Wintersdark

It's not impossible, but the top side had maybe 1/4” of remaining tube before it's blocked. Machinists at my work recommended against it as there's was little meat left, and it was thin and rusty. A new kickstand was only $75, so I just did that, and part of my regular maintenance is fogging inside it via the hole on the bottom with spray oil.

Seems crazy to me. If I saw an armchair on the side of the road, that would lead to wild speculation at work. Why was it there? How did it get there? Makes me wonder. Does that happen here, and cities are just REALLY on the ball cleaning it up? But I never see that stuff even out of town, surely the highways guys can't be that well funded? On the flip side, though, it's really normal to see teams of people out picking up trash on medians and such, so maybe they are. I'm pretty sure you'd get a steep fine if found dumping garbage on the road though. Huh. Well, whatever the cause, I'm sure as hell glad that getting a flat is so uncommon here. I don't mind patching a tire, but I'd really rather not have the hassle. And tires are silly expensive here

Left her in the garage to take the Tenere out to Rendezvous 2023, a weekend adventure/dual sport rally thing. Got the T7 a bit dirty with mud pits, a river crossing, and a couple hundred kilometers of dirt. Had TONS of fun, but for the reason of this post: I absolutely LOVED the crashing around off-road, but man, riding out and back on the T7 was miserable compared to the Tracer. No cruise control, hard seat, etc. After 4 years with the Tracer, I've become soft, and demanding. Yamaha better release a Tenere 900 in the next 2 years! Two bikes for two different things is great in theory but you do find those times when you want to do both those things.

Replaced but just with a stock stand. It broke because of the bike being pushed backwards, but it was shockingly thing and rusted on the inside. @2and3cylinders has it right, really, if I had any ability to weld I'd do that... But mine broke right by the joint, so it may not have helped:

I often wonder, is there just more junk on American roads? Or maybe just particular regions? I mean, I ride with a pretty wide circle of people regularly, on and off road, and with the exception of the odd pinch flat or REALLY extreme off-road mishap, I can't recall anyone I know getting a flat in the last decade. I know it's got to happen - not saying it doesn't - but it's really uncommon. I literally don't know anyone who carries a tire kit for road riding unless they're going on a long trip and even then it's uncommon. But there's a few people here who report very common punctures. Meanwhile, here I am, some 30 years of daily riding in (typically 15k per year, so not extreme but good mileage), and the only flats I've had on a motorcycle are due to riding on WILDLY outdated tires (80's bikes being rebuilt, before they have new rubber) which is simple failure for being old. And above? Needing THREE plug strips? What the heck are people riding over that needs three plug strips? I've had a couple nails in car tires over my life, but all required a lot of reaming just to get one strip in. I think I ought to hug the next street sweeper I see.

Yeah, my experience has been most shops won't patch tires at all, and those few that do don't really care about the tire manufacturer. Liability is something pretty easy to get past with a waiver, but frankly shops have zero incentive to patch - they'd rather sell you a new tire. I get it's a contentious issue, and from my perspective, whatever floats your boat. I'll never fault someone for being super choosy about what they do with tires. I've patched tires in the past, and I've taken off tires that are only 25% used and never used them again, so... Eh. If I were severely financially limited or the tire was really new I'd patch (but honestly I'd do it myself, it's an easy enough thing to do) and mechanically speaking a plug+patch combo with a vulcanizing kit will end up absolutely safe. In my 30+ years, I've NEVER heard of a (proper) plug and patch failing - definitely not catastrophically - not even once. Not everyone will feel confident in that, though, and that's fine. Younger me was much more inclined to patch, because younger me was dirt poor. While I'm definitely not anyone's definition of wealthy, I *can* afford new tires, so now it's MUCH more likely to be a quick repair then used as an excuse to buy a new tire. Not because it can't be done well and safely - I know it can - but because new tires are awesome. My only point there was that whether your going to patch or not is really not related to the manufacturer of the tire at all (or at least shouldn't be) because a patched Michelin is no more or less likely to fail than a patched Dunlop or Continental; and of course manufacturers will tell you not to patch.

Wat? Mandatory? The tire manufacturer doesn't have any control over whether you patch your tires or not.

I mean, if you've got em you've got em, and the road 5 front isn't a bad tire, it's just that the road 6 front is significantly improved over it. There are two "problems" with the Road 5 front. Keep in mind, these are "problems" on a tire that was considered one of the best in the industry, so keep in mind this is nit picking. The first is that it tends to wear weirdly, ending up with a /-\ sort of shape that develops cupping early. The result of this is you'll tend to swap out a road 5 front at the same time you do the rear despite there being tread left. Of course, if you get them cheap, less mileage isn't really a problem. The second problem (and again, it's minor) is that the front has softer sidewalks than the 6, so it doesn't communicate as well and tends to require a bit more input mid corner to hold lines (particularly as it wears). It's easier to mount/dismount though, if you're doing it yourself. While the 6 has a much stiffer sidewall resulting in better feedback and tighter line holding, 10% better wet grip, and wears much more evenly. But again, it sounds terrible but we're still talking about tires that are generally viewed as the best sport touring tires period.

