stevesweetz

Note for posters to be careful to distinguish between the 2019+ Tracer and prior models. The FJ-09/first gen Tracer 900 comfort seat was bad. The new one seems much improved on appearance alone, but I have no personal experience with it.

US pricing finally announced, starts at: $11,695 Quite a bit more than I was expecting based on converted Canadian prices, but it's possible the US base model has some add-ons baked in. Says it has a steering damper stock, which I don't know, seems like kind of overkill to me. Available options and pricing for those not announced yet. https://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/en/models/adventure/f900xr.html

Triumph only lists dry weight. I figure around 40lbs for fluids would put it very close to the Tracer. They should have ditched any ADV pretense on the street version and put a 17" front wheel and low exhaust on it.

FWIW the BMW F900 XR is a production practicalization of the 9 Cento concept design. I think the F900XR is ultimately better looking than the current Tracer. The 2018 redesign is better, but Yamaha still hasn't made the front fairing panels look well integrated with the rest of the bike, and their penchant for painting them high contrast colors just make them look that much worse. World Premiere: BMW Motorrad Concept 9cento At this year's Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, BMW Motorrad...

I haven't modified the under seat area at all. I do occasionally throw my gloves under the pillion seat, but the rivets that were missing were more towards front of the tail, under rider seat area, not the pillion seat. The thought that some lazy jerk looking to replace his lost rivets stole mine while the bike was parked somewhere did cross my mind, but that seems pretty absurd, and I don't think they would bother stealing ones that are harder to get to. The one thing that I'm wondering about is the cold. The first two years I paid to store my bike in a climate controlled storage at the dealer during winter. However the last time it was there, some dipwad moving the bike around broke my turn signal and tried to cover it up by hot gluing it 🙄. The dealer replaced it once I confronted them about it (with so little resistance that makes me wonder if they knew about it being broken)...but now I won't store there anymore. Last year I stored it in friend's non-climate controlled shed so it was at below freezing temperatures for extended duration. I'm wondering if the little flanges that get pressed out on the rivet would get brittle enough that they crack under the pressure...and then the rivet eventually shakes loose at some point while riding. I also discovered early this year that my side panel cracked (known common problem) after making it through the prior 3 years ok. Fixed that with some epoxy and reinforcing mesh.

I was scrubbing down my 2016 FJ-09 to put it to sleep for the winter and found that I was missing no less than 4 of the plastic rivets (or whatever you call the removable round fasteners) under the tail section of the bike. It's possible I could have been missing these for a long time, I don't bother cleaning or looking at the underside of the tail that much. I was questioning the possibility of these falling out on their own, but I don't know how else they would go missing. I do all my own service except state inspection and tire changes, so a mechanic shouldn't have had any reason to have the tail apart. Does anyone know if those rivets are particularly brittle and easy to break? If it's a matter of them fitting loosely, I will presumably lose new ones as well and I'm wondering if I should put some kind of mild rubbery glue on them (like maybe silicone caulking).

In real world shots, the red looks closer to orange/copper and I do not like it at all, but that's not even my main complaint. I don't like that everything is black and then front side panel is made to stand out. I don't like that panel standing out over the rest of the bike. That's why I don't even like the 2019 all that much, although silver is a lot more agreeable than that copper. IMO It should be like the pre-redesign FJ/Tracer where the side panels are just matte black and then everything else is painted. In other words, like the "Phantom Blue" color for Europe. I was hoping this would be the color they were bringing to the US for 2020. I would get one of these no question.

Ugh I didn't know about the lack of adjustable front suspension. I can barely tell the difference messing with the rebound and compression settings on the FJ, but pre-load certainty has a huge effect on front end dive. Not having at least pre-load adjustable front suspension seems very behind the competition. As far as the "Chinese engine", this by itself doesn't scare me away. Chinese bikes are poor because they are built to meet a very low cost. This doesn't mean that China doesn't have the capability to do quality manufacturing. Some of Yamaha's engines are manufactured in China, though I don't know if that includes the CP3. If I'm honest with myself, I still really want a Tracer 900 GT, I'm just pissed off with the complete lack of color choice in the US and the absolutely hideous 2020 color that it's basically spite making me consider the BMW. The smart move is probably to buy a leftover 2019 and pay a few hundred to get it professionally painted.

£9,500 -20% VAT would be £7916 ~= $10,040USD. So between that and Canadian price maybe we'll see $9,995 starting price in the US. The question is how much will they ask for centerstand, heated grips, cruise, and panniers. Here's the full press release for the bike with more details. https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/attachment/T0301997EN/441149 If this is available in the US in spring, it's going to be a tough call for me between this and a reduced price leftover 2019 Tracer 900 GT.

