wanderer

2 hours ago, Kevin R said:

entrance to Narnia?

and I managed to go down that section of Hwy 1 just two weeks ago!

I also went down March 7th 2020, returning from one of my work trips to the Bay Area - my last trip before COVID lock downs, just as the weirdness was starting. I remember a few TSA agents in San Jose airport were COVID positive that week, and I figured I dodged the whole airport/plane thing on the bike. That started as a wet rainy day. This news is a reminder that Hwy 1 may not be a good place to be on a wet rainy day, for more reasons than just traction.

1 hour ago, keithu said:

I frequently travel to Rancho Bernardo for work, but unfortunately I'm always in a rental car. One of these days I want to bring the bike down.

Pre-pandemic, I had regular work travel to Santa Clara CA (Bay Area), and for several years I have not caught a flight but always ride. Anchor it to a weekend to have a two day trip one way, and just jet up/down the other way. E.g. ride up I-5 Wednesday afternoon/evening, stay Thursday and Friday, have a fun ride down on Saturday and Sunday with a stay somewhere in the middle.

Oregon to Rancho Bernardo is a little further though.

Of course, one could rent a bike locally as well.

15 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Where are you in SD? 

Scripps Ranch, just east of I-15 from Miramar MCAS.

There are some good rides around here, including up Palomar. The South Grade has the awesome curves, and the East Grade has a great view overlook I always like to stop at, look out over Lake Henshaw, have (no alcohol) drink, take a nap.

But eventually one always wants to explore further!

I once had an experience like this on my CB500x (prior bike, now for sale), except I stayed on the road. Quite exciting to pass a tractor-semi and exit the wind shadow!

I did get great weather. I got up to 5200' on SR-108 (the Sonora Pass route) before turning around, and I don't recall any snow. I've experienced far worse in So Cal before - I've gone over Tejon Pass (I-5 north of LA) in 40 degree rain, which turned to snow 4 hours after I went through. But that doesn't happen consistently all winter.

I was also lucky in that I just beat the wind storms:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/19/weather/california-santa-ana-winds-power-shut-off/index.html

"On Monday, wind gusts of more than 90 mph were reported from Sacramento to the Bay Area"

"Several hurricane-force wind gusts in the mountains of Ventura and Los Angeles counties in Southern California were reported Tuesday."

Looks like I was about a day ahead of the worst of it. It was a little cold and windy eating in the shade in Creston, and I noticed a handful of gusts while riding, but overall I did not notice much and did not have the "exciting" experience of riding in 50-100MPH gusts.

6 hours ago, dazzler24 said:

Something like this perhaps?

https://www.forcitehelmets.com/

Looks pretty cool. The integrated look for the camera especially, and it is well positioned to give the pilot's view.

However, the battery life is still only given as 3 hours with video. I always think along the lines of "couldn't they put a larger battery there?", but in reality having a huge battery in your head-protective-wear (aka helmet) to explode or ignite on impact isn't a great idea either.

Also, while the integrated look, fit and function is good, I prefer disintegrated. I'd rather not have to discard the electronics when the helmet dies or vice versa. The helmet may not even fit an individual's head very well (elongated head vs round, etc). Or one may prefer a different strap latch system, etc. Picking a helmet is a personal choice. What could be nice would be movement towards a standard specification for some helmet mounted systems, comm and video, so one can easily swap the electronics between helmets and still have a tight look and aerodynamics.

I just can't be satisfied!

7 hours ago, SKYFLIX said:

What really blows my mind is that both the Innovv and Halocam systems are several years old now, yet they are still considered the best options available.

Indeed, as someone who's on-and-off thought of doing something for some years now, this market does seem to evolve a little more slowly than I'd expect. What I really want is a helmet cam (look where I look) with a battery that can just stand an all day ride and recharge overnight. January 15th was a 15h02m day (ride San Diego to Auburn CA, a little indirectly, 722.5 miles according to the Garmin watch), so I guess I need a 16 hour battery.

There are three things I've had strong enough gripes about to change.

1. Foot pegs - the space for the pilot's feet are severely cramped by the passenger foot peg bracket. I don't have particular large feet (EU ~42). If you adjust your foot position to your toes on the pegs in turns you'd likely notice your heel banging the brackets. I removed the passenger foot pegs and installed the old FJ-09 side-case stays so I can still use the side cases (currently, my bike has no passenger pegs).

2. pumpkin turn signals - they stick way the f out. I don't like the look, but more importantly I scratched my car a few of times trying to back the bike out of the garage. It was one of those things that annoyed me every single time I rode, twice (on the way out and the way in). I replaced the front signals with flush mount LEDs.

3. The windscreen -  I am 5'11". Maybe others find a middle ground, but my simple take is I need the screen to be large enough to have me in the air bubble or small enough for the helmet to be in clean air. I don't want some huge screen, so I tried smaller. First the MRA Sport Wind Screen. My helmet was still in the transition zone. So now I am using the Puig Racing Wind Screen. It is better. I still get some turbulence around my chin, which reminds me to sit with good upright posture :).

One last thing I've not changed - abrupt fueling  on/off-throttle, which I credit to the emissions implementation that cuts the gas when decelerating off throttle. That can be fixed with an ECU update ... which is tempting (and the only thing I really want from an ECU update).

From what I've read, if I tried upgraded suspension I'd be blown away! But for now, ignorance is bliss. I am happy with everything else.

The key is rather wimpy, too easily bent ... I bent mine a little this weekend on the side case, because I also have a bag on the back seat that overhangs the case and somehow in my fumbling around bent it. A big part of the problem is that so much of the length of the key doesn't even go into the lock barrel, leaving a long lever exposed.

