What have you done for your T7 today?

[DonaNobisPacem]

Look what finally arrived. Shipped out from Poland on Nov. 16, so took a bit under a month to get here. Fitting it to the bike will have to wait until the weekends though.

 

This arrived at the same time as well, and since it doesn't take too much time to install I already went ahead with it. On a side note, I managed to $%&^ up the install of the universal adapter on my phone case, it's just a slight bit off-center and rotated and it's killing me inside every time I look at it.

Edited December 14, 2021 by DonaNobisPacem

[Wintersdark]

Love the Huzar exhaust.  I've spent a fair bit of time playing with mine, and due to my non-standard mounting (mine's mounted to my Heed rear crash bars) I've been unable to get the disk baffle to not rattle around.  I'd imagine I could give it a bit of exhaust RTV around the edges to fix that, but my exhaust sits like 1mm out from maximum insertion of the link pipe, so the plate rattles as it is.  

 

I've found that the bike sounds best either with neither baffle in, or both baffles in.  If you just use the baffle at the end, and not the disk, it gets a rasp off throttle that I (personally, anyways) find annoying.  The disk fixes that.  I got lazy, though, and pulled both out.

 

I measured how loud it is with my 400mm muffler, measuring from the rear set of the bike immediately beside the exhaust exit.  On low to moderate throttle (as you would when cruising at ~50-60kph) it's 80db with neither baffle in, or 73 with both in.  Peak of 84db revving hard with neither, 83db revving hard with both.  So it idles MUCH quieter with the baffles in, but is pretty comparable as you get on the throttle.  Obviously, it's a much deeper tone without the baffles.  But 80db is really not super loud - it's WAY quieter than my old MT07 with it's Black Widow 230mm GP style full system (no cat) exhaust was - that was, with baffles, 83db at idle and 100db revving hard.

 

 

[Burnsey]

Well

 

Added Oxford heated grips - superb. Easy install, albeit a LOT of cables. Kept my hands warm on the 75 mile journey home tonight at 3 degrees. Mounted the bracket at the side of the main display. Not illuminated, so will take a bit of practice to adjust on the move, but off the bars.

 

Added Scottoiler - not the coolest looking thing, but picked it up at a discount, so see how I get on.

 

Wired the Zumo XT.

 

Everything working as it should, plus tested the Kriega base set up and really pleased all round.

 

Oh and fixed the GoPro camera on the front fender.

 

Edited December 15, 2021 by Burnsey

[DonaNobisPacem]

5 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

Love the Huzar exhaust.  I've spent a fair bit of time playing with mine, and due to my non-standard mounting (mine's mounted to my Heed rear crash bars) I've been unable to get the disk baffle to not rattle around.  I'd imagine I could give it a bit of exhaust RTV around the edges to fix that, but my exhaust sits like 1mm out from maximum insertion of the link pipe, so the plate rattles as it is.  

 

I've found that the bike sounds best either with neither baffle in, or both baffles in.  If you just use the baffle at the end, and not the disk, it gets a rasp off throttle that I (personally, anyways) find annoying.  The disk fixes that.  I got lazy, though, and pulled both out.

 

I measured how loud it is with my 400mm muffler, measuring from the rear set of the bike immediately beside the exhaust exit.  On low to moderate throttle (as you would when cruising at ~50-60kph) it's 80db with neither baffle in, or 73 with both in.  Peak of 84db revving hard with neither, 83db revving hard with both.  So it idles MUCH quieter with the baffles in, but is pretty comparable as you get on the throttle.  Obviously, it's a much deeper tone without the baffles.  But 80db is really not super loud - it's WAY quieter than my old MT07 with it's Black Widow 230mm GP style full system (no cat) exhaust was - that was, with baffles, 83db at idle and 100db revving hard.

 

 

I'm actually thinking about having a local machine shop fabricate an alternate mounting bracket for my Huzar, much like the one used by the HP Corse setup. I'd honestly love to do it myself, but I simply don't have the materials and tools to do it. I'll dry fit the exhaust on weekends, and hopefully I can mock up a prototype with cardboard or some thin sheet of metal to check if it's actually doable in the first place. If it doesn't, I can always buy the B&B rail rack and try mounting it to the little tab on the side, since I was planning to get it eventually anyway. I swear I've seen a photo of that setup floating around in the internet, but I can't find it again to save my life.

