Clegg78

Ohh wow, Terry @ Norwest did the suspension on my Triumph years ago! Forgot they were still in business.

Hey there, I have a Tracer 900 GT and am overall happy with the suspension as it is setup (I spent a day tuning the rebound/compression/preload-sag) and its not bad for my 250lb heft. But I am going to be doing more touring with more gear in the boxes and I want to ensure that the rear of the bike isnt too overwhelmed. I was looking to upgrade the rear spring based on the Racetech sizing about 15 -20% higher spring rate. I figure from the setting range I am in on the shock for rebound I have enough range to keep it dampened even with the raised spring rate. I know I can buy a whole new shock, but I am not there yet in terms of needing it... the bike rides very solid as it is, and dropping $500 - $1K on a shock with a higher spring rate seems excessive for the relatively minor change I am looking to make right now. (I do like the remote preload availability and that seems to take aftermarket shocks instantly to the $700+ range.) I have sprint compressors, and have done car suspension work in the past, but I have zero idea about what it takes to do a rear shock spring change. It also isn't documented in the service manual. Any one done a spring change on the rear unit? I tried searching but the results seem to be squarely on the front suspension.

Fitted an old Bags Connection tank bag (probably 4L or less... just for small things) and it fit with my custom phone mount solution. Then I found some action cam/gopro like camera I forgot I bought a couple years ago and threw it on a RAM ball mount and went for a ride to test it around Red Rocks and a few other places. (and to test out the FJR1300 foot pegs, and the comfort of the tank bag. Hot as heck out... dash read 103F while riding back home (Hence my old, crappy mesh jacket just for rides like this).

I put on a black version of the SW-Motec engine protector/sump protector ( via Ebay... it was also cheaper than the Sw-motec one... but the bolt holes were all... approximations, took some additional drill work to get everything to line up perfectly... ) Not 100% sure I am going to keep it on, but figure I'd try it. The look is ok, I like it subtle and matches the Givi crashbars, and evotech radiator protector nicely. And the FJR pegs installed on both sides. Also did work in the cockpit to get ready for a longer trip, added a techmount I had kicking around and put velcro on the plate so I can put random things on it (garage door opener most of the time for quick rides, remote control for a GoPro some times, and really anything else I think of).

Also keep in mind that the 2A is at 12v. That is 24w of power. Your GPS probably pulls 1A at 5v at the most which is 5 Watts. Use Ohms law to figure out the actual power draw in Watts to ensure you arent going to pop a fuse.

This is the tender I use, I love it. SUCH an improvement over the old tenders that were super heavy and hot running.

So, I damaged my new OEM battery (Dropped the phucking bike on it when trying to shake a screw loose that went under the ABS system on my GT... the motor mount landed on the case and put a big dent in it... (saved any damage on the bike!!) Because I didn't want to risk putting in a cracked case (which in the end I think was a dead air gap near the charging post) so I went shopping for a new battery. The OEM Battery is CRAZY expensive close to $200. I picked up an AntiGravity Lithium battery for $160 or so. I've used Lithium in the past and had some bad experiences with some brands (Ballistic cells... with cells going bad in the pack in short order... that was 8 years ago though). The AntiGravity batteries have a built in battery management/balancing system which keeps them much happier. I also have a battery tender made for LiFEPO4 cells. Weight is lighter, and cranking amps seem higher. The only real downside with lithium is very cold weather... they really need to be warmed up before they work to their full potential... to do that you hit the starter a few times in sub freezing weather to heat up the internals of the battery (or turn on accessories/heated grips/gear).

That’s a neat mount, it doesn’t list if it’s waterproof? also one of the perks of the expensive RAM charger mount is it has 3 coils in it, so if you have your phone off center (for button clearance or something) it will charge your phone still. Single coil packs like the above are very touchy on where your phones Qi coils line up.

They do make a Qi charging mount like this RAM® Quick-Grip™ Waterproof Wireless Charging Holder Details and specifications of the retail packaged RAM®...

My last post on this topic for now I wrote up my design and testing process for the mount I did. It turned out far better than I expected it to. Designing a Custom Phone Mount for the Motorcycle – Interwebs of Joe Vibrating a camera to death Late last week I was reading about a... If any of you want one of these mounts I will be getting them listed as a print to order item when I get an ordering website up. No idea on what the cost would be yet, I need to work on that. But if you are interested DM me and I'll let you know when I am ready to make more.

Yeah check these reviews! Yamaha Radiator Guard Tracer 900 / GT 2019-2020 | 4% ($3.72) Off! A Genuine Yamaha Radiator Guard...

Went on a hot ride to shake down some new farkles on the bike ( custom phone mount, and a couple other adjustments). Got home and adjusted the foot break position, and the front brake angle a bit for easier "Roll onto brake" motion, the stock angle was too parallel to the ground and caused my fingers to cramp. Further tweaked rebound and compression settings.

Just took the updated 4 bolt center tank mount on an aggressive canyon ride.... and the vibrations are so low on the phone that if you turn on the camera you actually can take video the OIS is that unburdened (not all the time mind you, but I was impressed). I am going to change to using the phone horizontal. I am designing a small "extra" cage or feet that come around the sides of the charger to give a little more security to the phone in that orientation. I have a small webstore that is going to open with some of the designs I've made for the Tracer (Innovv K2 camera mounts, this phone mount, and a few other farkles) and a bunch of other hobbies (Photography, Backpacking, etc...)

