Wintersdark

She's 4 now, so I treated her to a nice set of stainless steel braided brake lines from Fren Tubo. Really nice kit, came with extra banjo bolts and crush washers. However. I'd just like to say: whoever decided the Tracer should have sections of hardlines for the brakes and THOSE GODDAMNED STUPID BOXES TO CONNECT TO THEM IN THE MOST INACCESSIBLE PLACES MEEDS TO DIE IN A FIRE! *cough* Excuse me. Seriously though, what an annoying design, and I wish the kit I bought just bypassed them and ran lines directly to/from the ABS pump. If have asked for that specifically if I'd only known. Then, after a lot more time than I'd anticipated, and the joys of refilling and bleeding a fully empty braking system, I was done. Except I'd forgotten the two small rubber lines that lead from the ABS pump like 8" to the left side blocks and hardlines forward. Nope. I'd just finished refilling and bleeding. Those two lines can stay. Next time I want to bleed the brakes I'll swap them out. So MOSTLY new brake lines. Ugh. Also checked throttle body sync while I was in there, but all was good.

Those look a LOT like the Dunlop Mutants.

Pretty similar really - which I'd expect TBH: My experience has often been that most exhausts tend to sound pretty similar given vaguely similar shapes. Here's a 300mm Black Widow:

They've got 200mm, 230mm, 300mm, 350mm, and 400mm cans. I ran a 230 on my old MT07, and it was loud, but bearable with the baffle in. Physically painful while riding with it out. I'm going to be getting a system fairly soon, though it keeps getting pushed back in favor of other things as an exhaust isn't really necessary for anything. I'm heavily torn between the 300 because I love the Tri-Oval can with carbon fiber tip (what you've got there), and a longer can simply because I remember just how loud the 230mm was. They say the 400 is roughly akin to stock in volume but deeper and obviously less restrictive. So for me, it's a three way battle: https://www.blackwidowexhausts.co.uk/mt09-mt-09-tracer-tracer-gt-de-cat-exhaust-system-400mm-oval-black-stainless-carbon-tip-silencer-14875-p.asp - Definitely not a volume problem here as it is as stock; but at the same time the least fun looking. https://www.blackwidowexhausts.co.uk/mt09-mt-09-tracer-tracer-gt-de-cat-exhaust-system-350mm-gp-round-carbon-silencer-14867-p.asp - Middle of the road, fun carbon fiber and tip. However, probably comparable overall volume to the tri-oval below https://www.blackwidowexhausts.co.uk/mt09-mt-09-tracer-tracer-gt-de-cat-exhaust-system--300mm-tri-oval-black-carbon-tip-silencer-20897-p.asp - Sexiest looking, but maybe louder than I'd like. I'd leave the baffle in for sure; and it'd be quieter than my 230mm was due to a larger cross section and length, but... I dunno. Can't decide

Oh, I desperately wish I could just "go wandering" like that. I absolutely plan a route with twisty roads and such, but I need to have "I'll be here at this day" markers because I'm always squeezing trips into small bits of time off that are in no way flexible. I do something similar, though just with Maps on my phone, and have multiple individual-day routes pre-saved so I can just load up a route and go. It's really handy to see each day how much riding time is left, so I know when I need to push, or can spend some time checking out something interesting I've happened on. Doing individual days also lets me go off-route and have it recalculate to my original destination for the day live. But yeah. I dream of the day that I can just... Go explore. Props to those who can, it'd be an awesome low-stress way to travel.

If you can even find them. Interestingly, you only need the lids - the cases are the same parts, the FJR lids are just taller. So there was a time where you could just order replacement FJR lids for the Tracer, but AFAIK they're unobtainium now (which is likely which sets of cases are $4500; holy crap)

Tires: on a long trip, mount new rubber first. If your old tires still have a reasonable amount of life left, just keep them and throw them back on in the future, but DO NOT risk needing new tires on a trip. As others have said, you never know what availability will be like when you suddenly find yourself needing new tires mid-trip. Get high mileage sport touring rubber (Michelin Road 6, T32's, etc) so it's definitely not an issue and you know you'll have good performance in inclement weather. Ergonomics: Don't change anything before a trip. Keep stuff you're used to, it'll be fine. Last thing you want is to find out that new windscreen hurts your neck due to wierd buffeting once your hundreds of kilometers from home. Tools: as others said, bring what you need to take the wheels off and the plastics. That's a small kit, but you're probably going to need to for example adjust your chain. General Packing: Go light. Don't try to solve every potential issue before you leave because you'll weigh the bike down a ton and it'll ride terribly. Particularly on the tail bag! Keep as little weight in it as possible. Think hard about whether you're better off bringing a thing, or bringing a credit card and just buying a thing if you need it. Every single thing you bring with you comes at a cost in decreased riding fun, fuel economy, and simply space for something else. Remember, you can wash clothes on the way. Definitely bring clothes that are comfortable to spend a day riding in. For me, that's typically a sweatshirt and sweatpants that'll be under my gear. I may look silly, but people only see the riding gear anyways and I'm extremely comfortable.

