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Steverino

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Everything posted by Steverino

  1. The previous owner was kind enough to include a steering damper for me! I'm still debating whether I want a top case or not.
  2. I'm enjoying the poo out of my first bike with hard luggage. But I've noticed inside, there are stickers warning: Don't exceed 80mph with these cases Weight not to exceed 20lb in this cases (or 22ish, I can't remember off-hand) I regularly exceed 90 (on a closed course, naturally), at least for brief periods of time, especially when cruising open desert (on a closed course, naturally). Can these boxes really not withstand 81mph? What is the issue? Can they shear off from wind force? Are road bumps at that speed just liable to crack/break the mounts or...? Does anyone know the deal, for real? FWIW I've definitely (on a closed course, naturally) done 90+ with these cases on and they didn't explode or turn to snakes or anything weird like that, so I just wanted some additional thoughts from the gallery. As for the weight, I haven't yet challenged the 20lb limit, but has anyone else tested this? Is it just a really conservative estimate, or should I be seriously careful about putting 20lb in my side cases? Thank you, new Tracer friends! ❤️
  3. Not only speed but hills, headwinds, dirty air from other vehicles, even altitude all have varying levels of negative impact on MPG. Obviously not just the weight but the wind profile of side cases doesn't help, and certain types/configurations of windscreen may help or hurt as well. My best tank so far has been 205mi at just over 45MPG, with half a gallon remaining; but as we are all so fond of saying... YMMV 🙃 I'm actually surprised how consistent the MPG is on this bike. I've done an intentionally strenuous and an intentionally gentle tank to see what would happen, and only got as high as 46 and as low as 42 MPG. When I don't pay attention to how hard I'm riding, it seems to stay pretty damn consistent around 43~45. Mix of city, highway, canyons, and alternately riding like a grandpa/hooligan. I'm Already (Yamaha Tracer 900 GT) | Fuelly
  4. I suppose when it comes down to it, all I really want out of the MPG readout is a sense of how hard I'm running. In broad strokes, if I see ~45ish on there, I know I'm cruising pretty medium-ish on the freeway, as a benchmark. If I see 35ish, I know I'm pushing a little too hard (if I'm worried about eco) due to a hill, or high speed wind resistance, etc. If I see 60ish+, I know I'm sitting pretty and will get a good tank this time around. 😎 I'm not really going to change the way I ride over a matter of 3 or 4 MPG on the readout, just a minor frustration that I'm already over.
  5. If there is an industry-wide issue where all of these systems run 10% optimistic, why wouldn't it be corrected for? What is the purpose of a system that is known to be 10% off all the time? This is my question. Are they trying to use it as a marketing thing to trick you to thinking you're getting better mileage than you are, as if no one would notice?
  6. I've been trusting the fuel gauge. So far so good, and it puts me at roughly 200mi per tank. I'll experiment to see if there's a US/UK gallon setting.
  7. Thank you, sir! I'd still love to experience a GS in the stable one day, but unless I can turn my career on its head, the cost of ownership will make it impossible. The Tracer is filling my needs (and my soul!) for now. Cheers!
  8. Hello Tracer friends, Why is the little MPG display thingie so inaccurate? I track my mileage by calculating at the end of every tank. Miles per tank, divided by gallons per tank, is a pretty precise measure of miles, per, gallon AFAIK. By that metric, I'm averaging 44.1 MPG over 5 tanks so far, ranging over pretty consistent samples of 42 to 45. However, the "Avg MPG" reading the bike is giving me is 47.0 MPG for the same period. 3 MPG IMHO is not a small deviation. I've also tried cruising the highway in B mode, intentionally keeping speed way down (sub 60) to try and coax MPG out just as an experiment. The instantaneous MPG shown is hilariously optimistic. I read over 60 MPG (as high as 80+ on downhill sections, only as low as ~45 uphill) for the majority of a tank, with only a couple of red lights at endpoints to throw the average. Yet that tank still only got me in the 44~45 MPG range. In other words, almost a full tank of riding at a reported ~13 MPG over the calculated average still yielded - just the average again. Now, this MPG doesn't upset me. I'm riding an upper-mid displacement, sport-tuned bike, so 44 MPG is actually quite a happy thing. But it does bother me that they set the dash up to woo you with "ECO" notifications and instantaneous MPG of 60 MPG+, when that's not what seems to be the case. It's kind of miraculous that the engine can be so consistent with it's MPG over city and highway and spirited canyon riding, but why is the computer reporting so bad? Note: I've never had another vehicle with instantaneous MPG reporting. Is this just normal? What is the point of showing instantaneous MPG if it is meaningless to your real world results at the end of a tank? Addendum: I still love the bike, just disappointed in this one seemingly useful feature that has turned out to be pretty useless for me.
