Preparing '20 900GT for longer tour. What do I need?

[Jayzonk]

On 4/26/2023 at 5:58 PM, Wintersdark said:

Tires: on a long trip, mount new rubber first.  If your old tires still have a reasonable amount of life left, just keep them and throw them back on in the future, but DO NOT risk needing new tires on a trip.  As others have said, you never know what availability will be like when you suddenly find yourself needing new tires mid-trip.  Get high mileage sport touring rubber (Michelin Road 6, T32's, etc) so it's definitely not an issue and you know you'll have good performance in inclement weather. 

Ergonomics: Don't change anything before a trip.  Keep stuff you're used to, it'll be fine.  Last thing you want is to find out that new windscreen hurts your neck due to wierd buffeting once your hundreds of kilometers from home.

Tools: as others said, bring what you need to take the wheels off and the plastics.  That's a small kit, but you're probably going to need to for example adjust your chain.

General Packing: Go light.  Don't try to solve every potential issue before you leave because you'll weigh the bike down a ton and it'll ride terribly. Particularly on the tail bag! Keep as little weight in it as possible. Think hard about whether you're better off bringing a thing, or bringing a credit card and just buying a thing if you need it.  Every single thing you bring with you comes at a cost in decreased riding fun, fuel economy, and simply space for something else.  Remember, you can wash clothes on the way.  Definitely bring clothes that are comfortable to spend a day riding in. For me, that's typically a sweatshirt and sweatpants that'll be under my gear.  I may look silly, but people only see the riding gear anyways and I'm extremely comfortable.

I was thinking about skipping the top box and just going with the panniers.  It'll be a bit tight but could work (I'd like to find some new FJR bags and put them on but they go for $4500 Canadian!).  

Edited May 1, 2023 by Jayzonk

[HGP61]

2 hours ago, Jayzonk said:

I was thinking about skipping the top box and just going with the panniers.

All depends on what you have with you and what accommodation you use. You may need to get all the stuff you intend to take with you and try it for size.

I had a quick look through the previous posts and couldn't see anything about hotels or camping. I usually run all the time with a top box it has everything I would usually need on a day trip (spare cloves spare top or jacket liner etc. and space for the helmet at stops) Camping adds the side cases and a roll top bag. The side cases have the fitted soft liners that can be quickly removed and taken in to the accommodation either tent or hotel.

I am planning  A tour later only using Hotels and am considering only using the top box and a roll top bag that can be taken into the hotel. This potentially would make filtering through traffic a bit easier on the motorway trips to and from the good bit of the tour. 

[Heli ATP]

14 hours ago, Jayzonk said:

Have you considered getting them for your kids?  I'm thinking about it.  

Re: DogTags......    Funny you should ask. My son just started driving so I got him one, and my nephew rides an electric scooter so he got one also. Not sure if they will wear them but no harm either way.

[robzilla]

If you don't like dogtags or something around the neck, you can opt for a wrist, watch and shoe version of identification called RoadID. I use it for both sport touring and road biking.  

https://www.roadid.com/

[kilo3]

They don't put this one your states id? I have organ donor, blood type, and linked to my driver's license I can put any additional information. All optional of course.

[Jayzonk]

You know...it's interesting.  Everyone on the site seems really well-versed with touring on the Tracer and it's just awesome to get all of this coaching...and trust me, I need it.  I plan things out, but I never plan enough, and this has motivated me to slow things down and do a lot of preparing before going.  Oil change, tires, of course.  But getting lots of kms on the touring seat and windscreen are essential.  Paper maps will be my friend, but having a handy place to keep them will need to be found.  

Givi tankbag - I have an XStream that's probably six years old and unused.  I need to get the BF23 adaptor ring for it, but I think it should fit over the bolts and shroud at the front of the tank?  

 

[PhotoAl]

Maybe we appear well versed cause we've made mistakes and learned the hard way LOL.  I take what I think I'll need and then if I need something there are stores along the way.  I've bought all kinds of stuff ranging from extension cords to small allen wrenches to needles and thread.  Oh and must nor forget last trip I left with the pair of pants I had on!  Got to my sisters in Michigan and said "hello we need to go to Target".  

