Salish900

Bummer. I came back to my car one summer after some backpacking to find a family of freshly born mice in the foot well. I conjured my inner farmer and put them out onto the cold gravel. I also dug a mountain of rat or mouse crap out of the ventilation system of our truck that had clogged the whole works. I must have pulled out a serious box worth amount of shredded insulation and paper and leaves and crap. Can't blame them. One of my favorite EECummings Poems: Out of the floor, quietly stare, a poisoned mouse, still who alive, is asking, What have I done that you wouldn't have?

Not mentioned is that there are tar snakes, and then in heat we are having out West, there are tar RIVERS! That stuff liquifies at asphalt temperatures of over 100. It was just normal tar snakes that prompted to swap out the OEM front tire so soon. That thing was just like riding a glass wheel on an olive oil fry pan.

Question: I'm trying to figure out how wiring a fuse block would let you choose which things are on with ignition and which are always on? Can someone clarify? That would be one of my main reasons for doing this. I know you can put a relay into the system somewhere, though I don't know how or where.

I ride a Tracer 900 for the riding position. It's right on the edge of too little power for me, but I may stick with it a long time as I like the upright posture. R9 would be cool, and the longer they make our engines the longer we will get cheap parts!

This is a great tip and something I need to do. Thank you. I've seen and heard of these. I use something similar on my boat.

I recently ordered and now use a Darien jacket and can say it is absolutely fantastic. Bomber built, custom fitted, and versatile. Can't imagine anything better on all three counts. Materials and construction are top notch.

Oh sir, you cannot know what good it does my soul to see your photos. I'm so happy for you. I miss those mountains so much. They call deeply to me. Sonora Pass is a wonderland hiking north or south from it. What an amazing ride. The only thing about riding it that would bum me out is that I would constantly want to jump off the bike to go exploring. Thank you...

Install was quite easy. Nothing technical. Took a couple hours maybe. Beware that my install method does not connect the lights to the ignition, but instead directly to the battery. This means the lights can be left on after you have turned off the key. If you are not the type to remember your lights are on, then you will want to tie it into the wires that are energized by your ignition.

I have to chime in to say my Tracer is by far the smoothest shifting bike I've ever had. Slipper and Gripper clutch must help. It's just crazy easy to shift. I swear I think about it and it happens magically. I cannot discern any movement of my hands or feet. Just the slightest flick... It does matter that you have fresh oil, but that's understood. I echo those who say on this bike, you can ignore all sorts of sounds. It's just a tank. Not so on my former Aprilia where I had to have a stethoscope to the thing to foretell major damage that was inevitable anyway.

That explains why I see a red flash around our fair town. Thought it might have been The Flash in his red suit. Now I know it is your suped up FJ.

Still rocking a pair of First Gear "waterproof" pants that have armor in the usual spots. They've served me really well, though in a deluge they will leak at the butt. When I upgrade I will probably go Aerostitch to match my new and amazing Darien jacket.

Yeah, could have been much worse. Glad you are Ok. I put a sump guard on mine first thing. Feels naked without it. Also a radiator guard. I do a lot of riding and longer distance travel and it only takes one errant rock to really screw you over. I don't know that the parts on our Tracer's are any more exposed than on other bikes. Take a look at those you walk by and they all have this trouble. The side facing cylinders on a classic BMW are just hanging out there to be smack by some rock, but people travel the world in them mainly to see them fail for other reasons more related to poor design or construction. Good to remember F=MA. A grain of sand in space can punch a whole right through a space ship.

That Dupont stuff has a great following and is highly rated in other forums I've been on. I've switched to using Motul as it doesn't make a mess, and is easy to travel with on the longer trips I do. Fortnine did a great review of things and showed the Motul was not the best at anything, but was not bad at anything. It was overall the most consistently rated on the system he used. Gear oil was a nightmare for me on the Tracer and my other default has been Honda Pro Moly Chain Lube, which is great stuff, but not as compact to travel with, so I've gone to Motul. Wonder if my chain talks to my motor in French? Motul to Motul? Bonjour, comment ca va?

Yes, the spring right at the connection point of the cable that actuates the pull arm. I use ACF50 there because that spring is certainly susceptible to rusting, and it's a high water, high wind area that necessitates frequent treatment. ACF 50 makes it impervious to rust and is a slight lubricant, and does both things I want to do there. I give it a new squirt and wipe every month or so.

Oh, you mean the pin on the shaft that you use to kick up the stand! Yes, I am 6'2" and never would have noticed this. I do notice the bike is tall, even for me, and can only imagine a more normal sized person would be stretched. Funny how the seat is tall, but the OEM bar position is way too forward and down. The bike is not otherwise built for tall people, in my opinion.

Rainy day here in Western Washington, and after reading about the severe drought elsewhere in the West, we are grateful to live in a place with plenty of water. Yikes. The entire West was built on a lie and myopia. Utah, Nevada, Arizona, NM, CA. Agriculture using massive amounts of water in the desert. Anyway, liquid sunshine here today so I (not that I don't ride in the rain all the time but the mood doesn't strike me today) tackled adjusting my chain. My steed now has 5,000 miles and for the first time the chain has gained some slack from wear and tear and was loose to about 2 inches of play. So I snugged it back down to 1.5 inches. No tight spots in the chain, so it seems good for now. Also got around to lubing my clutch cable for the first time since I bought the bike. The clutch was maybe just beginning to feel a little notchy or like it had a rough spot. So I did the method of leaving the cable on the bike and using a sandwich bag method with oil. Works great. And quick. Little lube on the barrel nut and she's good to go. Also, ACF 50 on the clutch spring. Besides cleaning and loving, that's about it. I have a saying that "Love your machines and they will love you back". It's a way of saying the obvious that a machine looked after like a love affair will rarely leave you stranded. Neither of my sons have embraced this truth yet, and they will have to learn it on the side of the road.