  9. Look at this thing. Ridiculous. I love it. I admit it, I have wanted a big GS/A (be it 1150, 1200, now 1250) for years. I barely even looked at most of the other offerings out there in the ADV category, or even in the big sport touring category, because it felt like if I was going to spend $20k OTD on a bike anyway, might as well spring the extra couple thousand and skip away on a BMW. Then my friend who rides an FJ-09 said, "hey. Look at these stats." Oh, snap. Everything I wanted from a GS, in a T9GT package, included standard, and I was lucky enough to find this one used with only 1,800mi on the clock at $12k OTD. All I ever dreamed of in a bike for half the cost of a similarly equipped GS with the same mileage. Sure, it's "only" an 847cc engine, but it's enough power that I get myself into trouble consistently, so I'm sure it's enough. The extra 350cc a BMW gives you is probably good for carrying the extra 150lb of bike. Hah! I still think the GS is an awesome line of bikes, but I can't justify them knowing the Tracer is around, and I'm so glad to have gotten one at this price. Previous owner was a motor cop, and I know he babied it because the computer showed an average MPG of 50mpg with no resets when I took delivery. He also did me the favor of putting on the euro LED upgrade and a steering damper. The laughably tall windscreen with additional clip-on is courtesy of myself, because I'm 6'3 and change, and fit on literally no bike. My legs scrunch on this thing like it was a sportbike (I'm all legs). I'm a little worried how much the thing gets rocked by the wind, looks like it's gonna rip off and take the mounting hardware with it, but I also have cosmic-level tinnitus and not willing to let it get worse so wind protection/sound protection is my #1 priority. Welp, I've gone on long enough. This is a tolerable picture of it I think. Coming up with a name has been difficult, thinking of a video game homage because I'm a super duper nerd and there is an appropriate reference to be found, and the alternate candidate name was a little too dark (reference to the boat used to ferry the dead to Hades seemed a little too on-the-nose for an activity like motorcycling). Anyway, hi!!
  10. Whipped out the owner's manual to take a peek at my periodic maintenance schedule today, and paused to admire the cover. I saw that the model designation for our bike is: So I think I can decipher most of it. The MT-09 is based on the same platform as this bike, thus the MT prefix. Then we have T9GT, for Tracer 900 GT. Then I get lost. Any idea what the K is for? Then we have the C, which appears to be "optional" (?). Any idea what the K and C mean in the model designation? Mainly I'm curious for no particular reason, whether my bike is an MTT9GTK or an MTT9GTKC. Though now I think of it, a T9GT decal might look quite handsome in place of the "goo GT" that some of us love and some hate... 😂
  11. At the dealer they opened the housing and used WD-40. 😬 I would have preferred the contact cleaner everyone recommended, but the WD-40 seems to have done the trick... for now at least.
  12. New to the bike, new to the forum, hello! Bought a used Tracer 900 GT with ~1,800 miles on the clock. The turn signal switch feels horrible and gets stuck. When activating the switch (turning on the signal), e.g. when pressing it left from center, it takes too much effort. Feels like I'm going to break it, I have to press it so hard; then it feels like it gets over a detent or something and moves more freely. It has a scratchy/grindy/sandpapery feel along the travel of the switch. Finally, it gets stuck at the ends (left and right) and I have to manually return it to center. Note: I'm not handy, and don't have tools, and attempting to fix this myself is likely to end in tears, but I'm willing to find tools and give it a try if someone can convince me it's laughably simple. I'm going to the dealer tonight after work because it's supposedly still under the 1-year warranty. In case they won't cover this (because it's used or whatever other excuse), can anyone point me toward diagnosis/repair tips? A friend recommended contact cleaner (electronics-friendly cleaner) to spray in there and see if it loosens up... good idea/bad idea? Thank you!
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