Rear you can go either way, but I'd STRONGLY recommend the Road 6 front over the Road 5 front.

Lean angle sensor and ride tracking for feelers, limit from Google; it may go further but I've not tested it.

Just in case - written text struggles with tone - I in no way meant my comment as an insult. I was just saying the fuel mileage you got is definitely achievable. I'd argue at least amongst people posting their milage however, it's not normal riding though. Probably more responsible, however! As to treating it gently, well, I suppose that depends on how you define gently I'd argue the CP3 was designed from the ground up to be ridden pretty hard and seems happiest above 5k RPM, and I endeavour to keep her happy at all times. To each their own though!

That's where power modes and TCS come in, but for sure it's always a matter of compromises. After all, the KTM 890A is generally viewed as a strictly superior(and more expensive) dirt machine to the Tenere, and it's pushing very similar power to the Tracer, with very, very similar power curves, particularly at the start. The Norden 901 is extremely well reviewed too. The Tiger 900 Rally Pro, which is pretty much exactly what we'd be looking at (their 900cc triple), is also very well reviewed. Clearly, it's entirely possible to make a strong midsized ADV machine with those power characteristics. You'd gear it differently, of course. I ran my Tracer for a while with a 15 tooth front sprocket, and that definitely gives you a significant amount of low end torque (without actually impacting top speed, as you're drag limited, not RPM limited). The T7 is kind of a terrible bike for a mid length or longer on-pavement trip in comparison to the Tracer. It's not even close. Maintaining speeds of 80mph+ causes it to gulp down gas in a crazy way, around 7l/100km or 33mpg, which limits it's range enormously. Now, I'm in no way criticising the T7 here - it's an EXCELLENT machine, it's just that longer road trips at high speed is where it really falls down. That doesn't matter in the dirt, where you're rarely exceeding ~60mph, but is a problem when you want to cover a lot of miles in a reasonable amount of time.

I run very consistently 5.2l/100km, so around 45mph reported. Probably a little less; I'd assume 42-43mpg which aligns with a lot of other posts here. I ride like an utter asshole most of the time, but admittedly I tend to do predominately highway miles - there's no stop and go traffic for me, so despite always accelerating very hard, the majority of my riding is done at constant speed. With that said, I'm able to ride and keep it in the 4.5l/100km range if I just accelerate like a car and do the speed limit, I just don't want to. I've had it as low as 4.2l/100km reported when experimenting with hypermiling for lols. I don't doubt @Rick123, with the right habits and riding environment that's entirely obtainable. But that said, gas is (even at current prices) very cheap relative to everything else I spend on my bike and I'm not willing to compromise the fun I have to save a dollar at the pump. I'll pay the extra couple dollars and keep being a hooligan

First, get a multimeter and ensure there's no short in the wiring. Disconnect the fan connector, check to see if there's continuity between the positive terminal of the wire and ground. I don't have my wiring diagram handy, so I can't say which that is, but with the wire disconnected from the fan, there should be continuity between one pin and ground (the ground wire) and not between the other pin (+12v) and ground. There will be some resistance when you turn it by hand, and it will typically kind of bounce into stepped positions - think as of if held in those positions by magnets, not just constant friction resistance. It should NOT feel grindy at all. Questions I'd have: Does the fuse blow as soon as you start the bike, or does it blow as soon as the fan would turn on? IIRC the fan turns on (stock) at 105C (whatever that is in F) so you could just start up the bike, let it warm up to where the fan would turn on. Does the fan move at all? Or does it just pop the fuse instantly? If it's instantly popping, it's almost certainly an electrical short given you can turn the fan by hand.

This is how it always is on modern ABS equipped bikes. The ECU is estimating your speed off of wheel revolutions measured by the ABS ring, with a theoretical wheel diameter. As wheel circumference changes so does speedo output, as a result. Generally speaking, motorcycle speedometers are off by 5-10%, and always read high. This is a liability factor; by having the speedo read a bit high, if you mount for example slightly larger wheels (thus travel further per revolution of the wheel) the speedo doesn't read too low... Which would encourage you to ride faster, risking danger and legal issues. The cops don't care what your speedo says, only how fast you're actually going. But the bike is basically assuming your speed = measured wheel RPM times a built in constant for wheel diameter. As such, the faster you're going, the further off it will be in absolute terms. Say it's off by 10% (the wheel circumference - it's assuming you have is 10% larger than the wheel you actually have), at actual 50mph it'll read 55mph, at actual 100mph it'll read 110mph. My Tracer is about 6% off, my Tenere 700 is almost 10% off.

Yup. If I change them again for some reason in the future I will, but I didn't have much choice. I wasn't interested in trying to return them to Italy, and didn't realize just how terrible the process would be until it was too late to return stuff. One of those "if I could go back in time" things. Sadly, I had no idea what awaited me.

