Recent content by markjenn

A bunch of technology could be thrown at the problem, both to reduce the maintenance burden and to catch failures earlier, but I doubt it would be remotely cost effective. I just wish Yamaha would spend a few bucks making the process easier. For example, after eight years of production, there...

Yamaha has really disappointed loyal customers.... especially USA customers.... with the long delays getting this bike produced. Based on the MT-07 engine, it was widely rumored in 2015, acknowledged to be in development in 2016 and since has been in prototype tease mode for over three years...

At most, I'd stick to Yamaha's 26K recommendation, but I think you can also make the case that there isn't a whole lot of risk with letting it slide longer. And the inspection/adjustment itself is not risk free - there's lots of ways to screw things up whether you do the work or hire it done...

Self canceling signals on motorcycles are controversial and the mfgs seem to vacillate between providing them and not. I wonder if this is because of varying opinions from their legal liability department. The typical distance/time method (which cancels the signals if a preset distance AND a...

If anything, I've always thought the kickstand angle was a little on the "over leaned" side, at least with stock suspension and the bike unloaded. It definitely is a compromise and anything unusual you do with respect to suspension and loads will affect the compromise. It's something that is...

Well, KTM spec control is notoriously unreliable and there have been multiple instances of KTM saying one thing and doing another. And what the heck does "tubeless ready" mean? We'll see. - Mark

I like this bike too, but since the OP mentions tubeless as an important feature of the bike, I'm hearing a lot of controversy about whether this thing really has tubeless tires or not. (And just to be clear, just because the tires says "tubeless" on the sidewall, it does not mean it doesn't...

Have you priced a Land Cruiser lately? You might be in for a shock. - Mark

A further development in this category is Honda making more dirt-oriented mods to the 2019 CB500X including a 19" front wheel. While I doubt these changes will raise it's off-road game that much, the T7 is going to be further squeezed from the bottom by this bike as well as the new KTM's from...

Just my $0.02, but I'd hold off with all the major maintenance and mods until you ride the bike a while and let it settle into a patter of good reliability. I would make sure the airbox is correctly sorted (and properly sealing against dirt ingress) and all the hardware is in place to properly...

Been discussed a bunch.... in my book, full-throttle at 3K RPM is lugging the engine and some pinging is to be expected. 4K-6K is the sweet spot for this engine when you can use full throttle and get nice smooth power. - Mark

I was just countering the notion that I got from your post that rear braking was just a simple matter of preference. If this was getting too 'basic" for the audience on this forum, I apologize. - Mark

Fine, but how you use the brakes front-to-rear is a not a simple matter of preference.... there are some major safety issues with over-reliance on the rear brake. It is the most common error I noted when I used to teach experienced rider MSF courses. - Mark

Using the rear brake will shift braking load to the rear which can, depending on speed and relative lever pressures, lead to overheating. Light rear braking in light to moderate stopping isn't a big deal., but if you start asking the rear brake to do the majority of the braking on a heavy bike...

Bike design permitting, it's pretty much universally recommended that one's default position for maximum bike control is to have your feet with weight on the balls of your feet, not your instep. It leads to a more "active" riding position in which you're using your leg muscles to...