DavidS

15 hours ago, Holderfjr said:

I have heard many negatives about the seat.  I bought the 21 and the seat definitely had a break in period of about 500 miles and has softened.  Also, I think riders with bigger rears may find it more uncomfortable.  It seems to have a small butt area.

Corbin Seats solve the seat problem, Can't find another engine like the Tracer.......

I just googled "tracer 900 gt for sale" and found a ton for sale.....especially if you are willing to drive a bit to pick one up. I see used bikes here on the west coast every so often, but they don't last for long. Good luck on your search, and welcome back......

me too - eBay is your friend.....

I think I paid $7

Be forewarned, if you remove the plastic guard as shown in the picture above , and do any riding in rainy weather, your bike will get covered with mud, sand, and all sorts of road debris

I think I posted about this a year or so back, but when I got my Tracer, I added a  Madstad windscreen and was able to mount a Ram Ball mount on the Tracer front bracket. This allowed me to position the GPS just above my instrument panel for easy viewing and I can quickly remove the GPS if I need to go somewhere where I'm not comfortable leaving it in the mount.

On 10/23/2021 at 9:42 PM, PhotoAl said:

I’m I in San Jose for a month visiting and helping with a new grandchild.  Unfortunately mt Tracer GT wouldn’t fit on the plane.  I’m going thru withdrawals and have only been here 2 days.

Try looking for a rental, might be a bit costly, but you are only there for a month, so it might work out.

Start looking now to select the brand/model of helmet you want, so you can just search on prices when things start to go on sale.

I recently moved from the Pacific North West (North Bend Washington) to Central California (Clovis California) and for the last two months I have been dealing with buying a house, selling my old house, moving all my stuff, waiting for supply chain issues to get the parts necessary to fix my bike, and fixing the damage my Tracer sustained in the move down. I was a bit worried about the riding down here in California, since I have been criss crossing the mountain ranges in Washington for the last 20 years. I have been lucky to have so many mountain passes close to Seattle to ride.

I finally was able to ride my bike yesterday, and Holy Crap, there are some great twisty roads in the mountains just east of me. I spent the day riding in the Sierra National Forest and the southern part of Yosemite National Park, and I think it will take me a few. years to ride all the great roads criss crossing the mountains from Redding down to just north of Los Angeles. 

If anyone on the forum is located near Fresno / Clovis, California and is interested in riding, PM me and let me know. 

I'm with 1moreroad, I replace my tires before I get to the wear bars. I'm more than happy to pay the cost of a new set of tires, and have no interest in testing the outer limits of any tire I put on my bike.

On 9/12/2021 at 1:22 PM, Garybinnyc said:

What happened? that's not good at all

See Sept 2nd post in this thread....

Well, now I have a story to tell.........

I just moved from Seattle, Washington to Fresno, California, and I loaded up my UHaul truck being very careful to strap my Tracer 900 to the side rail and ensure it was safe for the trip. I stopped once or twice on the way down to check to see if it was ok, and everything looked fine. when I arrived at my new home, I opened the truck, and found a puddle of oil soaking the UHaul moving mats I had put around my Tracer. The bike was still secured to the side rail and didn't look like it moved at all, but I noticed that my Chop Saw, which had been tied to the other side of the truck had come loose and apparently in a sick rendition of a heat seeking missile, slid across the UHaul truck and slammed into my oil pan.

When I saw what happened I was sick, but nothing left to do but get it fixed. With all the work I have to do moving in and setting up a new home, I decided to take it to the local dealer (Clawson's Motorsports) and have them deal with it. It should be done by end of next week, and hopefully good as new.

Sometimes, you just can't get a break, but you can pick up the pieces, learn your lesson, and move forward.

And if there are any folks on the forum who live around Fresno/Clovis, send me a PM and once my bike is fixed, we can do some riding....

I keep a tool roll in my top case, with the tools I use for my basic maintenance. If I find I need a new tool in my garage, I add it to the roll, so I will have it on the road too.

It does add weight, but I'd rather carry a few extra pounds than get stuck somewhere due to lack of the right tool. 

On 7/3/2021 at 7:46 PM, kilo3 said:

The mental gymnastics for someone to use a torque wrench on a oil plug then turn around and ask if they should drive with it leaking I find very perplexing.

But yeah, jb weld it up. Actually jb steel or whatever the putty is would probably work better.

Best quote on the forum ever!!! - Kilo3 should win the day!

On 7/4/2021 at 11:48 AM, Wintersdark said:

Yeah, you REALLY want compressed air to install the grip puppies.  It's literally a three minute job that way, they just pop right on. 

Upside is, they do NOT move once installed

Don't hold the seat position against the dealer, there's a bit of a trick to it and most dealers just don't know about it.  There's a plastic piece under the seat that needs to be moved when you latch the seat into another position.  My dealer got that wrong too, plastic frame in the low position + seat in high position resulting in a wobbly seat.  

Or you could throw out that crappy seat and fit it with a Corbin Seat...........

On 6/14/2021 at 1:09 PM, Salish900 said:

Install was quite easy. Nothing technical. Took a couple hours maybe. Beware that my install method does not connect the lights to the ignition, but instead directly to the battery. This means the lights can be left on after you have turned off the key. If you are not the type to remember your lights are on, then you will want to tie it into the wires that are energized by your ignition. 

