Warchild

Finally finished the 2-month project of prepping the Yamaha MT-10 for serious night work this summer... new 60-degree spot LED lamps from SuperBrightLEDs... And swapped out my blasé monochrome LCD screen for this soothing blue version - very nice! So what has this got to do with this thread? I have a standing rule that one of the two bikes must *always* be road-ready - and never have both bikes down for maintenance concurrently. So now I can begin my 2020 Tracer 900 GT maintenance fun - the 26,600 servicing, including the very first valve check. 🙄 I admit I am praying to the Roads Gods that the cams don't have to come out. We shall see.

Mount them as high as you reasonably can. If you install the Givi Light Bracket for the Tracer under the chin of the bike, you can then mount the lamps of your choice. These 2" LED Flamethrowers put out some insane lighting.

I occasionally think about the newer GT models, but they can't carry FJR1300 hard cases natively like my 2020 GT, and this best thing about my 2020 Tracer is that it's paid for, and carries wifey and I on some long trips just fine.

I agree this is perplexing. Does the kit not have it's own version of the hangar bracket? The holes as photographed are clearly not aligning. This seems very unlike Ohlins.

This seems all wrong. Where is the silver steel bracket that bolts to the two hangar bracket bolts on the inside of the hangar?

I actually did not know this, or I have forgotten about it. I used to be big on K&N filters, and have read a lot of flame wars about K&Ns vs factory filters over the years. Most detractors argue that while the the K&Ns do flow a crap ton of air compared to stock, it also allows more dust to pass thru. Continued to use K&N filters even though I've always had a nagging suspicion that they may be right. When the FJR1300 and Hayabusa were replaced by the Tracer and MT-10 respectively, I have elected to stay with factory filters on the latter bikes.

Sure, I'll go start another thread on the new Desert Runner - this version is considerably lighter and more nimble:

That was my 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa "Desert Runner" edition, carrying 10.3 gallons of fuel and 1.25 gallons of ice water. I rampaged throughout the Desert West for 12 years on this beast.

Middlegate Station is hallowed ground for our Endurance Rally events the past 3 decades. We used it as a Checkpoint, and used it as a bonus location. Some of the most awesome cheeseburgers on the planet are made there.

I am confident there will be no riding the Tracer today. 🙄 The Bluetooth outdoor temp sensor sits just outside my garage window. It's some cold 💩 out there, tbh. 🥶

I am sure most will not like my reply. That's fine, if you think differently, no problem. I am not so sure our cross-plane triple motors like synthetic oil all that much. On the surface, that statement seems ridiculous. However, I can only report my experiences from direct observation and use. I think it was the 2nd oil change (after 600-mile change) that I swapped from full petroleum YamaLube to full synthetic 15w-50 YamaLube. I could immediately tell the engine had new noises that it just did not have before. We all know our clutch baskets are noisy, our valve train can tick, etc. But these noises were different. They seem most pronounce at idle, or just off-idle. Still, the bike ran just as perfect as before. Ran that oil for it's normal 4K interval, then the next change, back to YamaLube AT 10w-40. Started the bike, and I was amazed that those noises were gone altogether. I can't explain this. Late summer 2022, with 16,000 miles on the odo, on a lark I tried YamaLube full synthetic again. Same identical results... a much nosier engine. Again, can't explain it, can't think of any explanation for it. The bike runs just fine - it's just nosier. I am at 22,500 miles now, back to AT 10w-40, the bike is not that noisy, other than normal clutch basket noises. The bike has always ran perfectly regardless of the oil.

The Yakima River running near my town of West Richland is extremely high right now due to this atmospheric river, but there was a tiny break yesterday at dawn they yielded this fine photograph of the sunrise of fire:

These are late-gen Givi V37 hard bags, they can not be mounted on a 2022+ MT-10s. Yamaha inexplicitly removed the four hard mount points casted into the rear subframe that the Gen I bikes had. Gen II's have much reduced carrying options as a result. Hepco and Beck has C-bags, Yamaha has soft bag options (if you can ever find them). Nothing heavy duty like the Givi's, though.

This cross-plane inline-4 is a thirsty beast, many MT-10s don't see much over 32-33mpg. If the ECU is flashed for performance - highly, highly recommended - mileage falls even further to the 29-30 mpg range. This results in a Low Fuel light illuminating at ~ the 100-mile mark. This range certainly doesn't cut the mustard when rampaging throughout the Nevada Basin and Ranges, so an axillary fuel cell was an absolute necessity for my needs:

I was hoping you would score the MT-10 and then start that life-long love affair with it! It was exactly one year ago today I procured my MT-10, it has been quite the wild ride: After adding the 4.3-gal aux fuel cell and proper night lighting, it's a serious Desert Runner: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

These are sitting close to 19,000 miles, and because they are Ohlins, it's really noticeable when the hardware is spent and needs refreshing. As I mentioned, I could always send them to Ted Porter's in central California, he has bailed me out in the past with a Wilbers shock problem. I emailed them about it, and the service costs are not terribly horrible, ~ $340 for the shock and ~$180 for the forks, plus consumables. I will likely pull the hardware and send them on down after I finish up installing the Spiegler SS brake lines.

