Stew

Man, I really need to practice.

My 2015 makes all sorts of noises , I get a whine and whistle from the engine . Runs like a dream though. The clutch in particular sounds like it has dreadful asthma when in neutral with the clutch lever out. It's almost embarrasing

@WKE002 just fitted one to his Tracer, I believe it is a generic one. Looks good. Have a look in the 'what did you do to your tracer' thread , it was very recent, so will be near the end.

1 Late 15th Century Orchardton Tower - Wikipedia 2 No, but I can do if I absolutely had to. 3 No idea, it was on the bike when I bought it 4 I know, right.I only took the photo because there were a few the same in the field next to the tower, and I have never seen brown sheep with white faces before.

It's more the seat width than height that is the issue for getting flat footed probably. You could probably get an upholsterer to narrow the sides a bit. I posted a link to a long discussion/review of the Niken, where the guy was raving about how great it was with a pillion, and how much his pillion loved it. Here it is again in case you missed it....

Far too rural where I am, but I'm bumping this thread so it gets the love it deserves. I might even have to go on a run to a city (eek), unless a 2nd division Scottish football team ground would do? Professional, but pretty bad

Hopefully it'll be something simple, like crappy fuel or something. Could you run some injector cleaner or something through it, maybe just a bit of muck got in when filling it up?

Brilliant review of it that I came across...

Well I can only speak for the Tracer (non gt). Take the seat off and there is a big plastic sort of lever thing that raises or lowers the seat position, then the seat clips back on in H or L positions (hard to describe, and the first time I tried it , both myself and my mechanic brother-in-law took a good 10 minutes of head scratching and panicking as we couldnt get the seat back on, until I noticed the H and L marks )

Out practising with the new suspension setup today, went round my nemesis, the 'other side' of the loch. Very successful, but on reflection I was trying to change my riding style, head position and a few other things. So, the bike was fine, but I overdid it

It's a 5-10 minute job, and the noise is awesome! Enjoy.

Is it like the Tracer with seat height adjustment? Low and High?

Did mine a few weeks ago. Denali Soundbomb mini, ridiculously loud and hilariously funny to watch the car drivers jump! straight swap with the stock one. If you search on here for soundbomb you should find photos of it installed.

I know. The smell of 2 stroke should be sold as an essential oil, for stimulating the heart and circulation.

Bring back carbs! I know electric is the future, but man, there is just something lovely about the sound of petrol being tortured to death inside a motorcycle engine. Sorry Greta (not really, in fact, not even slightly) If only there was a 900 tracer in a 2 stroke variety, I mean , can you imagine the sheer joy , the smell and the insane acceleration when you hit the power band!

Riding in London in the rain all day, with the insane traffic was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Sitting eating a bar of chocolate on the kerb in the pouring rain, thinking, I'm getting paid to ride my bike, was just the best feeling ever. Getting home at night exhausted but super adrenalined up, face absolutely black with road muck. Crashing, but the bike still rideable, got to get the package to the client, don't bleed on it when you deliver it. Delivering body parts from directly outside the operating theatre to the autopsey unit 3 miles away as quickly as possible. Happy days. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but the internet killed it stone dead. I spent a lifetime in i.t. , always chasing technology, always something better, always something more efficient. It broke my brain (long story) , so I deliberately avoid going down that route with everything wherever possible nowadays. The bike handles and performs better than I can, that's all I need, and while I get exactly what you are saying, nah, it's not for me , not now. It works, the biggest limiting factor to the bike now is purely my brain and my skill level, which I work on as often as I can. (Although sometimes you just have to go and thrash it about and hope no cops are hiding round the next bend

A bit! You win understatement of the year, hahahaha. I washed my vstrom twice ever, in about 12 years of ownership.

As the guys have said above. I had the same with my vstrom, hit the pivot points with wd40 and a rag first, to clean things up a bit. Then some spray on grease. Work the stand up and down a bit to help it, and you should be good to go.

I appreciate your suggestion, but I'll pass , thanks. I've been riding for 40 years now, I am no expert by any means, but I know how I like a bike to behave/react, and I have had some great bikes in my time, but never have I had a bike set up so perfectly for me. I've worked as a motorcycle despatch rider in London, I've done IaM training, I've raced enduro, I've ridden motogymkhana, I've toured all over the place, UK and Europe, I've taken groups of riders on touring weekends etc. I'm still learning, and always will be. All that said, what it boils down to for me is..... The bike feels amazing, and was set up to suit my requirements, my riding style , and the sorts of roads that I want to get the most out of the bike on. It was done by a suspension specialist, who can be found every weekend at race meetings in the UK, setting up race bikes. I spent time with him, in his workshop, discussing the issues I had, and what I wanted from a bike. Have a wee look at his site... TW Suspension Tech, North West's Motorcycle Suspension Specialists We are specialists in complete motorcycle suspension set up, servicing... The Booster Plug and suspension upgrade have transformed the bike from a great engine and decent bike to a superb bike with a superb engine.

