What have you done for your T7 today?

[DonaNobisPacem]

10 hours ago, DuncMan said:

 

A fourth option might be to mount them directly into the brake light. Various companies produce rear lights with integrated turn signals and they often look pretty good. It shouldn't be too difficult to simply drill an appropriate hole in each side of the brake light housing, install your turn signals and then just apply a little sealant to ensure they brake light housing is waterproof again. Here's what I'm thinking of:

It's a solution that works better with the smaller turn signals, unfortunately. I tried it out as well, and at first look it works out nicely, but the moment I add luggage the signals get squished and buried beneath them.

[Wintersdark]

19 hours ago, Kavika1991 said:

It makes it so the traffic and government cameras can readily identify you. It makes it possible for them to send you little pictures of you in the mail with a little pay this much love letter. 

I dunno, our traffic and government cameras have no trouble identifying me and sending my little pictures in the mail with little Pay This Much love letters, even though our motorcycle plates are teensie tiny (basically exactly the size of the T7's stock plate mount).   I've gotten my fair share of those   "Upside" is while the registered owner has to pay the fine, there's no hit on your insurance rates or points on your license because they can't prove it's you riding.  

 

Yesterday: Finally, after some three weeks where the temp never got above -25, often dipping down into the -30's, FINALLY we saw +1c in the afternoon!  Technically above freezing!  So had to take the T7 in to work last night:

 

Got a new Motoz Adventure rear on the way, though in a very roundabout way.  There's basically none in Canada right now, and arrival dates range from shop to shop with most showing May.  Thankfully, an Edmonton dealership (Argyll Motorsports) had two that are arriving in about a week, so I guess I'll spend six hours driving to Edmonton and back to pick up a tire.  Ah well, I'd rather spend those 6 hours getting the tire than have to pick up the bike again.  

 

Even with the studs, the Pirelli rear is just terrible in the ice and snow.  Not good at all.   I've given it a good few goes now, but it's just awful until it warms up.  Even warm, it's not great, but when it's cold...  The problem, of course, is that the bulk of a ride when it's like pictured here is on mostly clear streets - maybe some slush, or some packed snow/ice between lanes, but side streets are just very slick packed down ice.  So you've got the worst roads right when you're starting to ride on stone cold slippery tires.  

 

A comparatively balmy -5C for the ride home, and only 3 ditched cars to avoid!

[SKunn]

Sorry about offtopic, but i just had to because Wintersdark said his plate is tiny speaking of numberplate size, this is ours.

[Landshark]

4 hours ago, SKunn said:

Sorry about offtopic, but i just had to because Wintersdark said his plate is tiny speaking of numberplate size, this is ours.

 

That's a way better size.  You can put it your wallet when it's not on the bike!  I'd prefer that size over the full size we have.

[DT675]

Got a set of AltRider foot pegs installed. They say on the box they are “universal” foot pegs (I believe meaning that they mount to the Yamaha and some KTM models). I used their “universal” attributes to mount them slightly differently than intended, lowering them by a little bit over stock. Turned out perfect for me. 
 

 

Edited January 11, 2022 by DT675

[DT675]

@Wintersdark, do you have any worry of salt from the roads eating at your bike with the winter riding?

[Wintersdark]

10 hours ago, DT675 said:

@Wintersdark, do you have any worry of salt from the roads eating at your bike with the winter riding?

No.   In fact, I often wonder why people worry about this.

 

Bikes are better off than cars, because it's much easier to rinse off a bike - cars have many more places underneath that can trap liquid, and you don't see cars falling apart in just a couple years of winter driving.  When it's above freezing, I rinse it off when the opportunity arises. 

 

I mean, I've got a 2007 Jeep Liberty in front of my house, and it's been a Calgary Jeep for that whole time.  I've owned it for 5 years myself.  It's not dissolving.

