wessie

No, naked MT09 - I wrote about my little ride this afternoon http://fj-09.org/thread/2043/magically-created-fz-mt09-garage

I can't have my bike until Tuesday as the workshop is down a technician today. However, I have this for the weekend. Nice little shopping bike. PLAYTIME

I went into the garage this morning. There is an MT09 shaped space as I dropped it off at the dealer yesterday evening for the 6000 mile service. Still no phone call to say it's done. The sun is shining. I want my bike back!

Completely unrelated, but the Japanese are not litigious at all, yet have a limiter. I believe (not positive) the Australian model is also limited. Litigation culture in the US has nothing to do with the limiter. Odd really. Perhaps Europeans are riding gods? It must be a nurture thing as many North Americans and Australians are European by DNA.

You have veered off on a tangent. You are claiming the handling of the bike is suspect at speeds over 75mph with luggage fitted. Please stay on topic if you want to have a coherent debate. What you suggest won't happen. If you read other threads in the forum you will see my views about the high speed stability of the Tracer. Possibly scroll back a few posts in this thread. To reiterate my views, the Tracer is absolutely fine, cruising all day at 100mph with 2x Kappa K40 side cases on a French autoroute. Each case is 40 litres in capacity and weighs about 10kg with contents. I have accelerated up to 120mph for brief periods to get past traffic without any terrors. Above 120mph the aerodynamics of the upright riding position make the bike an unpleasant place to be so I will not be exploring the upper speed limit of the bike which is around 138mph according to a few Youtube videos. The fastest I have been on my Tracer is an indicated 134mph, hitting the rev limiter in 4th gear. This is the only time the handling got truly unruly. That was more about the rev limiter cutting power and then reapplying power when I backed off. Fortunately the unruly behaviour was a relatively mild tankslapper, not severe enough for me to consider a steering damper. So, if you wish to continue to insist the bike is inherently unstable at speeds over 75mph with luggage fitted then I will, based on my real world experience, continue to press the bullshít buzzer.

I've been riding bikes for decades with full luggage on German autobahns quite legally at speeds greater than 140mph. I know what it feels like when a bike gets out of shape due to inappropriate speed for the conditions, with or without luggage. I'll do my own risk assessment based on the conditions on the day. As ULEWZ says, in crosswinds one has to be mindful of the effect of the luggage on handling especially a topbox which has a leverage effect in a crosswind. In relatively still air, or with a tail wind there is little adverse effect. In fact, the additional mass added by the luggage will counteract the effects of lift. This is simple physics. Givi's warning are set by their lawyers not based on the laws of physics. They put a "no more than 10kg" label on a rack, then make a case that weighs nearly 10kg when empty. Go figure. Why does Yamaha have a 115mph limit in the USA but no limit in the UK? Merely because people in the USA are more litigious. In the UK we are more likely to admit we got it wrong, not look for a design flaw in the bike and phone our lawyer. The difference in our perception of the risks of going at speeds over 75mph with luggage fitted is cultural, not based on the laws of physics.

@pattonme I have ridden quite a few miles on a UK spec. MT09 Tracer (no speed limiter) at speeds well over 90mph with a topbox or side cases (never both) fitted. I have not died so your "MUST ride clean" quote above is just plain scaremongering in my view. Riding any bike on a public road at 90mph is risky and illegal in all but a few places in Europe. We are adults here and make our own choices based on our own ability, experience and perception of risk.

no idea about other countries, but in the UK, the use of flashing lights on motor vehicles is tightly regulated - flashing headlamps, blues and rear reds for emergency vehicles only, flashing orange for warnings such as wide loads, breakdown trucks or road maintenance vehicles and flashing green for medical practitioners. Private vehicles should only have flashing orange lamps for indicators and hazard warning when stationary.

