Wintersdark

I dunno; the FJ may not be the perfect re-entry bike, but it's not a bad one. Really easy to ride, and as long as you're reasonable and responsible with your right wrist, it's got a pretty controlled powerband. I definitely wouldn't recommend on as a first bike, but for someone who knows how to ride already and just needs to get back into things, it's not bad at all. And yeah, a quick run though the MSF on one of their little bikes would be great as a refresher. Sounds like a great way to go, and who wouldn't want their wife riding too? Live in riding buddy!

I'll note that the factory quickshifter is kinda sketchy from first to second. Really easy to just bump it into neutral, and it can feel VERY abrupt depending on the current circumstances.

The opposite. The wider you've got the throttle open the better the QS works. You generally also only want to use it above 5krpm. It'll work anywhere above 2k (which is practically lugging the CP3) but it's usually pretty rough there. There's no "switch between clutch and quickshifter" - you can shift with the clutch on one shift, the with the quickshifter on the next. There is no downside to a quickshifter: its presence doesn't impact regular riding at all, it just gives the the option to just bang up gears without backing off the throttle. And that makes sense, because if you had to back off the throttle to use the quickshifter it would do literally nothing as you can already upshift without the clutch just by quickly cutting the throttle which pushing the shift lever up on literally any motorcycle.

The Multistrada V4S is stupidly expensive, but for very good reason. It's an AMAZING bike. Flatly better than the Tracer in basically every way. That's not a disparagement of the Tracer mind you, just that when you're paying roughly twice as much, you really ought to expect a miraculous machine... And it is. I know two guys with them, and neither has ever had anything bad to say about it (aside from the fact that (just like the Tracer) while you can put ADV tires on them, they are definitely sport touring machines, not adventure machines.

Depends on where you are. Cold and frosty roads are find if you've got good tires for it - that is, tires that are designed for lower temperature and wet use, such as in rain. Road 5's (and presumably 6's) work very well, I ran 4's and 5's for years riding all winter here. If you're somewhere where it's more humid and there's actual ice from freezing water, then things are different. Frost is rough and doesn't make the roads nearly as slippery. For you, though, in Quebec? Yeah... Your icy roads are kind of legendary. I'd be grabbing some Anlas Wintergrips, then slapping in iGrip SS08 studs.

So, my LCD's have worked down to -40C, but they respond very slowly then so the tachometer is largely useless. Like ~2 seconds for the display to fully transition from one state(light/dark) to another. The TFT displays (Tracer GT for example) work better in the cold, but they slow down too - just not as much. Having a phone on the handlebars typically stops working around 20C when it's in the wind; they'll usually just shut down. They will refuse to charge under around -10C.

So glad to hear you walked away from it. As everyone else has said, any accident you walk away from is a good one. I do love my 2019. It'd be even better if you can get a decent payout while keeping the bike, as yeah - going to a 2019/2020 model you'd basically have a full parts bike. So much is directly transferable. Also, with the Tracer 9's out, the GT's can be had at really reasonable prices in dealerships all over the place. You'd also save a ton being able to transfer suspension upgrades in particular over.

I got these ones (I apparently lied, they are $15): https://www.ebay.ca/itm/182379057481 I think I'm gonna just grab a set of those. If they don't work, it's not a huge spend. Much unlike those lighttech adjusters, holy crap they're expensive.

It's cheaper to ship things from the UK than from the US, but still kinda spendy, yeah. 28GBP I think it was? Yeah, I happily pimp the Tutoros, and bought a second for my Tenere 700 (with a steel rock shield for the reservoir), they end up being around $200cdn after shipping for a full kit + addons, which is a lot but still very comparable to other products. Admittedly, my purchase of a second was influenced by the fact that running two of the same is helpful - shared parts and such, right? But I'm really happy with them functionally as well. They've worked really well for me over the years. @dazzler24 The Nemo style seems good, if you're someone who remembers to use it. I considered them early on, but ruled them out because I knew I'd just forget to use it, whereas the Tutoro I just ignore unless it's empty and as the reservoir is visible, I see it when I'm looking at the bike.

I mean, it's not like you can even have high quality vs low quality in the "small threaded metal rod painted black" market

@2and3cylinders Hah it's funny, I've got both the straight and stepped mirror extenders, but I went the other way - started with stepped, ended up with straight. I can see the advantages of both, but I found on the Tracer something hit the mirror and it rotated beneath the extension, the extension could hit the TCS switch (marked, nearly broke mine that way). I'm interested in the adjusters - haven't found any that would work yet, and can't bring myself to pay the crazy prices asked for the major manufacturer ones. I wonder if those are compatible with the Tracer swingarm? Says just to 2017 on the ebay ad.

Ebay extensions are like $10 and I got mine in 2 weeks. Just saying

I feel condensation will probably not be a problem; it's *insanely* dry here, even moreso when it's very cold.

Mirror extensions are so, so great. So nice to be able to see something other than elbows/arms/shoulders in your mirrors.

I've considered those (you mean like this, right: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/remington-32-000-btu-double-tank-top-propane-portable-heater-0762131p.html )? The diesel heaters have thermostat control and no exposed flame, however, making them a fair bit safer overall and easier to get to a particular temperature. On the other hand, one of these would be half the cost, and probably make a comparable amount of heat.

