kingfisher

Yes, I’ve had an FJR during the time of owning the FJ and then the GT 900, then was without the triple since the most recent FJR was acquired about 3 years ago, so most, but not all, of the FJR miles were since the GT. I do three trips annually of 3,000 to 3,700 miles each, and a lot of local miles also. I live in an area of long, open highways, and put on about 40,000 miles per year on more than one bike. If it is not snowing or icy, or less than 32 degrees, I’m usually riding in my free time. Being on a bike gives me happiness; I’ve been fortunate to enjoy motorcycling since the late 60’s.

I'm no expert or journalist, just a guy with many miles and years of motorcycling behind me, with a great fondness for Yamahas and bikes with the 900 triple engine. My FJ 09 was fantastic; light weight, and quick with that great triple powerplant. The GT 900 replaced it, and was a joy to tour on. Cruise control was great to have. The lure of the FJR replaced them, and after about 90,000 FJR miles, found myself missing the mid weight and kick ass triple of the 900 again. So, a '22 Tracer 9 GT replaced the aging FJR. After the first 1,000 miles, a few impressions are present. Engine: The new 890 cc version of the triple is fantastic. Very tractable linear throttle response, and an excellent powerband. Mid range torque comes on sooner and stronger, great for overtaking traffic or powering out of a corner in a middle gear. At 7,000 rpm, a very strong top range rush occurs, that carries all the way to redline. The front end gets light even in 2nd gear with the throttle. First gear, you appreciate the lift control feature for sure. Suspension and new more rigid frame: Probably the bikes best feature, even over the engine. The semiactive suspension is comfortable and accommodating over rough roads, but also has good dampening that keeps the tires on the roadway in turns, even over washboard surfaces. I've kept it in the A-2 setting so far. The bike is very stable at speed and in wind buffeting situations, such as riding behind a semi on the highway. Seat: Many of the past bikes, including the FJ and the GT 900 have required an aftermarket seat for long rides. So far, with a few multi hour rides, I'm surprised to find the seat works fine for me. Brakes: Strong, with ABS, now including the cornering version. No complaints here. Panniers: Odd looking at first, but actually quite good. Very easy to mount and remove, with more usable capacity than even the FJR bags. I really like the key setting that allows for keyless entry. Headlights: Very good light output and beam spread on both low and high beam. The cornering lights do readily illuminate in turns and makes the light brighter into the turn, but really doesn't reach much farther INTO the turn. That could be improved. Also the tiny but powerful low beam doesn't inspire confidence for visibility to others on the road. Handling: Pretty much addressed already, but it is excellent. Light, but stable, composed on the highway but a joy in the twisties. The dash: lots of info, but hard to see at times. I wish they had left the ability in to change from a black background to white with black characters that the GT 900 had. Not the bikes best feature, but well overshadowed by all of the other aspects of the bike. Overall, I'm enjoying it as much or more than any previous bike, of which there have been quite a few... Only mod so far is a Givi monokey rear rack.

I wear offroad type shin guards under my MC jeans. Unlike the knee pads that come in motorcycle pants that tend to shift, (and that I remove,) these stay in place. On one get off, the knee of the pants ground away, but no damage to my knee with these in place. They also protect the legs from the odd stone, etc, that gets thrown up. They also keep engine heat or cold winds off of the leg area.

I've made the complete progression, from '15 FJ 09 to '19 GT 900, and now to a '22 Tracer 9 GT. After the GT 900, it was the Versys 1000 and FJR, both bikes that I like greatly. But I missed the Yamaha triple, and gave thought to trading my older, 78,000 mile FJR on the new Tracer 9 GT. The previous FJ 09 and 900 GT were great bikes, but lacked a bit in suspension and higher speed stability, to me. The new Tracer 9 GT looked promising in regards to the refinements desired, and I wanted cornering ABS, etc. So I made the trade. All of the changes made, really transformed this bike, IMO. The semiactive suspension is superb in both ride quality and lesser front dive with braking. It feels like a more solid bike, similar to the ride on rails at speed feeling of the FJR, but with the agility of a lighter bike. The frame change seems to create a more stable platform also. That wonderful triple is still there, but with that great midrange torque coming on a little earlier. It still goes into warp drive from 7,000 rpm up. I'm actually surprised as to how much improvement of an already great bike has taken place. It was definitely worth the trade. In regards to the '23 model, I'm not too interested in the adaptive cruise control and didn't want to incur the added expense. The current dash of the '22 is not the best, but is ok to me.

Could not agree more with the Nealey repair. As you said, no glue is needed or recommended. I get lots of flats around here for some reason. Probably use my Nealey kit repair 3 to 4 times per year on more than one bike. The ONLY time that I had one leak air slowly afterwards was an early use of the kit when I used some rubber cement with it, not quite trusting the instructions not to. If you don’t use the cement, the natural rubber in the strings seems to bond with the tire, and never leaks.

Two full size Rok straps under tension hold that one gallon rotopak very tightly; they are not flimsy “stretchy straps.” Solid straps that do not stretch tend to loosen. I’ve used the set up on 6 long trips so far of over 3,000 miles each. Works for me.

Placement of the one gallon Rotopax on the rear seat works best for me. With a pair of Rok straps, it’s very secure and out of the way under the dry duffle.