Not a fan then wessie??But then where you live its mainly horse you need to worry about Lol, where I live Ive got the urban mummy with 4x4 all the foreign lorry drivers on the M20/A20 (not to mention the immigrants baling out) and the commuting Audi/BMW brigade. so yeah I'm thinking with Hand guards with indicators, indicators with inbuilt DRL and then an extra set of Cree lights for night. Let the fu**ers say "sorry mate I didn't see you" then Lol Stick around a bit longer and you might get used to my little interjections of humour. I like the idea of more practical hand guards, especially ones that will work with my chunky Tucano Urbano muffs. I'm not convinced that extra illumination would have stopped the car turning across my path yesterday. The driver was only looking at the entrance of the pub on the opposite side of the road and not at the oncoming traffic. Fortunately the brakes are very good on the Tracer and I was paying attention so avoided becoming a rear seat passenger. Hopefully the children on the back seat soiled themselves which might give the driver the motivation to pay attention in the future. However, if the extra illumination makes you more confident then go for it. Just don't produce so many lumens you burn other people's retinas to the extent they become disoriented. There are far too many vehicles on the road with poorly aligned lighting.

I was about to turn around to see if a Welsh hedge had jumped out in front of you and you reappeared in my rear view mirror

some suggestions from that shop in Italy Accessorimotostore - Givi and Acerbis, with the latter having fairy light options

I'm quite a few thousand miles on since commenting at the beginning of this thread. I still have not induced more than the one nasty moment and that was after hitting the rev limiter in 4th gear. Like @ULEWZ I tend to lean forward under hard acceleration which seems to be a significant factor, especially with the size of my belly flopped onto the tank. I use the rear on this bike more than any other since the fairly similar TDM850 I had from 1996-9. On that bike I wore the rear pads out quicker than the fronts. This is at relatively slow speeds around town on my commute and at higher speeds on open roads, with the aim in both cases to reduce loading the front as @scuff says. Again this will lessen any misbehaving by the front suspension.

the battery is fitted to a number of machines inc. bikes and jetskis so it is easy to find a replacement - Ebay throws up a load of options and I always check Tayna to get an idea of prices and alternative part nos used by other makers. Batteries have come a long way in recent years - that little package puts out 190 Cold Cranking Amps. In the UK a genuine Yuasa is about £60 on Ebay, a top quality replacement e.g. Motobatt is about £50 and there are some for well under £30. Worry not.

Hello. Have a look here http://fj-09.org/thread/1272/strange-vibrationzzzz and make use of the search function at the top/centre of the screen for any other topics that concern you.

Yes, you could mount other plates to the Givi rack - you may need to drill holes on the non-Givi base plate to align with the 4 holes on the brackets. If you do not have any cases yet, look at the Kappa brand. It is made by Givi, uses the same mounting system and can be considerably cheaper.

In Europe the bike is equipped with an immobiliser. Each key has a transponder in it which is detected by an antenna in the ignition lock barrel. You get 2 black keys for everyday use and a special red one, used for reprogramming a new key if you lose or more likely break one of the black cheese ones. Like the Aprilia, it gets expensive if you lose the red key or acquire a used bike without one.

For those in Europe, the heavy duty socks sold in Aldi & Lidl, often as "work" or "builders" socks are great, especially for winter riding inside goretex Daytona boots. They are a wool/nylon mix.

You're using it with the stock windscreen?No, as per the review, I am using it with the powerbronze touring screen http://fj-09.org/thread/1671/puig-deflector-powerbronze-screen

You got there in the end LoS

I can understand using a bike cover if you park the bike outside in winter, but overnight on a trip? Sure boggles my mind.

I thought it might be Poole Gay Pride and they were a couple of drag queens visiting from Eastbourne

these 2 seem like typical Honda owners to me

I was quite happily cruising on the French Autoroute at the 110[0] speed limit with my Kappa K40 cases without any stability issues. Each pannier had a 10kg load or so. Seemed to handle quite well in the twisties in the Vosges mountains too. [0]I think they meant 110kph but I forgot to flip the display from mph

Yes, since fitting a Puig deflector I can now hear the induction roar and engine noises. Nothing to worry about but it does make some odd noises at times and drastic differences in the whine from the transmission in different gears. Still using earplugs as even the lower noise levels will cause damage as the effect accumulates over time.

I have used Native King too, for Baglux stuff Link to their shop on Ebay