 

Dry salt does nothing at all, it's only salt and water that's a problem.  And even then it does nothing to the plastics, or to coated aluminum.  In my experience - and again, I've ridden daily every winter in Calgary and Vancouver for decades where we DEFINITELY salt roads, so much so I'm riding through literal piles of salt - the only appreciable damage that's done is to your headers, and it's cosmetic.  I mean, yeah, you'll need a new set of headers after 10 years or so, but... who cares?  $100 ever decade?  Whatever.  Weather wears your bike no matter what you do.  If you only ride in nice, clear sunny days, sure, it's gonna last longer (except maybe fading the paint?) but they're motorcycles.  You're gonna cause more wear riding in dirt from all the grit and such thrown at it. 

 

My Tracer has 3 winters on it, and it still looks new aside from the headers, which I suppose if I was REALLY motivated I could polish up, but that's way more work than it's worth.  Alternatively, I could just have them powdercoated and you'd never know.  

 

 

[Wintersdark]

I will say, though - you need to stay on top of chain maintenance.  I run an autooiler specifically because of this - you'll rust a chain EXTREMELY fast if you don't keep it well oiled.  You can do it manually, but an auto oiler and done is a lot easier.  

 

Even with winter riding(8k/year in winter), cleaning chains exactly zero times in their entire life, I get around 20k per chain with an auto oiler running.

[DT675]

Excellent, thanks for your  thorough “no” answer .   And I agree with your points.  

 

We do get quite a bit of aluminum surface corroding around here, but even with that as you pointed out, it takes awhile to happen. And that’s from being un-washed of course. 

[Wintersdark]

Yeah, a rinse off now and then and you're really fine.   Even if unwashed and left, the surface corroding on raw aluminum is extremely easy to fix. 

 

I really like those AltRider pegs.  Very spendy, but they look fantastic.

[Ray Ride4life]

1 hour ago, Wintersdark said:

No.   In fact, I often wonder why people worry about this.

Me neither.
It's a user object. Mine is too dirty for the salt to reach the bike anyway (not to self, clean the rear light to remain useful).

[Wintersdark]

4 hours ago, Ray Ride4life said:

Me neither.
It's a user object. Mine is too dirty for the salt to reach the bike anyway (not to self, clean the rear light to remain useful).

 

Yeah.  People have a wildly overblown notion of what salt will do to a bike (and it's completely, utterly illogical given how cars fare), but even if it was worse... It's a bike specifically designed to be abused.  If I was concerned with salt damage, I sure as heck wouldn't want to take it down dry riverbeds and over rocks.

 

[one wheel drive]

On 1/9/2022 at 4:41 AM, DonaNobisPacem said:

After being stuck in delivery limbo for a little over 2 weeks, my Camel Adv order ­ -consisting of their tail tidy, fork guard protector, and fuel cap seal- finally arrived. Which means that I can finally install the rear turn signals as well. Now, I know from reading the relevant threads here that the 500mm Huzar exhaust and the Camel Adv tail tidy doesn't play nice without a bit of finagling. What I didn't expect was that some new laws passed recently and my country's motorcycle plates have grown to be gigantic in size.

 

I will most likely have a new plate bracket fabricated anyway to accommodate the bigger plate size, so I thought up some solutions based on that for the turn signal placement, and I thought I'd ask you guys for feedback on those and other ideas if you have some.

Option 1: A bracket that mounts lower, then place the turn signals in the space created. Simple, but it brings me a bit closer to the OEM tail tidy length.

 

 

 

 

  

Nothing wrong with option 1.

 

About those Camel fork guard protectors. Corey has an install video for them that got me curious. Asked around but no one seems to have installed them yet.  Would you post up here when you put them on . . . tell us what you think about the fit and if they offer the protection you were looking for?

 

 

T7 Fork Guard Guards - Yamaha 700 Tenere

---

There are so many things to love about the 700 Tenere but Yamaha's choice of body plastic material is not one of them! For reasons unknown, Yamaha opted to make the T7's body panels from brittle ABS plastic instead of...

 

 

:

Edited January 13, 2022 by one wheel drive

[DonaNobisPacem]

4 hours ago, one wheel drive said:

  

Nothing wrong with option 1.

 

About those Camel fork guard protectors. Corey has an install video for them that got me curious. Asked around but no one seems to have installed them yet.  Would you post up here when you put them on . . . tell us what you think about the fit and if they offer the protection you were looking for?

