Burley

Just did a 950 km trip from the south end of Vancouver Island (Victoria) to the north end (Port McNeill) and back. Going somewhat easy. Managed 4.2 litres per 100 km averaged. That's with full luggage and a tail bag. Did a longer trip 2 years ago and got the same result. Used cruise control a lot.

I've got a 2109 900 GT myself. Dare I say the best year ever? No immediate thoughts on exhaust. Im not a loud pipes guy but Ive been riding my wifes Triumph Bonneville T120 all week as my Tracer has a flat. I gotta say -- having some loud pipes is growing on me. For windscreen, I went for an MRA Vario Tour. I'm not tall, but the stock windscreen was terrible for me. The wheel should have been on the other side -- or maybe even ambi. Ive gone on cruise control just so I could set the heated grips properly while riding. All that said, great choice. Enjoy and hang on to it. I also put on some SW motortech crash bars and some extra aux led lights as i find the low beam insufficient for winter riding.

Dropped into my shop yesterday and much to my surprise there was the FZ-07 that I traded in two years ago for my Tracer. Second owner only put on 4000 km in two years (compared to the almost 24000 km I did in four years). She still looks great!

Greetings from Victoria. I'll keep an eye out for you. Obviously I don't nèed to tell you about Vancouver Island riding. One of my plans this summer is to ride up to my hometown of Port McNeill. It's been way too long since I've been up that way.

When you get to Murphy, take a ride up Hanging Dog Road. Been up there by car a few times. Not many people can say they've been to Hanging Dog. There's a general store and a baptist church.

I recently picked up a MRA Varioscreen VT and I've been really happy with it. I'd haul the bike out for a picture but I just had surgery a couple of days ago so have to take it easy for a couple of weeks. It looks great and works really well for me. I'm 5'9" and I found the stock screen abusive.

I am Canadian-Dutch (Dutch Canadian??). My mother was born in Haarlem and her family has been in the Netherlands for hundreds of years. I have a book that traces one branch back to 1350 in South Holland near Den Haag. I was born in Canada and have only been to the NL once. I found cycling scary in Amsterdam, so not sure how I'd feel about a motorcycle, but I'm sure I could adapt over time . Good to know i could rent a Tracer if need be ( when we're allowed to travel again that is!).

You're assuming we all live in the USA. Your Pacific Northwest and Alaska category skips British Columbia -- a rather large piece of real estate where I live (southern Vancoiver Island specifcally). All good -- just waving the flag!

Greetings @ABlast82. Southern Vancouver Island here. Rode through the south okanagan last summer en route to the Kootenays. Tracer is ideal.

thank you so much @betoney. I've gone across to Idaho by car but I'll have to check the route I took. The Montana stuff will all be new. I was through Glacier Park when I was about 7 in a VW van but i dont recall much! I"ll plot these routes and may be back in touch closer to the time. Thanks again.

Planning to go from Victoria, BC (via Port Angeles) to eastern Montana (possibly into the Dakotas) and then up to southern Saskatchewan and then back to the coast. Wife has family from Montana from a long time ago so may explore some of their stomping grounds around Butte and then take it from there. Looking for scenic route suggestions in Idaho and Montana. Wife rides a Triumph Bonneville and I am very road oriented with my GT so good asphalt a plus at this point.

@KANNON, did you go with the fork mount? These lights are currently out of stock but am thinking of pulling the trigger as soon as they are available.

Holiday greetings to my peeps from Southern Vancouver Island.

Seriously thinking about these. Does the wiring kit come with the on/off switch or is it produced to operate with the headlights? I like the idea of operating them independently. Also I see Baja has several configurations (e.g. Driver/Combo, Wide Cornering etc.). Which did you choose? I too am a dark back road commuter and find the stock headlights inadequate.

All the best to you Wordsmith. I've enjoyed your posts. Perhaps in keeping with your namesake, some writing would be in order? I've signed up for a short story contest in January -- great way to kickstart the process so to speak. Just a thought.

Tracer vs 3 wheeled electric car. Not sure what the car is but I'll bet it's smaller than a Can-Am for wheel base.

Since this is a forum, it is a safe place to share ideas and opinions.

Good advice. Going to get another one made ASAP.

Had to get a new key made. Lost my spare 😣. It might turn up, but I'm not comfortable with only having one key.

Is it just me or does the new BMW 900 XR look like another Tracer copycat? Between that and the Ducati Multistrata 950, it seems like the Europeans have realized that Yamaha is on to a good thing. Their models will still be 50% more though. Granted the Ducati is a good bike with some features the Tracer doesn't have, it would have come out around $21k compared to $14K (Canadian) to be similarly equipped.

Thanks -- I will cruise throught the threads and thanks for the advice. I suspected there was no great advantage with Yamaha for the lights. On my last bike (2015 FZ-07) I did buy the Yamaha heated grips which were a little more expensive than other after market products but not much and they created a more streamlined function and look but I don't see that being the case with lights.

I was thinking that $548 Canadian for the Yamaha fog lights is pretty steep. I ride all year long so would get good use out of them. Is there any advantage to the Yamaha lights?

Took the day off work. Pouring rain until about 1130 then brightened right up. Picture is at Clover Point, Victoria BC Canada looking over the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In the distance you can see the Olympic Penninsula in Washington State USA.

Fantastic. Was in Wales last year -- mostly Anglesey. You have the exact same model/colour scheme as me. Hard not to imagine myself there now.

So MacGregor and Boorman took the long way around, but I took the long way to work. Why? I don't think I need to explain to this audience. Today is my 50th birthday, so was feeling a little reflective and thought I'd capture a bit of what I was seeing. I'm realizing how important it is to capture what ever adventure you want whenever you can -- even if it's just on the way to work.