Biggest stuff to get right before the trip are tires and bike maintenance.  Inspect and make sure critical stuff like the chain, brake pads and fluids are in good condition and enough to last the trip.

I carry a Garmin InReach mini for reliable emergency communication even if I don't have cell service.

I'm always overloading and overstuffing my tank bag but essential stuff like maps for the day go in there.  Maps for the next day are packed away in the duffle or a side case.

[betoney]

22 hours ago, Jayzonk said:

Paper maps will be my friend, but having a handy place to keep them will need to be found.

 

49 minutes ago, PhotoAl said:

I'm always overloading and overstuffing my tank bag but essential stuff like maps for the day go in there.  Maps for the next day are packed away in the duffle or a side case.

I'm curious, to those that ride with a GPS and cell phone, what do you use a paper map for?  I have traveled with both paper maps and a GPS and have never used the paper map, not even once, so I stopped carrying them years ago.

A smart phone navigation app or GPS is infinitely easier, more accurate, always up to date, can create a route in an instant, immediately tell you the distance and ETA down to the minute, show you gas stops along your route with real time prices all without touching the device, you just use your voice. 

I have ridden in deep, dense forests and at high elevations in the Rocky Mountains and have never lost satellite connection on my GPS. 

[HGP61]

3 hours ago, betoney said:

I'm curious, to those that ride with a GPS and cell phone, what do you use a paper map for?  I have traveled with both paper maps and a GPS and have never used the paper map, not even once, so I stopped carrying them years ago.

For planning  a route that I'm going to input into the Tom-Tom sat nav I usually sit with a paper map or road atlas this usually has more detail on smaller roads and makes sure that the route that I input uses the roads I want to ride and not what the sat nav wants to pick for me. On multi day trips the road atlas is usually put in the bottom of the top case and might get used if we want to change that day's itinerary. The maps that the route planning programmes don't necessarily show enough detail unless you zoom right in. 

[miweber929]

7 hours ago, betoney said:

 

I'm curious, to those that ride with a GPS and cell phone, what do you use a paper map for?  I have traveled with both paper maps and a GPS and have never used the paper map, not even once, so I stopped carrying them years ago.

A smart phone navigation app or GPS is infinitely easier, more accurate, always up to date, can create a route in an instant, immediately tell you the distance and ETA down to the minute, show you gas stops along your route with real time prices all without touching the device, you just use your voice. 

I have ridden in deep, dense forests and at high elevations in the Rocky Mountains and have never lost satellite connection on my GPS. 

It depends on what you want to see and the route you want to take as well as the paper maps you have:
 

If I’m planning a trip from point A to point B and want to take the time to plan waypoints and program my route into the GPS or phone, they can work great. If I’m trying to get there the fastest way, they are also great. 

But if I’m doing what I do when I take my trips down south, and have no idea how long I want to wander, or where I may want to go that day and want to know the fun routes around there, and maybe make mid ride changes based on weather, how I’m feeling, whatever, nothing beats a high resolution paper map. A typical GPS/phone screen is what 3”x5”, 4”x6” something like that? The map on top of my tank bag is 7x10, shows where I was, where I want to go and cool shit around the area I may not have seen. I’ve yet to get to a point using a (relatively) recent map where it’s steered me way off at least to a point the GPS was the only way out. 
 

I’ve tried several times to use a GPS for meandering routes and all I see and hear is re-routing, or recalculating on the screen and in my headset. Or I try to see with a resolution so bad I can’t tell where I need to turn next, or I see the route for the next half mile, not the road ahead and that’s not helpful. 
 

GPS has its place, but so does a paper map. 

[Jayzonk]

10 hours ago, betoney said:

 

I'm curious, to those that ride with a GPS and cell phone, what do you use a paper map for?  I have traveled with both paper maps and a GPS and have never used the paper map, not even once, so I stopped carrying them years ago.

A smart phone navigation app or GPS is infinitely easier, more accurate, always up to date, can create a route in an instant, immediately tell you the distance and ETA down to the minute, show you gas stops along your route with real time prices all without touching the device, you just use your voice. 

I have ridden in deep, dense forests and at high elevations in the Rocky Mountains and have never lost satellite connection on my GPS. 

