HGP61

Welcome to the Forum, and I know only too well the hollow feeling looking at your bike after a fall but rest assured the important thing is "YOU HAVE A TRACER!!!" the lots and lots of good memories to come will quickly make this one fade to insignificance.

I looked at similar engine guard but didn't like only having two mointing points. I eventually found a set that had three mounting points each side which I thought might be a bit stronger if they are ever needed I think they are a "fehling" set. I,m sure someone else will jump in with advice on the set you like.

The very cheap (about £5 or £6) sidestand extender posted direct from China had one major issue for me. The base plate fitted perfectly under the sidestand foot but the retaining top plate did not fit over the sidestand. You only get what you pay for and at that price I didn't mind too much having to take a hacksaw to it and removing enough of the top plate to make it work. It's been on for a year and a bit now and works well.

When I park up in my shed I do put the side stand down on a 3/4 inch thick block of wood but that's more to keep it away from the side wall of the shed rather than stability. That's my pal Allan, We were on a bike tour for a week so if he's dancing a highland fling it must be because he is happy. Taking his life in his hands though that was a busy road on Mull, during tha 20 minutes we had stopped there a car passed us. Other friend Wullie was at the other side of the bikes taking in the view we had stoped to see. Nice foreground for a picture.

Only minor issue I have with the sidestand is that my heel can occasionally get pushed off by the footrest when I am pushing the sidestand down. usually need to look down to make sure my foot is positioned correctly, never had this on other bikes. I added a cheap chinese sidestand foot for any stops on softer ground works as well as the more expensive ones I have seen. only time I felt the sidestand too short was because of the way the road sloped towards the verge at the side of the road, but I could have just moved the bike forward a wee bit.

Went out and got wet and dirty. Met up to socially distance with my two riding buddies. The weather was less than ideal with tempreture about 5 C and grey leaden skies turning to a cold moderate rain for most of our 60 mile run out. It was the first time the three of us had been out together since last October so we had a blast and a fantastic time. Only took an hour to clean most of the muck off the bike. On the plus side my new oxford mondial laminated jacket worked very well and kept me dry and toasty.

If the non standard shock has lifted the ride height of the bike and you want to keep the Kawasaki shock you might want to try a set of lowering "dog bone" links to see if that puts it back to specification height.(possibly the cheaper option). If it was me, I would probably bin the kawasaki unit and go for a shock suitable for the Tracer.

Good, I'm glad I have someone to blame now get it fixed and while your at it get this covid thing sorted and travel restrictions lifted I want to take my bike to Switzerland to visit My Brother.

Don't gamble your shirt on a definate date in dealers. I was reading recently about the worldwide shortage of shipping containers and how covid restrictions have left thousands of them in the wrong place. The costs of transporting with a 40 ft. container has also more than doubled.

I so agree, Together with my two regular riding buddies we tend to keep planning for our camping trips to a minimum. Plan for our first trip to Ireland was ----"Lets get the ferry to Belfast and turn Right" and that's as far as the planning went. We had a fantastic trip and found some fantastic roads and scenery on the Wild Atlantic way. I've no problems with someone who needs to plan everything to the tinyest detail if that's what they need to do but for me the important thing is sharing the experience with good friends and taking things as they come .

Hi Jayzonk, I think the panels you saw on that picture are the original plastic ones that came as standard on the earlier all black Tracer models. They have a carbon fiber look to them, The hand guards on the picture are also the standard fitment for the mark one tracer, they are a good example of aesthetics before function and I don't think they protect from wind blast particularly well. I fitted a cheap e-bay example of the beak (pictured in a previous post) I wanted to balance the top heavy look that the Puig touring screen I added had made. Picture below is the best one I have of the the side panels.

Yes Yes Yes!!! My two riding buddies and myself have started discussing our weeks summer tour and that's not until June but already the anticipation is making me smile. Have a fantastic time.

That must be why I have always liked the look of the opposed V twin. I had lined up a Honda CX500 a good few years ago to replace my third bike I liked the look of the engine and the shaft drive. Unfortunately or fortunately if my wife is looking over my shoulder marriage got in the way and the lack of disposable income took me off bikes for a few years. Don't think I would swap my Tracer for one now that I love the triple.

