jcarruth

I just mounted my GPS in such a way as it just covers the nose of Groucho on the "dash" of my '21 Tracer 9GT. Works for me.

I hit a bolt on the road with my front tire on my ST1300 which ended up in the radiator, about 400 miles from home in the mountains. This happened in spite of the fact that I had a front fender extender on the bike. I was stranded. As soon as I completed the extreme hassle of getting my bike home and dealing with the insurance company (Progressive, they paid, comprehensive) I made a radiator guard from aluminium screen, and have done the same for any other bike that I have owned since with a radiator or oil cooler that is exposed. I got lazy with the Tracer 9GT and bought an Evotech radiator guard, which I do recommend.

I hate replacing chains, mainly due to getting the sprockets replaced, so when the time comes, I buy the most heavy duty, premium chain and sprockets that I can find for the best price that I can find. Have had good luck with EK chains for the past 20 years or so . I really like their shim spacers supplied with their rivet master links. My old VFR 800 went about 25k miles with a EKMVXZ chain and it had plenty of life left in it when replaced. Buddies who have drag bikes all use EK chains. RK and Regina, I have not had good luck, at all. I have never used DID due to pricing, but have many friends who use them, and are happy with them as well.

5'9" and I went with ERmax High, for colder weather, from MotoMachines. Much better than stock. About $130. They are not listed on their website, you have to call them. 703-372-7241 Went with a Puig shorty in dark smoke for summer. About $90, Amazon.

Novice here. I just received my new Zumo XT to replace my aging Nuvi 500. Been studying and watching YouTubes on how to work it. So far, I love it. You can plan routes in Google Maps and send these to Basecamp, then convert the tracks from GM to routes. From there send to your device. I haven't even tried to plan a route in Basecamp as I have been told that Google Maps is much easier.

Moved from TN to FL for five years. 1993-1998. Moved back in 1998. Street riding in FL sucks! Off road, probably different.

San-Ran, Robbinsville, NC. Clean, cheap, cool. MC friendly, big time. Beware, dry county.

My 20 year old, two piece RoadCrafter is fine for Spring and Fall, but it will cook you in the southeastern summers and freeze you in the winter. It is water resistant, not water proof. It leaks at the crotch no matter how much seam sealer I use. About once a year, I wash it and spray it down with heavy duty Scotchguard . To shed water, my old Frogg Toggs are much more reliable. For winter, I use heated gear with my old and excellent Tourmaster jacket/pants and layer accordingly. Summer, vented and armored First Gear jacket and JR pants. Almost all of the riding gear and accessories that I own I have obtained used and as new from forums and /or eBay at significant savings,

Pic is a month old. I have since added an Ermax tall screen, and a RAM mount for my old school GPS.

I spray mine down with WD-40 after each use, wrap it in a shop towel, and store it in a cardboard box with bubble wrap.

Been using these for many years, and am a big fan. They are very strong and keep constant tension on your load. For tying down soft luggage, or nearly anything else to your bike, they are superior to anything I have ever used, and that covers over 40 years of motorcycle travel. This past Friday, I was strapping down my soft duffel to my Tracer, and noticed that the elastic had pulled away from the buckle end of two of my (over 12 year old) 60" straps; the nylon was intact, and appeared to be strong, but I used another, newer pair that I had instead. On return from my trip, I contacted the company, explained what was going on, and they are sending me a brand new pair! When they say lifetime guarantee, they mean it. ROK Straps

Like most things, I have figured out the hard way re: mounting tires. Technique, heat and lube are your friends. When mounting, or dismounting, keeping the bead down into the wheel channel is rule #1. There are several tools available to help with this, I use the NoMar "Yellow Thing". Get a strap and go through the wheel and tie to the changer, to keep the wheel from spinning while working the tire on or off. Bridgestones are by far the most difficult tires to work with. Bias ply touring tires are very difficult due to their very stiff sidewalls. Michelin/Pirelli/Metzlers radials are all relatively easy. My setup is the old style HF tire changer, with Mojo Blocks installed. The HF changer is a direct copy of the much more expensive Wikco changer. I use their tire bar from which the Mojo bar is copied. I know the folks at Wikco are bound to be pissed that their excellent products are being copied. I feel kinda guilty about using the HF changer, but it has served me well for over 20 years and hundreds of tires. My balancer is a Marc Parnes, excellent tool. I also have an old Coleman compressor that is 5hp, 20 gallon, loud as hell but gets the job done.

Probably does not make a lot of difference, but you have terminals #30 and #87 reversed on your relay diagram. #30 is fused (+) 12v in, #87 is switched 12v, high amp, out. Also, your relay should ideally be diode protected between terminals #85 and #86 to eliminate voltage spikes back into your bike's sensitive electrical system. I run #87 to a small fuse box to allow for multiple switched, fused outputs i.e.: heated gear, heated seat, loud horn, gps, whatever.