Well, I won't be riding with a GPS but I will have my cell phone.  I'm going to run with maps as my way to get around.  For me, getting away and putting the phone down is almost like going to detox (which, fortunately, I have never had to do).  It takes awhile to adjust to not be staring at a phone or a computer, but once I am, I start feeling more in control of things.  To use a map and not a GPS or phone for directions for me is deterministic - I look at the map and I determine where I am going to go.  The device doesn't tell me where to go.  It may seem semantic but it does make a difference to how I feel and what I'm doing on this planet.  Looking at the map, orienting my location in my head and making a decision about where I'm going to go lets me live in the present a little better.  

[PhotoAl]

18 hours ago, betoney said:

 

I'm curious, to those that ride with a GPS and cell phone, what do you use a paper map for?  I have traveled with both paper maps and a GPS and have never used the paper map, not even once, so I stopped carrying them years ago.

A smart phone navigation app or GPS is infinitely easier, more accurate, always up to date, can create a route in an instant, immediately tell you the distance and ETA down to the minute, show you gas stops along your route with real time prices all without touching the device, you just use your voice. 

I have ridden in deep, dense forests and at high elevations in the Rocky Mountains and have never lost satellite connection on my GPS. 

I ride with a GPS and TWO cell phones 🙂 but still carry the paper maps.  I really like the motorcycle centric maps that are more plastic than paper.  Big advantage is can spread it out and see all the roads.  Rever is pretty good but nothing beats a paper map for spreading out and looking at all the different roads and where they go.  I'll go to a computer to zoom in and maybe look at Google Earth for more details.  When looking at maps on a phone it doesnt show the smaller roads until zoomed in and then can be hard to see where that road goes.  For example I was looking for a route east across the Rockies, couldn't tell is the roads went thru but on a paper map can see which ones do and if they are paved or gravel.  I try and do the main planning before I leave but some days looking a day ahead to see which route I'll take.

Why 2 cell phones?  iPhone and Android freebie, iPhone is the real phone and keep it on my person, Android freebie is the backup navigation device.  

Edited May 3, 2023 by PhotoAl

[betoney]

@HGP61 @miweber929 @Jayzonk @PhotoAl Thanks for responding to my question.  I guess I travel differently, I'm not retired so when on a road trip I already know where I'm going, I have a set number of days and my route is pre-planned and loaded in my GPS before I leave, I don't have time off work to just "wander East" and see where I end up, maybe someday 👍🏻.

I plan the entire trip, separate routes organized by day (my GPS can store multiple routes at once) so I just press "Day 1" and go, the next day press "Day 2" etc.

[Wintersdark]

On 4/30/2023 at 10:51 PM, Jayzonk said:

I was thinking about skipping the top box and just going with the panniers.  It'll be a bit tight but could work (I'd like to find some new FJR bags and put them on but they go for $4500 Canadian!).  

If you can even find them. 

Interestingly, you only need the lids - the cases are the same parts, the FJR lids are just taller.  So there was a time where you could just order replacement FJR lids for the Tracer, but AFAIK they're unobtainium now (which is likely which sets of cases are $4500; holy crap)

[Wintersdark]

46 minutes ago, betoney said:

@HGP61 @miweber929 @Jayzonk @PhotoAl Thanks for responding to my question.  I guess I travel differently, I'm not retired so when on a road trip I already know where I'm going, I have a set number of days and my route is pre-planned and loaded in my GPS before I leave, I don't have time off work to just "wander East" and see where I end up, maybe someday 👍🏻.

I plan the entire trip, separate routes organized by day (my GPS can store multiple routes at once) so I just press "Day 1" and go, the next day press "Day 2" etc.

Oh, I desperately wish I could just "go wandering" like that.  

I absolutely plan a route with twisty roads and such, but I need to have "I'll be here at this day" markers because I'm always squeezing trips into small bits of time off that are in no way flexible.  

I do something similar, though just with Maps on my phone, and have multiple individual-day routes pre-saved so I can just load up a route and go.  It's really handy to see each day how much riding time is left, so I know when I need to push, or can spend some time checking out something interesting I've happened on.  Doing individual days also lets me go off-route and have it recalculate to my original destination for the day live.  

But yeah.  I dream of the day that I can just... Go explore.  Props to those who can, it'd be an awesome low-stress way to travel.