I forgot that the Versys had the electronic suspension. The dealer did have a ‘20 Versys in stock; the green paint was beautiful; full of metalflake and lustrous.

All this talk made me curious, so went to the local dealer to check the bike out. They say that they have sold every one of them they were able to get before they even made it to the floor. They said they cannot get any more for now until distributer inventory catches up. Kawasaki may have a hot seller on their hands. I considered the new Versys 1000 before buying my GT, but the price of $17,999 for the new model turned me away. The new Ninja has all the features for the most part as the Versys except for side bags, for $5,000 dollars less. I like my GT too much to trade, but if the Ninja had been out earlier, I might be riding a Kawasaki instead.

Yamaha matte paint seems to be very tough. I had a 2015 FJ 09 with the matte gray paint. All it needs is a spray with a multisurface cleaner like Windex non ammonia spray and a microfiber towel to clean. No wax is needed. Wax would likely put an uneven shine on the matte finish. After 24,000 miles, my gray FJ paint still looked like new just doing the above.

It might, the basic bolt holes line up the same. Don’t know about the bodywork though.

Also, as you can see, no trimming of the front of the rack platform was needed with the stock seat. That was done later after adding the Corbin.

This is a better shot. I really liked my FJ 09's (had two of them,) but like the GT 900 a lot more. More refined, but still just as much raw power as the FJ. Less wheelie prone and more stable at speed with the longer swingarm, and the cruise control, tft gauge, etc, is great.

It will work then. Where the front tabs enter from the sides under the seat, the plastic trim will have to be trimmed, since the angled entry holes for the GT rear grab handles enter at an angle. I just used a Dremel with a rotary bit to trim. It does make the opening larger, but it looks ok to me. The other issue mine had though, was that the back of the Corbin seat contacted the front edge of the rack platform, so I had to grind material from the front edge of the platform. I then cut a short section of fuel line hose lengthwise, and covered the grinded edge with the tubing section with a little black RTV sealant to hold it in place. Looks pretty good to me. So, in summary, the rack attaches fine, but requires a little modification.

What rack do you have? I installed a SW Motech rack for the 2015 FJ 09 on my GT 900; it bolted up ok, but required some trimming of the plastic trim to fit where the front bracket attaches.

Please, do not use Hydrofluoric acid. It is truly nasty stuff that can penetrate deeply into human tissue upon contact exposure resulting in liquefaction necrosis and very painful burns with deep tissue loss. It can even cause metabolic abnormalities that can be life threatening. Even with gloves, a tear, especially when using an abrasive pad, will result in serious injury. It is certainly not worth the risk to clean an exhaust pipe.

As shown in the two magazine tests I referenced, the speed limiter is reached in the quarter mile on the US spec bikes, likely lengthening the quarter mile times. Another factor likely increasing elapsed time is the significant tendency of the FJ to wheelie under hard acceleration, making full throttle runs. This triple engine is very potent for it’s size, and if the above factors were not in play, probably would allow the bike to approach a sub 11 second quarter. it makes you wonder what the GT 900 would do, given it has the same engine, minimallly increased weight, a longer swingarm making it less wheelie prone, and is without the 112 mph speed limiter. I don’t recall any formal quarter mile tests on it having been done.

I have never drag raced it, but two motorcycle magazine tests, Motorcycle Consumer News and Cycle World found quarter mile times of 11.13 and 11.16 seconds respectively. Both showed the limited speed to be reached in the quarter mile. MCN showed 110 mph and Cycle World 112 mph.

I’ve got the oem comfort seat on my GT. The decrease in foreward slide from the stock seat and better foam made a significant difference to me. YMMV.

Stock front tire changed at 14,000 miles. Stock Dunlop rear at 3,000, and Dunlop RS 3 rear went 10,000 miles and was just changed for a new one.

Thanks! It is a SW Motech rack for the FJ 09 with a Givi top plate, and Givi Dolomiti top box. When I was getting ready for my trip, I couldn't get a GT specific rack, so used the FJ one with a little modifying required.

Pictures from brand new in April, the first long trip in May through the southwestern US, to the present. 14,000 miles so far and enjoying it.

Motorcyclists can be a hard to please group. I'm pretty satisfied with the bike as is. Two things would make it better IMO, a stock seat that doesn't slant into the tank, and a little bigger menu wheel with more positive detents for better adjustment by feel while riding. Power is plentiful to me, and I like power and acceleration; this triple is a beast for it's size. Suspension is adequate. I'm not sure how the brakes could be much better except for the ABS accuation being a little coarse. Braking feedback through the levers is good, and relatively little force is needed to brake to lock up / ABS activation. I practice emergency braking to ABS activation often, and have never noticed any brake fade. It's a pretty good bike, especially for the price. I even like the new black/red color offering. 😎

My US model speedometer reads 3 percent high according to several static radar speed traffic monitors, the same as my other recent Yamahas. Fuel useage monitor seems to be spot on. It’s interesting that the bike in different markets has this variation. My main gripe is the small wheel switch that tends to easily slip into other functions when trying to press and adjust grip warmer settings, etc. I like the color change feature on the tachometer; I have the transition from black to green at 5,000 rpm, and the green to orange at 10,000. The transition to orange is a good warning that you are getting close to redline.

Thank you, very interesting. Will look foreward to further updates.