[Wintersdark]

1 hour ago, Burnsey said:

Well

 

Added Oxford heated grips - superb. Easy install, albeit a LOT of cables. Kept my hands warm on the 75 mile journey home tonight at 3 degrees. Mounted the bracket at the side of the main display. Not illuminated, so will take a bit of practice to adjust on the move, but off the bars.

 

Added Scottoiler - not the coolest looking thing, but picked it up at a discount, so see how I get on.

 

Wired the Zumo XT.

 

Everything working as it should, plus tested the Kriega base set up and really pleased all round.

Absolutely love me some Oxfords.  All my bikes get them, and I've never found stock heated grips that are better (I'm looking at you, Tracer 900GT).  I strongly, strongly recommend a set of OBD ADV 3/4 Enduro Grip Mitts for poor/cold weather riding.  They don't get in the way at all, don't flap around or anything, and once strapped onto your handguards (a 30 second process; I frequently move mine back and forth between my bikes) keep the wind and rain completely off your hands.  Those and a set of Oxfords and your hands are warm and dry even in a -10C blizzard.  More relevantly for most, though, warm and dry even on a cool, rainy day.  

 

Also: Another joins the auto oiler master race.  I run Tutoro's personally (because I love the simple setup) but I'm a huge fan of auto oilers of all stripes.  Being able to completely ignore water on your chain and ultimately just completely ignore it other than occassionally pushing it with your foot to check tension is just great.  I strongly recommend installing the reservoir somewhere easy to reach and check, though - if you stash it too deep you tend to forget about it, then it can't do it's job.  

[thepointchris]

New set of Trailmax Missions installed, cold! Got 5300 out of the stock Scorpion STRs, looking forward to what the new tires do.

Anyone have any experience with lowering these a few psi below 32/36? It seems the stiff carcass warrants lower pressure? 

[DonaNobisPacem]

My SW-Motech skid plate arrived early, a couple of days faster than I expected. I pondered really hard about this vs the AXP Skid Plate, primarily since the latter was incredibly attractive due to it being significantly lighter and also having a linkage guard. In the end though, I went with this for a handful of reasons. Firstly, SW-Motech had a local distributor while AXP did not. This also meant that if I went with AXP, the shipping and import taxes would put it in the same price range as the SW-Motech. Next, I really like that the SW-Motech has three additional support brackets. I am most definitely going to be lifting this bike by the skid plate when needed, and that additional support, on top of being thick aluminum, gives me more peace of mind. And lastly, I also really like that the SW-Motech skid plate goes up higher than most up front, it protects a lot more area around the headers from all kinds of stuff that it's gonna encounter on the road.

Edited December 15, 2021 by DonaNobisPacem

[Burnsey]

8 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

Absolutely love me some Oxfords.  All my bikes get them, and I've never found stock heated grips that are better (I'm looking at you, Tracer 900GT).  I strongly, strongly recommend a set of OBD ADV 3/4 Enduro Grip Mitts for poor/cold weather riding.  They don't get in the way at all, don't flap around or anything, and once strapped onto your handguards (a 30 second process; I frequently move mine back and forth between my bikes) keep the wind and rain completely off your hands.  Those and a set of Oxfords and your hands are warm and dry even in a -10C blizzard.  More relevantly for most, though, warm and dry even on a cool, rainy day.  

 

Also: Another joins the auto oiler master race.  I run Tutoro's personally (because I love the simple setup) but I'm a huge fan of auto oilers of all stripes.  Being able to completely ignore water on your chain and ultimately just completely ignore it other than occassionally pushing it with your foot to check tension is just great.  I strongly recommend installing the reservoir somewhere easy to reach and check, though - if you stash it too deep you tend to forget about it, then it can't do it's job.  

 

Thanks for the tips, although we don't tend to get the extreme temps here, or more like it, I don't take the bike out, but those mitts look great.

 

I bought the Scottoiler at the bike show here and went with the recommended position for the reservoir, which is the diagonal frame and can access it easily enough - and see it of course.

 

I'll take some pics later.

