wordsmith

Stealthy - thanks, mate - I have tried that, but will give it another go or three using Skip's suggestion! Was just talking to my wife about it - and had to say that in all the years I've been riding and all the bikes I've owned this is the first such 'major' keeping-me-off-the-road occurrence! And I was so keen to get out today to trial that new seat... Skip - again, thanks mate. I did as you suggested, holding the throttle wide open and exactly what you'd warned happened: it caught and revved right up before I could close the throttle! Aaaarrrggggggghhhhhhhh! And bugger!! But after a few seconds anxious wait I tried again and it started up - I caught it this time and allowed it to fast-idle before backing-off. I allowed the coolant temp to get to around 70C before switching-off (which took just a minute or so as it's pretty hot here at the moment): and two or three more starts were immediate and successful. You, Sir, are a gem! I'll try to get out tomorrow on the seat-proving circuit, but won't put all the ATTGATT gear on before starting the bike! Thanks everyone - that was an anxious few hours. LATER EDIT: the point that skipperT makes about moving the bike into the garage immediately after cleaning it, and switching-off without a decent warm-up, is a very good one. Normally, after cleaning the bike I'll take it for a very brisk few kilometres to allow all the water to be blown off, but being pretty tired and sore after my long trip, just completed, I took a rain-check. Never again! And - just to explain myself a bit further - I wouldn't have expected a warranty job if I'd had to go to a dealership to fix the problem if indeed they'd found only fouled plugs, but if the fuel pump (or any other vital part) had died on me I'd certainly have made a warranty claim. Happily - not necessary. An early and very welcome Christmas gift... Wordsmith - with a few extra grey (gray) hairs...

Sorry - need to be more precise! Rider (driver) seat, a well-known defect, tho' not necessarily of great concern to some. I don't know if the pillion seat was likewise sloppy as I never carry passengers. OE stock perch.

Thanks, skipperT. The pump sound you note is clearly there - a deep-ish whirring sound - and I recall it as the sound typically heard on normal start-up, tho' not necessarily taken much notice of! It would, from this rough analysis, suggest, tho' not definitely prove, that the fuel pump is OK. Countering that thought, however, is the observation that even tho' the starter clearly engages and the motor turns over vigorously, there's no sense of unburnt fuel being ejected from the zorst. Or am I over-thinking it? A note: I put the RHS stop/ start switch to the middle detent position when trying this. Pic below... As for codes - I have never seen any codes (I assume appearing on the display screen) on any of the Tracers I've owned: don't know how to access them (if installed): and the Manual is no help. But thank you again as this may be helping me to pin-down possible issues. I definitely don't want to have to go to a dealership to have this fixed, even tho' it may well be a warranty claim, but it sounds as if I'll have to. I don't have much faith in the local dealers, and frankly don't trust one or two of them from past experiences. But I may have to bite the bullet. It's gonna be a long push - about 65km! Thank you again for your thoughts - keep 'em coming.

Norcal - clutch switch - que?. Bike def in N. Tilt sensor - que?. Key def fully turned as all lights, dash come on. rr83 - not sure if I can, as I'm not necessarily familiar with that partic sound/ noise. Will check... BOTH - thanks...

Bike will not start! Hasn’t been used for about three (3) weeks, but battery tender/ charger has been attached. Bike was washed immediately prior to putting it away in my garage since last used, but was started and driven in without any issues after cleaning. Battery checked by shop today– pronounced good as new, fully charged, excellent cranking power. All fuses checked and OK. Plenty fuel in tank. Side-stand ignition cut-off switch moves freely in and out. Engine turns over strongly, but will not fire – to my uneducated ear it sounds as if possibly no fuel and/ or no spark. Handbook does not show me if any ‘error codes’ are able to be read by me. Bike is 2019 GT @ 7200km. Do hope this doesn’t mean a trip to a dealership! Any helpful thoughts and suggestions will be gratefully taken on board. TIA…

On Gen1 Tracers the rider seat was notably sloppy and rocked from side to side - an uneasy feeling until one got used to it.

This topic is currently popular. How would a rider know if his bike required the synching of the throttle bodies? What are the effects and impacts of an imperfect synch? Is an almost-new Tracer GT likely to require checking? Even just asking, I feel a synching feeling in the pit of my stomach... but the questions are serious.

My early-October 4500km circuit took me through some moderately wet weather and over a few extensive road works. Despite a rudimentary DIY front fender-extender the spaghetti-like set of zorst header pipes got pretty grubby: time to clean 'em up a bit. This is a job where a hoist would be worth its weight in gold, as scrambling around on the garage floor is a bit tough on my ageing bod and joints, but I achieved some improvement. A pot-scourer dipped in kerosene took off most of the road-tar deposits, and I followed that up by polishing the pipes with AUTOSOL. This is an automotive polish made in Germany and recommended by BMW, therefore being (a) very effective and (b) very expensive. But it works. The headers certainly didn't come up like new, but look better, and my conscience is salved and pride restored! A little more work on them will improve things further, so that's on the weekend job-list.

You will be unindated with requests to buy...😀

That Chevy Corvette is dead sexy, innit - but I'm seeing Ford Mustangs on the road by the dozen these day (current model I'm talking about). They look pretty cool, but the Corvette leaves it for dead, IMHO.

