Salish900

I'll begin with a sincere "Thank You" to this forum and the people who have posted information on their aux light installations. This was not my first rodeo, having installed aux lights on my prior Connie, but each beast has its own fur. I had finally assembled all the parts tonight and am happy to say that from start to finish it was maybe 2 hours or so. I got a wiring harness off Amazon, a nice switch, and 25W flood and spot lights. I did have to prop up the tank to run the wires up front, but that wasn't tough. The plastic on/off on the 900 is lightweight compared to the Connie! I have always felt rather naked or exposed on a bike without aux lights of some type. I'm very happy to have these babies installed. I went for a ride tonight and what a difference. I'll run them in the daytime, and if I don't get too many people flashing their brights at me, I'll run them at night around traffic too. Like many here in the wet side of Washington, I ride a lot of rural and remote roads. These will really help me see and be seen. I'm no electrician, but I do know 12V systems pretty well from having a sailboat. I have good Ancor fittings and shrink wrap. I didn't use anything exotic but if anyone has questions on parts I am happy to provide that.

FWIW I got home from the dealer on my 19 that I bought in late 20 and changed the oil after that first 90 miles or so. Like @betoney said, the oil was full of flakes. Oil is cheap. I changed it again at about 300, still using dino oil. Again, appreciable flakes. At my 600 mile change I went with Motul 7100 synthetic. Fortnine has a review of the manufacturing debris found in new engines. I think it was Fortnine. Surprisingly, as I recall, the Royal Enfield was quite clean, like the Japanese bikes. BMW was dirty. HD was dirty. Chinese bikes are made with sand and gravel for oil. And I bet if they tested the Italian bikes, Aprilia and Guzzi in particular, that they would find not only debris from manufacturing, but wrenches, cigarette butts and wine bottle corks in the first change oil...🤪

I've been using and recommend the Motopumps bar risers. They are awesome and require no changes to cables.

So Awesome! Glad you went and glad you are back safe. Those rides sound divine. I've done some of the CA riding. Can't wait for rides down to the Bay later this summer and fall. Your gold chain really stands out nicely!

Well today was the first time I've seen someone splitting lanes here in WA. On I-5 today a guy on a Beemer dressed in Aerostitch among cars stuck in traffic came up from behind and split lanes. I watched him have one of his side cases all but hit a car as he swerved to avoid it. It's not only illegal here still, but no one expects it. Drivers in CA expect it and will actually make space between their lanes so it can happen. Don't know what that guy was thinking, but he's a few years ahead of the times!

oh yeah, thanks.

If you are using gear oil on your chain you can expect a very strong smell. As has been discussed before, the chain on our bikes runs right alongside the muffler down below, and so gets extra heat. I stopped using gear oil because I found it smoked off too quickly on my 900, leaving the chain bare of oil after only a couple short rides. If not that, then it could be a new bike smell? How many miles on your beast?

I'm not sure what you mean by this. I know wheel bearings, and we don't have shaft drive, so I'm confessing my ignorance of what the countershaft bearings are. 🙃

Why thank you. It somehow feels more like my bike with that little bit of personalization.

So I confess my biology background and have a wild idea that if you put a serrated edge on the tip of the scree, just as barn owls have on their wings, it should break up the flow of wind in a way to should reduce turbulence and noise. Barn owls have these perfect little feathers that face forward on the leading edge of their wings, and if you take a barn owl wing that is taxidermied and flap it, the wings are silent! Not so with a great horned. But I realize that a serrated edge might present other problems besides looking outrageous. I don't find my current cut screen above puts any turbulence on me, so I'm not motivated. By the way, I'm sorry but I posted this here not realizing there are two different spots for posting pics and I don't belong here in the rarified air of this GT spot, having a lowly plain 900 myself. Any mod feel free to move this out of this spot so I don't lower the property values...🤑

With summer near I can put the big barn door windscreen away for a while and so went ahead and pulled out the old OEM. Given that it sucks, I went ahead and cut off about 2-3" just down to the widest point, which I measured would put the wind right below my neck for good air. I managed to scratch it slightly while cutting it, using a diamond tipped jigsaw blade meant for tile, and so went ahead and spray painted it. I first thought black, like every other one I've seen, but went with my bike color of gray. I have to say, I think it looks great. I should mention I'm 6'2"and this height of screen puts really nice air just where I need it for cooling. I went for a highway ride up to, someone might say, a bit more than the posted limit, and it was smooth air reaching my helmet. The bike itself is still a wobbly beast compared to my Connie or FJR, but I can live with that.

