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What did you do to your FJ-tracer-gt today?


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With the temp of the morning commute dropping into the high 40's I decided it was time to put the KTM hand guards. As a bonus I was able to keep the bar end weights on!! The real test will be in the morning. 
 
 
 
IMG_20171018_181446288.jpg
 
 
 

I really like the bronze colored rims, looks good!! 

***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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ALTERNATIVE AFTER-MARKET HAND-GUARDS...
 
Quite a few folks here replace the OE Star Trek-style hand-guards with alternatives such as Barkbusters, KTMs, etc.   A recent post reminded me that for my last BMW R1200 R I bought from E Bay a very cheap kit to create perfectly satisfactory hand-guards for the bike, at a cost of a mere AUD$14 including shipping.   Only minimal tweaking was required, and after a spray of matte black household paint I think the result was entirely satisfactory, both visually and practically.
 
For those who like me can afford more expensive aftermarket bits and pieces, but prefer not to, and who again like me enjoy 'tinkering', and/ or those who might be a bit cash-strapped, this approach can often work well.   And if it doesn't (witness my recent abortive attempt to create a proper hugger from a $9 'blank'!) the rubbish bin is an acceptable option!
 
Pix below...
 
 

P1030466.jpg
 
 
 
 
P1030480.jpg
 

Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia.   

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Added a bunch of stuff over the months...
 
Higdonion cage w/ highway pegs
 
IMG_20170830_093217.jpg
 
IMG_20170830_093233.jpg
 
Grip puppies, Vista Cruise throttle lock, KTM handguards..
 
 
IMG_20171016_093345.jpg
 
IMG_20171016_093500.jpg
 
Givi E22 bags, Corbin seat...
 
IMG_20171016_093422.jpg
 
Also just received and installed my new ebay special windscreen but didn't take a picture yet. Ill post that later.
 
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HAD A PAIR OF MICHELIN PILOT ROAD (PR) 4s FITTED…

Took an hour and AUD $449.   Now the following may expose me to scorn and derision, and/ or I may be fooling myself, but the ride home with the PR4s fitted seemed to be quite a lot smoother than the ride down to the dealership on the OE Dunlops (at only 5020 km from new).
 
About 50km of the road each way is concrete Freeway, with regular chunky metal expansion joints (I guess) which gave an uneven and at times choppy ride, as did the rather ordinary outer-suburban streets that I rode to and from the Freeway.
 
I tried very hard on the way down on the OE Dunlops to get a good memory for the way the bike felt, and the same on the way back with the new PR4 tyres. Again – I may be guilty of believing what I’d like to be true, but I am sure there was some positive difference there, not that the OE Dunlops ever felt uncomfortable in such conditions.
 
I’m convinced that the PR4s were smoother, but maybe pressures were different.   Much more likely would be that the OE Dunlop rear was damaged when I had to ride some distance for it to be fixed when punctured and deflated – the guy who did the repair said in his Aussie vernacular “she’s rooted, mate”.  Translation: it’s toast.
 
I had no less than three (3) ‘warnings’ in the dealership about the potential hazards of riding on brand-new tyres (and it was even printed on my invoice!). Some heavy showers fell on the way home and I was super-careful to avoid painted white lines, arrows, etc.
 
I’m pretty happy with the way this bike is now set-up for comfortable distance touring, while retaining the bang-for-buck performance features that make it so appealing as a sporty day-ride.
 
I’ve had PR4s before on a BMW Boxer twin, and FWIW I do like the look of these tyres, which seem to have plenty of ‘meat’ on them, so the smoothness should be accompanied by decent mileage and excellent wet-weather performance.
 
Pix below show the new tyres.
 
 
P1040116.jpg
 
P1040117.jpg
 

Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia.   

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HAD A PAIR OF MICHELIN PILOT ROAD (PR) 4s FITTED…
Took an hour and AUD $449.   Now the following may expose me to scorn and derision, and/ or I may be fooling myself, but the ride home with the PR4s fitted seemed to be quite a lot smoother than the ride down to the dealership on the OE Dunlops (at only 5020 km from new).
 
