Stew

11 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Be excited about new suspenders what you going to get?

 

Fully strip and service forks and Install K-Tech-20 SSK Piston Kit with springs to suit your weight

Replace the stock shock with a K-Tech Razor R Performance shock fully adjustable in preload, compression and rebound

Should be delightful.

14 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Vagueness goes with rain so what can you do

 

Aye. We get a LOT of rain here though, so it is more important than dry grip to me. I've had lots of bikes/tyres that gave me plenty feedback on wet roads. I know what you mean, but I think I'll be looking at the Metzeler's that @flyfifer mentioned earlier. Those get great reviews, and I have had some lovely metzelers in the past.
Best I ever had were michelin macadams (crossply I think) on my old FJ1200 in the olden days, man, those were amazing in the wet.

Of course, things may change next week when the bike gets it's suspension upgrade, yeeehaaa!

@Michiel900GT Here is the rear on mine, so although I don't like them, they clearly have more than enough grip to let me get the bike over as far as I ever need to get. The rain grip feels vague to me, although I have tried some hard braking to try them out and they were fine.

This has over 2000 miles on it...

1 hour ago, Michiel900GT said:

So I might just go and try some Roadsmart tires, see how that goes. Apparently the Roadsmart has a stiffer compound and inner works which improves turning and cornering.

 

I have Dunlop Sportsmax tyres on mine, which sometimes are branded as Roadsmart 3's.
They have not given me a problem, BUT... I can't feel anything from them. I reduced the pressures to 33f 36r and it helped a wee bit. I can turn the bike with it leaned over as far as I am comfortable with, which is pretty far.
But I will not be getting them again. In the wet I am being overtaken by pedestrians, as I just can't feel any grip at all.
Now, they may be gripping, but I can't feel it through my backside and my toes, and those are directly connected to my brain when riding.

I've done 2000 miles on them so far, and there is a ton of tread left, but the rear is squaring off a bit, despite the fact that I spend most of my time riding on twisty roads, so the bike isn't completely upright much of the time.

We all have different needs with tyres, and some suit one rider and not another. gl with your search. I'm dreading changing tyres, new tyres of a different brand/profile/pattern can make or break a bike's handling.

Just now, HGP61 said:

I was out that way on Saturday, pal was getting his GT serviced at the Yamaha dealer in Hurlford and we met him there to take the long way back home. Traffic was very busy round Kilmarnock but quieter once we got a bit further south. 

MCS? I was going to go round by there for a nosey.
So many bikes riding along the road from Ardrossan to Largs and on towards Greenock. I don't get it, they park up in Largs. I mean, it's a nice road, but chockablock with traffic, no fun. All the way through Largs on Saturday I was in first gear. Stop start stop start, not wide enough to filter or anything.
Made me appreciate Dumfries and Galloway all the more, there is so little traffic down this way.

5 minutes ago, andz said:

Looks great, last time I was in the country of my birth in 1982 (visit, not birth) the weather was so bad that many of the photos are 3 horizontal stripes: loch, hillside, grey sky 🤦‍♂️

I see you have a Givi topbox bracket, why strap a backpack onto the seat? Just wondering.... 🤷‍♂️

I lean back on it sometimes to chill out
And I was only away for a couple of days, so travelling light. I had actually meant to carry on to Glasgow to buy some new boots and gloves, but I ended up just riding around and , well, I'll go some other time

15 minutes ago, HGP61 said:

Lovely pictures, You were on your bike so you will have definitely enjoyed the visit. Like the last one the best but I am probably biast. I took some stick from my friends on our tour because one accused me of only taking pictures with bikes in the foreground but that was a massive exagaration  only three quarters of them had a bike in it.

I had such a brilliant ride on the way up, hit the rev limiter in 3rd gear and it took me a wee second to comprehend what was going on. Bikes everywhere , prob cos of the dry weather

Went to visit my mum & sister and her family, and took a few photos to show you all how awesome Scotland looks at times, and some amazing engineering and history....

The tower house always reminds me of R.L. Stevenson's Kidnapped, where he went to stay with his nasty old uncle...

Then we have the view from my mum's window , day and night.

Then the waverly paddle steamer, the only ocean going paddle steamer left in the world.

And Wemyss Bay railway station, just amazing workmanship.

And my bike, because, well, it would be rude not to

@ewalker008 , @Heli ATP mibbe worth a chat regarding swapsies.

2 minutes ago, betoney said:

You can swap the factory links back on.  It looks like the front end is lowered to match, (the forks appear to be raised quite a bit in the triple clamps). 

Glad you are enjoying the new bike!!

@Betoney with the eagle eyes as ever.

Welcome aboard, nice colour (color) scheme on your bike.

