Clegg78

makes sense, so I can assume the switch gear and such all uses the lugs like most mfgs do. For threading the end of the bars, are the stock bars threaded (I've not explored how the brush guards are actually mounted, I figured it was a compression fitting.

So, replacing the bars... when I've done that on some other bikes there was a good bit of work because the stock controls and such have lugs and holes in the bars they attached to. How are the Yamaha controls and such, how hard is the bar swap on these?

Found some posts on the accident last year. The problem: A Motorcycle Trip Cut Short : 2020 Strikes again. – Interwebs of Joe About a week ago I left on a motorcycle trip/adventure as I talked about in... the fix: The bike is repaired! – Interwebs of Joe New pan onOut with the old, in with the newOil siphon/strainerOwchVery...

I’m a fan of the Michelin Pilot Road series, I’ve had PR2,3,4 on past bikes. For this I wanted to try something different this tire, and went with Pirelli Scorpion Trail 2 for this set. The ADV folks seem to like em, I’ve used them in freezing rain, slush, downpours, dirt, gravel, and searing hot dry asphalt… they work pretty good and do t fling rocks like the PR5 would. They are wearing a bit faster than I expected, I have around 4000mi on them and the rear is almost to the center wear bars for the longer distance touring I’ve been doing, ive been running the front and rear at recommended pressures when fully loaded, but with light I keep the. Both 2-4psi under the recommendation of the frame. not sure I can say they are better than the PR5s over all, but I know the PR4s we’re a little weird on loose surfaces. I have probably 200mi on dirt/gravel/sandy roads with these…. The bike is still a handful just given the geometry and such, but it works and you need a delicate hand on everything.

It was last year and it was a small dirt patch in the middle of the road on a highway that had arhat looked like a baseball sized rock in a rut I rode through… it took out the sump protector and pushed it into the oil pan. I had a port about it somewhere, I’ll find it. Since then I upgraded to a better sw-motec protector vs the eBay one I had, and reinforced it with a stainless steel plate. But I had no issues at this trip. It was a truly freak hit that hit precisely where it needed to cause that damage,

This post was perfectly timed... After my ride last week I was noticing after about 200 - 300 mi the outsides of both of my hands would get very very sore. I think I've ID'd it to being a bit of a hand angle when I am sitting back on the seat more. I just ordered one of these to see what it does... if it doesnt fix the hand issue I figure its easy to sell it.

So I am back from the trip and just posted a write up here:

So the pic with the sun setting, was in 2020 when the bike was stranded with a hole in the oil pan. The other pic is me visiting that spot 8 months later with a functional bike.

