Salish900

Thanks, and yes, it's a hard part of forums when you develop digital and sometimes personal friendships and then sell the bike and need to join another forum to know how to fix the damn thing. This has been the most helpful and least vitriolic bike forum I've ever been on. Lots of great folks here. I'll still visit once in a while. You are right about that V100 being a gorgeous bike. If it take side cases and the rider triangle is more Italian and less Japanese, that will be a bonus. Too many bikes, too little time and money! I sold my Tracer for what I was asking, which was a steal. I was into the bike for something over $12K in purchase and upgrades.

Final update: Took earnest money on the bike today and it's sold. Nice local guy who knows what he wants and sees how my bike is fully outfitted and for a great price. I'm happy with my Moto Guzzi Stelvio right now, and will keep it for the gravel road practice I need to do for South America. But here sooner or later, I'll be going back to a purely street bike and want more HP. I can't stop wanting a S1000XR... I'll miss this community, and wish you all the best. What an awesome machine the 900 is. A true gem. Keep up the good times here folks.

Well, the market is quiet right now as I've not even had one serious party since I posted the bike. It's winter I guess. Now in the market for my wife to get her second bike to practice with me. Not much is more fun than shopping for bikes! And my oh my, the flood of bikes in the 500-650 cc range is mind blowing. Take your pick for less than 10K.

Running at higher RPM matters for some bikes more than others. A Connie or FJR for example, could really care less what RPM you are at, and will still pull your head off. My current Moto Guzzi Stelvio really loves to be above 5,000 as it's a twin, so I tend to gear down a bit more than I did on my Tracer. Every bike has a sweet spot in sound and torque. Then it's just about your wallet size and willingness to wring it's neck every time you are out!

We are planning to pick up our rental bikes in Santiago and then head south on the wet side down as far as we wish, and then back up the dry side. About 3 weeks. We travel by making our plans in the sand at low tide😁

I'm not taking the Guzzi to South America. It's only for practicing on around these parts. I ride 95% on road on long trips (West Coast long trips, not multi-state East trips that may cover all of 200 miles!), and I have to say the Stelvio is the most comfortable bike I've ever ridden. The previous owner did several BDR routes on her and she is set up with all the protection she needs for taking a nap. I got her for a good deal used. And I have to say it is not only comfortable, but by far the easiest bike to work on I've ever had. No plastic off to reach crap, and valves take 15 minutes. I'll gain enough experience on the gravel roads that abound around here in WA to do whatever we need to do on the trip. We plan to rent bikes down there since shipping is pretty much a nonstarter these days and costs nearly as much as renting.

My wife and I are planning a South America trip that will have some amount of gravel roads. I haven't ridden off road before so I needed to get a bike that could let me practice. I picked up a Guzzi Stelvio NTX that will do the trick on road and off. 19" front wheel and switchable ABS. I only bought this Tracer in October of 2020, so it is less than a year of ownership.

Having to sell my new Tracer 900 as I needed I bike I could take off road for a future trip. See my listing on Cycle Trader for all the upgrades and farkles. Only 6,200 miles and $thousands put into upgrades. $9,500.

I wonder the same thing as @betoney. I don't think the exhaust on my 19 Tracer is any different and I've never felt the slightest heat. In fact, I sometimes wish my Tracer put off some heat in the winter here in the PNW. Damn thing runs way too cool!

It's often said that riding a motorcycle is cheaper than therapy, and you folks have been a great therapist. Life is indeed too short. My particular challenge, as stated above, is my simultaneous desires for pure speed, reliability and ease of repair, and flat out style. No one bike has all of that as even my Connie, which came closest, faded after 3 years. I can't stop looking at the Moto Guzzi Stelvio, a tractor of a bike, which I find beautiful and in some ways is easy to repair (Valves in 20 minutes!) and in other ways, well, Italian. And I lust after a Busa, don't shoot me. I almost always buy used, and always pay cash, and my wife mocks me, but from trading bikes for bikes I haven't spent much new money in quite a while. Love this forum, keep it real folks.

There must be something wrong with me that despite only having my 900 for a bit less than a year, and finally getting it just about all farkled up, I find my eye wandering. My left brain loves the reliability and ease of getting parts and forum support of the bike, and my right brain finds it almost boringly good. It's never been a bike I've found beautiful. I didn't buy it for that. But I did for the motor, comfort and ease of ownership. So why do I look at a few others and lust at the thought of seeing them in my garage and under my arse? I'm not a flighty person, as I approach 25 years with my one and only. But with bikes, I just seem to not sit still. My self talk is rather absurd right now: Be happy with what you have! You only live once dude! You don't like things that break! What do you care if it's less reliable since you don't rely on it for anything but fun? Yikes.

Cool. People do this on two wheels without chains too. A Nikken would be far easier. I can just hear the engineers screeching of putting their beautiful machine to that use. Think of the scenes we've seen from WW2 of the Army Harley's running around in the snow with and without a side car.

Good topic and thread. I've mainly used foam, which is fine for several hours. I've tried the silicone versions but those things will just not stay in my ear. When I put on my helmet, they come loose, no matter how I shape or shove them in. Since I do long trips, and am about to do several Seattle to Berkeley trips, I'll be once again going foam and taking them out when I stop for gas to relieve the pressure in the canal. I'm having good luck with a brand called MPOW I got on Amazon. Seem more friendly than the 3M or others I've tried. I guess I'm especially sensitive to noise as I truly cannot stand going above about 40mph without ear plugs. Drives me crazy. And I've got a Shoei Neotec 2 that is a lovely helmet.

Awesome photos and story! So glad you had a great trip. Lovely country. I don't mind offending Florida as a landscape. It's a hell hole in my book. I've had to go there several times, and pray I never do again. Flat, hot, ugly. Crappy beaches with no waves. Go NASA, but otherwise, hardest of passes. People are people, nothing against the people, but the landscape? Yikes.

Wow, great post. I'll tell you I've done several backpacking trips in Death Valley. One trip with my boys was in Spring. We went overnight into a canyon. The temperature was maybe 105. It was the most frightening experience of my backpacking life. I've walked solo through Grizzly country and sea kayaked solo for 300 miles up British Columbia. Nothing compares to Death Valley heat. It's a furnace, literally. No shade, heat reflecting off everything. We had plenty of water, and were fine, but no matter how much water you have, it feels deadly. There are many good reasons I call the PNW home.