is what they hope, because they're experts at getting the jury to swing their way), or for you to talk to an attorney who would charge you $100k just to get in the game, and based on that, they'd corner you to a settlement that you agree to pay everything short of bankruptcy. 

I did subrogation for a big insurance company for a few years, so I've played this game myself a time or two. 

Another consideration is policy limits the OP carries. If they carry $50k and your bills are $500k, they'll happily pay their amount, and you're stuck with the $450k. You'll likely need to sue the driver personally for it, which once again it is out of pocket costs, time, and a gamble whether you can even collect if you win the suit. 

I'd look at minimum at catastrophic care. Sounds like you could absorb $10k in med bills, but if you got t-boned and you had to be in the hospital for a few days to insert a titanium rod, how would you pay for the $500k in bills? There's your bankruptcy right there. It's a huge gamble. My own risk tolerance would be too low for that.  

20 hours ago, Brian said:

I recognized Feather River Canyon from the book I read on the 2018 Camp Fire that burned Paradise to the ground. Likely a few scars from that one too. When I retire in a couple of years, will be heading your way. Just for a visit, though.

When you do come visit and ride the area, bring an extra suitcase of smiles. You'll be grinning so much you'll wear them out. 

20 hours ago, nhchris said:

And what was your impression of the Dave Moss tuning changes on this ride? Did you notice any differences since the last time you rode these gems?

Considering that he was working with stock suspension, he did an amazing job of tuning it just right for me. I felt much more in control in the corners and the bike feels overall much less jittery. 

Yes, it was a huge change from my previous ride. I regret not going to Dave sooner, instead of just dinking with it on my own. 

10 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

Sounds like fun.  You have discovered the joys of being retired 🙂  When a nice day comes around I can just up and go ride.  Don't have roads like that though.  Now the downside to being retired, getting older and ....

Retirement is starting to sound a whole lot better... I can maybe even see it just over the horizon... 

1 hour ago, betoney said:

Both of those roads are outstanding, especially with no traffic!  I'm Jealous. 😎

It was a good day. 

I had my suspension tuned last week, and having the day off today (thank you Cesar Chavez!), I took the newly-tuned bike on a couple of gold standards. 

First of all, I had both roads to myself. It was amazing! Downieville Rd (Hwy 49) is holding up well. Surface is clean and the recent repaving is holding up nicely. This is a must-ride for anyone in the area.  Hwy 70 in the Feather River Canyon is less fortunate. The Dixie fire last year really impacted the area. The burn scar is huge, and the road is showing the scars of the heavy equipment that traveled up and down the road, not to mention all the trees that fell on it and the ongoing rock slides. Lots of road repair and environmental work going on. I'd suggest avoiding it for a while. 

On 5/8/2021 at 10:27 PM, betoney said:

I hope you have a good ride but Nevada??... for fun??  

Its the one state I have ridden through that I would never re-visit by choice, 

I actually like riding in Nevada. It's a different mindset is all; there's a mood to it, the openness and vast distances puts a different perspective. The trick is staying off of I-80, that'll suck the life out of anything. But all the other paved throughways have something to offer. Just take each road for what it is (rather than focus on what it's not), and simply accept and enjoy what it gives you.  

Also, a good radar detector is a must...  🙂 

9 hours ago, maximo said:

We didn't talk about specific settings, clicks, turns, etc. I just stood back and let him do his thing. I'll take pix and post them later. 

Here's how they ended up.

Also, earlier I said I had PR5 - my mistake, that's on my touring bike. The FJ has S21. 

37 minutes ago, nhchris said:

What did he charge for his time and in person service?

$60 total. The biggest bargain ever. 

38 minutes ago, duckie said:

Also, notice how tire pressure was a consideration in the overall setup. 

This makes me wonder if what tire on the front is a consideration also. Not tires have the same type sidewall characteristics.

I run 36psi in the front which is a road 5. Rear 40- 41 psi. Theses are cold. Those settings will increase as the tire warms up. If its gonna be hot day, lll set them a couple psi lower cold.