I wrapped up my 5 day trip around CO and some key landmarks in the southwest. I took my freshly upgraded Tracer 900GT with new Ohlins bits front and back and put it through its paces on a lot of dirt/gravel and a ton of twisty riding as well. Most of the roads everywhere were covered in sand/gravel/dirt where I was so there wasn't a whole lot of fully committed lean over time, but it was fun and fast. Total mileage on dirt on this trip was close to 100mi out of the 1600 total on some loose dirt, some hard pack clay, some gravel, all fun. Having the Pyramid fender extenders + shock protector really helped keep the dirt where it was supposed to be. The SW Motec sump protector got tagged a few times on some larger gravel bits but nothing more than a couple scratches. I went to Victor, CO - an old mining town - just south of where I live for an easy first day. Then did a long ride with 30+ miles of sketch dirt roads (Phantom Canyon that runs from Victor to Canon City), I was nervous about that day becuse that road is known to be pretty iffy at times. But besides for about 10 miles of loose dirt making for some really interesting riding with sheer cliffs next to the road, it was a fun day (The alternate route on pavement would have been about 120miles). I made it to Los Alamos that day, which as a geek I am all about. Los Alamos is a oasis in the desert, lush and green. I had a lot of fun walking around that town for an afternoon. I also washed dirt off the bike quickly and relubed the chain after that day of dirt. Then I had a long - close to 400mi - haul to Monument Valley. I took the insanely fun Hwy 4 through Jemez Springs down to San Ysidro, NM, and then ventured to the place I broke my motorcycle in 2020 (Pics in the next post, ran out of attachment space). I found the oil spot from my bike. I took a close to 75mi detour from my route to find this spot and show it, it didnt beat me In Monument Valley I spend 2 days there, with the night I got in, I did a guided tour with a Navajo to watch the full moon come up on a bluff in the valley, that was a lot of fun. then the next day I rode all around the valley, most on-road, some off road, but the sandy trails in the valley are super sketch with the tires I have on the bike so I didn't do that much. But I put 150mi just meandering around the valley that day taking pictures. Then I started a highspeed sprint home as the weather outlook turned sour in CO for 2 days from when I left Monument Valley. So I took a very very fun route to Montrose, CO. Hitting up one of my favorite rides in the area (CO Hwy 141 out of Egnar , and 145 out of Norwood). Then the next day I did a high speed dash to Denver as weather was moving in. I still took a fun ride over Grand Mesa to get home in the morning. But I pushed gas mileage on the bike hard, and only stopped for gas once and ate a cliff bar on the 320mi way home. Ended up doing an average of 64Mph over those 320 miles with the morning gas stop, breakfast stop, and going over some very twisty roads in the morning. The bike didn't miss a beat the entire way, no drama, no issues. The new suspension was incredible, and the tool I made to do quick changes to the suspension upfront was a game changer for going between on/offroad (few clicks of compression dampening here and there).

I took the bike in the first leg of a 7 day trip. Did 20 mi on dirt/gravel in the mountains , one grade was 18% on gravel in victor, co today. I am an old mining town geek and this is neat place. The Ohlins suspension was unreal good on the dirt and even better on the asphalt. Effortless in all conditions. I did spend a few hours and a few rides doing tuning of the suspension fully loaded and it paid off. Quick short day today… but back to back 375-400mi days to get me to Monument Valley to see the full moon with some Navajo guides in the valley

Yeah, it’s should be different given the magnitude of scale difference that every apple product since 2018 seems to act as a tracking receiver. But it is all too be seen. I am going on a week long trip next week and will report back on my findings

After a few days of the tracker moving around but it not being near the owners phone it will emit a chirping sound for a few minutes off and on so you know its there. Its subtle but could be effective to give away its tracking someone.

Yeah that's true. But it does take a few days for that to happen I believe. Also, if they know there is an Air Tag on the bike being tracked but they cant find it... they may just dump the bike or bail on their plan. Its not a perfect system by any means, but no tracking system generally is without a subscription service. There are definitely ways to hide a small air tag better on the bike if you wanted. there are a number of locations that would work well I think. I was going with "easy and just not obvious" with my mount above Also I think if you put the tracker into "Lost Mode" it skips some of the anti stalking tech steps potentially. not 100% sure. There is a knife edge Apple is walking on this tech to keep it from being used maliciously.

... Maybe? 1/8" hot rolled stainless is cheaper, easier to work with, and more stable than the honeycomb. Also it has better mechanical properties for spreading out an impact over a larger area. I am using the method of failure from the rock hit last year, its clear how the rock damaged the plate, how the plate actually helped the rock stay in line and take out the sump. This plate would do the opposite as the sump guard deforms. Yeah you could add an aluminum plate. But again, those are more expensive than the stainless plate (if you are using anything other than shit grade aluminum). I didn't do this because of what I normally encounter, I did this because I don't want to encounter the one perfect hit like I did already. And I do ride a lot of dirt/gravel roads that have some interesting stuff on them. Also total time to do this was 1 hour start to finish with a drill press, and a tap. Easy, simple, and I wont need to look at it again

and if you want to see what makes Air Tags click : https://www.ifixit.com/News/50145/airtag-teardown-part-one-yeah-this-tracks With this info I may actually change my mount design around to have the air tag sit turned around for better exposure of the antenna (the white side is the side where the antenna is most visible.)

