fjray

On 4/15/2022 at 6:42 PM, Rick123 said:

Any particular reason?

Might seem silly to others but first of all they  changed the bodywork by the  rear seat and it  now doesn't have any way of using bungee straps or anything. The  FJ09  had lots of places to  hook straps to.  Probably not a problem for most of you but I hated that part.  And, it steered a lot less precisely and it took more effort to corner, the longer swingarm and  narrower handlebars probably being the  culprit.   If you love the Tracer,  good for you.  After years of riding around with guys on the BMW S1000XR,  I  finally got one of those.  If you have a Tracer and take a test ride on the  XR, you'll never be  happy with your Tracer again.   YMMV

On 4/4/2022 at 6:21 PM, Rick123 said:

If the difference in price of 900 and 900 GT is $1000 I would go for GT but if it is $2000 I would most likely go for 900. And specially that seems like you don’t care much about extra stuff on GT . Perhaps even better go and get low mileage 2017 again.

I had a 2017 FJ and then  got the Tracer 900.  Even though I put a good shock and fork cartridges in the Tracer, I really  liked the FJ more than the  Tracer.  

Sorry to say this but if she admits to 300 lbs, it's because she's heavier than that.

On 9/30/2021 at 4:27 PM, 2and3cylinders said:

Which is what I do, WITH a headlight modulator!

I bet  no one  wants to ride in front of you. 

Some of you guys would  complain if they hung you with a new rope.

9 hours ago, betoney said:

It is more than likely going to be more expensive, not cheaper.  “Starting at” 11;599 (I’m assuming British Pounds?) is about $15,800USD and that doesn’t include side bags and heated grips which are optional accessories. 🤷🏻

Oh. Ouch.

4 hours ago, johnmark101 said:

This looks like a home run for Suzuki in my humble opinion.  Appears aimed directly at the Kawasaki Z1000SX which has been selling well.

 

Now that the Tracer 9 costs what it does, I'd look at this.  Cheaper and more hp? I'm in.

On 8/29/2021 at 6:45 PM, Wintersdark said:

God, I've done this too many times over the years, and it's why I now *never* lock the handlebars.  

 

Personally, for any trip of length, I carry a toolkit that can do basically any work I might possibly need to do on the bike.  I could remove tires, replace the chain, change control cables on my (or any, because my spare cable kit is universal).  I've got a couple common wrenches, allen keys, a threaded rod with nuts on the ends holding a set of sockets (everything used on the bike) and a regular ratchet for them.  Flat screwdriver, universal screwdriver with an assortment of bits.  Tape, zip ties, fuses, jumper cable.  I do not have a pump or tire kit, though, oddly.  I keep meaning to get one but never have.  

Ironically, I've only one time ever needed my toolkit in almost a decade (with the Tracer, actually - when I installed my helibar riser, I forgot to torque down the handlebar bolts and they vibrated loose while riding... oops).  Well, for me.  I've used it to help other riders a number of times, because there's a surprising number of people who don't do even the most basic maintenance on their bikes.  

We had to kick out a riding buddy who always showed up with problems. Keep the bike maintained for crying out loud. Especially if you really push it hard. 

8 hours ago, dazzler24 said:

I've thought on more than one occassion about getting a protector but am not confident it (any) will fit without modification due to my aftermarket ARROW headers.

Anyone had any experience with this?

I bet you're going to have to go custom made.

9 hours ago, betoney said:

Lol, and not to rub it in but in 2 weeks I'm going on my 6th road trip* this season... just sayin' 😎

*3 days of twisiy mountain riding that I'm calling the "7-Pass Ride".  I'm staying in Washington state and riding over Stevens, Loup Loup, Wauconda, Disautel, Sherman, Blewett and White Passes.

Let the hate continue... 😎👍

Now I  hate you too.  I live in flat straight roads northern Indiana and have to truck down to the smokies over 500 miles  before I get to roads worth unloading the bike. 

On 8/11/2021 at 5:51 PM, sabre85 said:

Two up on NC SR 215 in Smokies on my 2K VFR

That may be the best road in the Smokies. Though there are still a lot more. 

Yanked the stinking stock tires off in less than 500 miles on both my brand new 09s. Put the Bridgestone S22's on and there's no reason for me to try anything else. Get three new sets of tires on sale in the spring and you're covered.

1 hour ago, T P S said:

@fjray oooof... last best thing bose made for home speakers. LOL

I have nothing else to say except don't make your bikes louder.  Stealth is so much sexier. 

On 8/8/2021 at 11:51 AM, The Pilot said:

It’s not just about volume with this bike, the stock exhaust really takes away from the nice even triple firing pulses and honestly sounds horrible. The Akrapovic exhaust with the DB killer installed is marginally louder than stock, but the tone of the exhaust is exponentially better.

Some people are happy with cheap Walmart speakers for their entertainment center, others can appreciate what a big difference there is with quality audio components like Klipsch or KEF.

Different strokes for different folks.

Not even close to the same thing.  And I have had my 901 Bose speakers for about 25 years now.  

I don't know why so many people think they need to  put on a loud pipe.  I  guess I went through that back in the  day too.  Lighter weight? Go on a diet.  More power?  Learn to use what you have now.  All just my opinion of course.  Bike shop owner told me years ago when I inquired about a  header for my  bike, " wanna go faster, get a bigger bike."

