knyte

DANG that would be perfect for my g/f. Her '03 F650GS is getting a bit long in the tooth (130k kms on the odo) and, being a thumper, it's buzzy at highway speeds. Great find, hadn't seen these until now. Thanks for helping us spend $

IMHO the Higdonian cage is the most attractive: https://higdonion.com/collections/yamaha/fj-09 ...not sure if the cage can be ordered separate from the skid plate, though.

Yamaha hides the safe word in the manual...something like every 2nd (or is it 3rd) capitalized letter from the first paragraph of the middle three pages.

I have little to add except to compliment that photo - great stuff! Congrats on the new-to-you bike. I'm sure the charging issue is something silly / easy to remedy.

Great bit of advice. I wish I'd followed this more carefully during my own rehab.

OMG! That's terrible ...good luck with the remaining surgery etc. That really sucks. All the best in your recovery.

Heated grips would be a nice-to-have, but falls behind CC. Granted, not too far behind. It'd be a close 2nd! TC TBH is something I rarely give much thought. I've had to disable it once on a gravel road in order to get a good enough run at a hill with all kinds of loose debris. Other than that, I mean, I'm no hooligan, so don't see the need for wheelies and such. Although - it sure looks good when other ppl do it

Yeah, it's normal for the coolant to appear a little low when you open the rad cap of any vehicle...but not by as much as you describe. Hopefully a coolant drain / replace is all you need. What colour is your coolant? Blue, maybe green? Factory is blue-ish, so if you see that, you're definitely due for a drain & replace (every two years or thereabouts).

I feel this way about most tech haha That said, ABS is certainly a nice-to-have. CC is right up there, too. A low-tech throttle lock = so far so good, but yeah...a true on-chip CC would be fabulous.

Great story, lucky find! Amazing stuff there. Have always loved Concords. Shame they don't fly any longer.

I bet the Red Barron bike has no transmission, either? Direct connect, most likely? I can't see it needing 1st gear to get moving. I get it's more of a showpiece than a practical machine; just thinking it through.

Yeah, they're tall bikes, too. Friend of mine, 6' 1", had one and LOVED it. It was gleaming when he bought it; banged up, scratched, dented and generally well-used when he sold it (not abused). It was no street bike; he rode it anywhere and everywhere. He did some kind of carb swap / mod that decreased miles per hour but increased smiles per hour and generally added more response to the throttle. Eventually he went with a KTM 690, despite being a Honda guy most of his riding life. And now that KTM is having all kinds of adventures. He offered me a deal on the XR, but it's wayyyy more dirtbike than I need. They are amazing, though.

I have to admit, the first time I saw a MC with dual beams it did look a little odd. Personally, my own bike is someone else's problem - it's not like I can see the bulb(s). It's funny how anything other than perfect symmetry short circuits our brain!

Very beefy (in a good way) looking bike!

Good choice! Installation is very easy - you will need a wee bit of Loctite: https://sw-motech.com/cosmoshop/default/artikelpdf/mss_06_599_10000_s.pdf

Yep, SW-Motec, as per sig (also the 2nd post of this thread). https://twistedthrottle.com/shop/protection/skid-plates/sw-motech-engine-guard-black-silver-yamaha-xsr-900-16/ ...worked out to about 253.xx CAD after exchange. Shipping was FAST. Installation was easy as pie.

Nice write up and pics! I've got a set as well, and also have an AGV helmet, and my g/f also has a modular helmet (boom mic) - although hers is mounted on the left side, like yours and mine. Because of the contour of my helmet I opted for the 3M sticky mount. You should have no problems with hers mounted backwards - that 3mm plug is such a tight fit there are blog posts about folks with no audio at all simply needing to push it in HARDER. Very firm fit and should be more than adequate in the rain. We find we have to re-pair (not REPAIR, but re - pair lol) them often - they seem to 'forget' that they're paired with other helmets, but it's not a big deal to pair them up again - we've got it down pat now. Never had a problem with Bluetooth pairing at all. Pairing up 3 helmets for a ride with Dad one day was a bit fiddly, and it's a minor PITA that each rider MUST stay in formation 1 2 3, but...they're inexpensive, so whaddya want. Range is good enough for this price bracket. In the city we've seen it fade out fast just going around the block with houses in the way, but on the open road ~1 km or so apart is usually no issue. What's really impressive is the noise cancelling - most ppl I've chatted with on a phone call don't know I'm on a bike whatsoever, let alone at speed...to be fair, the volume isn't great at highway speeds, but certainly good enough to say to the caller, hey I'm just going to pull off the highway can I call you right back. The biggest annoyance of all might be, well with mine, anyway - it's mounted almost TOO strongly. When I want to remove it from the helmet I always forget (until Jiffy-marker-ing an UP arrow) which way to push it off the helmet mount. Several times it has sort of 'snapped' out after a lot of effort and I've drawn blood many times - the mount has some sharp-ish edges. Minor gripe, but that's real life. I've never really got the hang of the FM radio, but glad it's there if / when I might want it.

haha, funny you say that - I still have bruises from the same. Welcome aboard!

It's a bit of insurance, no matter how you approach it. Cheap out and you might not be as well protected. Spend a bit more, and your odds of a happy experience increase. There's no question these oil pans are very weak / thin. Maybe nothing will ever happen, and there's no reason for a bash plate. Maybe a Tracer / FJ never leaves city limits. Or, maybe you're hundreds of km's from home and, like @Clegg78, you pick up a random, seemingly-innocuous rock just like any other day and it smashes a hole in your eggshell oil pan. Personally, I'm in the middle - didn't get the cheapest, nor the strongest. Something in the middle. I'm no longer concerned to take that random trail with some gravel on it, no matter where I am or how far from home (and tools). It's not so much about living in fear, or some such, as it is as wanting to be as prepared as possible for the unexpected.

That looks a LOT like my SW-Motech bash plate:

Great pics, looks like a fabulous ride!

Good to hear!

Great looking bike.

I can confirm - it's not. I rode ~20 km (round trip) on gravel with my dad early this summer (a small diversion from a much longer, multi-day trip), and it was anything but stable in the loose gravel. Granted, I didn't have the tires for it, either, but I could tell straight away that the 17" front just wasn't cutting it. Good luck on your new adventures, @Salish900!

I would think so, too, as well as stretch. It's like the oil level in any vehicle - better not enough than too much. Error on the side of slack