This is the oil I use: it was inexpensive, works excellently in winter and summer, has clearly kept my chain lubricated and clean, and after years of use hasn't caused any problems.

I followed Tutoro's compatibility guide: Mineral Hydraulic Oil ISO 68/100 for temps up to 30°c and ISO 220 for higher ambient temps can be used as an alternative to TUTORO Oil, however this is at your own risk. Other mineral oils may also be compatible but its use is at the users own risk. See our page on Plastics and Lubricant compatibility. I'm going to guess it's the 68/100 I'm running now, but I'll confirm when I get home.

Oh and this one.

Sure, anything in particular you're interested in? I'm working a night shift, so these aren't really *better* but at least more. Rear of the reservoir mount: The line runs back along the passenger peg, loops near the swingarm pivot (minimizes movement of the line) abd runs back along the swingarm to the rear sprocket. The steel strapping I use to hold the final bit by the bobbin (Skylift bobbin in this pic, was a random bolt before) is this stuff: https://www.homedepot.ca/product/dahl-all-round-strapping-galvanized-24ga-3-4-inch-x-25-feet/1000115952 (or similar, it's super useful to have around the shop for a wide range or purposes) As to how it works? That chain has been on the bike for at least a year, maybe two? It's never been cleaned or lubed manually. It works *extremely* well. And you can see the reservoir from the side of the bike so you can see when you need to add more oil. Tutoro is pretty specific about the types of oil to use (and not use) to prolong the use of the oiler. I've always used the hydraulic oil they recommend (I'm not ordering their oil from the UK to run) and it's dirt cheap at $10cdn/gallon or so and has performed fabulously at all temperatures. I run roughly a reservoir (an ounce?) per 300m/500km miles.

It's honestly the first time I've been legitimately angry with Yamaha working on the bike. It's just such a stupid design. Like, yeah, the plugs are a bit of a PITA to get at, but it's not too bad once you learn to just unbolt the rad, and while there's a moderate number of fairings to remove to get under the tank it's surprising fast and easy to do so. But those hardlines... And more specifically, the absolutely horrible little block contraptions that are all tucked into very inaccessible places. I'll definitely go out of my way to recommend people get kits that just remove the hard lines entirely. Even if they're a lot more expensive, it's worth it to just rip all that crap out.

If everything is set up correctly it shouldn't be an unreasonable problem, the stock feelers shouldn't touch till around 45 degrees of lean, the bike can handle 52 degrees. You can remove the feelers if you'd like (or leave them and just allow the peg to lift while you grind em, but they'll break off pretty quick anyways. I suspect @betoney is correct though and you're running the stock springs which are VERY soft - generally set up for a 160lb load (geared rider+luggage).

Funny story. I actually took pictures before, double checked when reinstalling, but still managed to reverse the brake lines for the rear brake where they attach to the hard lines that lead to the ABS pump. Likely due to how incredibly fiddly it was to get the blocks and bracket together in that small obscured space. Now, I'm always pretty careful with test rides, and that proved valuable today. I've got a dirt laneway behind my house, so that provided a really easy way to test the brakes and ABS. First, get moving, do normal brake tests - they work fine. All is good. Go faster, grab the front and lock it. ABS kicks in immediately as it should, no problems in the gravel. Try again with the rear.... Turns out, if you plumb ABS backwards, it works backwards. That is, as the tire slips it pulses pressure onto the brake, instead of back to the pedal - the instant the wheel starts to slip the ABS itself slams the brake on and doesn't release it till the wheel stops slipping.... Which it won't until the bike comes to a complete stop because it's holding the brake on. Tap the rear and it's cool brake slide time. Glad I didn't do that with the front, and I'm VERY glad I tested the ABS as well as basic brake function before going for a ride. Imagine braking into a corner at speed, having the rear ABS trigger a teensie bit and instantly hard lock the rear. A reasonably easy fix and everything is good now, but yeah. Pro tip: Don't plumb your ABS pump backwards.

I have on a 900GT (after an MT07, and also one on my Tenere 700). The Tutoro is super easy to install on basically anything though, I wouldn't worry about it. I usually use the sprocket side bobbin screw hole either with a bobbin or just with a screw and a small loop of steel strapping to secure the nozzle (MT07, Tracer) though on the Tenere I used the nozzle holder mount thing strapped on with zipties. Anyways, you can mount the reservoir to the rear pillion/bag mount. I BELIEVE it's pretty similar on the 9GT. Mines there, attached via double sided tape and reinforced by the included zip ties. That's held it securely for three years of 4 season daily riding: A recommendation: Order a spare nozzle when you order the kit. They do wear down (I get about 30,000k out of one) but there are circumstances where you can get it caught in the sprocket while backing up into bushy stuff and lose the nozzle. They're super cheap, like a dollar, so having a spare is worthwhile.

Yeah, I didn't realize there where different sets. The set I got was good, high quality parts and a good price, but knowing what I know now, I'd happily have paid another $100 to get a 5 line set. Ah well. What's done is done.