Indeed. Plus I thought my tyres (tires) were garbage, in fact it was the suspension. As you say, much less drama, much less happening that you need to deal with, or that distracts your mind. The amount of grip on the front is insane now. It'll take me a week or so probably to get used to this ridiculously smooth bike, since I had adjusted myself so much to dropping gears , slowing to a crawl, chucking it in and hanging on while it pogo'd around, then hammering back out of the turn, just in time to do the same on the next bend. No flow, and tiring. I cannot wait to try the 'bad' side of the loch tomorrow.

Go for it. I only have a wee humble home, but an awesome bike!

Cheers my friend. And I'm only a flight away. You'd have the time of your life riding around the roads here. All you need is a passport, a plane ticket and insurance to ride my bike , and you'd be more than welcome to use my bike to tour the area. It is stunning. Super twisty roads, and very little traffic.

So, here is my early feedback on the upgrade that I just had done on the bike. I had the front forks completely serviced, new seals, K-Tech SSK Pistons, KYB springs and new oil. Rear, completely replaced with K-Tech Razor-R , with remote adjustment... The bike was set up so that the sag etc. was just right for me. The instant I sat on the bike the difference was noticeable. It felt , well, tighter is the best word I can use to describe it. The bike didn't sit down on me or anything, it just settled ever so slightly. My first ride on it, was a 160 or so mile trip home, sadly all on Motorway (3 lane freeway) , and in really nasty weather. But as I was riding along I realised how nothing was upsetting the bike, no seams or white lines noticeable as I crossed them, and I am talking about in pouring rain, at 70-90mph. It was like riding in the dry, the bike was so planted feeling. It was a properly uneventful and enjoyable ride home, despite the rain and fog, and at times really strong crosswinds. Got home, stinky hands from soggy gloves. Not much to say really, it was just a nice cruise home. Today however, I got my first opportunity to try it out properly. Dry and sunny, on roads that I know reasonably well, with all sorts of road condition, from smooth, to freshly laid, to badly repaired all the way to just plain badly potholed. Super twisty roads. I recorded it all on my gopro and watched it back to sort of take it in even more when I was off of the bike. If anyone is interested I'll edit the footage and put some highlights up on youtube at some point. If not, I enjoyed it The first thing that struck me was how effortlessly the bike would change direction, side to side with no drama, no big input from me. It actually felt like I had put different profile tyres on, it was a huge difference, and to be quite blunt, it made me a little nervous, not in a bad way, more like I was on a bike I hadn't ridden before. So I rode along the lochside, and went through a couple of bends that I was always wary of before the upgrade, and the bike breezed through as though the big bumps and ripples weren't there. Tested out hammering on the front brake on a a few different surfaces, and the grip level seemed massive, and the forks didn't dive and bounce, the damping was super smooth, very very confidence inspiring. Then I took it along some really twisty bits, just taking my time and trying to get the feel for it all. Again, zero drama, the bike just felt planted and like I had masses more grip than before. I then rode round some bends that had caused me real issues , due to how bad the road surface was, I used to slow right down for them, but no matter how slow, the bike seemed to get kicked around, causing me a loss of confidence that I would even stay on my side of the road at times. Seriously unpleasant bits of road for me. With the upgrade, I could feel the bumps, but they had no effect on the level of grip or control at all. I was seriously blown away by how huge the improvement was. I had hoped for some improvement, but this was far beyond my expectations. It literally feels like a new bike. Before the upgrade it felt like the front and rear of the bike were really almost working against one another, and I always felt like I was working hard to get it to switch from one direction to another when leaned over , and there was a constant fear of the bumps and potholes and such actually causing me to end up on the wrong side of the road, to the point where there were a few roads I wouldn't ride along because there was no pleasure in it at all. Now, all I need to do is get used to how much more planted and smooth the bike feels. I'm going for another 'test' ride along the same road tomorrow, but without the gopro, so I don't need to worry about the speedometer showing, and I cannot wait! I will update this after I've been along the dreaded 'other side of the loch' road tomorrow Stew Cannot recommend a suspension upgrade enough, and I've only started to get used to it. Thanks for reading this novella, if you made it to the end you have far too much time on your hands

Super cool. Anything that makes you grin like that is clearly a great bike

Bound to in a future iteration, I mean it is the competely logical next stage, or am I missing something completely?