 

 

T7 Fork Guard Guards - Yamaha 700 Tenere

---

There are so many things to love about the 700 Tenere but Yamaha's choice of body plastic material is not one of them! For reasons unknown, Yamaha opted to make the T7's body panels from brittle ABS plastic instead of...

 

No problem. I think the fit is pretty spot on, the protector follows the lines of the fork guard pretty well. As for the protection, I'm not really sure what to say. I bought them primarily because I thought they looked nice, and to pad my order since the shipping stays the same when all I really wanted was the fuel cap seal and tail tidy. It does completely cover the fairly fragile lower tab though, which I think is the biggest weak point for these fork guards.

 

 

[DonaNobisPacem]

My uncle to who I entrusted my SC comfort low seat to finally decided to fly back home, which means that I also finally get to have my hands on my seat as well. As to how this $200-300 seat will compare to the ~$5 job the local upholstery did, only time (and my ass) will tell. It is a chore to put on and take off right now though, but I hope that's something that will fix itself in time as the seat settles and molds itself to the bike.

 

[NeilW]

31 minutes ago, DonaNobisPacem said:

My uncle to who I entrusted my SC comfort low seat to finally decided to fly back home, which means that I also finally get to have my hands on my seat as well. As to how this $200-300 seat will compare to the ~$5 job the local upholstery did, only time (and my ass) will tell. It is a chore to put on and take off right now though, but I hope that's something that will fix itself in time as the seat settles and molds itself to the bike.

 

I love mine. Seat is tight putting on. The trick is to wiggle wiggle push wiggle .....forward until the peg and the latch line up. You just have to really shove it forward. Here is my review. By the way, others have lamented that they feel like it is pushing them forward on their 'private parts'. It doesn't happen to me but I can see how it could if you have round butt. I mounted Happy Trail universal highway pegs to not only put my feet up but also keep me sitting back comfortably. Got me a long distance touring bike now--except I just mounted aggressive knobbies and don't want to just wear them down on the freeway -   

Seat Concepts Comfort Seat Review [Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike]

---

Seat Concepts Comfort Seat Review: A one-piece design, this saddle offers all-day comfort for motorcycle adventure sport-touring.

 

[DonaNobisPacem]

Lots of changes today. Finally managed to address the plate + turn signals issue, which meant that I could finally install the proper turn signals for the rear, which also meant that I could open up the front to install the turn signals and USB charger.

 

 

 

Installing the signals came with weird side effects though. I bought the TST LED flasher relay to go with the signals, so I'm good on that front. But now, the turn signal indicators on the dash don't flash anymore, they just stay lit up all the time when their respective turn signals are on. The turn signals themselves flash perfectly though. And if you turn them on when the engine isn't running, they're super dim, like the intensity just got halved. My guess is that it has something to do with me piggybacking and soldering the handguard signals on the wiring for the front turn signals, must have done something weird with the power draw or something. If anybody's encountered the same problem and managed to fix it, I'd appreciate the help.

 

  

12 hours ago, NeilW said:

I love mine. Seat is tight putting on. The trick is to wiggle wiggle push wiggle .....forward until the peg and the latch line up. You just have to really shove it forward. Here is my review. By the way, others have lamented that they feel like it is pushing them forward on their 'private parts'. It doesn't happen to me but I can see how it could if you have round butt. I mounted Happy Trail universal highway pegs to not only put my feet up but also keep me sitting back comfortably. Got me a long distance touring bike now--except I just mounted aggressive knobbies and don't want to just wear them down on the freeway - 

 

I've actually cracked the peg on mine when I tried to shove it in hard. I superglued it for now as a fix. I've also taken it for a short ride and I have to say I'm not very impressed. I feel like it managed to be both taller, wider and stiffer than my stock seat that I had shaved down. I haven't encountered the "pushing forward" thing since it's actually pretty flat as part of the design, but that flatness combined with the aforementioned stiffness makes it so it just feels like my rear is taking a pounding every time I hit a bump on the road. I'll use it some more to see if it breaks in and/or I warm up to it, but worst case scenario I just put my previous seat on and just sell this one.

