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 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. 

On 11/29/2021 at 9:19 AM, bwringer said:

Yep. In general, sticky strings work just fine, even the cheapies.

But Nealey plugs really are the next level up. They work a little differently; basically, they're a little thinner but you end up with four thicknesses of string in the hole instead of two, and so they can conform to oddball punctures better. And they're installed differently such that you end up with a knot inside the tire that does a very effective job of keeping them in place and sealing the puncture.

No rasping or additional damage to the tire is needed. Just yank the screw or nail out of the tire, then insert the slim tool and move it around and in and out a bit in order to push any wires out of the way. And best of all, no glue (or lube) is needed; all other sticky strings require glue, which is inevitably dried up when you open the tube.

I have Nealey kits in all my vehicles, and I've installed several Nealey plugs in motorcycle tires (and car tires) with excellent results. The strings stay good for many years in the handy plastic tube. Ten year old Nealeys that have been toted all over the place are pliable, super-sticky, and indistinguishable from new.

 

As far as inflation, I carry a small electric pump, the smallest "Slime" brand. It plugs into the battery charging pigtail via the SAE connector (I installed a higher-capacity fuse; you can pop a 10amp sometimes when you switch the motor on).

CO2 cartridges seem like a neat idea, but the cold hard reality is that they are pretty useless for motorcycle tires. You need to carry a LOT of cartridges to get a tire anywhere near ridable pressure.

After I dumped four cartridges into a skinny 130/90-17 rear and only achieved 21 psi, I started carrying an electric pump. I don't know how many cartridges you'd need to get an FJ's 180 tire over 30psi, but it's more than I want to deal with.

And if you have a second puncture or a slow leak, there's no plan "B". And of course an electric pump also lets you adjust pressure easily in ordinary circumstances; for example, you can check in the morning before blastoff to get an accurate cold reading, then adjust to taste without paying for gas station air. 

 

One last word of hard-earned advice: the rubber "mushroom" plugs and tools that have been peddled for years under the "Stop and Go" name are dangerous bunk. They simply do not and cannot stay put in motorcycle tires.

Been there, done that, I tried and tried and tried, but Stop and Go plugs just do not work. (I did get one to stay in a car tire for a while, but in motorcycle tires they pop out pretty quickly.) A Nealey kit is far less expensive, easier to use, and works every time, unless, of course, your tire is obviously too damaged for any sort of plug to work.

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.

2 hours ago, johnmark101 said:

Nice photos.  

I like your top case.  Looks like a rack with adapter plate??  Care to share with us what you have there??

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.