[frivoloushobby]

2 hours ago, DonaNobisPacem said:

My SW-Motech skid plate arrived early, a couple of days faster than I expected. I pondered really hard about this vs the AXP Skid Plate, primarily since the latter was incredibly attractive due to it being significantly lighter and also having a linkage guard. In the end though, I went with this for a handful of reasons. Firstly, SW-Motech had a local distributor while AXP did not. This also meant that if I went with AXP, the shipping and import taxes would put it in the same price range as the SW-Motech. Next, I really like that the SW-Motech has three additional support brackets. I am most definitely going to be lifting this bike by the skit plate when needed, and that additional support, on top of being thick aluminum, gives me more peace of mind. And lastly, I also really like that the SW-Motech skid plate goes up higher than most up front, it protects a lot more area around the headers from all kinds of stuff that it's gonna encounter on the road.

Looks good! I ordered the AXP over the weekend for $250 from Slavens Racing so I felt like it was a great deal. Just waiting for it to ship. Leaning towards the heed crash bars which will be pricey to ship to the states tho

[DonaNobisPacem]

Lots of things arrived today. A set of cheap spring compressors, the Camel Adv Anti-Bobblehead kit, tank pads, and a dual USB socket. The arrival of the spring compressors meant that I could finally install the RR springs I've been keeping with me, so that's what I did. It was a bit too big for the springs though, and while it did end up doing the job, it did scuff the springs and the rear shock some.

 

 

I could've left it alone since nobody would ever see it under the bike anyway, but I still felt compelled to touch it up with some white paint before I reinstalled it. While I was at it I greased the infamous linkage as well.

 

 

After I put it back all together, the other stuff I listed earlier arrived, as if on cue. It was getting late though, and I was also pretty tired, so I just finished the day off by installing the tank pads. Tomorrow I'll install the anti-bobblehead kit, and probably let the USB socket sit for a while until my replacement LED turn signals arrive next year, so I can be lazy and just do the front end disassembly in one big go.

 

[DonaNobisPacem]

So uhh... I managed to tip over my bike during a river crossing. Fortunately, the water wasn't too deep and I managed to lift it immediately. Checked the airbox and it was pretty dry too, so I just crossed my fingers and have now managed to get home without grenading the engine. Anything else I should be checking just in case?

 

Before:

 

After:

Edited December 18, 2021 by DonaNobisPacem

[NeilW]

Not the most efficient way to wash your bike but it looks pretty clean. Check the gas tank. If gas comes out when it lay down for a trail nap then water could have gotten in. 
glad it wasn’t worse. 

[DonaNobisPacem]

1 hour ago, NeilW said:

Not the most efficient way to wash your bike but it looks pretty clean. Check the gas tank. If gas comes out when it lay down for a trail nap then water could have gotten in. 
glad it wasn’t worse. 

Yeah, I got really lucky, could've gotten stuck there or bricked my engine if I wasn't as fortunate. Also, I've dropped the bike twice now, and twice my handguards saved everything else by taking the brunt of the fall. I was honestly surprised to find that the only noticeable damage from a fall on a rocky riverbed was more scuffing on the handguard plastics. I had to look really hard to find a couple of tiny chips on the left hand side plastic and engine, and some hairline scratches on the swingarm. If that isn't a value purchase then I don't know what is.

Edited December 18, 2021 by DonaNobisPacem

[Landshark]

6 hours ago, DonaNobisPacem said:

So uhh... I managed to tip over my bike during a river crossing. Fortunately, the water wasn't too deep and I managed to lift it immediately. Checked the airbox and it was pretty dry too, so I just crossed my fingers and have now managed to get home without grenading the engine. Anything else I should be checking just in case?

 

Before:

 

After:

 

Note for the next time.  Stand up, give it some gas and you won't fall over.  We'll talk about tire choice in the next class!  

[DonaNobisPacem]

44 minutes ago, Landshark said:

 

Note for the next time.  Stand up, give it some gas and you won't fall over.  We'll talk about tire choice in the next class!  

I was actually doing pretty well before I dropped it, or so I'd like to think. Got off the bike, crossed on foot, checked the water depth and the line I needed to take. Didn't stand up, but I did keep giving it plenty of gas because I knew that the moment I stopped, it was game over. Unfortunately, I underestimated how strong the current was. I was a handful of meters from actually crossing without incident when I suddenly noticed that I've drifted uncomfortably close to the edge of a deep drop, so I panicked and turned the handlebars to force the bike away from it and keep my intended line. And the rest is history.