Edited January 14, 2022 by DonaNobisPacem

[NeilW]

1 hour ago, DonaNobisPacem said:

Lots of changes today. Finally managed to address the plate + turn signals issue, which meant that I could finally install the proper turn signals for the rear, which also meant that I could open up the front to install the turn signals and USB charger.

 

 

 

Installing the signals came with weird side effects though. I bought the TST LED flasher relay to go with the signals, so I'm good on that front. But now, the turn signal indicators on the dash don't flash anymore, they just stay lit up all the time when their respective turn signals are on. The turn signals themselves flash perfectly though. And if you turn them on when the engine isn't running, they're super dim, like the intensity just got halved. My guess is that it has something to do with me piggybacking and soldering the handguard signals on the wiring for the front turn signals, must have done something weird with the power draw or something. If anybody's encountered the same problem and managed to fix it, I'd appreciate the help.

 

  

 

I've actually cracked the peg on mine when I tried to shove it in hard. I superglued it for now as a fix. I've also taken it for a short ride and I have to say I'm not very impressed. I feel like it managed to be both taller, wider and stiffer than my stock seat that I had shaved down. I haven't encountered the "pushing forward" thing since it's actually pretty flat as part of the design, but that flatness combined with the aforementioned stiffness makes it so it just feels like my rear is taking a pounding every time I hit a bump on the road. I'll use it some more to see if it breaks in and/or I warm up to it, but worst case scenario I just put my previous seat on and just sell this one.

Sorry to hear your experience with the one piece seat concepts. If you read my review, the stock seat started hurting 10 minutes after I mounted it the first time. I rode 3.5 hours on the Seat Concepts and didn't feel my butt. As I wrote, all butts are different. I once bought a bead seat because so many people said it was amazing.  Instead of having two pain points, I had 50 and sent it back....

[Bighopper]

While it's been bloody cold up here in the North I decide to add somethings to my T7.

1. Emperor Racing Bash Plate

 

2. Sargent Seat (Rider Only)

 

 

3. Camel Tank

 

I also installed Double Take Mirrors from Camel ADV.

A couple of more additions to add, GPS mount when weather & time permits.

[Landshark]

I love it.  The skid is beautiful and made like a tank.  We definitely will have to get together for a ride this spring so I can drool over the bike you have.   

[Ray Ride4life]

Got my waterpump protector in the mail today and needed a little brake from video editing.
On the XT660Z i added an extension to the skidplate but the pump is more forward plus the skidplate on that bike was bare aluminium making it easy to weld and needed no repaint.

This cheap Ali cover will do just fine.

[DonaNobisPacem]

After researching stuff for a bit, I decided to try out this cheap fix for the dash indicators not flashing issue I had. Just needed to add a resistor to the left and right front turn indicator wiring. Glad to report that this fixed that issue, as well as the turn indicators being too dim and flashing erratically issue when the engine isn't running.

 

[Landshark]

7 hours ago, DonaNobisPacem said:

After researching stuff for a bit, I decided to try out this cheap fix for the dash indicators not flashing issue I had. Just needed to add a resistor to the left and right front turn indicator wiring. Glad to report that this fixed that issue, as well as the turn indicators being too dim and flashing erratically issue when the engine isn't running.

 

Good job on the resistor install.  I like when it works well after you do the repair the first time.  Thanks for posting up this pic.

[Burnsey]

Just got back from a hundred mile ride out. The weather was awful, so called it a day.

 

Only posting to show the finished Denali S4 install and after fannying about with various GoPro mounts, settled on this OEM 'suction cup' on the screen, which seems REALLY strong and the position works for my type of filming.

 

Oh and added some screen decals from Crispy Designs.

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by Burnsey

[DonaNobisPacem]

36 minutes ago, Burnsey said:

Just got back from a hundred mile ride out.The weather was awful, so called it a day.

 

Only posting to show the finished Denali S4 install and after fannying about with various GoPro mounts, settled on this OEM 'suction cup' on the screen, which seems REALLY strong and the position works for my type of filming.

 

How are you liking the S4? It's in my list of aux light candidates along with the D4 and D2, and I'm having a hard time deciding.