Doesn't seem too dramatic. The grooves on the tires themselves will influence forces nearby. I would certainly check my forks being equally set up and if you have worked on them, knowing the fluid is equal and such. There is really not too much to consider.

So what's the wisdom of what torque to use on these things if the manual is too much?

Many of us here in the rainy PNW use this and swear by it. I now buy it in the large half gallon sizes that comes with a convenient sprayer and coat most of the bottom half of my bikes with it. No rust. Also use it many other things on our boat, lawn tools and so on. There are others, for sure, but this one rocks. And WD40 is not in any way a lasting treatment. It will displace water, and then easily dries off and disappears. Things like ACF-50 leave a residue of sorts that though not gross or sticky, protects.

A well known and great sadness of our time is the serious collapse of insect populations. Those old enough remember when a drive through the countryside meant you would have your radiator and window covered in dead bugs. Now days, it's rare. The collapse of insect populations is well documented, and the result of insecticides used on farms and loss of habitat in other areas. And though not many people love insects like I do, we all depend on them for the functioning of nature as we need it. So don't mind a lot of bugs on your windshields, but feel sad we contribute to their demise. Our world without bugs is a world without humanity. Sorry to get all serious, but I keep reading of insect population declines around the world and it is a serious and scary happening.

Listen to what @betoney tells you! There are quite a few of us 900 folks here in lovely WA, but he seems to know the back roads really well. It's hard to go very wrong. If you just meandered around the passes and roads of the Cascades or up near the San Juan Islands, it is an amazing state to wander. Have fun!

My old home! My first job out of college was teaching for Yosemite Institute. My daily commute was along the Merced. If you get away from the roads and cars and people, which is easy enough, and rest along the Merced looking up at the Yosemite walls, it is about the most beautiful experience you can have on this planet.

As I sit at my work desk working, this surely whets the appetite for a ride!

WooHoo!

You watch Youtube videos on every aspect of motorcycles, even though you really know most of it already.

Glad to be of any help! As throttle locks go, this one doesn't require any changes to the bar ends and can be kept in a pocket or tank bag. Super easy and fast to use. You tighten that little screw and it holds your current RPM just great. I find I engage it for maybe 30 seconds at at time to stretch out my arm and hand. My cramp buster already keeps me from having to use any grip on the throttle. Together, they work like a dream. And even when I had cruise control on my Aprilia and my FJR, I rarely used it. I just like the right hand engine connection!

I find these remarkably easy and effective as a throttle lock.

I'll chime in to say I plan this summer and fall to do several trips of 2,000 miles and know it will be grand on my 900. I'm also an FJR and Connie veteran, and no one will argue that the 900 is that sort of bike. But modified for your body, I love how it is fun in the sun and smooth on the slab. It's less a mile muncher than my Connie was, but it fits me much better, and I don't get sore. I don't even have or want cruise control, finding a cramp buster a standard on all my bikes and I have a cheap throttle lock that I can engage for occasional arm stretching. If I were buying a bike only to do 2,000 mile trips, I wouldn't get my 900. But as a one bike person, it's a dream.

First off those are kind of hilarious pictures but I'll stick with a congratulations on a clever fix. I confess to being low tech in my navigation, relying on memory and an occasional glance at a Google map if I have reception. I haven't done a huge amount of complex rural road wandering, where a non-phone solution would shine. Even my long trips are up and down on slab or easily chosen back roads in British Columbia or Alberta. I have such a strong mental map of the West that I feel I can't go too far wrong or long in a wrong direction! And again, to quote Milo in my favorite book of it's type "The Phantom Tollbooth": Being lost is never a matter of not knowing where you are, it's a matter of not knowing where you aren't, and I don't care at all about where I'm not!

There is a difference between smooth in terms of vibration and smooth in terms of throttle response. Both of my inline 4's were smooth in terms of vibration, but more snatchy or pulsy in terms of throttle. Part of this is that the FJR and Connie and others like them have such high HP. The difference between 30mph and 100mph is a slight twist of the wrist on those bikes. It requires you to be a bit of a maestro with your wrist to keep them smooth. The 900 is simply less powerful, and is mapped in a way that gives it smoothness. Yet the engine does vibrate a bit more than an inline 4, though not much and not in any way that bothers me. If you want the least vibration, then go with a V4 like has been said above, or an inline 4 even. If you want smooth throttle response, stick with your later model 900 as the intersection of power, good mapping and not too much power.