Possible very dumb question, johnakay, but is there anything fastened to or lying on the internal 'rails' (parts of the rear sub-frame) that may be not allowing the seat to go right down? Maybe a bit of wiring you've installed, a zip-tie, whatever. I know I allowed that to happen once, and it's not easy to spot the offending item. In my case, it was simply the wire strap supplied with the bike as the helmet securing device: it sat on top of the rail and was sufficiently proud to keep the seat bumpers too far elevated.

Don't mix too many colours would be my advice. If you put red rim-tape on, put red into the tank-groove too. If gold tank- groove tape (which chimes nicely with the gold fork - mine are pure 24 carat of course) apply gold rim-tape. Red and gold pin-striping tape is readily available from the most auto accessories retailers, or online. An alternative is to purchase on-line some neat and discreet (and different) wheel-rim decals that read "Tracer" or "Yamaha" or similar identifying wording - a set of eight (8) = four (4) per wheel, = two (2) each side, will set you back about $20, IIRC. They come from that well-known source of things Yamaha - Scotland. I have used their decals on various bikes: they cover all brands, many models, and many colours, and are extremely durable. Easy - if a little fiddly - to apply too. If well-done, they do look good, IMHO. Source <moto.monkey@rocketmail.com>

Yeah verily - the 'red looks closer to orange/ copper' was precisely the so-called Racing Red I referred to on my last two BMWs! I too like the combo you have pictured, but alas not available here. Bummer! The OP red version we are talking about might look better if the pannier lids - or ideally IMHO the concave inset part thereof - were also painted red... as in the blue version above.

If you look earlier at this particular Forum topic (BAGSTER seat: post from dazzler24, Oct 25th) you'll see his pix of the underside of his seat, same as yours. On Sept 27th he also posts side-by-side pix of the stock/ OE seat and his new BAGSTER seat which may interest you. No point me posting pix of mine (I did so earlier, including pix of the side-on views comparing thickness; I've no issue there at all) as it's the GT model and slightly different as far as the pan or base goes. Good luck - I'm sure it can and will be sorted.

All same same here! Only ever had one complimentary comment from a passer-by, a kid of about 10yo or so wandering by, who murmured "cool bike, mate!". At least I took it as a compliment...

This is very disappointing to hear, johnakay, and as something of an unpaid advocate here for the brand I almost feel a bit responsible (but only a bit). I am now on my fourth (4th) BAGSTER seat, and at around AUD$450 - 500 a pop would clearly not be buying them if I hadn't always been 100% impressed. But clearly your experience so far is not the same as mine. Yours is clearly a Gen1 Tracer, but I have to say that on my GT the BAGSTER pillion seat is quite fiddly to get it into place properly - until you've had a bit of practice and get used to working it into place it does not sit quite 'right'. My pillion perch also needs a good hefty vertical karate-chop to fully engage the lock - until that point it obviously sits a bit proud at the front. Then - all AOK. The 'tabs' at the rear are also quite fiddly engage properly, but so are those on the stock/ OE seat I found. Practice will make perfect. See self-explanatory pix - first when lightly engaged with lock: second after 'chopping'.. LATER EDIT - same day. I have discovered the secret of getting the pillion perch securely - err - secured. The karate chop is still necessary, delivered with a rousing 'hai', but aimed on the front riser surface of the seat, backwards towards the rear of the bike at a 45 degree angle rather than straight down onto the top surface of the seat. Fixes it perfectly! See last two pix...

No choice at all here in Oz - you can have a GT in any colour so long as it's black - with blurple wheels and tank 'swoosh'. I don't mind it at all, although I would have liked some choice, but given the poor sales of Tracers here I can understand why Yamaha Australia wouldn't want to take a punt on too many colours - so only one it was, take it or leave it!

Gotta say - looks OK to my eye, even if the rear panel doesn't appear to match the front panels. I don't mind it all all, actually, but maybe some matching rim-tape may lift it a little. My very last BMW GS (and indeed the Roadster that preceded it) was supposedly 'Racing Red' in colour. It was no such thing - almost KTM Orange, or as I named it at the time, very tetchily, 'Dawdling Down the Road Orange'. But then, until quite recently BMW were crap at colours.

I'd very much like to see a pic of the GT in the colour(s) that piss you off so much, ss. Must be really ghastly...☹️

You will be unindated with requests to buy...😀

Some people are desperate!

I suspect that the phenomenon known as 'pride of ownership' has a lot to do with it. I certainly felt a degree of 'p of o' from my various BMWs, and can quite imagine Ducati owners experiencing the same. And no! - it's not necessarily the same thing as brand-snobbery: one-upmanship: or 'I'm better/ more well-off than you". Having said that, I don't really know what 'pride of ownership' is, except that it's a pleasurable thing to experience.

Strange to say, over many years of riding I've become accustomed to seeing far more H-Ds on the road than any other brand of motorcycle. I'd reckon that at least 50% of the bikes that pass me by in either direction are H-Ds. When you consider the very small percentage of new road bike sales here that are H-Ds (<5% last time I looked, about the same as Yamaha) two possible reasons suggest themselves: either H-Ds last much longer than other brands; or H-D riders get out more (usually in a posse). Any comments and/ or similar experience in your neck of the woods?

I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member...

'Supposedly' is a good word. If he didn't check, you wouldn't be the first to find how unreliable they (mechs) can be.