Michiel900GT

I just got a quote for replacement of both front and rear springs. It will be 425 euro (503 dollar) incl. fitting. It think I’ll go for that.

Most of the "shortcomings" have already been mentioned. There is one thing I would like to add: why can't Yamaha add a 24h clock? Over here we don't use am/pm and it can't be that hard to have the option for 24h.

The price includes fitting. But I’m not sure yet if I want to replace the stock rear suspension if I loose the possibility to change the pre-load of the suspension. Hyperpro does have a rear suspension kit that also offers that option, but it isn’t cheap. I looked into the K-tech option. Not cheap either and unfortunately most of the gear I would need is not in stock. I had hoped that I would only need to change my front springs like I did with my Diversion 900 back in 2001. That was a real improvement. But it seems the Tracer would become unbalanced if I only change the front. Now, I’m really not the type of driver that attacks every corner like Marquez. So do I need top-of-the bill suspension? Not really. I just want the bike to be a little bit less prone to diving and a little bit more stable in the corners. Hyperpro does offer the combikit, which contains progressive front and rear springs but not the shock. The guy from Hyperpro said the standard shock is really too soft, but we didn’t discuss the option of the combikit in depth. What do you think, would the combikit be enough for now? And would the stock shock be able to handle this? Or would it eventually ruin my stock shock?

It's indeed 750 for the whole, but I just realized that for that price I get the streetbox from Hyperpro. I think with that set, I loose the possibility to adjust my rear spring with the standard suspension adjustment knob of my GT.

After my involuntary stoppies and nose diving earlier this week, I decided to do some research about adjusting the factory stock suspension of the Tracer. And look into replacement suspension. I did adjust my front suspension and it feels a bit better. But just not good. So I looked at Hyperpro suspension and called a Hyperpro specialist. He told me that I can adjust whatever I want but I will never make the stock suspension really good. We then talked about replacing the front suspension with Hyperpro, but he told me that it would still leave the bike incorrectly tuned, as it would cause the bike to be unevenly balanced. According to him, the rear spring and shock absorber are just too weak. His advice was to replace both the front suspension and the rear spring and shock absorber to make it really good. Of course, this comes with a price tag.....And he is probably trying to sell his products. But at 749 euro (881 dollar) all-in it is a lot of money to spent without really investigating other options. So, any advice would be welcome......

Just over a week ago I drove the Tiger Rally Pro and I was offered a long test drive on the GT Pro, so yesterday I was finally able to take a Tiger GT Pro for a 2 hour test ride. Everything that follows below is my own experience with and opinion about the Tiger, so just keep in mind that somebody else might experience the Tiger differently. To start, the Tiger GT Pro comes packed with a lot of electronics. Electronically adjustable rear suspension, the ability to connect your GPS, smartphone and even a GoPro 7/8 (which you can control from the handlebar), heated seats and grips, TPMS, cruise control, cornering ABS and a big, fancy looking TFT screen (which takes some time to get used to, form over function.....). Oh, and it has LED fog lights and blinkers, an up and down quick shifter and 5 driving modes. So Triumph hasn't hold back in the electronics and equipment department. Although the screen takes too long to start up when you switch the contact on. The riding position is a bit more touring focused than our beloved Tracer, with the pegs positioned a bit more to the front. I found the riding position to be easy on the legs, but a bit though on the back. With the seat in the upper position I still found the bar to be quite far away (and I'm about 1,86 meter, 6.1 feet) and it took some time to get used to that. I'm not sure, but I think it might make me a bit more prone to back pain on long rides. On the Tracer I find myself to sit more upright and leaning just a little bit more forward. As there is no higher seat available from Triumph, I guess one has to either get used to it or have a seat adjusted by a specialized work shop. The good thing about the riding position is that it made me feel more "in the bike" than "on the bike" when compared to the Tracer (which I ride with the seat on the high position). Then the riding part: The engine feels way more like a 2 cylinder than the Tracer. It shakes a bit more and in the lower revs it has more a mind of its own (or as people say: character...). The Tracer engine is more sporty than the Tiger engine. Is that a bad thing about the Tiger? Not in my opinion. You get used to that quite fast and you do feel the engine working, which adds to the riding experience. The engine is fast, powerful enough and makes a nice sound. So no complaints there. The suspension is quite a different story. The electronically adjustable Marzocchi suspension looks nice on paper, but do not expect too much joy in real life. There are 4 basic presets: single, duo, single with luggage, duo with luggage and you can adjust each preset manually. The dealer was very eager to point out those options..... I started driving in single modus and quickly discovered why he was so eager: with every speedbump I met I was feeling a hard "boink" in the rear as I used the entire suspension travel (not sure that's the right English translation, sorry). So I put the suspension in "single with luggage" mode, which was already an improvement but I had to adjust it to maximum "road" stiffness to be good (you can also chose a few degrees of "sport" stiffness which makes it even stiffer). As I'm around 81 kilo's (179 lbs) I'm wondering how the suspension holds up with a pillion and luggage. I have a bad feeling about it. It is just soft. As is the front suspension, but not nearly as soft as the front suspension on my Tracer...... The gearbox is very easy and super smooth. Especially with the quick shifter. Only issue there is that you very easily go to second gear when you try to get it in neutral and there seems to be a bit of a delay between the gearbox and the TFT screen, so when you think the gear is neutral, it is actually in second but that only shows on the TFT after you have already completely released the clutch....and the let the engine stall. I think it is just something to get used to, but it happened to me 2 or 3 times during my 2 hour ride. Still, a very nice gear box all in all. What really captivated me was the handling of the bike. Despite the fact that the bike feels big, I really loved the confidence it gives when going through corners and riding on curvy roads. The bike is easy to steer, follows the line you choose when entering the corner and is less nervous throughout the entire corner. Not that the Tracer is super nervous but I felt a bit more confident on the Tiger. That might be a result of the longer wheel base and trail when compared to the Tracer. I liked it but I can imagine that other people like the more sporty cornering character of the Tracer. If you want to go sporty, the Tiger might not be the bike for you. When I returned and discussed my experience with the dealer, he kindly offered me another ride on the Rally Pro version (the one I drove about a week earlier) but not after he adjusted the suspension to make it, what he believed, more suitable for me. So I got to ride the Rally Pro for another 45 minutes (what a nice day and nice dealer......!). To be honest, the adjusted suspension was an improvement when compared to the first time I drove the Rally Pro edition. Also, the riding position is quite different on the Rally Pro, as it has a bigger steering bar that leans a bit towards you. The engine and gearbox are the same as the GT Pro version, but the handling of the bike is different due to the different suspension and the bigger front wheel. Personally I liked the riding position of the Rally Pro better, but the handling of the GT Pro. How does the Tiger GT Pro compare to the Tracer? Both are fine sport-touring bikes (with the Tiger also leaning to allroad-touring). But to put it simple: do you want to ride more sporty, go for the Tracer. Do you want to have a more touring oriented bike, go for the Tiger GT Pro. And if you feel really adventurous: go for the Tiger Rally Pro. None of these bikes are bad of course. It is just a matter of personal taste. And than there's the story of the Suzuki V-strom 1050 XT I drove later that day at my regular dealer. And the dressing down he gave me when we talked about cornering characteristics of bikes. But that's a whole different story....

