1moreroad

Yes tight and yes even

I emailed Bohn and Knox. Bohn says good to go on its armored leggings unless you crash. They said their newer armor is thinner for the same protection if I wanted to upgrade. Knox said 5 years. The Fort 9 YouTube channel said D30 is also good for 5 years. That will make it easy - replace armor when I replace a helmet. I'm making some wardrobe changes (my Aerostich is for sale). Given what Knox said, I tossed my textile jacket and I'm replacing all the armor in my mesh jacket. As @keithu said, armor replacement is cheap. Level 2 back pad and level 1 shoulder and elbow pads (only sizes that will fit in mesh jacket pockets) cost about $55 total on Revzilla.

Questions - why would chain slack loosen up to 2"+ in < 1000 miles? I can reset chain slack to 1", so is there anything else to worry about? Got home from my commute (130 miles 90% straight line highway steady speed) and heard slappy chain noise at neighborhood street speeds for the 1st time. Put it on the center stand. The chain was very loose (didn't bother to measure but 2"+ by eyeball). Chain is 9000 miles old. Replaced the OE chain at 11000 miles after finding 2 tight links. New tires (so last adjusted slack) 2000 miles ago. I set to 1" slack, check feel every 300 to 500 miles (each time I lube the chain). Actually measure every 1000 miles or so. In almost 20 years of riding, I can't remember a chain loosening up like this. No play in the rear wheel. No play in the front socket. Sprockets aren't worn to replacement but close. May replace in next 1000 miles. Loosened axle nut and adjusted chain without a problem. Chain adjuster locknuts tight. Wheel alignment looks ok. Axle nut tight. With a couple of turns of the chain adjust bolts, chain slack is back to 1" in 3 places on the chain. No tight links. When I first turned the wheel by hand after adjusting slack there was a loud ticking noise - sounded like something slapping plastic. Noise was coming from the wheel but I could feel it in the chain so maybe it was coming from the front sprocket? I spun it up in 1st with the clutch and didn't see any play. Now it sounds like normal chain ticking noise. Haven't had a chance to ride since adjusting chain slack last night. Anything I should look or listen for? Thanks

All y'all suck when you post up Palomar and Ocoee as your quick rides. When I lived in Long Beach, CA, we rode up to Newcomb's Ranch before work. If we left before 5 am, we could be at work before 9 having done half of the Angeles Crest Hwy.

Just did 30 last month for the 1st time. Why have I not always taken that road? (I didn't think it was paved all the way for some reason). It was fantastic.

4000 mile update. In short - all of the above still basically applies. The pads do not try to rip my ears off when I remove it anymore. I did not overheat all the way to 105 degrees air temperature. Pinlock is installed and works.

I have 2 pair of A* GPX (?) right now - short and long cuff. The long cuff are holding up, the short cuff are failing just below the thumb where the velcro strap connects. This is the 2nd pair that failed in the same location. Last long cuff wore out at a fingertip seam.

Dunlop started selling the Roadsmart 2 pattern again. They are Shinko competitive. $68 front and $96 rear at Cycle Gear + $35/tire install. I've put about 1300 miles on them so far. Dunlop claims old grip with longer life. My last Roadsmart 2 front got 10k miles and Roadsmart 3 rear 8k miles. These are noisier than old Roadsmart 2s. There is a buzzing. It isn't bad, but it is noticeable. Grip - hmmm. I leaned the FJ over more on these on the street than ever before. But I also slid the rear around tight switchbacks which I've never done on the FJ. With the TC on, it was easy to control. There is good feedback but I don't think the best total grip. They remind me of my old Dunlop sport tires on my Ninja 600 from the mid-2000s. So... I got what I paid for. I'm losing max performance but gaining good feel. If I get good life, sincerely I don't mind since I don't ride as hard as some people on this board. Right now about 75% of my mileage is commuting dead straight highways so lean angle is less important.

Between ATL and Barber running north/south: Talladega Scenic Drive | America's Byways You can connect from the Talladega to Chattanooga through the Little River Canyon: Scenic Drive - Little River Canyon National Preserve (U.S. National Park Service) From Chattanooga, head north to Cleveland, east to Ocoee then north on 30 to Tellico Plains. Ride the Cherohala Skyway east. Do an out and back on the Tail of the Dragon if it's mid week or early in the day and you haven't done it before. Then take 28 to Bryson City and ride through Caesar's Head State Park into SC. The biggest challenge with interesting museums on your route is that you could easily spend 8 hours at Barber and 8 hours at the rocket museum in Huntsville. If you ride all of the above, that's probably a whole day from Birmingham up into NC and TN and back into SC.

Instead of just taking 129 to the Dragon, past Santeetlah Lake, turn right on Yellow Creek, left on Old Field Gap, and left on Meadow Branch. It puts you back on 129 across the street from the Tapoco Lodge. All good pavement. No traffic. Much more interesting than 129 along the Cheoah River.

+1 @betoney I have a Tour Master Heated Jacket and wear it into the 20s. It doesn't feel luxurious, but it keeps you warm.