About 50km of the road each way is concrete Freeway, with regular chunky metal expansion joints (I guess) which gave an uneven and at times choppy ride, as did the rather ordinary outer-suburban streets that I rode to and from the Freeway.
 
I tried very hard on the way down on the OE Dunlops to get a good memory for the way the bike felt, and the same on the way back with the new PR4 tyres. Again – I may be guilty of believing what I’d like to be true, but I am sure there was some positive difference there, not that the OE Dunlops ever felt uncomfortable in such conditions.
 
I’m convinced that the PR4s were smoother, but maybe pressures were different.   Much more likely would be that the OE Dunlop rear was damaged when I had to ride some distance for it to be fixed when punctured and deflated – the guy who did the repair said in his Aussie vernacular “she’s rooted, mate”.  Translation: it’s toast.
 
I had no less than three (3) ‘warnings’ in the dealership about the potential hazards of riding on brand-new tyres (and it was even printed on my invoice!). Some heavy showers fell on the way home and I was super-careful to avoid painted white lines, arrows, etc.
 
I’m pretty happy with the way this bike is now set-up for comfortable distance touring, while retaining the bang-for-buck performance features that make it so appealing as sporty day-ride.
 
I’ve had PR4s before on a BMW Boxer twin, and FWIW I do like the look of these tyres, which seem to have plenty of ‘meat’ on them, so the smoothness should be accompanied by decent mileage and excellent wet-weather performance.
 
Pix below show the new tyres.
 
 
P1040116.jpg
 
P1040117.jpg

 
New tyres always feel nice mate, it isn’t you imagining things. I have fit thousands and they always feel better. The only thing I will say about the pr4’s is they like a couple of psi extra than you would normally run. And they are brilliant in the wet even straight off the shelf when they are so called slippery..
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Love the PR4's. I run them 42 rear 36 front . With rain a constant daily thing in Central Florida these tires handle with total confidence. I'm on my 2nd set. They wear like iron.
A Motorcyclist's Church is the open road....
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HAD A PAIR OF MICHELIN PILOT ROAD (PR) 4s FITTED…
the ride home with the PR4s fitted seemed to be quite a lot smoother than the ride down to the dealership on the OE Dunlops (at only 5020 km from new).
 
I’m convinced that the PR4s were smoother, but maybe pressures were different.

I notice the exact same thing when fitting new tires, I recently put on new Pirelli Angel GT's and WOW, she feels smooth as butter.  I didn't hate the OEM 222's, but found they were slipperier, at least in my experience, on painted lines and tar snakes.  I had them slip on me more than once.
 

***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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@wordsmith - It’s not your imagination... new tires always feel better than a well worn set, especially when you’re upgrading the quality of tire being mounted.
 
Good choice on the PR4s... I’m a big fan.
 
f71dd54a4117119d5d7c8ee0e19d25f9.jpg
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IMG_5261.jpg 
Got her put back together after painting it. I'm loving the white. I'm gonna try and find some white FJ 09 stickers for the side panels and maybe get some pinstriping for my wheels.
That white sure does look nice!!  D@mn, now I might need to spend more money on my bike... 

***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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IMG_5261.jpg 
Got her put back together after painting it. I'm loving the white. I'm gonna try and find some white FJ 09 stickers for the side panels and maybe get some pinstriping for my wheels.
That white sure does look nice!!  D@mn, now I might need to spend more money on my bike...
Lets be real. You were going to spend more money on your bike anyway. Now you know what tongue.png

'15 FJ09

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Today I adjusted the APS again for even smoother on/off fueling. A few months ago I changed it from the factory setting of 17 down to 14 and that was a dramatic difference. Since I had it torn apart to install the revised clutch cable, I thought "what the heck" and I adjusted it further from 14 down to 12.
 
It had just finished raining but I wanted to see how smooth she was, I set it to A mode and tore around on some wet, slick streets and it felt like a more spirited B mode as far as on/off smoothness. VERY NICE!
If you have a '15 or '16 its a FREE mod, you do however need access under the tank to adjust the APS.
 
A word of warning if you have the MCCruise; if you adjust the APS you MUST re-calibrate your cruise, it WILL NOT work until you do, but then that only takes a few minutes to accomplish.

***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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