My Bike went for it's first MOT test today, Woo Hoo That's the Government department of transport safety check for our overseas friends. Counts as first run out of the year so far and I Managed to cover 30 miles from Home to the testing station (its only 6 miles from home) Air temp was sitting about 4 degrees C so felt a bit cold at times but it was fantastic to get back on the bike. Just need to pay for some road tax and I can be legal again. Passed the test as expected but advised that one of the suspension dog legs had a wee bit of movement on the top mounting point. something to put on the to do list for some point in the future.

+1 for me I have a small bit of free play as well thought it was normal, and a +1 for my mate's GT as well, his moves a wee bit too (that's why I thought mine was normal.

You make many good points that I agree with. I would never criticise anyone for their choice of bike the important thing is that it does it for you and that you get what you want from it whether it be a round world tour or a couple of hours with the chrome polish in the garage to escape from the wife. On the looks of the HD I Pan America I will know what it is as It passes me from behind or comes towards me, that look is distinctive. I won't be thinking was that a Yamonasaky 900. I think that most major manufacturers tend to follow the herd in the looks department and play it safe so they don't turn off their buyers.

Hi Xstoff welcome to the forum, I had booked three test rides, Tiger 800 BMW 850 GS with the Tracer 900 first. mind made up part way through the first test ride choice was easy. The Triumph and BMW test rides got cancelled.Enjoy every mile.

Just been watching a video clip with the pan America specifications highlighted and while I would probably never (no make that never) buy one I hope it does well for the brand. To be competitive in today's world a manufacturer has to have a wide range of products to suit a wide sector of buyers. One point that made mr sit up and pay attention was the adaptive ride height of the new bike it drops the suspension two inches as you come to a halt to let you get your feet down. Now that is clever.

I'm 5' 11'' with a 31 inch inseam and initially I felt that the Tracer was too high, no way would I feel comfortable With the seat on the high setting. But you will get used to it very quickly as long as you can get the balls of your feet down and feel confident in your slow speed control i don't think you will have any problems. I have only struggled once and that was more with the road camber, I wobbled a bit when I came to a stop and could not put my left foot down and couldn't pull it back off the side stand when I was ready to go on. However one of the benefits of the Tracer is the light weight and I only had to push the bike a few yards to a flat bit of the road and get on.

I have just taken delivery of my new Shoei Ryd which I think is the same model as the RF-SR. Have yet to use it yet but the day I will is getting closer and closer. I tend to buy a new helmet every three years, have a main helmet and a spare and ditch the oldest one when it is six years old. I would be interested in feedback on the transitions visor that Shoei make for the helmet I thought it might be a useful addition seeing that the model does not come with a drop down sun shield.

I stripped the working parts from an old car tyre inflator and ditched the plastic bits. It has fitted under the seat of the last three bikes I have run. the old picture below shows the 12v socket set up for my last bike but the 2 amp fuse on the Tracer would not have been suitable so the present set up has crocodile clips to connect direct to the battery. The compressor pushes nicely between the pins of the seat adjuster and keeps the nylon gear wheel clear of the ground in use.

Friend picked up a nail in the first five miles with a new tyre I remember that resulted in a few swear words. I was following in a group ride a few years ago when the friend in front ran over a short length of spring with his rear tyre. I heard the pop and saw the instant deflation of air as it raised a small cloud of road dust. It was the first time I had seen the "string" puncture kit being used but that and the small compressor I had under the seat of my bike put us back on the road in about ten minutes. I went out and got a puncture kit the next day.

I think the "Kamo" is a matt dark green when you see it in the metal interesting enough if you like dark green and don't like your bike all sparkly and colourful.

Hi JD and welcome to the forum. You won't go wrong with an FJ-09 I came from a Honda CBF 1000 and the difference in power delivery was so different I had to go for one. While I have room in my head for more than one bike I don't have room in my shed so the Honda had to go. I feel that a collection of bikes have to be different to each other in some way to have two bikes that do the same job one of them will end up unused and unloved but each to their own if you keep both it might be twice the fun.

You did!! No, you ride a Tracer so you can't be all bad