I use these quick release key chain attachments to hold my ignition key to the key ring with house key and earplug holder. Pop the key off to use it, reattach when done so as not to lose it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZ0BOR6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

11 hours ago, Merciless said:

I have some questions because it is too soon for valve inspection... Do you have full exhaust and ecu flash? 

My exhaust and ECU are stock.

Tracer 900GT purchased new two years ago, 28 December 2018. I took it to the local shop for the 16000 mile service at 16405 miles, and asked them to add the early valve inspection.  Based on what I've read here, the results seem predictable, tight exhaust, in-spec intake.

exhaust (spec 10-12 [units .001 inch]): 4 7 5 8 5 9

intake (spec 4-8 [units .001 inch]): 6 5 5 5 5 5

exhaust was all adjusted to 11 ("these go to 11"), intake unchanged.

I can't help with any new info, but I love towing the tandem mountain bike!

On 12/17/2020 at 6:42 AM, nhchris said:

I am getting lots of emails from Easy Rider rentals offering all sorts of incentives. 

One of my bucket list rides is a BMW rental out of Vegas with return in Flagstaff.  I'd love to tour the south western parks and roads.  Anyone ever done this?

Not familiar with Easy Rider rentals! but I've rented a BMW R 1200 RT from Eagle Rider in New Orleans and returned it in Miami. I've also rented a HD in Jackson WY and returned it in San Diego CA. My experience with Eagle Rider has been good. The main frustration is that the non-HD choices are limited.

Each franchise is different, but one other frustration I did have. My rental from New Orleans was supposed to have been a Yamaha FJR from Atlanta. The Atlanta franchise showed many different types available one day, so I felt assured that I could wait a bit and if I didn't get my first choice I'd still get my second. But then the next day nothing was available, which seemed impossible. I called them up and they said they had the bikes, but in busy season they didn't have the staff to outfit and prep the bikes, so wide availability instantaneously became no availability. Poor business strategy IMO (leave inventory idle for want of staff), but c'est la vie. The only lesson here is don't procrastinate on your reservation like I did.

There are plenty of dealerships with HD rentals, but in order to get a non-HD I had to change my starting location from Atlanta to New Orleans, and the bike from FJR to BMW, and it all worked out. It is super-convenient to be able to just pick up a bike one place and drop it off at another.

1 hour ago, Kevin R said:

Betoney ... a pass through the Kernville/Lake Isabella area won't disappoint. The ride up from Kernville through Johnsondale and Ponderosa is sweet and SR155 and 190 are lovely, serpentine ribbons of asphalt. 155 and 190 are like the Dragon back east with hundreds of 2nd and 3rd gear corners.

I concur. I would also add for consideration the less obvious M-50, or Mountain Highway 99, or whatever it is called from California Hot Springs to Johnsondale.

https://goo.gl/maps/ApZiB3hv36Bj3ipM8

12 hours ago, st1100pilot said:

Any chance you have a part number for the brackets?  Where did you source yours?

2WCaptain mentioned the part number above.  I bought them at a local dealer, Fun Bike Center, and talked to the parts sales guy. I don't think I have any record of the part number, but I was able to find it on the Yamaha site in the past. 

6 hours ago, chitown said:

If you're going to recommend 58 you have to recommend Rossi's Driveway CA229. It's like a rule or sumpin .

Hehe. I ended up on 229 the best way, totally by chance, because I made a wrong turn. So impressed that when I got home I looked it up and found "Rossi's driveway" and made it an avatar!

So hard to even decide.

1. cross country, with route 66.

2. cross country, Lincoln Highway. #1 and #2 could be combined into one long trip. These also might be better done in a convertible (semi-cage) with the wife (who will neither ride nor pillion).

3. Alaska

4. a two month long aimless meandering through California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.

These all require more time than I'll be able to pull together all at once, not for a while. Hopefully in 2021 I can do San Diego to Seattle to Bozeman and back, but that is not the meander. Maybe compressed into 1.5 weeks or so.

On 10/18/2020 at 4:31 PM, keithu said:

I expect this must have already been addressed somewhere on this forum, but what the heck is that red box on the back of the bike?

On 11/24/2020 at 7:19 AM, texscottyd said:

This is a JFZ (Judgement Free Zone) @fddriver2!  

Except for the limabean soup...   

Also, the roads look flat and straight.

I just took a look at Miami on Google maps. Turned on terrain view (topographic). Nothing changed.

Different schools different focus.

Total Control ARC 1 & 2 are parking lot training, more safety and general skills oriented than track. I've not taken their track clinic. All are with your own bike.

California Superbike School is all about track. They have their own bikes (BMW S1000RR), or you can bring your own for some of the sessions. It's fun to try out the BMWs though.

These are the two I've done. I recommend them both. TC-ARC first if you haven't taken any such courses, then one of the track courses. One thing that struck me about CA Superbike, beyond just the excellent on-track experience, was how much effort they put into making you comfortable and providing quality food and drink. It is secondary, but the fact they emphasized quality for the whole experience really speaks to something.

It's official!

2021 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT Sport Touring Motorcycle - Model Home

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2021 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT Sport Touring Motorcycle

So I've got to admit, other than replacing some turn signals, foot peg brackets and chain maintenance I've done nothing on the bike myself. Not even an oil change, which is easy enough.

So now I'm thinking I'd dive in to it, but it is 16000 miles, which calls for replacement of the spark plugs.

So my basic question is, how does one really get started? Is it really as simple as follow the shop manual and make sure everything goes back where it came from? Or is there a better way to ease into it?

Once long ago with a friend I took off a Datsun cylinder head to replace the head gasket and take the warped head to a machine shop to be resurfaced. And when we put it back together and it started it was a real "holy shit we did it!" moment for me. But I was willing to let that car die if need be, I am more attached to my Tracer!