DaStray

A Cicada or a June Bug would be like getting hit with a .45 slug...no thanks. Once, quite a few years ago, I had a Robin fly out of a corn field and hit me on the left shoulder and feathers flew everywhere! I was probably going approx. 45-50 mph and let me tell you that it hurt! Didn`t wreck or anything like that but it did knock my shoulder back a good bit. All from a 2lb bird, no less. I turned around to see what I hit and I can say that the bird didn`t survive the initial impact. Back in those days I didn`t wear a helmet, only sunglasses. Had I took him in the face it might`ve been ugly.

2020 900 GT owner here and it was my first MC with a windscreen. Like many of you, I`m bothered by the wind buffeting and noise. Got to thinking what would it look like and how would it ride without the windscreen. Got out a screwdriver and appropriately sized Allen wrench and went to work. Four plastic screws and the shield was off followed by three Allen bolts for the bracket and voila!, the whole assembly was off. My first thought was, "What have I done?", followed by, "Maybe it isn`t so bad after all". Scroll down and take a look... I tried to attach some photos but they were evidently larger than 1003mb...sorry. I tried another 3 times but it just wouldn`t work. At any rate, upon my first ride sans screen, I, not surprisingly, immediately noticed that I could really feel the wind on my chest which feels good here in South Carolina. Wind noise was also down as was the various mechanical noises from the engine. I guess the windscreen channeled a lot of the engine noises straight up to my helmet. You`ll still get some wind buffeting/noise from your helmet and some helmets are worse than others but it`s much better without the windscreen. I also noticed that the view directly in front of the front tire was no longer blocked. That big `ole X shaped bracket does cover some real estate after all. Down side is this...it`s rather "fugly" without the windscreen. Perhaps because I`m used to the windscreen being there and have always liked the look of it. Jury is still out on whether I keep the windscreen off or put it on during the winter but thus far I`m going to leave it off for a little while anyway. I really wish I could`ve attached the pictures so you all could get a look and let me know what you think of it. It`s an easy process to take off and would be as easy to put it back on which takes maybe 5 minutes. Give it a try and let`s see what you think.

Salish900, I`ll have to admit to a certain mental karma thingy going on while I ride but that`s primarily due to me concentrating on the road since while I`m riding, everything else falls by the wayside and it`s only the bike and I. A good reset for me. I therefore have to caution you (if you`ll allow a pearl of wisdom from me that is) not to get so involved into your mental ruminations upon the "meaning of life" to fail to notice the new patch of gravel in the road or the car that`s running the stop sign just up ahead. Otherwise, you may be suddenly concentrating on what was the meaning of your life...😬 Coop is good on imparting pearls of wisdom too...eh Coop? Just don`t ask him about his pet Bobcats 😁

Want me some of that too...

Thanks for all the replies and it has given me some good pointers about what`s best. It appears that the DuPont and Pro Honda have a lot of fans as do various gear oils. Hmmmm..... On the other hand, sperm whale oil, unicorn tears and bobcat sperm may also work well but the only thing around these parts would be bobcats, and, well, I`ll leave the milking of the bobcats to Coop 😁 By the way, Coop, I laughed out loud...thanks for that.

New Tracer GT with 200 miles on it. Lubed the chain with a chain lube from the local Yamaha shop (Maxima Synthetic Chain Lube). Upon my first ride since the lube job, I noticed that it seems to have a lot more thrown off than what the chain originally came with. I followed the directions on the can, sprayed it, let it sit then wiped off the excess. It sat all night until today when I went for the ride. Once parked, it literally dripped on the floor from the front sprocket. I really did wipe off the excess too. Question is, what have the local experts here found? What do you use and why? I`m not really wanting to go into the discussion whether it`s fine to use "regular" gear lube or a commercially available lube in a can. No need to have the discussion devolve into which is better, if it`s OK by you guys and girls. So, what`s the consensus here? Thanks in advance.

Getting back to the original topic, I took my wife for a ride today...the first time she`s been on it since we bought it new X 2 weeks ago! This is actually a big deal here and she really enjoyed it. Gotta love it when a good plan comes together.

Bosch 3300, got it Thanks, whisperquiet

Thank you, Clegg78 for putting together that trip for us. I found the video extremely well done and even the music was good. Some videos I`ve seen had such a horrible choice of music that I had to turn the sound off to get through the video. I`ve also driven many of those same roads you were on except, unfortunately, it wasn`t on a M/C. Makes me long to be back out west again...

peteinpa and chitown, Would you be so kind as to telling me/us what Bosch filter you`re using? I could "suss it out" after a while but I`d appreciate your greater experience and advice.