Without windchill, yeah. I have a space heater, but it's wildly insufficient. Leave it running on high for 4-5 hours and eventually I get to around -5ish, but that's about the best it can do. Want to buy a 12v diesel heater, as electric simply can't produce enough heat off the single 120v 20A circuit I have to my shop: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/254474501197?hash=item3b3fdcbc4d:g:H0sAAOSwzEpf2rYr It's rough, though. I mounted quadlock kits on the two bikes, but had to spread it out over a couple days because you only have so much time even with work gloves before your fingers get numb. And the tools are so damn cold

Hahahah yeah. I'm not so far north - @knyte gets it worse than me, as he's in the frigid wasteland of Edmonton, some 300kms north. This year is pretty unusual, though - it's normally not this cold (and for this long) so early in the winter. Finally warmed up here, we even saw +2C yesterday! Rode to work (though on the Tenere) last night for the first time since early December. Wrong bike, but whatever: Note: Motoz tires are amazing in the snow. Pirelli Scorpions are *garbage* in the snow. Front end grabs like nobodies business, rear just wants to spin. As it is, the Tracer with it's winters is actually much better than the Tenere with studs; the Scorpion Rally rear is just that bad (even with studs). Got a new rear on the way, have to head to Edmonton to pick it up in a week. Yay, 6 hours of driving to get a single tire. Stupid supply chain issues.

Dude. It's been entirely below -26C here for some three weeks, often in the -30's. Three weeks! That's so cold, I haven't been riding at all. Bloody miserable. So cold it literally freezes the inside of your nose when you inhale, which is a terrible feeling. Been staying inside as much as possible because it hurts your face to go outside.

For me, just always wanted to, motorcycles seemed awesome. As soon as I could, just a strapping teenager, I bought my own. Have I inspired anyone to ride? To my knowledge, no. Sadly, I'll add: I've always wanted to have a riding buddy who's as into riding as I am. Alas, no such luck. Even fellow riders just assume there's something wrong with me; non riders think I'm straight up crazy.

Yeah, that definitely works for me, too. Pretty highly recommended, and I'm a big fan of simple. I was just looking into setting up a kit. I've never carried a puncture kit (not actually ever needed one) but I figure "I've never needed one" really doesn't make a good reasoning to not have one, and had come here today specifically to ask what people where using. Convenient. I've always kinda wondered this about the cartidges. I've used the standard rope plugs lots of times on cars, and more than once I've installed them, added air, only to find it still leaks then I need to add another/there's another hole. If you just carried cartridges, that would definitely suck - plug, inflate, oh, crap, still leaks, can't inflate anymore. Mini compressors aren't really any bigger than a fistful of cartidges, and if I don't have +12v available on the bike, air pressure is the least of my worries. Ooof, even 8 is a pretty big volume. SAE plugs on every bike, with 15A fuses, always. I haven't had to install one in years, though, every dealership I've been to installs them on all their bikes on assembly.

I normally use Gearing Commander. However, I hadn't actually plugged in numbers and for some reason was just thinking that the front being an even multiple of the rear would work out that way, despite not considering the chain length at all, which is... dumb. I don't know how I ended up thinking about it that way, but I'm vaguely embarrassed about it if I'm gonna be honest. So.... Yeah, 15/45 it'll be for sure then. Thanks for pointing this out 😃 Ironically, I just posted it up on gearing commander, and 15/45 is actually superior to 16/47 for wear purposes as compared to stock, which perhaps explains why my pretty new (June) chain seems to be wearing faster than normal. I'd thought it was just a poor chain, but... Huh. Well, that answers that.

Just take it off, replace it with a small sport windscreen. The only option to be fully out of the wind is to use a HUGE barn door windscreen like the madstag or similar. I've got a puig sport screen, and there's no dirty air above it at all. Much more comfortable to ride in; just lean into it like you would on a naked bike.

So, if you run the newer Tracers in gear on the center stand, particularly above idle, it'll throw a code and will not clear that until it's cleared with an ODB2 reader. You *REALLY* should just get your own; they're very inexpensive, and a huge aid in troubleshooting. You can get a basic handheld tool like linked above, or just get the ODB2 adapter (yamaha 4 pin to full odb2) then use a wireless adapter like the ODBLink LX. This can be used with any (ODB2 compliant, so any newer) bike or car, and will sync either to their own software on your phone or tablet or any other bluetooth ODB2 software. I personally prefer TorqueODB. These will not only read and clear codes, but they can also do live monitoring and charting of engine data through those apps while you ride. When it reads codes, you can follow links to more information about the specific code as well, rather than just getting some useless number. REALLY aids troubleshooting. And it costs less than having dealers do the ODB2 troubleshooting dance. As others have said, once you clear the codes you'll regain full functionality of the dash.

I was able to go up two teeth in the back, but *just barely* and only with like 8k on my chain. New chain definitely needed to go up a couple links. I'm thinking, with my next set, going back to stock chain length, down one in the front and stock rear... or maybe +1 rear, more aggressive than just +2 rear, and should fit with stock chain length nicely. 15/45 (-1 front, stock rear) has the downside of repeated tooth-link combinations, though. I dunno if that's really a problem or not, but it seems like it may be, whereas 15/46 avoids that... and should make the bike properly wheelie happy, even with the longer swingarm

Looks pretty good, but like @betoneyI'm not a huge fan of all the plastics. I suppose it's more a "classic" sport tourer (that is, an overweight fully faired sportbike) but I prefer the more Naked Bike/ADV hybrid style the Tracer has. With that said, the Suzie is at least way better looking than the new Honda, which particularly in the silver colourway is about the most boring looking new bike I've seen this year. And that Suzie DOES look very fun to ride.