One tip I would recommend is purchasing a Fuze Block. ($89.99 on Amazon) It allows you to wire multiple (5 or 6) electrical items into the Fuze Block which is easily mounted under your seat. You do have to wire the positive and negative from the Fuze Block to the battery, but that is pretty straightforward. You can decide which items you want wired to switched accessories vs those that are always live.

After that, you just connect the wires from each accessory to the fuze block, and install the correct size fuse for the item you are installing, and you are good to go.

I have been using these for years, and they make electrical additions very easy. And you can document what each wire goes to on the top of the fuze block case. (they provide a handy sticker to label the items going into the fuze block.

On 6/11/2021 at 7:12 PM, Heli ATP said:

A pic of how mine is secured...

@Heli ATP - what did you do to your horn? did you add another? or replace it with an aftermarket?

My clutch was noisy, but got quieter with miles. I don't hear the noise anymore. As for the throttle body's, I waited until I had other reasons to take the bike apart, it's a bit of a chore to get inside, and I'm lazy. It's not hard work, and there are many video's on youtube showing how it is done. Just take your time and you will be fine. You will need the throttle body tool to measure the cylinders, but they aren't too expensive. (especially compared to paying the dealer to do the work)

Good luck!

Let us know how it goes, truly hope it solves your problem.

Maybe I'm missing something, and it wouldn't be the first time either........

I just plug in a simple cigarette lighter USB adapter plug, and now I can plug my cord into the USB adapter and it charges while I ride.

WARNING: If your phone is mounted to your motorcycle this works perfectly, but if you keep your phone in on your body, say in a jacket pocket, it could cause an issue if you have an accident. (You are connected to your motorcycle by this cord)  My personal evaluation is that the plug would just get pulled out if you had an accident, but you should evaluate that risk before you tether yourself to your motorcycle. 

I had to enter my age quick, before I turn 60 in July.......

My suggestion on how to respond would be..........

"I'm really sorry, but my current motorcycle is not really ideal for riding two-up and I don't have much experience riding with a passenger. I don't want to risk you getting hurt, but if you are really interested in learning to ride, here is what I would recommend........"

My opinion is that there isn't much, if any added benefit in removing every last drop of the old oil when you do an oil change. Of course this doesn't do any harm, so if folks feel like waiting to get it all out, it's all good!

The procedure I use is as follows: 

Step 1: Warm the engine by running the bike at idle for a few minutes. I usually wait until the fan comes on before I move to the next step.

Step 2: Remove the oil drain plug and let the oil drain into my oil pan. Replace crush washer before reinstalling drain plug.

Step 3: While waiting for the oil to fall into the pan, remove the old oil filter and replace with a new one (putting a light coat of oil on the rubber gasket of the new oil filter) 

Step 4: Re-Install Drain Plug, being careful not to over tighten

Step 6: Fill with recommended amount of oil

Step 5: Start engine and check for leaks around the oil filter and the plug where you remove oil from the oil pan.

Step 6: Check oil level to ensure it is within tolerance 

Step 7: Go Ride

I always replace both sprockets and the chain as a set - just did mine a few weeks ago. Yes, they do wear at different rates, but replacing them when the first component starts showing wear doesn't cost too much more, and provides peace of mind and a lower chance of getting stuck somewhere. 

I never understood some riders need to get every mile out of parts before replacement. Replacing wear parts on-time, or even a bit early, helps avoid getting stuck somewhere on the side of the road, in the rain, late at night, when all your buddies busy and not available to help! I'm sure many of you ride with "That Guy" who always has a mechanical breakdown because they try to stretch their luck and delay replacing worn parts. I don't want to be "That Guy"

4 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

I'm very curious about this too.  From my perspective, the vast majority of my riding experience is on old 80's machines, and otherwise budget bikes.  So everything I say with regards to the Tracer's vibration is in comparison to those.  From my  experience, all bikes vibrate; it's just how much and at what RPM ranges, and it has never really bothered me.  

I can't help but feel @petshark should ride another Tracer to compare.  Or an FJ, or even an MT09 - all fundamentally the same drivetrain and chassis - to be able to know if his is normal or not.  Sadly, Belgium is a little far to offer to help

I agree, a ride on another Tracer might help narrow down the problem. I don't find my Tracer to have excessive vibrations, but each bike is different, and if the bike you are most familiar with is a gold wing, your expectation would be different than if it was a DRZ 400. I guess what I'm saying is that it is all a bit subjective.

On 4/29/2021 at 7:06 PM, Buggy Nate said:

I’ve run them all and won’t put anything other than Michelin’s on. Unrivalled grip in the wet and last well. Always confident inspiring.

+1 on the Michelin's! I ride in the wet Pacific Northwest, and the extra grip in the wet stuff is worth buying the Michelin's. I also find them to be a good all around tire, perform well in the twisties, good grip, confidence inspiring in all kinds of conditions. They are a bit pricey ~$500 for a pair, but it's all I use on my Tracer, or the FJ09 before it.

Wear life is the one downside, they aren't the longest lasting tire you can buy.