Clegg78

I've had my bike loaded heavily on trips and when putting it on the side stand, due to its location on this bike, it can lift the front tire off the ground or damn near unload it even on relatively flat ground.   Not sure why the side stand is so odd on these bikes, but it is not prone to falling to the right side, that's for sure. 

1 hour ago, KrustyKush said:

I read over on a Goldwing forum, someone had their rear tire go flat overnight whilst on side stand. Wing fell over to the right side. Bummer. 

Heavy bike with soft tires I guess?  I had a slow leak over the winter and the rear tire was essentially flat, but the sidewalls and such were strong enough the tire never deformed on the side stand!  good thing about a light motorcycle I guess    I've also seen Goldwings embed their center stand in asphalt down south...

Did a shake down ride on the bike after all the work.  Man, between all of that she feels spry and light.  The chain/new oil means shifting is so damn nice now.  It was windy AF so I didn't ride too long , but enough to make it count. 

36 minutes ago, betoney said:

Sounds like you are ready for the season.  Any epic road trips coming up?  I'm hoping to get back to Colorado this summer for one of my trips.

None yet.  I have a trip to get to Idaho on the agdenda from last year but not sure when I’ll have time.  Spending a few weeks in Alaska and a few more in Europe this year already so not much free time… regardless the bike is good for a bit now! 

Finished up the major maintenance I planned for the bike!  Took a couple weekends and waiting on some bits to come in.. but all wrapped up... I'd say the bike is better than new now. 
 

• Valves adjusted (all exhaust were way out of spec)
• Plugs changed (Not needed, they looked good, but why not, I had them in hand)
• Coolant flushed/changed (Honda HP Coolant)
• Oil changed (Motul 7100 10w50, Yama filter)
• Chain replaced (DID Gold VX3 525)
• Sprockets replaced (Sprocket Center RSX rear, Dampened front, stock gearing)
• Air Filter Replaced (Std Yamaha filter, not a fan of the K&N style on these bikes)
• Inspected a good bit of the bike as well including wheel bearings. 
  
  Only screw up was when I had the tank on backwards on the seat, I scraped the painted part next to the seat... ugh. 

19 hours ago, Sandeep said:

That’s my 2020 Tracer, bought new in 2021 March. Working on installing Denali D4’s; Radiator guard, Fuse block, Continental TKC70 Rock tires for the upcoming trip to Trans- Taiga in Quebec, Canada.  Will share pictures soon.. 

you doing anything for the suspension on the dirt/gravel roads?  Not familiar with what you can all do with the ES style suspension on the 21+  I know on the 20 and such you can just swap the shocks for better ones with more consistent valving and such.   OEM suspension is known to get pretty weak/beat up on high frequency gravel and dirt roads. 

18 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

 You can really get away with keeping and using your existing nuts!

 Unless they're old like mine...

The number of threads about incorrect torque specs, stripped studs, and other BS around the rear sprocket, I am just going to get the new nuts and do it right and try to avoid messing up the $300 rear hub.   And IMO anything dealing with the driveline on the bike can afford the new hardware they deserve.   Also not in a huge rush... it's going to snow and be cold tomorrow and days after. 

On 2/17/2023 at 8:37 PM, whisperquiet said:

Is your bike subject to the Yamaha recall that replaces the front brake switch?

https://thebrakereport.com/front-brake-switch-recall-of-yamaha-motorcycles/

Funny enough my dealer when they installed the new switch, the new switch had the 2nd switch broken inside that that Cruise Control looks at... dealer told me it would take 2 months to get the right switch in to replace it again...   $70 on Partzilla later and I fixed it myself.   Expensive recall, and a PITA.   That was about a year ago and I think they are still waiting on the switch or they never called me at least.  (Reason #158 I will do everything I can myself and shun dealerships service deps.)

I rode the bike for the first time since getting the valves shimmed and valve bodies synchronized, new plugs, and maybe placebo, but the bike feels feisty and smooth.   Happy no leaks found. 

Got home and put a new DID VX3 gold chain on the bike and new front sprocket.   My order of new front and rear locknuts for the sprockets looks like it tore open in transit... I ended up with one rear sprocket nut...   So going to see if any dealers are open tomorrow to get them, then I can finish and put the rear sprocket on.  Then the hardware part of the work on the bike. 

Then just need to change the oil and good to go for many miles.     

And it lives, got the cooling system back on filled, and fired right up.   Let it come to temp, and nothing odd, the engine sounds good (it did before as well), now onto syncing the throttle bodies, then to replacing the chain/sprockets. 

I am looking to pick up a new side panel as I accidentally scraped the crap out of one of mine by dropping something on it.  B5C-21711-00-P2 is the number, and since the 9GT came in only one color in 2019 in the US I am curious if this part comes painted?  Anyone know?

3 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

 I bought one for like 12 bucks from K&N and a big set of 90ﾟ needle nose pliers work well too

 

 

 

 

 

Fair, this is about $1 in material and 30 minutes of print time   And unlike pliers I can easily rotate both cam sprockets with one hand. 

Posted the cam tool wrench: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5862747 

Whelp - valve adjustment done. 

All intakes are now at .15+ 

Exhaust is also OK... not perfect, I am not sure what happened- 2 valves are on the tight side of the margin .25++ but not quite .28 ( could probably get the .28 through if I forced it).   The rest are .28 or +.  I second guessed my writing on my initial checks I think and read a .23 as .20, kicking myself, I wanted them all at .28.   But it's all in spec it will be fine till the next check.   I did find the ProX shims to be quite wild in their variance.  Ended up using some of the Hot Cams shims in place. 

It's still in spec and FAR better than it was... 

Reassembly was easy. I love the Permatex assembly lube. (Only mess up on reassembly was forgetting to put the chain on the cams before bolting them in and not being able to get it past the not on the cam sprocket. 