You certainly can, though I'd NEVER do it on a first gen FJ - the bottom mounted oil drain bolt is too much a liability. I've taken my Tracer on some well maintained dirt roads when it had the Anlas winter tires on it (they're actually a pretty decent 60/40 tire as well as being good winters) and it's fine, but you don't have ground clearance for anything other than well maintained dirt roads. You can convert it - add a good skid plate, crash bars, knobbies, lift the suspension some - but it's never going to be a good off-pavement machine. The subframe isn't designed for the kinds of abuse you're going to encounter on anything harsher than the above mentioned well maintained dirt roads. Consider how low the maximum weight limit is on it. I'd be *VERY* concerned about breaking it if doing anything particularly bumpy. Also, ABS: You're going to need to pull the fuse, or you're going to have SEVERELY degraded braking performance in anything loose. The Tracer's ABS is absolutely not designed to deal with gravel. Still, if you're just looking to do light dirt/gravel roads, a set of Mutants, or TKC70 Rocks, or similar 80/20 or 70/30 tires and you'd be fine, with some caution. Personally? Getting a T7 as well solves all the problems

Yeah. I was unsure of the idea initially, but yes. I love my Tenere to bits, but it's more a big dirt bike than something you want to road trip on. I'm really not into 500 mile days on it. Give me a T7, with a CP3, electronic cruise, ride modes, but compete with the KTM890 - keep it as light as possible in the process. The Super Tenere is a good bike, but it's *very* heavy and while capable, it's not really competitive with the newer midsized adv's.

Took her on a lovely 320km ride through the Kananaskis with a couple friends. Was a bit chilly up in the mountains still: Great ride overall. Nice to get a chance to get her into the side of the tire and have fun with friends - being a winter rider is lonely for half the year! Edit: Amusingly, this is a boat launch. It and the lake are still well frozen.

Oh, I had an 2018 MT07 before I got the Tracer, and put about 20k onto it before trading it in for the Tracer (loved it, but too physically small for my 6'4" frame) I'm *very* well aware of the pros and cons of the MT07. And, having 20k on that MT07, then 32k on my Tracer now, and roughly 10k on my Tenere... I still think that for urban riding the CP2 is a flatly better engine (* caveat, this is comparing to the old CP3, I have only minimal experience on the new CP3). And really, the CP2 was rattly? Man. I love the CP3 as well, I'm not dumping on it here, but between the Tracer's general front end clunkiness over bumps and the GRONK in the older clutch basket, it is a rattly, noisy bike. I mean, seriously, look through the forum here at how often people ask about noises and we all just tell them to put in earplugs and ignore it. I can - and have - started up both bikes and just let them idle in neutral, and despite the open aftermarket exhaust on the Tenere, somehow that clutch is still super noticable. Yeah, if you're doing long freeway hauls, for sure it's all CP3 all the time. 300+ mile days through the mountains? Tracer again. But ripping around town on a MT07 or Tenere 700 is much more fun than it is on the Tracer. I'm not saying the CP2 is a better engine, just a different one with its own sweet spot - and that is urban and dirt riding where low end torque and agility is king and you're never going to be doing much over 100mph.

The above said, if I where in such a position as having my Tracer stolen, would I replace it with another or something else, while holding a fistful of insurance dollars? Honestly the answer comes down to basically what @daboo said... I'd look to see what was available in late model used. The last couple years have seen significantly increasing prices in this space and I think the 2019-2020 era of sport tourers has a lot to offer at better pricing.