 

Spot on, his psi recommendation was for this specific tire and set up, my weight, and riding preference. He was very clear to say "This tyre (bc he speaks in British English), with these settings, need 3 more PSI..."  The settings are tilted towards comfort, so he wanted to avoid corner-induced wallowing if I pushed harder on a curve than the settings consider.  FWIW, they're PR5 and it was set at cold 34, and fully geared I weigh in at 175. 

1 hour ago, duckie said:

I should have been more specific, my bad.

So, what was the sag set at? How many rings are showing on the preload adjusters?

How many clicks out from full in are the dampening adjusters?

Im curious, wondering how close he sets up a tracer to how mine is set up.  

 

We didn't talk about specific settings, clicks, turns, etc. I just stood back and let him do his thing. I'll take pix and post them later. 

12 minutes ago, duckie said:

So, what he adjust?

Shocks, both forks, tire pressure. 

45 minutes ago, knyte said:

That's awesome, I've also been eyeballing Dave Moss for a while.

I'm curious as to what he had you do, and your body type and such?

He started by asking me a few questions as he did CPR on the bike (pushed down repeatedly on the tank and seat) and then put it up up on the chocks. Then I sat on it in riding position and he took measurements, then I got off and he took more measurements.  Then he did some adjustments, had me sit on it, and tweaked a couple more adjustments. He had me go out for a 30 minute test ride.  I came back and answered his questions. He tweaked it some more and sent me out for another 30 minutes. I came back and he asked more questions, did more CPR, and adjusted again. He also put in 3 psi on the front tire (I had it set at 34 cold, he said it wasn’t enough for these settings), and sent me on my way.

Total time was about 1.5 hrs, but of that, maybe 10-15 minutes were face to face/direct interaction. He works very fast; clearly knows what he’s doing.

39 minutes ago, Bernard said:

I've been watching loads of his videos lately. Super tempted to do a remote session with him to get some ideas. Really cool you got out to meet him in person and I'm certain even a 15-30 minutes session with the guy could give some folks a wealth of information. 👍

Yeah, I would certainly recommend doing a remote session if you can’t see him in person. He’s just a wealth of knowledge.

He's super personable too. 

I have stock suspension on my FJ-09, and while I know it’s crap, I’m not invested enough in this bike to upgrade to a decent system. That being said, the suspension on the bike has been off since I got it. I’ve tweaked it, but with limited knowledge I’ve managed to just make it worse. So this past weekend I rode to Thunderhill where Dave Moss was set up for track day. I had him tune the suspension for me and my riding style, and holy moly! What a huge improvement! I didn’t realize just how badly tuned it was. I’ve only done a 10 mile section of twisties since the tune, so I don’t have a good gauge yet of how settled I’ll get into the bike, but hopefully this will help me make better friends with the bike.

46 minutes ago, duckie said:

.its covered in bug goo

oh yeah, this happens up here. It's everywhere, but particularly pronounced around the rice fields. Do everything you can to avoid them at dawn or at dusk, or you and your bike will never be the same again. 

Bring it on! I love drafting routes for people depending on what they want to ride. 

And @duckie since we'll be neighbors I may even show you some of them myself. There's a never-ending supply of good roads in the area. 

On 3/13/2022 at 11:27 AM, Wintersdark said:

Can't imagine a world where I'd rather an SV650 vs and MT07, to be honest, having ridden both extensively.   Very similar bikes, but the MT07 hits it's higher peak torque way faster, and it's sexier

Honestly, I feel an MT07 with an upgraded suspension is a more fun bike to ride than the Tracer 900 on anything other than longer trips - the only reason I went to the Tracer is because I'm physically too big for the MT07 (and SV650, for that matter) and I wanted something more comfortable and capable on road trips. 

Both SV and MT have issues with the stock suspension, though - kind of to be expected for budget bikes.  The CP2 is a freaking blast of an engine.  These days, though, depending on preferences and use case I'd also consider an R7 - same powertrain, but already upgraded suspension.  If you're into the aggressive sportbike riding posture anyways.