Timing was relatively easy to get set, initially I was off a tooth overall on the crank side.   I designed 2 wrenches to let me adjust the timing easily by rotating both sprockets at the same time.   Using the Zip Tie method that the video above used to then hold the chain on the sprocket.   The tool to the left is the new design I ended up settling on, if you print 2 of that that's all you need.    you can hold both with one hand to offload the stress on the chain and then zip tie them in place with the other.   I'll get the part posted to download in the coming days. 

Now onto getting the cooling system installed and refilled.  Then balancing the throttle bodies. 

Just ordered some shims  I am going to be flush with them by end of the week!  the video series above is great,  I was curious about the cam tool to rotate against the exhaust valve springs loading and just bought one on Ebay to keep things simple.

The CCT looks like it is going to be an event, seems a good bit more complex than my Triumph was!

Like most -  For the valve adjustment at 20K miles - all exhaust valves were tight, most were a bit under the lower part of the tolerance band, with one being dangerously tight (like .16mm)

All the intake valves were in spec with 2 of them on the tighter side of the tolerance, going to try and fix that... hard when the increments for 7.48mm valves is half the tolerance band!   

Now I wait for shims to get delivered, but I may call around seeing if anyone has any odd sizes as the closest thing I can get for the one of the exhaust put it .303 which is marginally too much gap, but also a bit off from the rest of the exhaust valves. 

Plugs looked great for 20K miles.  Replaced them anyway, the gaps were even in band so very little erosion or anything. 

My one screw up is I forgot to take a picture of the cams before releasing the cam tensioner and I am pretty sure one of them rotated a bit... so I just gotta spend some time ensuring timing is right. 

3 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

No need to remove the radiator, just tip it down & forward with a towel on the fender; no hoses need ne detached.  I vacuum drain, flush and fill.  Fast and clean, most thorough.

Grind down the ball end of the hex and case guards need not be touched...

Bigger issue I had was getting the cam tensioner out with the givi bars on, so I removed them from both sides.    And since I am draining cooling system and refilling, it was easier to remove the radiator than keep it on. 

1 hour ago, Satsteve said:

I like the idea of getting a pipe with the cat.  The Akro is really nice, but in Canada it's $2.5k taxes in with the cat!  Then another $500 for the ECU tune.  I'm sure I'd like it, but I can think of a lot I like for $3k.

Yeah... and I think the actual effect of that 3K would be some different sound and minimal performance.   Where spending 3K on suspension and tires... thats a real upgrade!

21 minutes ago, Satsteve said:

What about the fuel cut off causing huge engine braking?  I've also got the 2019 GT & find the throttle pretty smooth especially in B mode.  This is my first fuel injected bike & I find the engine braking is way too much when I roll off the throttle.  I'm considering a flash as well & been looking into pipe options, but preferably on the more quiet side.

I live in a very mountainous area, and I actually like the engine braking a bit on the downhills so I don't need to ride the brakes much but it would be nice on the twisties to have a smooth off/on transition.   An yeah I would be all into a change of exhaust but not sure there is a huge benefit since I want to keep it quiet or close to stock noise, and keep the cat... cause... you know... smelling like a refinery after a long ride sucks (that and increasing the emissions on a 900cc bike to the level of an il tuned 1980's V8 in a F150 isn't awesome) 

1 hour ago, texscottyd said:

Absolutely.   I had my 2015 FJ done (by 2WDW), and it made a big difference in ‘ridability’ even with everything else stock.  It cleaned up the abrupt on/off throttle fueling, and made A Mode an absolute joy to ride.   Mine defaults to start in A Mode now, and I never seem to switch out of it.  

Only caveat: If you have a newer bike, the improvements may be less pronounced.   The first year bikes were known for being a bit off from the factory, but that has supposedly improved with the newer bikes.  (EDIT:  I just noticed this is the 900 GT forum, so maybe someone can chime in with their experience specifically for the model) 

Thanks for the insight!   I've been curious if its less needed on the newer models

3 minutes ago, Heli ATP said:

2019 Niken is a huge improvement over the 2017 FJ-09 in throttle response.

Stock its a huge improvement? because yeah I find the Tracer 900 GT (2019) to be pretty good stock.    Not sure $350 is worth it just to get more cruise control speed options.

On 2/10/2023 at 4:49 PM, RaYzerman said:

Not quite true.... at the beginning of a section with a diagram denoting disassembly of items, the items are numbered in red and the torque values highlighted in yellow..... starting with the Chassis section.  The wiring diagram is also in colour.

ahh yeah I guess there are some highlights, I was looking at the manual a bit on a Kindle last time I did work and ... that was all Black and white, so I never really noticed.   I can highlight those sections... with my imagination I guess  

Yeah I bought through a suspension specialist who did the setup for me (and ordered based on my weight).   Most of my settings are right in the middle of the band after setting everything up so a LOT of adjustment left.   Only thing I had to tweak after the initial install was the preload collar, to move it down just a tad because I got fat and needed a bit more for long rides with the bike loaded up.

I did a bit of weigh reduction on the bike today    Biggest PITA was draining the tank a bit, it was full and I didn't want to deal with moving it around like that...  and my gas pump failed so there was a bit of a mess using a vacuum pump to start a siphon.     Tomorrow, I drain the coolant, and remove the radiator (since I am doing the valves and coolant no reason to keep the radiator strapped to the front for the whole ordeal. ), and start checking valves, and doing the plugs. 

A minor PITA, but the Givi crash bars block the opening to turn the engine over for the valve job. 

I have only experience with the stock and the Ohlins YA537/NIX30 combo on the bike, and I can tell you going to a proper front and rear suspension upgrade is massive... the bike is so stable and consistent.   Worth every penny.