Tragic, as in - I just learned my go-to Ohlins suspension guy has relocated to the east cost. My Tracer 900 GT is waaaay overdue for servicing for both the front NIC 30 cartridges, and the rear Ohlins YA537 shock. Who here can recommend a suspension shop who does exceptional rebuild work? Looking for something in the Pacific Northwest - I know I could always send them off to Ted Porter's, but, dayumn, a 1800-mile round trip shipping would be terrible. Pic for attention:

Denali DRLs:

Took Warchild-wife day-tripping through eastern and central Oregon this weekend, with a Friday overnight stay at the Best Western in John Day, Oregon. The motel features Morning Deer that are a little too tame. This young doe walked right up to me and expected me to hand over some food. 😮

1.5-minute video of Day One with the three PNW-GT stops: GT15 : GT18 : GT29 Shorter Day Two video with the ToH stops and Spiral Hwy: HOMEBOUND FROM MONTANA/IDAHO

I was after three different PNW Grand Tour locations during this run, and a couple Tour of Honor locations along the way. I don't really care for riding dirt/gravel, though I will if it becomes necessary, as it did on this run this past weekend. I had thought the 105 miles of god-like twisties between St Maries, Idaho and St Regis, Montana was paved. That is not true. 🙄 At the Montana border... pavement just stops. It's hard-pack dirt/washboard gravel for the remaining 15 miles to St Regis. T'was a pinch gnarly in spots, especially steep gravel hairpins coming down Lookout Mountain. 😖 The first PNW-GT stop was GT15, Bear Creek Lodge near Spokane Mountain. It was 41 degrees F when I got here... brrr! Next up: GT18 - TFP Restaurant in Avery, Idaho, buried deep in the northern Idaho mountains. Got there too early for lunch, but the smokey goodness smells from the wood-fired pizza ovens were to die for! Continuing on this uber-twisty road, this was just fantastic until the Montana boarder, when asphalt stops. 😮 It was either continue on dirt/gravel for the remaining 15 miles, or go back. It was a no-brainer... the Tracer did well, I just took it slow and easy... but still really happy to get off the washboards by St Regis. Broke out the WD-40 and used a fair amount cleaning this dusty grit off the chain: Last stop of the day: GT29 - National Bison Range Antlers near Glacier National Park: Here I am kicking back at the C'mon Inn near Missoula, where all Yamaha triples are afforded coveted covered parking to avoid overnight showers: Up the next morning, grabbed the 2023 Tour of Honor MT7 in Rose Park in Missoula, this is a very moving Memorial: Then it was over to historic Fort Missoula to photograph H110, a Huey helicopter that is on the Tour every year as an "Additional Ride". This was early morning fog, not fire smoke. Now time to blaze down one of the most awesome roads in northern Idaho: the 99 miles of hard-core HWY 12 twisties from Lolo Pass to the flats near Koosika. Devoid of any traffic; it was my personal racetrack the entire run. Here I stopped at the Lolo Pass summit to shed some layers as the sun started to heat things up: Kooskia Café in Kooskia, Idaho is a magical local place that serves awesome food and KILLER milkshakes! I have been stopping here for decades when rampaging on HWY 12 to Montana: A world-class Chocolate Peanut Butter milkshake.... mmmmm.... ❣️ Passing thru Lewiston, Idaha, you must NOT pass up a chance to run the Old Spiral Hwy! This is a motorcycle GOD-road! It drops 2000 feet in 10 miles, has 64 curves and multiple hairpins: View at the top is still awesome even with lingering fire smoke: I am fortunate to live relatively near these awesome roads. Old Spiral Highway is just one example:

The Iron Butt Association (IBA) has a well-known entry-level ride called a Saddlesore 1000: a documented 1000-mile ride in less than 24-hours. After many years, these rides are routine to LD veterans. Nowadays, the IBA has "themed" Saddlesore 1000 rides that add more of challenge to the ride. One of these rides is called the "Ice Cream Insanity 1000", which is essentially as SS1K, but the rider stops for Ice Cream SIX (6) times during the ride. Further, the Ice Cream stops must be 150 miles apart. No chains like Baskin Robbins, DQ, etc: only real ice cream parlors or mom/pop shops scooping ice cream can be used. Each ice cream stop must be accompanied with a date/time/location receipt, and a photo of you eating ice cream/drinking milkshake, etc. On Thursday, Aug 10, I did an Ice Cream 1000 ride on my 2020 Tracer 900 GT, pending verification. 🔥 Ice Cream #1 at the start, West Richland, WA: Ice Cream #2, Charley's Deli/Ice Cream, Baker City, Oregon: Ice Cream No3, Sprinkles Creamery in Mountain Home, Idaho: Insurance fuel at Twin Falls, Idaho before the big decent into the Nevada furnace for the fast run to Elko: Ice Cream # 4 at "Spoon Me" in Elko, Nevada: Ice Cream #5: a vanilla milkshake Sacha's Sugar Shak in Eureka, Nevada: Last one! Final Ice Cream #6 in Reno, Nevada... 1040.7 miles in ~ 16 1/2 hours, I am pretty tired at this point: Coming home the next day, the roads are hot, dusty, and long.... So it sounds like a good excuse to grab a state-of-the-art Fields Station milkshake! Then take the fun roads north of Burns, Oregon all the way home! A fun 2 days!

I have that very model, a 2020, and I would essentially echo everything kilo3 - he covered that well. 👍 Though I would add: we found the factory suspension to be a bit suspect for our needs - two up with gear. Went with a mega-$$$ Ohlin's upgrade front and rear, that was a painful outlay of cash. But so totally worth it. That said, if you aren't going to overly tax the suspension like we do, this may not be an issue for you. Another very nice benefit of this generation of Tracer GT: if you can find a spare set of FJR1300 sides cases, they fit natively on the 2019-2020 Tracer GT bikes. We downsized from the FJR, but didn't lose any carrying capacity:

So many of us have done this exact downsizing, from the FJR to the Tracer. I owned every generation of the FJR, from 2002 to 2021, over 250,000 miles across four models. I might have forced myself to continue riding it in my mid-60's - but when I found out the Gen 2 GT models could carry the FJR1300 side cases, that sealed the deal. Still doing long distances with wifey, and we haven't actually lost any carrying capacity: