St. Stephen

Will do. Looks like we have a stretch of dry weather coming up, although the back roads are pretty greasy. "the Tenere incident" 😆 I looked up the rain totals after that ride, and I believe Gualala had almost two inches that day!

Thanks for posting, I enjoyed the vid. If I were new to motorcycles, and watched this video, my thoughts might be: Good thing it never rains when you ride a bike. Do the Japanese make motorcycles? I guess not.

bmart, good observation. When I was attaching it after purchase, and kept moving it rearward, because it interfered with full lock-to-lock steering, I thought the same. But having done straps for many years, and not wanting magnets (or not able to with plastic "tanks"), I love the tank locks. To answer your question, no, it does not interfere in any way with my movement on the bike, not cut in half, yet. In fact, I did 1000 miles with our bay area VFRD group in 2017--in 36 hours--with just a tank bag, with the ring lock:

Happy New Year VFRD! My resolution is to ride (many) more miles in 2022. That was my resolution last year too--I didn't do as well as I wished. Anyway, last ride of 2021 today, photos below. It was less than 50 degrees F when I headed out! (insert image of Canadians rolling their eyes here)

Hi St. Stephen, Thank you for your donation of 50.00 USD. We look forward to improving the forums with your donation. Thanks VFRDiscussion

Moving to the Netherlands! HO HO, Happy Holidays to all of our great VFRD folks. 😎

bmart, as I'm sure you can see with those two huge ugly exhaust cans in the photo, they are Michelin Power 5's on the RC, not my Road 5's on the Multistrada. Great track day rubber for a B- rider like me while still good on public roads. And hell, they might be great in the rain, I'll probably never know. I had two Roadsmarts develop pretty severe cupping on the front, and it was relatively sudden both times while on a long trip, requiring a change in plans to replace the tires while days away from home. I admit I was pushing the tires hard for long periods both times, but I have not experienced similar problems from Michelins despite similar abuse. This was 10-12 years ago so I'm not commenting on current Dunlops.

Nice write-up RC79. Agree with your eval of Michelins' consistency through the life of the the tire, and the miles. Wish my 2021 riding mileage had come closer to yours! I was on Dunlop Roadsmarts on my 6th gen, but had some bad experiences, and switched to all Michelins 11 years ago when the original Bridgestones on my 7th gen went south at about 5K. I now always mount Road 5's (and 4's, 3's, etc. in the past) on the Ducati, and now Power 5's on the RC-51. I also get 6-7K miles, and I should add that the Road series are the best tires I have ridden in the wet.

As Grum mentioned you must post photos. However, I will assume that you have the common sense to purchase a red one. As the owner of a 2010 (guess what color...) for seven years, here you go: The OEM top trunk is great, but it's really small. 2oo miles on a tank is possible, but count on 150 until you fill up again. You have one of the best engines, and best set of brakes in the motorcycle world. Those Nissin brakes on the 7th gen are world-class. Kinda heavy, false neutral sometimes between 5th and 6th, and the plastic is a real PITA to remove and replace. But worth it. Photos...

A year ago or so, on VFRD BLS recommended Motul Paste, been meaning to try it--doesn't fling. But more importantly, just keep the chain CLEAN, and lube sparingly every ~500 miles --just so the metal-to-metal, roller-to-sprocket, has a little film. bmart you are 100% correct IMO. The O or X rings don't need lube because they are sealed. Ari Henning has several great videos on chain maintenance and lubing. Keep it clean, lube sparingly, and you get 20,000 miles from a chain.

Geez guys, c'mon. It's the end of the world--again? We will be able to keep our ICE bikes for as long as we can maintain them, and the next generations really won't care if they don't get to enjoy shifting or changing spark plugs.

The Bostrom version--very cool! Your future grandkids will be impressed.

Wow Cogs, really have to disagree here, I love CVT's! At least I did when I was 11 years old, and my Tecumseh lawnmower engine powered minibike had one. That centrifugal clutch was a CVT, sort-of, right? Seriously, I agree completely, the driving experience is lowest-common-denominator. But I do think that CVT is much cheaper than DCT.

Lake Champlain, leaving Burlington VT. My riding buddy Markus is the hat and sunglasses in front of my 6th gen, and his FJR (I think, he changed bikes frequently). The blue bike in front is some v-twin, can't quite make out the brand... P.S. I have taken the Peel Ferry on my VFR a half dozen times. Double points to anyone on VFRD who can identify where the hell it is. (it is in the lower 48)

zzzzz Still looking for that first "my engine blew up because of an oil change error" thread. Geez, just go out and ride. 😎