On 8/7/2021 at 12:02 AM, Wintersdark said:

Yeah, after my recent adventure... I honestly do not understand the appeal of bikes of that sort of mass.  Sure, you CAN make them turn quick, but damn if it's not a workout to do it.  Very comfortable if you're just riding in a straight line for a really long time I guess, but... Gross.  

A 940lb monstrousity?  No thank you.  I question just how effective those brakes can possibly be stopping that much mass.

Rode my 900 pound Goldwings down in the NC mountains and  passed sport bikes, more than  once.  On a runflat car tire on the  rear.  Then rode it home.  It can be done.

On 12/16/2020 at 12:44 PM, Ride On said:

These engines don't burn down or suffer any ill effects from using 87 octane.  If they did you'd see threads and pictures of destroyed engines and burnt pistons.  Where are the dead engines?  There are none. 

If your engine doesn't knock, then you don't need higher octane, regardless of what the owners manual says.  It's that simple. 

And high octane gasoline doesn't help your engine last any longer.  Not one mile longer.  If there's no knocking then you're getting a normal combustion event.

I've got 13,000 miles on my FJ-09, mostly using 87 octane.  I use non-ethonol premium gasoline late season to run the ethanol out of the tank so it's ready for winter storage. 

The added benefit of using 87 octane is that it saves me about $0.80 per gallon.  I can use that savings to buy premium beer instead. 

Priorities!  Love it.  I still  buy the  cheap beer.

On 6/19/2021 at 10:45 AM, duckie said:

Thought v no thought...mushin ........

 

I have no idea what this reply means.  Can anyone explain it to me please?

On 7/17/2021 at 8:42 AM, peteinpa said:

This.  I was all ears, what car tire fits?!

What car tire fits which bike, are you asking?  I can give you the info on a Wing but not the KTM or really any other bike. 

On 8/23/2020 at 6:37 PM, keithu said:

Enjoy!

Although I thought you meant something else by this post. In the Iron Butt circle "going to the dark side" means putting a car tire on your rear wheel.

 

I've got more than 200,000 miles on two Wings with a runflat car tire.  Best tire for an 1800 by far.

On 7/16/2021 at 3:23 PM, sandman900 said:

Perfect

11 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

Yesterday, it's 8:30am.  My plans for the day had fallen through, so I popped on to Facebook to see if the local riding groups where doing anything, and found an off-hand comment for a group ride leaving at 10am near me.  They're planning a Calgary -> Canmore via 1A -> Hwy40 -> Longview -> Back to Calgary loop.  418kms, and a really great set of roads.  Hell, I'm in!  No time for questions, so I hop on the bike and go.

Except... It's a big group ride.  Not big-to-me (which is >5 people) but big.  60 bikes big, a charity event for "Fresh Start".  Well, I'm there, and it's for a good charity, and I've never actually been on a big ride before, so... Eh, I'm in.

Not gonna lie, this was worrying.  Also, pretty concerning, given it was almost entirely Harley's - my Tracer, a V-Strom, an R3 and a Striple where the *only* bikes that weren't cruisers.  Of 60 some bikes.  We get going, and it's a nightmare.  About a kilometer long stretch of bikes riding through and around cities simply has to be chaotic.   Most stressed I've ever been on a bike, with the constant fear of any one of the dozens of bikes ahead of me (and all the normal traffic) doing something stupid and causing a horrific multiple vehicle crash.  Then you're getting onto wonderful winding mountain roads... with so very many other bikes all of varying skill levels and a near complete lack of cornering ability.  

Made it to the second stop - Ghost Lake Reservoir, near the start of Hwy 1A, just before it gets all twisty, and I couldn't do it anymore.  Decided to finish the ride by following in front.  As soon as people started heading towards their bikes at a stop, I'd tear off to the next stop.  Much, much better - and I'm deeply thankful I didn't have to ride down my favourite local twisties at depressingly low speeds dodging wallowing cruisers. 

Ended up being a reasonably fun day, and it did benefit a good cause, but damn, I will never, ever do that again.  Huge group rides are definitely *not* my thing. 

 

Been to one of those.  Lots of bad riders mostly gunning their engines for no reason and lots of near misses. Never again.

On 7/4/2021 at 1:27 PM, Butrzrulz said:

And of course, after that, you learn the feel of "dang, went too far".  That's when you learn all about rethreading methods, haha!

Anyone remember Ed Hertfelder?  He wrote the Duct Tapes monthly in Cycle magazine years ago.  His method was, tongue in cheek we hope, " run her in till she strips and then back her off a quarter. "

Locally I run 90 octane,  none ethanol, in  mine.  Never had any pinging or anything.   Also great  for lawn equipment  which gets stored for  half a year here.  I  don't  even  put in  fuel stabilizer and things start right up the  next  season. 

On 6/22/2021 at 6:18 PM, Skidood said:

I personally disagree, I find A mode way too touchy, I'd rather not be constantly hyper-focussed on my wrist movement.  Makes for a better ride where you can focus on what you''re supposed to be focussing on.  I bet a lot of people (unlike me) aren't publicly willing to admit they dont like A mode.

I wasn't going to publically admit I prefer STD over A mode but I did give this a thumbs up last time I read it, apparently.