Michiel900GT

I do wonder how insurance companies will deal with this when something happens. If you get involved in an accident while ignoring the manufacturers instructions you might give the insurance company a reason not to cover the damage.

My thoughts on progressive change as far as the new Tracer is concerned: ABS is mandatory in the EU. So not a selling point. Cornering ABS is something that could be a selling point, but Yamaha is late to the game. Other brands have had this in their possible Tracer competition line-up since 2019/2020 Electronic suspension. This might be a good selling point if you often switch between solo and pillion and/or riding with luggage. If you only ride solo and perhaps only once in a while with luggage than is isn't really worth the extra money. But also a bit late to the game by Yamaha. It does look that the Tracer offers only 2 electronic modes however. Let's hope that it is not a choice between too soft or too hard. Cornering lights. Yes, a good point. But also about time. All brands advertise with all these riding modes or adjustable settings. But how many do you rally need and use? My Triumph has 6 modes and I mainly use the (standard) ROAD mode. RAIN mode is a bit of a gimmick as one is better of adjusting the riding style when it really rains. Ok, besides the ROAD mode the only really useful setting would might be OFF-ROAD PRO, when going completely off-road. Everything else is, for every brand, a gimmick. Maybe, the three gas response settings on the Tracer would have been sufficient. What Honda has on the Africa Twin makes a bit more sense: you can adjust the amount of engine breaking and torque. For me, that would be a selling point as far as ride modes/settings are concerned. There are a lot of driver assists which might actually add to safety. That is good. But also makes me wonder at what point all these systems take away some of the fun of riding. This goes for all brands of course. I would have liked hill-hold. Missing on my Triumph, but also on the new Tracer. The 2020 Suzuki V-strom has it and that might actually be useful in mountains. Full LED. Yes please! And also about time. Up & down quick shift. Finally. Also late to the game. It does look to me that the pillion seat has become a bit less comfy. And it's position to the rider part of the seat might add to the loss of comfort. MIGHT as one can only be sure after a real world test of course. I wonder how strong the new 1.7mm thin rims will turn out to be. All in all, a lot of technical extra's that brings the Tracer up to par with the competition. But tbh, nothing that would make me trade in a 2020 GT (if I would still have one) for a 2021 GT. And I do like the looks of the 2020 better. But that's personal.

You make it sound as if that's something bad. Well, as long as he doesn't look like your wife (or worse, your wife looks like him) 😂

I once considered subscriptions to multiple motorcycle magazines. Until I compared the magazines.....they have the same articles, basically edited press releases.

There's an old Dutch saying: "Het bezit van de zaak is het einde van het vermaak". It roughly translates in: "Possession of the matter is the end of the entertainment" Sometimes the dreaming of something and the anticipation are the best part. (come and think of it, it sums up my first marriage 😁)

I think the general opinion here is that most people are very content with the bikes they have. Sure, a new model will draw a lot of attention and people will compare but there's not too much drooling going on. Personally, I don't feel like there's much reason to drool. There are some nice features on the new model. Perhaps it's a bit more ready for touring (given the fact that the rake and trail changed too). But the design is too aggressive for my likings. I think the renaming from Tracer 900 to Tracer 9 therefore makes sense. Not a big fan of the front, the dashboard and the panniers either. But I do think I'll give it a try next year. Just to see how it handles. Not that I'm planning on buying one. I've completely fallen in love with my Tiger 900 Rally Pro. I'm hoping to keep that bike for a very long time. To be honest, the Tracer 900 GT has now become an instant classis for me. Especially in Phantom Blue I think it's one of the best looking bikes of recent years.

Nice one! And I do like the mocking of BMW. Whenever I'm in Austria in the summer almost 9 out of 10 bikes are 1200/1250 GS......

I don't know how things are in the US, but here in the EU things are getting out of hand: roads being closed for motorcyclist, political talks of getting the decibel limit to 95 and later on to 80 (that is when stationary!) etc, just because of the nuisance of loud bikes. What should be done instead is enforcing the law. We have already strict laws regarding the level of noise from bikes, but the chance of getting fined when one breaks that law are very small. The problem is that a relatively small group of bikers is causing problems for other bikers by installing illegal pipes. So unless an aftermarket pipe isn't louder than the original I would really urge people not to install anything other than the original.

S100 White chain spray 2.0. Sticks really good to the chain and has been (in Europe) the best tested chain spray for many years.

To me it looks like something from a bad sci-fi movie from the eighties. I really love the looks of the current Tracer model, the new one (presuming it is real) is a major step backwards. But that's just my opinion.

Only one really good advice to give here: Try, try, try (before you buy). I've bought the Madstad based on all the good reviews. I thought it was a no-brainer. Turns out the Madstad was worse than a Vstream with a vario screen on top. But the Madstad had cost me 420 euro...and returning it would have been a very costly business (from Europe). So it is a very personal thing. Don't take anyone's word for it. You really need to go and test it yourself.

Amazing, your experience is the opposite of mine. I really felt the quality was below par. The stock seat really was of a better quality than the Bagster. Perhaps I just had a bad one. But that would mean ther QC is not good. Anyway, enjoy your new seat!

Does anyone here use front fork protection (the kind that goes through the axle)? Does it really prevent damage to the fork in case you drop the bike or slide across hard surfaces? Or is it more of a gimmick by clever accessories selling companies?

I tried the bultex one on my Tracer. Tbh, for that amount of money I thought is was not so good. Quality was only so-so. And I had my stock seat adjusted for roughly half the money.

Hm, at first sight....not a big fan. Let's see if this is really something from Yamaha.