Mike's Tenere & Motorcycle Blog

  Olympia Dakar 2 Mesh Jacket & Pants circa 2016-19 After 7 years riding with  First Gear 37.5 Kilimanjaro riding jacket & pants  with bonded waterproof layers that always felt hot & clammy in warm/hot weather & on the recommendation of a friend who has been using Olympia's Dakar 2 jacket system for  several years now I am preferring my recently acquired (used) Olympia Dakar 2 mesh riding jacket & pants that have a zip in thermal jacket liner & rain coat (that can be worn outside as well) & pant with rain over pants for much improved warm/hot weather comfort while not giving up too much on colder days, with the inherent compromise of having to stop to add or remove layers. This combo has been comfortable in temps as low as 1*C (34*F).         Olympia History Olympia was an innovator in motorcycle riding apparel & made quality products priced below the premium brands in the late 2000s, but product quality, features ...

  Headlight Protector I sourced a 3mm thick clear plastic (the description quotes both acrylic & polycarbonate) headlight protector from AliExpress for $23.52 Canadian including shipping with no additional charges upon delivery. The quality is surprisingly high, optically clear with no blemishes, rounded edges, a rigid design preformed to match the oem headlight shape & mounts via the 4 oem side deflector mounting points with black anodized aluminum spacers, 8 plastic washers & longer allen button head bolts. The hardware kit should have included 4 more plastic washers to isolate all metal parts from plastics, so I re-used the 4 oem plastic washers used between the bolt head & the side deflector in addition to the 8 supplied. The rubber M5 well nuts provide isolation between the side deflectors & the oem headlight assembly resin frame.  Tech Tip:  Check the condition of the side deflector & windscreen M5 oem rubber well nuts as they deform & de...

 ECU Flash Tune by 2 Wheel DynoWorks (2WDW) The recent addition of a Black Widow decat header & removal of the oem air box snorkel has prompted an ECU flash tune to my 2021 Tenere 700 to be performed by 2 Wheel DynoWorks. Last years mail-in ECU flash Black Friday sale ($225 US or $310 CDN) was for the entire month of Nov & can be done via mail, drop off or ride in at their Kirkland shop just east of Seattle Wa, USA. Kudo's to them for having no time limit on when to have it flashed after purchase, so was be able to ride down this spring. NOTE: 2WDW will refund the $50 US shipping charge invoiced at purchase if you opt to bring the ECU to their shop, ratcheting up the cost to benefit ratio. Plus offer free re-flashing (excluding shipping) to match future changes to the intake or exhaust systems for as long as you own the bike. 2WDW ONLY provides flashing services for North American bikes. They are also a full service shop including track/racing preparation. If seeking the m...

  Tenere 700 Hwy Pegs Mounted to AXP Skid Plate I sourced these folding hwy pegs with rubber o-rings on the peg on Amazon.ca for $29.58 (did not use the tube mounts). Was able  to mount to my AXP skid plate utilizing existing vent holes with the following hardware: 21.2 mm diameter aluminum 4 mm thick wall tubing cut at approximately 30 degree angle on 1 end to use as spacers to allow for adjustable positioning of the pegs 2 custom 1/8" or 3.175 mm thick aluminum backing plates bolted to inside of AXP skid plate four 8 mm x 30 mm button head allan bolts with nyloc bolts + blue loctite 4 18 mm washers to mount to the aluminum backing plates + 1 more on the lower right allan bolt head side as a spacer to reduce the reach of the bolt to the lower down tube two HD hwy peg mounting plates I had in a parts bin Mounted to AXP skid plate using existing vent holes & HD hwy peg mounting plates from parts bin.   They are positioned to fold back & up about 45 degrees to ...

  Congratulations Gord Aulenback & GA Checkpoint Yamaha on your 50th Anniversary! What an amazing accomplishment in addition to being the #1 Yamaha dealer in Canada. Father & son John & Ken brought their mid '80s Yamaha RZ 2 Strokes for display.

  Spare OEM Clutch Cable Routed Parallel  to Original Hope for the best, prepare for the worst - decided to run a new oem clutch cable parallel to the original to save the day when replacement is necessary 😀 Sealed off the clutch end with a rubber hose snugly fitted to the threaded housing & plugged the open end. Sealed off the clutch lever end with Gorilla tape

  Cyclops Tuff Light Full Flex Turn Signals  Cyclops Adventure Sports acquired Extreme Dual Sports & Tuff Lights in 2023, renowned as the original nearly unbreakable blinker & completely updated the LED function & operation creating what Cyclops promotes as the most robust, water & impact resistant signals for adventure & dual sport bikes. They sent me one of the early production ready signals to replace my existing Cyclops Multifunction 3.0 units which had experienced reliability issues because of manufacturing issues outside their control & are now discontinued.  Owner Darryl VanNieuwenhuise   & team Cyclops have set the bar extremely high for product performance, quality & customer service/support as demonstrated by them not only replacing my faulty Multifunction 3.0 signals last summer to tie me over for the riding season until they were production ready with the new Tuff signals this year (have heard similar testimonial...