Waiting for dealer to prep my 2023

[Turbohawk]

Thanks! Yeah I missed this detail on the US getting stiffed but honestly other than the ABS mode I couldn't give a flip.

 

Got 2 keys. So used to not using key with the Concours...I had to fish it out of my pocket, when I actually remembered to remove it, AFTER I got my gloves on nice and tight...argh.  I'm going to have to be extra paranoid about the key for a while till I get back to habitual removal.

 

[r1superstar]

Two keys; got it.  I got two as well.

 

Time to spend money on aftermarket parts!!!

[Turbohawk]

2 keys has been the norm in the Jap bike world since I first worked in the industry, circa 1981.

 

I have gotten used to the concept of keyless (or the hybrid versions of this with fobs with back up keys).  There are pros and cons, of course.

 

An owner of a 2021 shared a real quick "dremel tool" mod to exhaust "cap area" that sweetens the exhaust note and lets it breathe better, while keeping the "spark arrestor". I liked the raspier note. (anyone done this?)

 

I would like a tail rack, but as far as panniers go, I don't want permanent install racks, if there is such an animal. I don't care for the "plutonium smuggler" aluminum cases either. I don't want to fit in with the stuck up beemer bros.

 

I'll change out skidplate when I need to, if ever. Stock one is pretty thin but looks nice.

 

Gps and mount...now that is a bit of a priority. I've got a brand new Garmin 64sx but it's more of a hiker version, although does have road trip routing. Screen is too small. Anyone tried anything other than Zumo's?  I've used Garmins since they came out but I'm open to other options.

[Lewie]

3 hours ago, r1superstar said:

Two keys; got it.  I got two as well.

 

Time to spend money on aftermarket parts!!!

3 keys here in the UK - 2 standard and the red ‘master’ key

[Turbohawk]

4 hours ago, Lewie said:

3 keys here in the UK - 2 standard and the red ‘master’ key

What does the master key do different than the standard?

[Turbohawk]

Went for a relatively short distance but searching for very different surfaces around my area without the improper sized tank luggage I had on the ride home and I really enjoyed the bike. I love this motor! it's power is so tractable and plenty of it. I rode it purposely to try to get a better idea of what I need to do to get the suspension to where it doesn't beat me up too much... It's not horrible but it's definitely not absorbing the many potholes and road abnormalities we have out here like my Suzuki drz400s which I've never even looked at the suspension it was perfect for me out of the box.

 

I keep thinking about the people like big rock Moto on YouTube mentioned that he thinks the suspension is way too soft but I don't think that's the problem. Like I said before in previous post if this had soft springs like he's insinuating there would be a lot more sag especially on the rear suspension when I sit back and it is like I'm sitting on for lack of a better term a rock as far as movement goes. According to the dealer they don't touch the suspension settings unless the customer request it so these are suspension settings straight out of the crate. Maybe they did some non-published suspension tweaking? Or perhaps the units these YouTube reviewers had or either defective or had the weak issues? I'm kind of perplexed just on this. Has anyone gotten any insight on what's really happening here? Are these YouTube reviewers just looking for something to trash on this otherwise fine machine? Well the weather is not going to be conducive around it to ride for at least another 4 days so I'll spend my bike time removing some of the obnoxious stickers like the one on the tank cover saying to wear protective gear when riding. Duh. LoL

[Lewie]

1 hour ago, Turbohawk said:

Went for a relatively short distance but searching for very different surfaces around my area without the improper sized tank luggage I had on the ride home and I really enjoyed the bike. I love this motor! it's power is so tractable and plenty of it. I rode it purposely to try to get a better idea of what I need to do to get the suspension to where it doesn't beat me up too much... It's not horrible but it's definitely not absorbing the many potholes and road abnormalities we have out here like my Suzuki drz400s which I've never even looked at the suspension it was perfect for me out of the box.