Near Columbia, South Carolina. zady5, if that`s near where you live, I`m envious!

Salish900, I wholeheartedly agree. I`d been out of the "bike scene" for quite a few years and very recently bought a new GT and am amazed on many levels. From the power of the engine to the electronics and even handling, this bike seems to have it all. With only 100 miles or so on it, I`m learning new things every day and am looking forward to more. Be safe

Wow! I thought (hoped perhaps) that my experience with the tire pressures was an anomaly and wasn`t as widespread as it seems to actually be. With the examples that we`ve seen above, there does appear to be a lack of attention or even competence on the part of either dealerships or the original factory. To simply assume that your new ride is good to go may be foolish or even dangerous. I guess the lesson here is to thoroughly check your new ride before you leave the dealership and don`t worry about making someone mad if they see you checking behind them.

Thanks guys and girls for the replies and I`ve got to tell you, it`s a relief for sure. I was afraid that I was one of the "unlucky few" that have have problems right out of the gate as we`ve all seen before and not just with Yamaha but with almost any new vehicle or even appliance for that matter. You know what I`m talking about as I`m sure you`ve read some horror story about some poor guy /girl who is experiencing something bad and you think, "Whew, I`m glad that isn`t me". Now I can find something else to worry about 😉

New 900 GT and I have a question about the gearbox. Is it normal to go KERPLUNK into 1st gear? It`s quite a jolt when I drop into 1st from neutral. All other gears "snick" into place but from neutral to 1st is quite a jolt. Clutch freeplay is according to the manual and the chain is adjusted correctly. Is this normal for the bike or is it cause for concern? The bike doesn`t lurch forward and it doesn`t do it when I shift from 2nd to 1st. This is my first bike in a long time and hopefully this is normal. Any consensus here?

Thanks for the responses and you can be sure that I`ve already checked all fluids, chain, clutch, fasteners...etc. So far, everything looks to be good so, hopefully, all else is fine. Agreed that dealership mechanics seem to be a hit or miss proposition which is scary. Things do get missed on occasion but something as important as tire pressures could be more than just a minor inconvenience. Thanks again

New member here with a new bike (2020 model with 7 miles on the odometer when I got it) Picked up my GT yesterday (10-14) and was pleased as could be. Not having been on a M/C for 20 years or so my "baseline" was vague as far as riding comparisons were concerned. Ride seemed to be quite plush so basically didn`t know any better so I thought that was how it was supposed to feel / ride. Checked the tire pressures this morning since it was the first "cold" tire pressure I`d had since the dealership had driven the bike before I got there and had it warmed up. Imagine my surprise and shock upon finding that the front tire pressure was 22 psi and the rear was 31 psi! That`s 14 psi too low on the front and 11 psi low on the rear! These pressures are based upon me riding with the wife thus I`ll be running the 36 and 42 psi as recommended in the manual. Thinking that perhaps my gauge was buggered up, I checked it again with another gauge and got the same readings...22 and 31. Brought them up to the correct pressures then took it for a ride and it felt like it was on rails. As you may imagine, the handling was much improved and I`m glad that I was riding very, shall we say, conservatively, when I drove it home. Called the dealership salesman today and told him that I wasn`t trying to get anyone in trouble but that I thought that it was something that he needed to know and address in whatever fashion he wanted. He was very apologetic and told me that he`d take care of it. It just seems to have been something that shouldn`t have been missed but surely was so do yourself a favor and take nothing for granted.

New 900 GT owner here with a grand total of 40 miles on the odometer! Been out of motorcycling for 20 years and circumstances favored me getting a new bike so I jumped on it...and glad that I did too. This bike is great! My last bike was an `87 Kawasaki ZL1000 which I loved and stupidly got rid of. Think of a cruiser with a Ninja engine. Once those revs were up you`d better hang on (grin) I`m a bit older (63) and I`d like to think wiser now and, boy, have bikes ever changed! Traction control, different modes, heated grips and even cruise control...seriously? Who`d have ever "thunk" it? I was dumbfounded by these advances. Somehow, got the wife to agree to the purchase and have got to say, she`s a keeper (and so`s the bike)! You`ll probably see me around here on occasion and if I ask a stupid question, please bear with me, shake your head and steer me in the right direction...