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New owner & member, about to do a 3 month US trip!


AaronM

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Hi all

Aaron here, from the UK, living in NYC. Bought a 2020 Tracer 900 GT yesterday and been getting lots of tips from this forum (thanks!). Traded in my BMW r Nine T as it's not the right bike for an upcoming 3 month road trip around the US and maybe Canada! 

Luckily topbox was already fitted so top priorities are seat, windshield, auto chain oiler, rad guard, tankbag, crash protection, additional power socket, maybe do something with those pumpkin blinkers. Any other tips for what would be on your list?!  

Cheers

Aaron

new tracer.jpg

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Thanks! That's the plan, going to head west out of NYC to hit up CO, UT, CA, all the national parks, up through OR, WA then maybe a bit around BC and Alberta, drop down to MO and WY then home again. But we'll see, anything could happen! Leaving on 1 June. Cant wait! 

 

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@AaronM - Prior to the trip I would take a few overnight trips to get a feel for the bike and you will discover what you like and what you will need to alter. 

No bike is perfect, better to find any shortcomings now and have time to get a solution in place prior to leaving. 

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

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Great idea - I will plan to do a couple of weekend trips before I set off on the long haul! It's one of the reasons I didn't leave it to the last minute to swap bikes, and with that stock seat and windshield, I'm glad I didn't! 😁

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First of all welcome to the forum!!

Sounds like you have an epic trip planned.  So much to see out west.  I hope you have and epic journey, good weather and a safe return home.  Jackson Hole in Wyoming and Glacier Park in Montana are two of my favorite National Parks.  If you make it out to California, Yosemite is absolutely stunning but the traffic can be bad if you do not get there very early in the day.  

There is nothing like spending a day riding with friends in the grip of a shared obsession.

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Thanks for the welcome! I've not planned routes, but have collected a long list of places I want to go to so guess I will link them up. I've done a few 3-4 week trips before in Europe and the Himalayas but nothing this long! Will gratefully receive and tips for touring, routes, etc (thanks already for those) 👍

I also hope to be able to soon contribute to the forum based on my experience on such a mammoth adventure on the Tracer! 

Cheers 

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Congratulations and welcome aboard! Sounds like a great trip in front of you...Don’t forget to add kickstand foot enlarger!

Edited by Rick123
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2 hours ago, Warchild said:

To answer your question - do the Radiator guard before anything else. Followed by a fender extender for the front. A rock hit in the radiator will stop your tour instantly.

And I highly recommend you get the EvoTech Performance rad guard. 

Rob

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I would also recommend a quality hardwired GPS. You can build routes and store them in the unit itself as well as adding favorite locations.

there have been many posts on GPS and mount locations. 

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

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Thanks. It's the one thing I've been debating. I normally go old school and use paper maps (as I don't usually plan specific routes, just do it on the fly) with smartphone GPS as a backup. I suspect I'll be relying on GPS more than normal on this trip because of the huge distances, but was still toying with the idea of just using my phone. Will do some more research on this forum about it - thanks! 

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5 minutes ago, AaronM said:

Thanks. It's the one thing I've been debating. I normally go old school and use paper maps (as I don't usually plan specific routes, just do it on the fly) with smartphone GPS as a backup. I suspect I'll be relying on GPS more than normal on this trip because of the huge distances, but was still toying with the idea of just using my phone. Will do some more research on this forum about it - thanks! 

If you like to call audibles, the GPS is a better option. You can always set your destination and it will get you to a known point. This allows you to follow some fun roads and not worry about getting too lost.

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