Personally, my second "smaller" bike is a Tenere 700... Gets me more agile in town riding and offroad riding too, and again with that glorious, torquey CP2... While still fitting my 6'4" frame. 

But, yeah, CP2 > the SV650's twin, hands down.  Fight me!  😈

Preferences are so personal! I totally get your point here. At the same time, I arrive at a different conclusion re: the SV, but using the FJ as a proxy for the MT07, since I haven't ridden it. If the CP2 is similar to the CP3, I already don't like it. For me, and what value/enjoy out of a motorcycle, the CP3 has been an absolute miss. Its character doesn't fit my likes. I'm not saying it's a bad bike, I'm saying that for me it's not the best overall bike. 

I have Seth Laam do all my saddles. He asks what's not working, what you'd like the saddle to do, and customizes it to your preferences. He does mostly send-in-your-saddle, so you're off the bike for a bit, unless you're fortunate enough to be close enough to ride in and have him build your saddle while you wait. 

33 minutes ago, Jayzonk said:

I guess that explains why SV's are in short supply in Canada at least.  I haven't heard anyone say that they didn't enjoy riding an SV and at this point I would seriously question them if they did.   How do you find the seat?  I hear some people say that it's not the greatest but others say it's okay.   My issue is that the aftermarket seats are all so big that they change the profile of the bike too much. 

I was the freak that loved the stock seat. I could do 10 hour days easily on it. I use the past tense because the seat cover ripped and I took it to an upholstery shop to have it re-covered, and the owner decided to do me a favor and remove the stock foam and replace it with the soft spongy crap he uses on his HD, and now the seat is a soft spongy mess. I tried a sargent saddle but didn't like it, and now I cruise e-bay like some sort of addict looking for a gen 1 saddle that is stock and not overpriced. 

I rode a friend's gen2, and that saddle was completely different, so I don't know how it would have fit over time. 

On 2/21/2022 at 7:19 PM, Jayzonk said:

Hey Everyone, 

Still love my Tracer, but was thinking about a smaller displacement, smaller-sized bike for running around town and also for a couple of open track days this spring.  There are quite a few SV650's around at great prices, but I found a great deal on a new, non-current Suzuki GSX-S750 that puts it right in the middle of SV650 price territory.  So I'm wondering if it's going to be a better handler, given the price, as I see it has nonadjustable USD forks.  

Not sure if anyone has run both, but would like to know.  Also wondering about other options.  

I have both, FJ-09 and an SV650. They are different bikes that scratch different itches. I don’t need to describe the FJ, so I’ll focus on the SV as how it contrasts to the FJ.  The SV is much more well behaved, in the sense that it lacks the hooliganism of the FJ. It can be used as a hooligan bike, but you have to go out of your way to get there (in the same way you can ride the FJ in a more gentlemanly way, but you have to go out of your way to do it). The SV holds a corner much better, it tips into corners much more willingly and predictably. My SV is a Gen1, and the power delivery is buttery smooth (I recall Gen2 had some snatchy throttle issues), and linear. I can easily modulate throttle mid corner and not worry that too much power will be delivered.

Overall, the FJ is the better bike, an entirely different category of bike, undisputedly more sophisticated.  On the other hand, I have more fun on the SV, so I end up taking the SV out for fun rides more often than. The old adage of “it’s more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow” proves very true for me. But if the ride is an intermediate ride, and includes slab time, or distances, or adverse conditions, I’ll reach for the FJ, since it has way more creature comfort than the SV.

For track day, I've had the SV out a few times. It's a fun scoot. I've not had the FJ at the track. 

This is a long way around to say the SV is a perfect complement to my FJ-09.

This is a great write up! Sounds like quite a different riding experience than your fj-09. The way you describe it, your new bike seems to be more along my line of preferences.  Hmm....

20 hours ago, HGP61 said:

Sorry, forgot to add the close up shot (Solid Gold coloured valve caps)

Please, show some restraint. 😂

Looking forward to your impressions!