I commuted to work earlier this week (it's 130 miles one way). Yesterday the reported temperature was 95 with 50%, but the temperature in the parking lot was 105 degrees. I always let my engine warm up to 104 from Lo before I ride away. Yesterday the engine temp sensor registered 105 as soon as I started the bike! Riding home, the air temperature was a constant 100 degrees. After about 90 minutes of highway riding punctuated with probably 10 miles of city traffic, I stopped at a gas station for a Powerade. I felt just a little thirsty. I can't express how good that Powerade tasted and how much better I felt after I stopped in the air conditioning for 5 minutes and drank. Never felt particularly bad, but felt better after drinking. Just a 1st person reminder to drink frequently and take care of yourself in the heat. For fun, I looked up the heat index. 105 and 50% humidity is a heat index of 135 degrees! Heat Index

I kept my Shoei's for the full 5 years and regretfully replaced them on the time schedule. I was ready to replace my Scorpion by 2.5 years but forced myself to last the full 3. The pads were so compressed that I had a headache after 2 hours. I've never considered mileage when replacing a helmet whether I was riding 10,000+ miles annually or 3,000 miles. Regardless of mileage, the helmets seem about the same amount of worn out when I replace them (except the Scorpion which was so much worse).

Modular helmets aren't Snell rated. Shoeis and others included.

Happy with these to put my feet on and hopefully protect in a tip over. https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/shogun-frame-sliders-yamaha-fz-09-fj-09-xsr900 It looks like the newer Tracers have the same bolt accessible.

R&G case covers except Shogun sliders instead of the water pump case cover.

My 2nd bike was dead accurate to about 50 mph then about 1 mph high for every 10 mph speed. At extra legal speeds it was very optimistic.

My Scorpion T1200 started out good, but wore out relatively quickly. Sun visor scratched easily. Plastics cracked. Cushion flattened. Protective shell even showed wear. Replaced after 3 years, and I kept my Shoeis 5 years.

Bose are quieter than Howard Leight 32 or 33 dB foamies. The only problem is you.can get popping when passing large trucks at extra highway speeds. With or without music, I love my Bose.

Surprised to see the mileage on my motorcycle catching up to my truck. Might actually have more mileage on the moto by the end of 2020. It's a slow race. Seeing more and more motos on the road now that the weather is consistently good. I saw 5 bikes yesterday! I remember how excited we both were when a Hayabusa rider saw me and rolled up to me to talk while I was refueling back in February. BTW, that's 5 bikes in about 130 miles in the Mississippi Delta. Back when I lived in Los Angeles, I usually lost count around 2 dozen when counting bikes on a 25 mile commute. I'm not thrilled by all the rain in the past 6 months, but at least the forecasts have generally been accurate so I can plan on riding the moto or driving the car or truck. Mesh gear is an absolute must. Temperatures got up to 91 on my ride home and it was comfortable enough.

Please keep us posted if the deflector on the Givi screen helps. The Givi screen meets my needs but something bigger for winter commuting would be good, too. Have you tried the different windshield heights with the Givi screen? They seem to change the nature of the noise but not the volume for me. Is there more windshield movement with the clip on?

Finally stopped at this building after passing it heading to work. 19th century cotton plantation. This building was built in 1911. It served as the commissary, post office, and railroad depot. Indianola, MS

Ordered the Klim as a replacement for my worn out Scorpion EXO-T1200. This is the 1st time I ordered a helmet online without ever trying it on 1st. It seems to have worked. Wore the helmet around the house for about 30 minutes and wore it in town today. I ordered directly from Klim. Motorcycle Gear and Revzilla have similar prices. Fit: slightly smaller than a Shoei. Head shape feels the same as my old X11s or the GT Air I tried on before buying the Scorpion. Internet criticism about the tight neck roll and cheek pads is accurate. On 1st impression, this has excellent forehead/top of the head fit and tight (but still fits) cheek pads. The modular face piece must be up for me to get in the helmet with either chin curtain in place. It's that tight. Once on, the helmet feels good. When taking it off, it tries to rip your ears off. Again, internet criticism is accurate. How the helmet comes off is lower priority for me. Weight: this is the helmet's big selling point. It's a modular but it's noticeably lighter than the full face Scorpion and lighter than the X11. Size: noticeably wider at the visor than my old Shoei or Scorpion helmets. Probably 1" - 1 1/2" wider. Noise: slightly quieter than the Scorpion even before I added the extra padding inside at the ears and the bigger chin curtain. I will still wear ear plugs on anything but short, in town errands. The internet says it's loud and whistles. I do not agree on this one. I could only get a whistle when I leaned way to the side of the windshield holding my head at a weird angle. Interestingly, standing on the pegs to get my face full in the wind isn't louder but has a lot more bass than my Scorpion. Moto aero has a lot to do with noise (duh). Ventilation and fogging: so-so. Just feel cool air on the top of my head and chin. Haven't installed the pin lock yet. The first detent visor cracked open clears up fogging instantly. Visor: instead of a 2nd, internal visor, it uses a transition visor. I didn't like the sun visor on my Scorpion. It scratched too easily. The optics were a little weird. The Klim's optics are very good (haven't installed the pinlock). The transition happens subtly but quickly. I would like it darker. Anything else you'd like to know?

I have wondered the same thing. I have never had a problem with this bike. I scraped the lower fairing on my old Ninja a few times (enough to remove paint never enough to damage it). Maybe it's a weight distribution/suspension setting thing? I'm not criticizing riders with cracked pans. I'm kind of wondering why I - who is not graceful or a masterful bike handler - haven't done it yet.

That looks like the "fixed" oil pan with the bolt on the side rather than the bottom. Even with the Mazda fix, our older models would have been worse.