 

I keep thinking about the people like big rock Moto on YouTube mentioned that he thinks the suspension is way too soft but I don't think that's the problem. Like I said before in previous post if this had soft springs like he's insinuating there would be a lot more sag especially on the rear suspension when I sit back and it is like I'm sitting on for lack of a better term a rock as far as movement goes. According to the dealer they don't touch the suspension settings unless the customer request it so these are suspension settings straight out of the crate. Maybe they did some non-published suspension tweaking? Or perhaps the units these YouTube reviewers had or either defective or had the weak issues? I'm kind of perplexed just on this. Has anyone gotten any insight on what's really happening here? Are these YouTube reviewers just looking for something to trash on this otherwise fine machine? Well the weather is not going to be conducive around it to ride for at least another 4 days so I'll spend my bike time removing some of the obnoxious stickers like the one on the tank cover saying to wear protective gear when riding. Duh. LoL

I think it depends on your weight - you might not be too far off the ideal weight

as far as I’m aware the red key let’s you add more keys ( I think) 

[Turbohawk]

Okay well we get a little tab that has a key code so you can get a new one cut from the dealer thank... It's literally a little blank of aluminum.

[williestreet]

12 hours ago, Turbohawk said:

Okay well we get a little tab that has a key code so you can get a new one cut from the dealer thank... It's literally a little blank of aluminum.

Euro bikes and those with the red key have an immobilizer system built into the bike.  To program new keys you use the red key and a specific procedure to do so.

North American models do not have an immobilizer system and keys can be cut at any locksmith or use the number tag to order a key from Yamaha.  

Edited December 23, 2022 by williestreet

[r1superstar]

14 hours ago, Turbohawk said:

Went for a relatively short distance but searching for very different surfaces around my area without the improper sized tank luggage I had on the ride home and I really enjoyed the bike. I love this motor! it's power is so tractable and plenty of it. I rode it purposely to try to get a better idea of what I need to do to get the suspension to where it doesn't beat me up too much... It's not horrible but it's definitely not absorbing the many potholes and road abnormalities we have out here like my Suzuki drz400s which I've never even looked at the suspension it was perfect for me out of the box.

 

I keep thinking about the people like big rock Moto on YouTube mentioned that he thinks the suspension is way too soft but I don't think that's the problem. Like I said before in previous post if this had soft springs like he's insinuating there would be a lot more sag especially on the rear suspension when I sit back and it is like I'm sitting on for lack of a better term a rock as far as movement goes. According to the dealer they don't touch the suspension settings unless the customer request it so these are suspension settings straight out of the crate. Maybe they did some non-published suspension tweaking? Or perhaps the units these YouTube reviewers had or either defective or had the weak issues? I'm kind of perplexed just on this. Has anyone gotten any insight on what's really happening here? Are these YouTube reviewers just looking for something to trash on this otherwise fine machine? Well the weather is not going to be conducive around it to ride for at least another 4 days so I'll spend my bike time removing some of the obnoxious stickers like the one on the tank cover saying to wear protective gear when riding. Duh. LoL

 

I think the bike is sprung from the manufacturer for someone sub 170lbs.

[Turbohawk]

1 hour ago, r1superstar said:

 

I think the bike is sprung from the manufacturer for someone sub 170lbs.

 

The internet guru's are saying 150 pounds for USA...that was policy for all the jap manufacturers since pretty much the 80's onward with few exceptions that I've seen like on large tourers.

[Lewie]

I’m sure I read 70kg which is about 155lb or a small 10 year old

[Ray Ride4life]

2 hours ago, Lewie said:

I’m sure I read 70kg which is about 155lb or a small 10 year old

Maybe USA or UK but i'm 49 and 75kg. A 70kg 10 year old might me small in height but will not have a healthy figure.
A healthy 10 year old in the Netherlands (you know, the tallest people) is an average of 32kg with a maximum of 40.

[Lewie]

That was a little tongue in cheek - but seriously only 5 stone?
 

[Ray Ride4life]

Yes.

[Black99S]

12 hours ago, Lewie said:

I’m sure I read 70kg which is about 155lb or a small 10 year old

Ten year old @ 155lb? 

I’m 69, 5’6” with 32” inseam and weigh 68kg (150 lb).

DR650, 2017 Africa Twin and T7 are all a pretty good fit out of the crate.

[Dougie]

On 12/23/2022 at 12:23 AM, williestreet said:

Euro bikes and those with the red key have an immobilizer system built into the bike.  To program new keys you use the red key and a specific procedure to do so.

North American models do not have an immobilizer system and keys can be cut at any locksmith or use the number tag to order a key from Yamaha.  

We have immobilisers. Americans have pistols. They don’t need immobilisers.

