Wintersdark

NGL, I think I need one.

The T7 is mapped and geared a bit differently, as its intended for a different purpose. Shorter gearing, and the countershaft sprocket is positioned differently relative to the swingarm pivot which provides substantial antisquat which gives it a surprisingly different feel. There's more of a *push* because when you launch, the rear noticeably stands up. But it's got the same oddles of low end torque and being geared shorter tractors really well. Drop the clutch in first at zero throttle, and it'll chug uphill effortlessly without jerking. It lacks some of the wildness a good tuned MT07 has (mine had a black widow exhaust, pulled snorkel, and 2wdw tune) but more than makes up for it in "I can go anywhere!" fun. And yeah, I could never have an R7. No chance. Same with a lot of sportbikes, even an R1 - they're just too small for me to be comfortable. I could use one as a track bike for sure, but not as a daily rider.

@Instinct28 @Warchild I definitely, definitely recommend trying spark plugs from the front. Drop the rad (don't need to fully remove it, just unmount it from the frame), and go in that way. So much easier for us big-handed sorts. It makes doing plugs trivial.

The CP2 is not like the CP3. I actually like the CP2 more for most circumstances. My Tracer is a better bike than my MT07 was (and definitely better than my buddies old SV650) but it's actually less fun to ride. Much more comfortable and decidedly superior on longer trips, with awesome features the MT07 couldn't dream of... But the MT07 straight up power wheelies in 1st to 3rd, even with my 300lb ass on it. The low end torque is WAY better, where up to around 4500rpm the CP3 is actually kind of "meh". The shorter wheelbase and loss of some 60lbs is substantial too. Its slower, but *feels* faster. Basically, think of the SV650 vs FJ09 differences, but go a bit further. Edit: I should note in case it's not clear, my first post above was pretty tongue in cheek; what people look for in bikes varies dramatically and personal preferences are just that. Its just that people who prefer SV650's are wrong is all.

It's not about twisties. The Tracer is excellent in twisties. Its about in town riding on narrow, low speed streets with lots of sharp 90 degree turns - a smaller, lighter, less powerful bike is a lot more enjoyable there. It's not a failing of the Tracer by any means. But when you're booting around town in an area where you physically can't exceed 50kph and need to deal with tight traffic, smaller bikes (and even scooters) are objectively superior.

For sure. I miss my Tracer's cruise control every time I'm on my T7, even with a throttle lock. They're better than nothing, though - not really great for long term cruise control, but they're good to let you just get your hands free for a bit without wildly changing speed. It's funny, before I got my Tracer, I always thought actual cruise control was silly. Now? It's easily a must have feature for me, particularly for any bike that's going to see lots of miles. Even without though, I appreciate the Tracer's CC even riding in town - it's way easier to avoid speeding tickets when you can just lock the CC at the speed limit... or more reasonably at a sedate 10-15kph over. I buy them for around $5 each, made of the finest chinesium. Cheaper than a beer, and it's amazing the goodwill you can buy with one when someone's on a road trip without any kind of cruise control. I'd love a MCCruise for the Tenere, but at $1000.... eeeerg. I'm still amazed they have a kit for a manual throttle bike, but those servos and such are speeeeeeendy.

Can't imagine a world where I'd rather an SV650 vs and MT07, to be honest, having ridden both extensively. Very similar bikes, but the MT07 hits it's higher peak torque way faster, and it's sexier Honestly, I feel an MT07 with an upgraded suspension is a more fun bike to ride than the Tracer 900 on anything other than longer trips - the only reason I went to the Tracer is because I'm physically too big for the MT07 (and SV650, for that matter) and I wanted something more comfortable and capable on road trips. Both SV and MT have issues with the stock suspension, though - kind of to be expected for budget bikes. The CP2 is a freaking blast of an engine. These days, though, depending on preferences and use case I'd also consider an R7 - same powertrain, but already upgraded suspension. If you're into the aggressive sportbike riding posture anyways. Personally, my second "smaller" bike is a Tenere 700... Gets me more agile in town riding and offroad riding too, and again with that glorious, torquey CP2... While still fitting my 6'4" frame. But, yeah, CP2 > the SV650's twin, hands down. Fight me! 😈

I'm gonna argue here. Go Road 6's instead! New tire day is always so great Also some Motoz Tractionator GPS's for the T7. Edit: I tried T32's. They can't handle more aggressive riding(that is, in terms of wear, not performance - they grip pretty much the same on dry pavement) and tend to have a much shorter effective lifespan if you're pushing them hard. Also, they get notably worse wet traction. With that said, they do pretty well and are very comparable for normal riding, and tend to be a lot cheaper, so they're certainly a reasonable choice - but they're not for me. I mean, I've got a pair of used T32's on my tire rack now alongside a pair of used Road 5's. The T32's have some 4000 fewer kilometers on them (roughly 6k vs 10k), but look substantially worse. If you're not accelerating and braking extremely hard, though, they're probably a better value proposition for $/mile. My T32's cost about $200 less than the prior set of Road 5's/new set of Road 6's. Actually, if I where looking for value now, I'd probably just get a set of Road 5's - they're a lot cheaper now that 6's are out. But I wanted to try the new tires.