Just now, texscottyd said:

Great to know.  Maybe this is one of those things were you only hear about the few exceptions, and not the majority that turn out to be fine? 

I would imagine so, thats how most things are, people mainly talk about negative issues with bikes or any other kit for that matter. The guy really knows what he is doing.
It got me wondering if bikes in some parts of the world are fuelled differently or whatever, that might make a difference, but anyway, the bike is sweet as a nut, super smooth and ready for it's suspension upgrade on the 8th of Sept, yeeehaaaa!

Just now, texscottyd said:

How were the valves?   The general trend seems to be that the exhausts are tight...  curious what they found with yours.  

They were spot on. The guy says everyone tells him they expect the exhaust valves to be tight, but he's never worked on an mt09 engine that had tight exhaust valves yet.

Just had the BIG service done, the 24000 mile one.
New plugs , filters, fluids and tbs synch and valves checked and all that good stuff.
Plus a new clutch cable.

Bike is super smooth, and from now on I'll be doing it all myself.
Guy that did it was great to talk to, used to Road Race RC30's and RC45's and all, he was telling me some wild stories.

Plus , it was £30 cheaper than he had quoted me, RESULT!

We are all blessed with some beautiful scenery and places to ride, eh.
Bike looks great with the new 'solo' seat, and the touches of red.

Treated myself and the bike to the Total Control book, by Lee Parks. Only had time to flick through it but it looks excellent. I've read all the twist of the throttle books and such in the past , but it's always good to refresh yourself. I just need a friendly bit of tarmac to practice some of the stuff, especially the classic tensing up of my arms instead of relaxing them.

I came from a 650 vstrom, which I loved. The Tracer is a vastly better motorcycle in every way, other than offroad.
I haven't experienced any handlebar vibration, and there are loads of aftermarket footpegs, although I only get a mild vibration through the pegs at around 5k rpm.

You will be in for a pleasant surprise when you whack that throttle open. Your brain will need to recalibrate.
Look forward to hearing how your test ride goes.

You'd think some enterprising fabricator or composite moulder would come up with something, based around the existing rear seat base moulding.
I'd be into getting something like that for sure.

Glad it gets you the cheaper rego costs.

Grats on the new bike, I'm sure you'll love it. Super helpful bunch of folk on here.

Sounds like a scary time for you, but as you say,  things like this sometimes bring back perspective, and restore faith in the kindness and compassion of people.

That is super cool. Does it get you around the solo seat regs that you have there?

1 hour ago, Tripletrouble said:

More importantly, what size is your kitchen? It has everything you need. A kettle, parts (dish) washer, heater, storage and every tool (knives, spoons, measuring jugs) you need for servicing, and somewhere to charge your mobile. You’ll need that to order takeaways since the oven will be used for baking vht paint on parts.

I tried to get the vstrom into the house last year, as I have a bedroom that I don't use, and was going to strip it and work on it there. Sadly I have several issues that mean I can't. It wouldn't bother me in the slightest.
My mother still talks about the time I boiled a chain in a tin of chainwax stuff in the kitchen when I was young. And when I had a bike engine in my bedroom. I may have photos somewhere

2 hours ago, BBB said:

Both sides are symmetrical @Stew, so there should be the same slot/peg arrangement to hold the bottom of the panel.

Excellente. Thank you. I'll sort that out when the storm passes. It may be that somehow the slot/peg thing has broken, as it is down there that it is flapping about

2 hours ago, tktplz said:

I bought a 12 foot wide by 20 foot long. Double doors at both ends. I put the wall at 12 foot on my motorcycle side and 8 foot on the shed side. 12 by 12 is just enough. I'd do 12 by 12 or 12 by 14 if you can. I'll try with these pix to show you the size with bikes in it.

That's brilliant. Thank you very much, gives me a good feel for it.

31 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

I hear that!   My last two bike purchases have been brand new bikes, and it's been so nice not having to play the "What bullshit did the previous owner do?" game.  The PO horror stories I've got after 25 years of old, used bikes...  

I recognize I've paid a lot more for my last two bikes than I strictly "needed" to - buying lightly used would have saved me thousands - but... Yeah.  It's nice to just not worry about what surprises are hidden within.

The last used bike I bought - a Yamaha XJ750 - seemed ok.  Lots of wear, but it was an 82 and that was expected and part and parcel to the whole "buying an 80's bike" schtick.  Until I look off the valve cover to check the valves. 

Valve cover bolts where glued in place, not screwed into anything.  This was because the aluminum cam caps (to which the inside bolts thread in) where literally broken.  They'd had someone try to weld on bulk metal, drill new holes, and put helicoils into them... But that really didn't work out.  This was one of the caps:

I mean, really.  

Oooft, someone did a real good job of messing that up.