knyte

HAHAHA omg I laughed when I read that...cuz I've been there, brother.

Dang, that sucks! Hopefully it's just something silly and easily remedied.

I've felt some heat from the left, too. Nothing uncomfortable whatsoever - but noticeable on occasion. I'd just attributed it to heat washing through the rad.

Running Road 5's and love them. Fantastic traction and decent road feel. Had no problem in high mountain passes at 5 deg C and rain. I think "best tires" is subjective - really depends what kind of riding you want to do, your budget, and how often you're willing to change them out.

Glad to hear that! Now you can enjoy that oh so sweet engine...

Just recently I had the AC in my Ranger fixed. If it weren't for my g/f working at a Ford store, I'd have waited for months for parts. Even so, she had many questions about her order and can they buy the parts from her? (no way!) Whew Those VFR's are amazing!! VERY sweet ride you have there.

That's a great build! Although...more work than I'd be willing to do. Why not just get a second bike. Still cool, though. I get why someone might want to mod it up to suit the riding they want to do.

Yeah, that seat's not for everyone, but some swear that it's great after it breaks down a bit.

This cannot be overstated. Plastic grocery bags aren't the solution in any situation, lol. I'm able to fit packing cubes in my sidecases with enough clothing for a week, includes a laundry bag, and because they have a lot of mesh (plus they're different sizes), I know exactly what is in each of them. All the gadgets (phones etc), extra glasses, microfibre cloth, wallet and such - all in the tank bag connected to the battery to keep it all convenient & charged up. For everything else - laptop, extra shoes, rain gear, first aid kit, half-cover, etc - the bulky things - that all fits into an 80l Givi waterproof roll bag bungied to the rear seat (along with a tent / chair if I'm taking them). A top box seems unnecessary, and the rollie is certainly cheaper. With this, I can make it from bike to hotel room in one trip (although two is better). Everyone's different. This is just what works for me What a great trip you're planning - sounds amazing!!

It will be until a new one arrives. I recycled my old nut and have been riding with it for months (too lazy to install the new one, but will soon).

New ABS rings from Vcyclenut arrived Thursday. I hope to install them this weekend.

Great pics, that looks like one heck of a ride - sooo jelly. Ever since following Matt's Offroad Recovery I've been wanting to see Utah. What a gorgeous part of Earth. Thanks for the post & pics - really enjoyed that.

Yes, those city cases will fit an FJR.

Fair enough, lol. I've heard the manual adjuster seems to solve it for good. Mine isn't bad enough to want to change it yet (so far so good, anyway).

There may be a recall available for your Tracer. I was told my FJ had the 4th iteration of the recalled tensioner. It still occasionally rattles, but it goes away after 10 - 15 minutes. Come to think of it, it hasn't rattled in many months. It sure did last year a few times - but went away.

Woah, that's really good. I wonder if it's your booster plug?

6'0, 200 lbs. Maybe +20 lbs ATGATT gear and another +50 lbs when touring.

I'd be careful with that. The octane rating is a measurement of a fuel's resistance to burning. By using lower octane, you're increasing the chances of detonation (knock / ping) regardless of running temp. The high compression ratio of our bikes calls for higher octane, which resists detonation (higher octane = harder to burn). High / low octane has little to zero impact on power output.

...bumped into a fellow on the weekend who had an interesting take on this subject. He used to sell Bose gear, and, while he wouldn't use their stuff for his home stereo (nor would I - "Bose: no highs, no lows!"), LOVES the noise cancelling earbuds. He just molded some silicon earplugs with the earbuds, waited for them to cure, then peeled back the silicone covering the earbuds.

now THAT I can relate to.

Thanks, didn't know one was available - ordered

Hey, thanks! I didn't know that. No, I don't have one - yet. Still haven't settled on a CC solution yet, but McCruise is certainly in the back of my mind. Price-wise they seem very close. It looks like the McCruise is a bit cheaper. I've already ordered the correcting rings...

At the next tire swap (possibly sooner...) I plan on installing these for a somewhat low-tech fix. It's a minor gripe, but I miss the large display / readout. Currently I've been using my Garmin as a speedo, but the screen is considerably smaller and finding the right group of numbers can take just a few ms longer than desired.

Great stuff. Very entertaining!

Exactly this. And practicing your swerves, circles, figure 8's, and emergency stops as often as possible - say once a week - REALLY helps. These are perishable skills, they fade and erode over time. With practice it becomes automatic - you don't think about it, you just do it because it actually is second nature. Recently I just completed my longest ride so far, on my FJ, or any bike. ~1270 km's. Two things happened that really torqued me up. The first was when a carload of folks passed us on a hill / corner with a double yellow. We were doing maybe +5 over the speed limit, but they were really on Dad's ass until they made this most un-excellent maneuver. Dad and I both needed fuel so we stopped at the next gas station, and guess who was also there. I really wanted to somehow politely say to her, please don't endanger us all like that, my family and yours - but I knew I was hungry and slightly hypoglycemic - had I opened my mouth a**hole would have fallen out. Plus, it wouldn't have helped one bit, she clearly didn't care. I shot her the stinkeye at every opportunity anyway, for whatever good that did. The second was when one of dad's pannier lids blew off and a car flagged him over to alert him. So I told him to stay put and I'd go back for it. Having found it and strapped it to my bike, I was just moving slowly on the shoulder getting ready to time my merge into a large break in traffic when out of nowhere - and I was looking - this car shot over from the far lane and stopped on the shoulder directly in front of me. This guy jumped out and asked if I was OK. Um, yeah, I'm fine. Oh ok he says, and proceeds to whip out his willy and drain the main vein right there. Again - really wanted to say something - wouldn't have helped. Gotta just find a way to shrug it off and enjoy the ride. And we did. The best part about this ride was: everything else!