Hey folks - So I was thinking ( I accidently do that now and then) With the the launch of the Apple Air Tags, we now have access to a $29 tracker that uses the largest mobile system on earth (comprised of close to 1B compatible devices) that are everywhere for tracking. This could make it a cheap, subscription free, 1Yr battery life, discrete, and durable tracker for your motorcycle. Tile had this functionality before but there are not as many devices setup to help track the Tiles. With Apple, its a game changer though. Here is how it works: How Air Tags work : You buy an Air Tag and Associate it to your account and in the "Find My" Network. The Air Tags just ping a low power and highly encrypted Bluetooth/NFC signal that compatible phones passively listen for (Essentially any iPhone in the last 5 years) and report that it saw the tag and the location the phone was when it saw it (or some approximation of where the system thinks the tag is). So an example in action: You park your motorcycle for the day at a trail head and go for a hike. You wont be anywhere near your motorcycle, but its location will be reported privately to Apple by anyone who comes by it and Apple will update the Find My network location. If your bike gets stolen, essentially anyone near the bike with an iPhone will relay its location to you. You can set the tag into "lost mode" so it will msg you every time its seen with its location. I made a small mount for mine to go under the seat somewhat discretely and not blocked by a lot of metal, luggage, etc... out of a soft TPU rubber just using the stock push rivet. (I may post this part on https://JK3D.us for sale, but I haven't decided yet as I am not happy with the print quality for this complex design with the TPU I am using) An example of how my Air Tag looks for the motorcycle (Taken when I went out to get lunch): Pros: Cheap ($29 for one 4x for $99), no battery or power wiring needed, no GPS needed, no cell contract or satellite contract, just replace the battery once a year (CR2032 standard battery). Able to be used to remember where you parked the bike. Cons: Dependent on people having iPhones near by if you aren't near it, Dependent on you having an iPhone/account, It has a number of anti-stalking features that could let people know there is an Air Tag on the bike, it will emit a (Pretty quiet) noise every now and then if it hasn't been near you in 3 days. It also has a limited range, so if no one gets within like 20-30ft of your bike it may not be picked up and people cant be just racing by in a car to see it. I am planning to do a lot of backpacking this summer with the motorcycle, so leaving the bike at trail heads for days on end... and bikes are stolen quite a bit. I have a disc lock with an alarm + this tracker... and insurance. So hopefully that is enough.

Here is my "sump up armor" upgraded Been thinking about this since I crumpled a sump protector and my sump last fall. (I ordered all these parts back in Sept 25th, 3 days after I broke the sump!) The ingredients: SW-Motec Sump Guard. 4"x6" 1/8" Hot Rolled 304 Stainless Plate 6x6" 1/8" EDPM Adhesive Rubber (Good at high temps and chemically tolerant from oil etc...) 4x M5x14mm Zinc Plated Alloy Steel screws (Stronger than stainless screws) 4x 5mm Nyloc Nuts, and 4x 5mm Stainless washers I drilled the stainless plate first and kept the bolts as far back at the rear as is reasonable to keep clearance from the sump, and the front inset 10mm from the front. I threaded them with a 5mm tap. I Used the stainless plate as a guide to drill the SW-Motec sump guard. I Counter sunk the bottom holes and (and slightly the stainless plate to give clearance for the neck of the threaded part of the bolt). Everything came together well. it does add maybe 1-1.5# to the sump guard but this is the lowest point in the bike so I am not worried about that. The plate covers the entire low point of the sump and extends a few inches in front right to the back edge of the sump guard. The EDPM is there to blunt a hit, if you hit a rock hard or crush the SW Motec Supports (they are supposed to), the sump guard will come into contact with the sump... I would like to soften that blow as much as possible to avoid cracking the sump. 1/8" of EDPM should do nicely with that.

