New rear tire. Estimate that the front tire still good for another 3000-4000 miles. Averaging about 45 mpg. What a difference in vibration, almost totally smooth at all rpm except a little shaking over 6000 rpm but not bad or intrusive at all. Actually at 60 mph the bike is eerily smooth now - talk about a long break in! Ordered a new air filter (it's paper) and found out that the screw that holds it in had pulled loose from its mounting stud. The motor had been sucking unfiltered air for ? Makes me mad that such a simple thing went wrong. I made a positive fix for the new filter.
Forks screw up once more. MuZ paid for fixes once again, no charge. Local dealer did fix this time and didn't put the correct fluid level in. Per MuZ, sent forks to Bikeworks, this time they should be fixed for good. Valves adjusted while at local dealer.
10,000 miles, November 1999
It's starting to turn cold so its time for storage again, just clean it up, put Stabil in the gas, and take out the battery (which is still original). Everything working fine. Chain and sprockets still like new. I will replace the front tire in the spring.
The Good:
Light weight, easy handling, good looking, easy shifting, excellent riding position, good controls, powerful front brake, solid Yamaha motor, it has not disappointed me.
The Bad:
Fit and finish less than perfect, those forks, dealer access.
Would I buy this MuZ Tour again?
This is a different question than would I buy a new MuZ Tour. Although I am not pleased with some of the problems, this is one of the nicest riding motorcycles I have ever owned. So the answer is no, not this particular Tour but I'm still glad to own it and have no plans to sell it.
Would I buy a new MuZ Tour?
You bet, I'm sure they have ironed out some of the little problems and they have reduced the price by nearly $1500 since I bought mine back in '96 making the Tour quite a buy.
Spring '00 New front tire, a Pirelli MTR02, about $100 from Motomatrix.com. Installation quick and uneventful.
June '00 (17,800 km - sorry, I,m tired of converting to miles) Need a new chain wear block, about $15 from Bikeworx. Since gas went through the roof ($1.75 Mpls metro area) I'm glad I have a bike, but then again, I'd ride a bike if gas was only 10 cents a gallon. The miles don't seem to rack up though as work is only 10 miles away.
October '00 - 22,000km, Everything AOK, nothing new to report. Recent trip yields nearly 60 mpg. Depending on the weather, riding season will be coming to a close soon.
March '01 There's still 2 feet of snow on the ground but I fire the bikes up anyways. Temps are creeping into the 40's so I should be riding soon. Need new front brake pads but that's about it.
August '01 Time for a new chain after 23,000 km - 2 kinks. The sprockets still look good so they will stay. Took the swing arm off to check and lube the bushings and they look as new. Chain was about $80 From AFAM.
April '02 The MuZ fires up after sitting all winter in about 3 seconds and settles into it's usual idle. After a couple of rides I notice what looks like a few drops of antifreeze on the ground. Turns out the overflow line that attaches to the radiator has a small crack. Trim about a half of an inch off and I'm good to go. Time for another new rear tire however so that's on the list to do.
A point of interest: I'm still on the original tail light bulb!
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