So while, as far as I can tell, pricing hasn't been announced for the rest of the world, it seems someone in BMW Canada perhaps made a mistake and listed the price on their press site. F900R - $10,350 F900XR - $12,800 Those would presumably be in CAD, so that makes it around $9,600 USD. Actual US price will probably be a bit higher, but that's quite a lot cheaper than I was expecting, considering the F850GS starts at $13,125 USD. Now of course, being a BMW, no dealer will ever sell the base model, but it doesn't seem probable that it will be the $16,000 I was expecting when decently optioned up. I think $14,000 when equipped similar to T9GT (centerstand, cruise, heated grips, and panniers) is not out of the realm of possibility and makes it a closer competitor to the Tracer 900 GT than I was expecting. @daboo - My personal beef with the F800GT engine was not a matter of power. Anything above 80hp is plenty for me. Rather it was the engine's complete lack character or personality. I know that's a wholly subjective judgement, but it seemed so muted and appliance-like to me. As a result the bike felt slow even if wasn't actually slow. I feel the same about pretty much all 180° or 360° parallel twins I've ridden. 270° twins I quite like however. Something about the uneven firing order just makes a bike sound and feel better. As mentioned above, I've ridden MT-07s on several occasions and quite like them. I test rode a Z650 this year (just for fun at a Kawasaki demo), which has a 180°, and while in all other respects it might as well be the same bike as the MT-07, I didn't care for it at all. I think this is why pretty much all manufacturers making big parallel twins now use 270° crank. I don't think there's really much mechanical benefit to it in a street bike, it's just to make them sound and feel better.

I test rode an F800GT before getting an FJ-09 and that bike had the least charm of any bike I've ever ridden. However, at that point the BMW "F" engine had a fairly unusual 360° firing order (where the pistons both went up and down together, but fired alternately). The new engine has a 270° firing order. I have test ridden MT-07s and XSR700s on several occasions and I quite like the bike. I also rented an Africa Twin (also a 270° p-twin) and did like 150 miles on it; I wasn't a huge fan of the bike overall for various reasons, but it probably had the most charm of any Honda I've ever ridden. Engine actually sounded pretty good when you spun it up. I think I could live with a 270° p-twin, but yeah probably still no match for the CP3 on charm.

The BMW was announced. Started a separate thread for that.

So here's BMW's Tracer 900 competitor. Looks pretty good. One notable detail missing from the linked site is weight. 219kg = 482lb. Little disappointed on that. Tank seems a little small at 4.1 gallons, but a F850GS gets 57mpg (claimed). Assuming this gets at least 50mpg in the real world, that would give it similar range to the Tracer. As a BMW, of course everything, even a center stand, is an option. No pricing announced, but based on F850GS prices, I'm guessing that spec'd out similarly to the Tracer 900 GT, it will be pushing $16,000 USD. Dimensionally, looks like it's almost exactly the same size as the Tracer 900. I was hoping it would be a tad smaller and lighter, closer to the 9cento concept. Basically Tracer 700 sized, but with higher end parts and tech. Still very interested in this and will have a tough time deciding between it and Tracer 900 GT if the price ends up being more competitive than I expect. Would not be a question if Yamaha could put out the 900 in colors that I didn't hate 😕 2020 BMW F900XR and F900R First Look - Motorcycle.com We've seen design filings for both the 2020 BMW F900XR and...

I was planning on getting a Tracer 900 GT in spring 2020. I didn't like the 2019 black with silver side panels (it should be the other way around...like the 2016) and I was hoping the 2020 color would be more to my liking. Instead it's hideous. I don't think I've ever seen worse stock paint. I though the European grey and red was bad, but this...it's so, so awful. I don't know WTF Yamaha is thinking. Now I am eagerly waiting the rumored road focused sport touring variant of the F850GS that BMW is going to unveil at EICMA.

I got around to painting this last night. Hasn't been good enough lighting conditions to take a worthwhile picture though. I'll try to get one uploaded at some point. The VHT paint is both a little glossier and more metallic than the stock paint, but it's still a pretty close match. It blends with the stock paint pretty nicely. So I sprayed heavier on the bottom of the cover where the scratches were and pulled away as I moved to the top. Won't look perfect by any means, but I think it will be a little better than just flat black and it's still less ugly than a bunch of scratches down to bare metal.