[Turbohawk]

I guess it's time to switch over from this topic to others.  My son arrived and he helped me measure the suspension sag. Only 1.5" at rear foot peg with my confirmed 230 pounds on seat all weight on bike. Front forks only dipped < 1 inch, overall change at the "center point" (measured at the gear shift foot peg) was under 2" overall so that would put me squarely at or under 25% suspension sag which would appear to be right at the IDEAL for my weight. So the harshness is not overloaded spring. It appears that Yamaha did change something here from the earliest models (were the first released 2020's or 19's?).  Softened the "top" (easy to get to on top of forks) 2 clicks. Rear knob doesn't appear to have clicks so about a half turn in soft direction. Too cold to have ridden it yesterday but if it gets above freezing I'll take her for a spin today.

 

Honestly I was not certain if I would like this bike but so far she is impressing me more and more. Only 197 miles on the clock so we've barely gotten acquainted, but I like it very much so far.

 

Cheers and happy holidays to all and thanks for all the replies!

[Tenerider]

This sounds strange... all adjusters have clicks. All are slotted screws, except the preload adjuster hand knob on the rear.

Rebound (top of forks, bottom of shock), compression (bottom of forks, below the rubber caps and top of shock) are all slotted screws with clicks.

 

Other screws aren't meant to be touched for adjustments!

 

To set sag on the rear, use the PLA (hand wheel).

On the front, you can't do it but you could "soften" the suspension by removing compression damping by some clicks counter-clockwise. This however should not affect the front sag.

Edited December 24, 2022 by Tenerider

[Turbohawk]

49 minutes ago, Tenerider said:

This sounds strange... all adjusters have clicks. All are slotted screws, except the preload adjuster hand knob on the rear.

 Hand wheel hasn't clicked and I turned it quite a bit...I'll check it again.

 

I might need to soften compression a tad on front too. I prefer a slightly plush ride.

[Tenerider]

1 hour ago, Turbohawk said:

 Hand wheel hasn't clicked and I turned it quite a bit...I'll check it again.

 

I might need to soften compression a tad on front too. I prefer a slightly plush ride.

Ok, good, I misunderstood you and thought you might have turned the fork cap screws or so accidentally.

 

Strange, my PLA does click. But it might be only one click per revolution or so. Factory setting is 10 clicks in from minimum preload. I weigh about 86 kg with all gear and have a center stand plus crash bars on the bike, I need 18 clicks of preload for 30% sag (60 mm).

[r1superstar]

3 hours ago, Turbohawk said:

I guess it's time to switch over from this topic to others.  My son arrived and he helped me measure the suspension sag. Only 1.5" at rear foot peg with my confirmed 230 pounds on seat all weight on bike. Front forks only dipped < 1 inch, overall change at the "center point" (measured at the gear shift foot peg) was under 2" overall so that would put me squarely at or under 25% suspension sag which would appear to be right at the IDEAL for my weight. So the harshness is not overloaded spring. It appears that Yamaha did change something here from the earliest models (were the first released 2020's or 19's?).  Softened the "top" (easy to get to on top of forks) 2 clicks. Rear knob doesn't appear to have clicks so about a half turn in soft direction. Too cold to have ridden it yesterday but if it gets above freezing I'll take her for a spin today.

 

Honestly I was not certain if I would like this bike but so far she is impressing me more and more. Only 197 miles on the clock so we've barely gotten acquainted, but I like it very much so far.

 

Cheers and happy holidays to all and thanks for all the replies!

 

To set the rear sag, measure from the rear axle to a piece of tape placed on the tail vertically above the axle.  Measure first with the rear tire off the ground and then again with you on the bike fully geared up to ride.  You will need to bounce on the bike up and down to settle the suspension before you take the second measurement.  This process will need three people (you plus two) to do.  As for adjust the rear spring, I suppose you will need to do so with the rear tire off the ground to make it easier.

 

At your weight, you will most definitely need to respring the T7 let alone any bike you ride.

 

Check out this web page from Race Tech:

 

Suspension and Springs

 

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by r1superstar

[Turbohawk]

3 hours ago, r1superstar said:

At your weight, you will most definitely need to respring the T7 let alone any bike you ride.

 

My riding weight includes a bit of body armor, heavy MX style boots, firearm, etc. I've never had to re-spring a bike. Not even my many KLR's. I know people that did, but they were also 50+ pounds heavier as well. I guess I got lucky. This one isn't showing any sign of deficient spring, in fact, quite the opposite at this point.  Thanks for the video, I'll take a gander.