Hah yeah, that worked well for me until the T7... I'll get to go play in the dirt. Which turned out to be world's of fun, and not too shabby for 12300 out the door (which was amusingly pretty much exactly what I paid for my Tracer!) But I've had that same thing play out lots of times. Eyeballing an MT10 - so many zoomzooms, but really: how often am I zooming about on my Tracer and thinking "Man, this bike is slow." (Answer: Never). But it'll cost me some 20k when the smoke clears to be able to say I've got a faster bike that I can never really ride flat out. I think the only thing I mean consider for a while to come is a Tenere 900 release, where it may well make sense to trade the two bikes in for one. I don't even know if I'd do that though. The reality is that while the Tracer isn't the best at anything it does, nor is it the best at being a jack of all trades, it IS damn good at what it does. And (at least for the first and second gen bikes) is an extremely good value proposition given their capabilities. Lots of different bikes would be upgrades, but it's a LOT of money for actually fairly minimal improvements.

What I really love about the Skylift? Unlike a lift table, it takes up virtually no space while not in use.

Alternatively, if you're into static photos, I made a guide to syncing throttle bodies here: which covers complete fairing removal in the process. As others have said, though... The first time you have to take them off, it looks like it's going to be a nightmare, but it's actually very easy: the quick fasteners and surprisingly low screw count make the whole process quite fast. It's weird the first time you get to the velcro though.

Yep, and the US site shows North America delivery options. Was just asking because I'd be unsurprised to see sales being region specific.

Any ODB scantool will work. You need a Yamaha 4 pin to odb adapter, but that's cheap and readily available on eBay. As with that thread, I'm a huge fan of ODBLink Scantools. You get the same basic functionality out of the cheap little blue Bluetooth adapters, but they can't go to sleep and will drain your bikes battery if you leave them connected when not in use. The cheaper LX is fine, the MX has some extra car functionality but they're identical for bikes. Then you run either their software or TorqueODB on IOS or Android, and you get live engine diagnostics both direct from the ECU and calculated - such as current actual horsepower output.

Are you on the US or UK website?

It's pretty but damn, the Yoshi system is sooooo expensive. I just can't justify ~$1200USD for an exhaust system where this: https://www.blackwidowexhausts.co.uk/mt09-mt-09-tracer-tracer-gt-de-cat-exhaust-system--300mm-tri-oval-black-carbon-tip-silencer-20897-p.asp is £349.99 / $437USD. I've run Black Widow systems before too, always had an excellent experience with them. That Works finish is pretty snazzy, though; I'm curious how well it holds up to abuse?

My bags are only on the bike for long trips, and like @maximo I follow the age old method of slamming them shut before things have time to fall out when out and about with them. When loading for a trip and when at hotels, I bring them inside with me, as they're so quick and easy to remove/attach. If someone's going to steal my bike while I'm snoozing at a hotel, I'd rather they not get my clothes too, and I'd rather not risk my cases to someone thinking there might be something valuable inside them. They are, after all, virtually irreplaceable now. So when laying on their backs, they're easy to load/organize/etc. That just leaves roadside access, which is as I said... just slam it closed before things can fall out. I considered plastering the inside of the cases with soft side velcro, and making sub-bags to put inside them, but I never got around to that because it'd just lead to me carrying a bunch of stuff around day to day that there's no real reason for me to carry, which becomes a problem because I'll throw the bags on for a specific reason (say, a run to a store to get some stuff) without thinking that they're half full of random rain gear/heated gear/tools/whatever, then not have enough room. I've thought about liners, but... *shrugs* It's just as easy for me to pull off the bags entirely as take liners out. Unlock, lift handle, lift bag off bike. And again, takes the hardcases into hotel rooms for safekeeping.

Seems they're no longer available to buy. No idea how to get paint codes

So to roll back to this, how do you feel about that now? I want to have my Tracer painted, but I'm really reluctant to do it myself - it's so insanely dusty here, I've always had huge problems with dust getting onto everything I'm trying to paint. Looks like a huge amount of labor ended up going into the process.

That's an awesome deal! They're good people too. Before ordering, I had questions regarding how it would fit on my Tenere with its very large aftermarket pegs, and they where very helpful, discussing it at length and provided drawings and measurements of the whole cradle portion so I could be sure it would work. It's pretty rare when I'll completely unreservedly promote a product, but I'm absolutely a cheerleader for this. It's very good kit. Amongst the local guys, there's some discussion of people chipping in to buy the "technician kit" with the complete set of adapters so everyone can use it - as I've also got an Olmax tire changer, it's super easy for people to lift a bike, pop off wheels and change tires. Even if they want to bring loose wheels into a shop to have it done, and it's not a problem to have someone's bike standing up in a corner of my garage for a day or two. The adapter kit is roughly the cost of having the tires changed on the bike for one person, after all. I figure it's a worthwhile investment if you've got local buddies who also don't have good ways to lift a bike and change tires.