Edited December 18, 2021 by DonaNobisPacem

[DonaNobisPacem]

45 minutes ago, DuncMan said:

Lowering links fitted together with the Rally Raid short stand. The beast has been tamed! 

 

Does your Rally Raid sidestand sit flat on the ground? Mine is slightly on tiptoes, if that makes sense. I personally don't mind but it does damage the less durable surfaces I park in since the weight of the bike is focused on the edge rather than having the whole area of the foot to spread the load.

[Burnsey]

Started to enjoy it...

 

A couple of months in and I've fiddled, farkled and run the bike in. Today, I went out with the same bunch I always do and kept up (a mixture of 1,000cc plus bikes).

 

The Tenere is great.

 

So, pretty much done what I wanted to do:

• Got the ride height perfect (OEM lowering links, low seat with Cool Cover)
• Improved comfort (Oxford heated grips, Puig short levers, BarkBusters, Camel anti-bobble bars)
• Settled on gadgets (Garmin Zumo XT on crossbar with MotoPumps bracket, mounted the GoPro and remote, added an InReach Mini device, PackTalk Bold for comms, ScottOiler)
• Tricked it up - (OEM crash bars, Rallye bash guard, radiator cover and tail tidy, LED indicators, Akrapovic end can, Double Take mirrors, headlight guard, knee and tank pads, Crispy Designs speed blocks)
• Sorted luggage (Kriega Base Pack, plus range of OS bags for all scenarios and Mosko Moto Nomad tank bag)
• Plus a few bits I've probably forgotten and do intend to pick up a side stand enlarger and probably some aux lights as I find the headlight crap in the dark.

So all there is left to do is ride it and today was all back roads - about 120 miles and I'm still smiling.

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by Burnsey

[jdub53]

Spent some time on the MABDR today putting some more dirt miles on the AX41 Battlax tires I spooned on recently. Never saw one other person or vehicle the entire time I was on those mountain roads running through a state forest 30 miles from my house. Mid-40s F temps and I was loving it!

 

  

Edited December 18, 2021 by jdub53

[DonaNobisPacem]

13 hours ago, DuncMan said:

Thats strange. No, mine is completely flush with the floor. I’d contact Rally Raid and notify them. Am sure they’d send you a replacement. 

 

 

I doubt they'd replace it since I bought it way back before I even had my bike. I will inform them though.

[Insane rider]

On 12/18/2021 at 3:46 PM, jdub53 said:

Spent some time on the MABDR today putting some more dirt miles on the AX41 Battlax tires I spooned on recently. Never saw one other person or vehicle the entire time I was on those mountain roads running through a state forest 30 miles from my house. Mid-40s F temps and I was loving it!

 

  

I loved the ax41 when I had them.
Very stable and predictable

[williestreet]

Just got my forks back from the new Suspension guy I started using.

Both compression and rebound re-valved and the check plate/spring setup changed to a true mid-valve setup.  

Unfortunately I will need to wait a few months to evaluate the results.  

 

Stock chain rollers switched to some with bearings instead of the stock bushing type.  Also changed to a 16 tooth front sprocket.  

Added a centre stand a few days ago as well.  Held off getting one due to the extra weight, but the ease of doing maintenance with it made me make the purchase.  

Now to wait till spring.  Don't think anything else will be changed for a while.  Yeah right. 

 

 

[DT675]

On 12/18/2021 at 11:36 AM, DuncMan said:

Thats strange. No, mine is completely flush with the floor. I’d contact Rally Raid and notify them. Am sure they’d send you a replacement. 

 

Is it possible there is a difference in stand contact patch due to a difference in rear spring pre-load (bike height-thus angle) and/ or fork height in the clamps? 

[pgeldz]

I finally got started on the build!

 

 

More to come!!!

 

- Paul

[DonaNobisPacem]

Finally installed my Huzar exhaust. Used DEI Titanium for the exhaust wraps. You can also see that I still haven't installed the support bracket for the exhaust itself, I'm still in the middle of trying to work out something with that. I still managed to take it out for a ride like that without too much issue, though I must admit that it probably isn't the smartest idea to keep it that way in the long run.

[duggerc]

I was in need of a turn signal light that would tuck in tight because I melted the other with the new Camel high exhaust.  Found these billet LED lights on Amazon and they look great.  With the angled arm, I was able to get the lights high enough to clear the license plate