I had a 2005 Sprint ST I sold the day before I picked up the Tracer. It really was a great bike but just uncomfortable at this point. Much happier with the tracer in most conditions.

So I made some design changes to really stabilize the mount. I used the 2 bolt holes that hold the side bodywork on and had to drill 2 small holes just about 30mm ahead of the exposed holes. I used some modeling clay to figure out the clearances below the upper plastic work. I printed a key shim to make the bodywork rigid. The difference is night and day in terms of stability. Let’s me use a taller RAM arm and not have too much flex.

Over the last week I threw on: Givi Crash bars RAM Tough-Charge X Grip Qi charging phone mount Custom mounting solution to keep the phone off the bars to avoid nasty vibrations (check the "Phone Mount" thread) Adjusted Front end sag (zip tie method) and did as close as I could on the rear (I am ~245# so pretty much just full preload.) Tightened some bolts that were coming loose (specifically the ones on the bar ends for the brush guards. ) and Cleaned the bike a bit.

Yeah my first X-Grip mount I didnt realize you were supposed to glue the feed on and almost lost my phone the same way!

I did a test ride and moved the phone and mount between the handlebars and the mount I printed, and the vibrations are FAR different. On the bars its a ton of pretty sharp high frequency vibrations. On the tank mount I built its more low frequency bobbing around in bigger motions. That should mean less shock to the phone/camera as the phones are meant to deal with low frequency bouncing around like that. I am going to take some measurements and print up a bracket that goes from 2 unused holes on the gas tank (meant for the MT-09 bodywork I believe) to brace the front of the plastic collar around the tank. I am going to use some OEM push rivets to secure it to that plastic collar under the phone mount to give it an OEM look. That should remove some of the bouncing of the mount. The eye line of the phone now being where it is is pretty low for what I am used to ( dont like my eyes to be off the road that much) so the normal size RAM arm is what I am going to use to get it higher..

So, I have used tank bags a ton in the past, but so far on the tracer I haven't. I haven’t been shopping for them either, I have an old bags-connection day pack for the last 10 years or so. I have really liked them in the past but may be willing to just use my jacket to carry gear I need. here is a pic of my old “day pack” in relation to the mount using the short RAM arm. I think it could work with the long RAM mount.

So this is the final product It does still have some vibration (tested idling and revving not riding yet, but it does seem far reduced. There isn't much of a way to remove all vibration unless I put something real floaty cause everything on the bike has a vibration. But its FAR different than the vibrations the handlebars seem to have. The plate has some VHB tape on the bottom to secure it solidly to the plastic (and to protect the plastic). I am going to replace the hardware (screws/washers) tomorrow with better ones, but it seems to work! I may make a change to have a few mounting positions , I do know if its closer to the gas cap, the plate vibrates a bit less.

Yeah there are actually some designs out there already for that that someone else drew up, but I cant find it right now. I can take my trusty calipers and give it a go probably next week I need to get this design wrapped up first One thing to consider is there is a TON of vibration on that mount from the wind screen... so if you are concerned about your phone camera living or dying, that would not be a place to mount it IMO. I am going to do some rides with my phone on the mount on the bars, and one on the new mount on the front of the tank with a vibration measurement app to see if there is any difference in frequency and amplitude between the two.

Yeah I am working on the same concept, but doing it so there is no material change to the actual trim. And because I have the resources to make a mount from scratch I am doing that From just having the bike idling, the vibration profile is far different in this location than the bars. It definitely is a lower frequency (still with some vibration). I am thinking of printing one of these with built in dampening with some TPU printed bolt sleeves for the RAM mount to run through. In this configuration the phone sits right even with the top of it being parallel to the bottom of the TFT display when riding relaxed. It still will have some bounce/movement due to the trim itself having some flex. I am printing another with the mount moved toward the rider by 3mm to give just a little more clearance to the bars. ( I am also printing a new lower phone brace for this charger to let the iPhone sit slightly lower in the mount. )

My first prototype mount, I am on a couple revisions since this, it clears the bars in the stock position on the left/right lock by a few MM. Keeps the ball mount close but not too close to the bars. I have some work I am doing on the underside to stabilize it even more, but I do like the location and it could work very well and not interfere with a tank bag. (this prototype is in clear PETG, final one will be in a matte black carbon fiber nylon that can handle the temperatures and direct sun. May also try in Carbon Fiber Poly Carbonate. )

OK last reply to this thread for now I just took some dimensions on my Tracer and I am going to work on a mounting plate that will use the 2 bolts in front of the rider (which are vibration dampened already with rubber) to extend a mounting position for a RAM Ball mount out in the center in front of the rider, and also allow for using or adapting anti vibration plates. My test will be printed in carbon fiber nylon which on its own should have some vibration isolating characteristics.

And one last post. If you look at a number of threads on various ADV forums, you'll see a lot of people using phones just for GPS/nav/music on their bike. Stuff like the Kyocera Duraforce phones. I may look at doing something similar myself.