Added on some Pyramid Plastics bits to the bike. The Hugger Extender and Fender Extender + the rubber Shock protector. I figured with the new Ohlins goodness on the front and back I wanted to protect the shock a tad more, and I am tired of riding in rain/dirt and getting the backs of my legs covered in gunk. I am going to leave on a week long trip just kind of meandering in northern NM (Going to potentially visit the spot I almost killed the bike last fall... ) and then Monument valley. I am planning to ride on dirt/gravel roads for close to 100 miles on this trip. So I wanted a tad more protection. I am also finishing up my modifications to the SW-Motec sump guard with some cold rolled stainless plate + thick EDPM rubber (to blunt any blow by the stainless). To avoid a rock still taking out my sump like it did last year.

Ahh makes sense, and that does add up for folks who want more go-fast-noises.

I am curious why you would remove the insulating foam from the underside of the tank.... isn't it there to specifically help avoid heating up the fuel which can throw off F/A mixtures?

I got a set of comfort seats off Facebook for $50 (yeah… 50… front and rear tracer 900gt comfort seats) and I’ll say they are ok. Worth the $50? Yeah! Worth the $250 just the rider seat is normally? Noo the seat has a better angle slightly but is more firm so depending on how you ride that could be an issue. just threw on $2300 in rear shock + cartridges from Ohlins and that… was a big change! I think the stock tracer 900gt suspension was already better than I expected, but these bits are different games entirely. IMO, getting rebuildable, and tunable suspension is something that will outlive you owning thr bike. This is the best bang for the buck upgrade you can do (ignore BS exhaust, remapping, flashing, etc… those are neat but only if the bike isn’t barely in control due to shit suspension )

Hey folks, I have been working with local suspension tuners and have been making some small tools to help riders tweak their suspension setup easily on rides and such. It's a small tool you can carry in a pocket easily on a ride and make preload, compression and rebound adjustments on your forks with no hassle. I was on a ride yesterday and make a compression tweak... while riding as the tool was on a lanyard I could just reach up and make the change. I designed this initially just for the Tracer 900 community, and it evolved from there when I got involved with some of the off-road and racing community, it went from a small puck meant just for the Tracer 900/GT/MT-09 to something that can handle K-Tech, Ohlins, Nitron, Fox, and a number of other OEM and aftermarket front suspension. (know your preload/clicker sizes when you order) JK3D Moto Fork Adjustment Tool - JK3D.us I dig the Tracer 900 community (and actively want to help) so I am giving a 15% discount code for everyone here "tracer900net" I have a whole list of Tracer 900 specific products and am adding more all the time, I am looking to get access to a FJ-09 and others to start tweaking products for some of the other Tracers! Yamaha Tracer 900-900GT Specific Archives - JK3D.us

That's how I do it as well! ( I use the handlebars but using the frame guards looks like a better option!

Just reinstalled. Used the front mount in-first method. With the lower rear link bolt out. I used a low profile floor jack to precisely raise the rear tire to get everything aligned. I did use the shorty 14mm but didnt really need to, I seemed to get a good bit of movement out of a full size gear wrench that I had on the other side. Toughest part was getting the bolt in under the top of the rear arm, just fidgety shit. Other than that it took ~ 45min to get the shock in and fully mounted not counting the time to put the fender back on, and set sag.

Just pulled my new Ohlins rear shock to have the starting preload adjusted by my guy. this was way easier than I thought it would be. I used a write up from here (that uses a technique echoed above). No stubby wrenches needed Shock install - solo method | Yamaha MT-09 / FZ-09 Forums So I spent a few minutes studying the shock and linkage area... The biggest issue I had so far (haven't reinstalled it yet) was getting the top bolt out as its covered in tubes and cable runs. I removed the lower link bolt which made everything a snap... no removing the rear wheel, etc... I used the center stand and have a 2x4 under it for some additional clearance. Total time to remove was probably 25min.