I'm curious. I see how the height of the seat would be a problem below a certain height of human. But once you are on the bike, how does the side stand present a problem? I''m trying to picture that. If you lower the bike itself, like @Heli ATP did, then it makes sense you need a shorter side stand so the angles work out. "I’m thinking of welding another pin just below spring to make it easier to use. " What would this do for you?

52 and rocking it. Seems the majority so far are in their 50's, the one option not provided. Makes sense to me it skews older. Not a kid hooligan bike. Not "cool" like some others. I see the 900 as an immensely practical reliable comfortable and sporty bike.

What a ride and report. You have a willingness to stop for photos more often than I seem to. You have good humor too. Good job of keeping the rubber side down!

What a truly epic ride and great report. My oh my. That's God's country for sure. Live in the rainy PNW but love that four corners area. I don't think I've read of anyone using their 900 on much gravel or even dirt. I see you have some non-Road 5 tires on there. What were they? What pressures did you ride? How did she do off road? Well done. Thanks for sharing.

So true. As I rode I did just that. I'm lucky enough to have hiked and visited most of the wild places in North America. Between our mountains and the Salish Sea, it's hard to beat WA. It defies comprehension. Even Norway, as gorgeous as it is, doesn't have the volcanic elements we do. And CA is my home state and hard to beat for scenery, but things are quite far away from each other. You can't do a Joshua Tree, Sierra, Mt. Shasta and Humboldt loop in an afternoon! When I dropped down onto the dry side, I watched closely for the first Ponderosa Pines. So much transition here so quickly, and the raging rivers all over the place. Yikes. And if I had wanted, I could have gotten back to Puget Sound and gone sailing or sea kayaking in the same afternoon.

You know it's a holiday weekend when you wake up thinking you are doing one thing with the family, and find out that has fallen through, and everyone just goes off and does their own thing with a sense of leisure knowing you've got a WHOLE NOTHER DAY TOMORROW to play! My thoughts turned to a full day motorcycle ride around 9am when other wonderful plans got moved to Monday. I felt the urge to go somewhere further afield, and so decided to head over the newly opened Chinook Pass. The entire loop was about 316 miles, took me about 5 hours total with stops, and was absolutely heaven. From Olympia I went up 5 to the turn off that puts you eventually onto 410. You pass through some boring and scenic towns before hitting the foothills and mountains on the northern flanks of Mt. Rainier. Once you leave syphilization, it gets really pretty. On the way up you get some stunning views of Rainier, and winding your way up and up to the pass is delightful. Once at the pass, which opened this week, I found a whole mob of people in every pullout enjoying the lingering snow and even skiing down the slopes after hiking up them. It was quite festive. The views are incredible near the top. It tops out at 5,400 feet. High for WA, and a foothill in CA. On the back side of Chinook you drop into a truly majestic glacier carved valley that reminds me of Hwy 20 up north, or countless others in the Sierra. It's just a lovely, lovely ride all the way down to where the rivers converge from the two canyons. You follow the very large Naches River down to just above Naches where the smaller Tieton River comes down from White Pass. Headed up Hwy 12 along the Tieton is quite nice, though I don't find it as scenic as the 410 canyon. Up and over White Pass, which is only 4,400 and had no snow, and I then found myself in the largest Memorial Day extravaganza I've ever seen any town hold. Packwood was packed beyond overflowing with humanity, booths, and mayhem. The road was backed up for miles. It took FOREVER to get through the town. Although there are more scenic and enjoyable rides off of 12 back to Olympia, I stuck with 12 to 5 to make it fast as my butt was getting tired of sitting. I can't begin to count the number of cars I passed along this loop, taking full advantage of the 900's ability to spin up quickly. Not quite my FJR or Connie, but not bad. I do find a downshift the 900 if I really need to accelerate quickly and am only going 60 or so. 4th does nicely at that speed. I've also found the bike has a real kick as you get up near 7,000 rpm. I need to look up the dyno numbers. You can feel it strongly. A lovely full day ride. Amazing scenery, volcanoes, snow and wet, dry and pines, rivers and fields, rubber and fuel.

I was going to go that route until I put on the crash bars. And with them, I liked having the wider stance of lights they afforded.

I'm really liking the light triangle this creates. If I drop the bike the lights on one side are toast, but that's a benefit of using cheaper lights. It gives me a wide light triangle and we all know that helps with being visible and helps cagers judge distance day and night.

You bet. I've had good experience with low cost LED lights. Many years of service. Giving these a try. And I like the look and feel of this switch. I will say it was a bit of a bear getting it on the bars as it seems to be meant for a smaller size tube, but it does work fine with some patience. You can see I installed it on my clutch side. These light mounts are perfect for my crash bars. Solid. And this wiring harness did the trick. I cut off all the connectors and used high quality Ancor marine butt splice connectors. Sprayed ACF 50 on all wiring and connectors before clamping down, and then heat shrink wrapped.