Funny enough, it turned that the stock front pads did not have a shim/backing plate, while the stock rear pads did. The exact opposite of how the EBC pads come. 😖 I kept the EBC shim on the front pads and like coachluciano I re-used the stock shim on the rear pads. All seems to be good, plenty of stopping power and no noises, so presumably it was fine to do it like that.

Doing my brake pads for the first time (ever, not just on my FJ). I ordered some EBC pads. The front pads came with a shim on the back, which can be removed. The rear did not. I have not yet looked at whether the stock pads have a similar shim. So just to be sure: do I use the shim or not?

I don't know if it's different for different model years, but on my 2016 if you look at the stock case/frame paint closely there is a little sparkly/metallic effect to it. Based on the pictures in the FZ-09 thread, the VHT paint is a little shinier than stock, but it seems pretty close.

Hi guys, long time no post. After 4 years of ownership with nary an incident, a few days ago I dropped the bike on gravel (stationary drop, not moving). Basically was fatigued from heat and just lost my footing while pulled over in a gravel parking lot to rest. Drop was on the left (kickstand) side. Bike came out relatively unscathed except for some rash on the hand guard and quite a lot of rash on the crankcase cover. The crankcase rash is hardly the first scratch on the bike, but it's still a bit too ugly for me to live with. I might replace it over the winter, but for now going to try to just mask it off and repaint while it's still on the bike. I saw this VHT paint recommended on the FZ forums. Apparently it's a pretty close match. Just want to check if anyone here has a different recommendation. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008KIZQ4O/?coliid=I3OL0Y2OYC2VA&colid=J15JYAHWS3W6&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I just went to the Yamaha UK site to confirm this monstrosity is indeed the new color. It's hideous, what the hell were they thinking? There's a been a trend of North America getting colors a year after they come out in Europe, so I'm hoping we get matte blue and not this mess.

Metzeler Roadtec 01 - I don't know why these aren't recommended more often. Better dry grip that Pilot Roads, more longevity than Angel GTs.

That reminds to give one word of warning about these signals - I don't want to scare anyone off because I still think these signals are among the best looking for the bike - but they are pretty fragile. There's really no give to the short rubber mounting block, and the thin plastic around stalk part is susceptible to breaking without much force applied. They made it fine through last year, but this year I snapped both of my rear signals just by being careless when walking around by the rear of the bike. Since they stick out so much with the stock tail, I just kind of caught them on my thigh and didn't notice before they snapped. Now luckily, the plastic just split a bit and didn't break into pieces and the wires didn't tear or anything, so I just epoxy'd them back onto the mounting block and you'd never know they were broken. So not a big deal if you do snap them, but just be careful around these things - they're definitely not as hardy as the old floppy pumpkins. Funny enough, I went to a Yamaha demo event and both rear signals on their FZ-10 (which uses these same signals) were held together by tape. The bike showed no signs of being dropped so I ask the demo rep and he said sure enough they had been broken just by being bumped either by customers or when they were loading and unloading the bike. I think Yamaha could stand to make the rubber part a bit longer and beef up the stalk thickness to make these signals a bit more forgiving to the odd bump here and there.

So I had the TSB service done at the end of last year right before I put the bike into storage. 4500 miles and 7 months later the cam chain has started rattling again. It started about 3 weeks ago and at first I thought it was an effect of the cold as it's been getting down to the 40°s(F) overnight and it's been around 50°F in the morning when I start up. However, today it was 72°F at noon and when I started it to go out for lunch it was rattling like crazy. For now it's going away when the engine warms up, but it's persisting longer and longer each time I ride. I still have my APE manual tensioner (which I bought before the TSB replacement)...may have to put that back in.

Oooo this is the tire I'm leaning to when the stockers wear out. Let us know how they do!Obviously it will be a while before I can report long term results, but so far I'm liking them. I'm pretty sure they have a rounder profile than the Dunlop D222s (even accounting for my D222s being worn). Bike feels a little quicker to lean over then it ever has as a result, but I'm willing to admit that could be totally in my head. However, after that picture was taken, I took the bike on a sporty route that I'm very comfortable with - comfortable enough that I touch down the feeler pegs a couple times - and there's way more "chicken strip" left on the Metzelers as compared to what I had on the Dunlops. I don't think I'm going to be able to behead the elephant, the wear line only just touches it. @wordsmith Good job on those panniers. I haven't gotten around to trying to redo mine yet.

New shoes. Metzeler Roadtec 01