Yeah, these are awesome. I buy handfuls of them and give them out to people I'm riding with regularly. It's so damn good to be able to get your hand off the throttle on a long ride. There's a lot of more complicated(and expensive!) throttle locks, but these cheap ones work every bit as well and are basically free.

Hah I had exactly the same experience, and that's also why my wife has her Jeep. Got mine for $12k (Canadian) new but with a couple hundred kilometers (it had been the demo bike) - it too had been on the floor all year and winter was rolling in.

I'm very interested in how the Atlas throttle locks compare to the basic lever throttle locks. I've always found the levers work just fine (and much better than the "screw thing at the end of the bar" style) but they're also kind of bulky and get in the way when you're running grip mitts, so much so that I can't really use mine in the winter at all. Have you used the lever sorts as well as the Atlas? Hell, can you just talk some about how exactly the Atlas works, how it's installed, and such? I'm very curious about this, and am very interested in a relatively unbiased opinion (there's lots of gushing ads and such, but those are ads)

"RK 525 GXW - GOLD Heavy Duty X'ring (1300cc Rated)" Just ordered a combined kit from Sprocket Center. I dunno what the deal was with my last chain, but whatever. I could probably make a warranty claim, but I think it'd be more a hassle than it's worth to try.

Ordered some new Road 6 tires and a chain and sprocket set. This time, 15/45 instead of 16/47; going just a wee bit shorter, and with a heavy duty chain rather than the regular if pretty red one I bought last summer. It's been stretching very unevenly, so there's a pretty significant difference between tightest and loosest points, and... Well, figured if tires are coming off anyways, and flush with tax return cash (that should go to much more responsible things) why not correct that and push the gearing a bit further too. Really interested to see how the new Road 6's are, particularly the front. Old Road 5's and before had single-compound front tires, and tended to wear kind of badly. I'm hoping these new generation front tires are better. But I've always really liked Michelin Road's, and while the T32's where a lot cheaper, they scalloped extremely badly under hard acceleration and braking so I didn't get many miles out of them at all in comparison. Still, they were cheaper than the Motoz GPS tires ordered for the T7, at least. $1100 in two sets of tires I've really got to get my rack of half-used tires posted on Kijiji and recoup some of those costs.

That red. Mmm. Nice. These are such outstanding bikes too; absolutely the pinnacle of what they are. Nothing else really compares at all.

God yeah; mine sounds like a Ducati at idle when cold and the clutch engaged.

I know here in Canada, a ticket from speed cameras is $$ only, but no points on your license or anything else. Mostly because while you're responsible for what your registered vehicle is doing (thus, don't loan it to people who are going to do stupid stuff) they can't prove it's actually you. It's extremely rare to be stopped for <10kph over the limit up to around 70kph, and <20 over above that. I've had people say they got a ticket for doing 3kph over the limit, but I'mma press F to doubt on that one. It'd be pointless, it would never hold up in court. With the caveat that's all very much not the case in school zones(playground zones now? whatever) where it's very normal for there to be zero tolerance. Nobody gets forced penalties (traffic school), however taking a defensive driving course will remove a couple points on your license, which could be the difference between having your license suspended for too many points and not. At the high end, you don't get speeding tickets anymore. I got the graphic details when being harangued after being stopped for topping out the Tracer in an 80kph zone. Vehicle is impounded. License is suspended. Can be charged with reckless driving (which if it sticks will essentially double insurance rates), and which is a mandatory court appearance and can involve significant fines on it's own and/or jail time - though the latter seems to be reserved for something way more over the top than just going fast.

Ooof. Back when I lived there, 10 years ago, even with max safe driving discounts, no tickets, etc, I'd pay over $2000/year for a mid 90's shitbox and an 80's motorcycle, both with bare minimum coverage. When I insured my first bike here in Alberta (82 XJ750), and they told me it was going to cost $135... I asked "Per month?" and the adjuster looked at me funny, "No... per year."

Man, Ontario gets so screwed for insurance rates. BC did too, at least when I lived there. Alberta insurance rates have risen dramatically in the last couple years, but it's still pretty darn reasonable for most people. My Tracer 900GT and my Tenere 700, both with full coverage (Cringe all you like Kilo, here at least that means maximum third party liability, basic coverage, collision and comprehensive, and is consistent between insurers) - plus extra addons (full gear and accessory coverage, and full purchase price valuation for the first two years ownership) cost me $480/year together. My understanding is that they charge based on the length of the "riding season" and then extend that over the year with the assumption that the rider is actually just paying for insurance for a couple months in the summer then parking it over the winter. The fools!