I've already changed rear shock linkages on my T7 on the lift. Doing so was not only simple, it was a delight. I lifted the bike in the stoppie position like this: Pulled a rolling stool around, sat basically underneath the rear tire (that rear poking red bar just slides out; that's for lifting the bike level and not necessary for this work) and could work directly on the two bolts/nuts on the linkage to remove it. Ran a ratchet strap over the pillion seat and through the rear wheel to unload the linkage so I could slide the bolts out. In this position, the rear axle is about 48" off the ground with the T7 which is a hugely tall bike with a very long front end; the Tracer's rear ends up much higher. Easiest suspension work I've done, hands down. Changing a rear shock would be dead, dead simple like this. So easy to work on both sides at the same time from underneath, no reaching around to hold a wrench on a nut on the opposite side.

Yep - the horizontal "legs" on the base are butted against stops inside the tubes, and held in place with allen key set screws. You can remove/install all the legs in less than a minute, so the whole assembly can be dismantled and stored easily. As @Lone Wolf said, you just need the swingarm removal adapter. You don't need the Superbike Stand, just adapters that connect to the footpeg mounts instead of the swingarm pivot. The adapter set is $55 I'm sure you spent less for your existing table and stands - I'm not trying to sell you a Skylift. It's not like they're gonna send me cookies; I'm just trying to help out people who want a good way to lift their bike for maintenance. I mean, if I already owned a lift table and stands and gantry, I wouldn't have bothered either. I do own a rear stand, mind you, but that still leaves me crawling around on a cement floor and finding janky ways to lift the front wheel. If you were looking to buy now, it's quite hard to beat the deal you get with the Skylift. It's hard just to find a lift table that costs less than the Skylift alone (I wasn't able to find one even within $500 of the Skylift in Canada!) There's a current sale on a cheap harbour freight table for around $600, but it'll be insecure (requiring tying the bike down, as the wheel chock is super janky), and all the problems still remain dealing with wheel/suspension work. You're realistically looking at a bare minimum of $1300 for an entry level quality lift table. A set of pitbull stands is around $400 now. There's often lots of other stuff you need too, particularly if you want to remove both wheels at the same time. The Skylift is $775; and is a *killer* bargain at that point. Add $55 for the swingarm adapters and you're rocking $825. If you've got more bikes, you do need extra adapters, which cost $30 if bought with the lift, so for some people (like me and my T7) add another $30. What you paid for a collection of stuff many years ago isn't particularly useful for someone who has nothing and wants to work on their bike today, particularly given how insane inflation is these days. Stuff's expensive these days And still - say you bought that HF lift table above on sale. Now you've paid $155 less, but you need to have room in your garage permanently for a 101"x24" lift table. That's cool if you've got a big garage, but very problematic if you either don't have a garage at all, have a small one, or simply don't have a big chunk of space you can permanently lose. I mean, currently, when I'm not using the Skylift I just push it under the shelves in the picture, so it takes up roughly 6" square floor space in front of the shelves. For me, this is pretty valuable, having just a narrow one-car garage from the 50's. Heck, a very practical if kind of extreme use case would be a person living in an apartment could keep a Skylift in their car's trunk, pull it out and lift a bike to do some maintenance, then put it back into their trunk when they are done. I can only wish I had something like this through most of my riding life. As above, $775 for the lift with one set of bike adapters, $55 for the swingarm removal kit (optional; I don't actually have it) and $30 for additional bike adapters. You can climb onto the bike when lifted. It's got a large square base, and holds the weight of the bike in the center of that however you lift it. Lock the wheels, and it's rock solid stable. I'm a 300lb guy, and it doesn't care at all - it's rated for some 1500lbs lift, after all, and is VERY secure and stable. I adjusted my chain tension yesterday with it up, and had no issue removing and retorquing the rear axle nut. Wheels unlocked, you can grab any part of the bike and roll it around in any direction without any instability of the bike itself. The only thing to be aware of is in wheelie or level position, it's holding the rear end down via the strap, and in stoppie position it's resting on the front wheel, so if you put a lot of weight downwards on the rear of the bike you could stand the bike up (more). This just means when I was working on the rear axle nut at high torque I was pulling up on the wrench vs. pushing down. Even so, it was trivial to torque that nut without the bike moving even a little bit. I wouldn't want to remove the engine on the Skylift, but the whole front end is not a problem at all.