If the choice is manual or automatic, for me it's manual 100% of the time. However, a quickshifters is a super fun toy (abd that's all it is, a toy, not something you ever need) when you're feeling zoomie. Thats my opinion anyways. I feel there's two approaches to them: One set of people view them as a way to make their transmission essentially a semiautomatic, to reduce the work when riding around. The other set just wanna go fast or play. And if you're chasing lap times (or what have you) all else being equal a quickshifter will always be faster than a guy shifting manually, even clutchless shifting. Then it's just a fun toy. For me, the first is just sad. To each their own, but the whole shifting process moving through gears and accelerating even at more normal speeds is part of the joy of motorcycling and I'd never want to give that up. There definitely won't be a DCT bike in my garage. Still, I get it. I hope that's never me, but I get it. Particularly if you ride in heavy traffic. I'd argue if you're in the first bracket, a DCT bike is just a better choice that'll give you a better experience. And in the second... Unless you're REALLY particular about lap times... Yeah, it's just a fun toy, nothing more.

It works but it feels clunky if I'm not riding aggressively. I haven't had my ECU flashed - keep thinking about it (been waffling about replacing the exhaust for a year anyways) but with two bikes needing farkling now my budget is spread thinner. I hadn't used it 1st-2nd for a long time after some early "oh look, neutral!" occurences, and over the last few days I've been riding it around and trying it out again. No drops into neutral now; I feel maybe it was just a matter of being newer to the bike and not shifting with sufficient authority? But still, it's pretty clunky in lower gears when I'm not on the throttle. Definitely not a good experience for puttering around like a mature, responsible motorcyclist. I think it's just less noticeable in higher gears but just as clunky really. At lower throttle and/or sub 5000rpm, I get way smoother shifts just shifting normally. This, though, is being pretty picky imho. It's not bad at all, just that it's so much slicker when riding aggressively. Definitely not a DCT replacement for the more sedate rider.

hah this is true; I often forget about that, as motorcycles don't come in "too tall" for me! ...and then I go back to looking at suspension lift kits and a tall rally seat for my Tenere 700. What's another 3" on a 34.6" seat height?

Hah! I'm actually REALLY seriously considering popping on a 15/45 setup this spring as well; I think I got a kinda bad chain, and while it has no kinks, there's a pretty big loose spot on it - roughly 12mm difference in slack as you rotate the chain around. Figuring on just replacing the works, getting a heavy duty chain as I'm pretty hard on it. I love me some hard acceleration, and kind of prefer the feel of the bike at higher RPM to low RPM. That's strange, though. Wonder why mine's so sketchy there? Someone else mentioned the linkage adjustment, though I'm not really sure what the mechanism of failure would be there - maybe allowing more pressure on the level before triggering the ignition cut to allow the shift making it easier to just push it into neutral? This would explain why it doesn't happen when I'm hard on the throttle, as there'd be way more pressure required to push it out of gear. Just spitballing, though, this is pretty far outside my wheelhouse.

Yeah, really, even as someone who rides way too fast on the street, modern Sport Touring tires are pretty extreme. Not only have I not hit the limits of Road 5's (within the limit of my climate; it may be different in the south) but even railing through winding mountain roads with hard braking and acceleration through every corner and routinely above 200kph between them, they're sticking just fine. For me, I'm getting around 10-12k km per set, and at that point I'm taking them off with half the tread remaining but pretty severe cupping front and rear. Still a lot of tire left there, though, and someone riding within reasonable limits would get a few thousand more kms out of them. Riding more responsibly and not getting picky about them, I can easily get 15k from a set. To each their own, of course, and I make no claim to being the greatest rider (learning dirt riding, in fact, has been a pretty big ego check!) but yeah. Again within the context of my environment regarding temperatures and road surfaces - I've literally never met anyone who rides on the street anywhere near the limits of a Road 5. But all that said, reports here have shown that in the warmer states, and with the weirdly abrasive roads some places have, people don't get anywhere near the mileage I do out of them. I do wonder if more sport biased tires won't cup as much under constant heavy acceleration and braking, however. I could lose some "official" mileage if I could use more of the Sport tires.

Yeah, for me 1-2 is tough because as I'm geared shorter (up 2 on the rear), 1-2 is very fast when you're really on the throttle. Thinking about it, it's probably a much more usable experience for someone stock geared or taller. But that's it for this quickshifter: it's not a mile-munching rider aide, it's a hooligan toy meant for banging through gears fast under hard acceleration rather than quasi-clutchless puttering around.