Yes, it most certainly is. He was a cool dude and a motorcycle fanatic himself. And he was really eager to see what the issue exactly was and how to solve it.

Yesterday I had a very nice motorcycle day. I test drove three different bikes, but more about that in different threats. What was also very nice, was that the guy responsible for importing Roadlok in Europe came to my home to see how we could fix the issue with the Roadlok not fitting on the Tracer without removing the reflector. He had modified one of the spacers (he shortened it)and we fitted that on the bike, together with a spacer that came with the Roadlok. The thing is, if you use the standard spacers, the reflector is causing the Roadlok to become slightly misaligned. And though one might be able to tighten the bolts of the lock in such a way that the lock fits, it will be under continuous tension. But with one of the spacer adjusted (by shortening it by 2.8mm) it fits. All in all, I'm very pleased with the service provided and with the lock.

Pretty impressive! Nice job on the brackets. Make sure you don't overload them and remember: driving through a traffic jam is not an option 🙂

Well, thanks for all the responses. I guess my previous motorbikes were not so eager to lift the back, but they weren't very sporty either. Just to be on the safe side (and have a good excuse to take a short ride in today's beautiful weather) I took the bike to the dealer to have either some peace of mind or have it fixed in case something needed to be fixed. Turns out, only my head needed some fixing 😃 The mechanic took my bike for a short test, and boy did he put it to the test. I could barely watch as he made a few high speed stops....oh my poor bike....But the ABS works fine. Now another quest lies ahead: how to tune my front suspension. I already thought my suspension was very soft but after doing some hard braking I realised that the bike is really prone to nose diving. Ah well, with the weekend coming up I hope I can find some time to start studying the ins and outs of suspension. (Which reminds me, back in 2001 I had my Yamaha XJ 900S upgraded with WP suspension. It turned out to be a completely different bike after that....)

Well, if the reflector is the only thing that makes me visible for drivers, than I must be doing something wrong. So yeah, you do have a point.

Good thinking, but unfortunately the lock has a edge which prevents the reflector from being mounted between the bolt and the lock.

I did the stops on a dry tarmac with lots of grip (around 23 degrees Celsius / 73 Fahrenheit). The stoppie happend when I almost came to a stop, with the rear brake vibrating due to the ABS. I expected the ABS to kick in on the front brakes, as I braked pretty hard. However, I didn’t leave any (visible) rubber marks on the tarmac which might indicate that my front wheel wasn’t locking and ABS didn’t have to kick in. I don’t know....Maybe it is just me. It just felt different than other times I practiced emergency braking. And I would rather discover something is wrong with the ABS during practice than finding out when you really need it. @Soullancer I do believe that the front suspension is really too soft and it needs adjustments. The bike really nose dived way more than I would like it to do. @roadrash83 I didn’t bleed the brake system. Only thing I did was loosen the bolts on the right caliper to install the Roadlok, which didn’t work out so I removed it. No further actions from me on the brakes.

Every now and then I like to practice a few of the basic maneuvers like riding an 8 figure, short turns and emergency braking. Just to keep the feeling with the bike. Today I practiced emergency stops at speeds between 30 to 60 km per hour (18 - 37 miles per hour). At 55km per hour I hit the brakes and to my suprise I didn’t feel the ABS kicking in on the front brakes and I actually did a front wheel stoppie. I did a few extra runs and I could definitely feel the ABS on the rear brake but not on the front brake. And given the fact that I actually did a series of front wheel stoppies (never happend to me before, I do not dare to think what will happen at higher speeds) I started wondering if the ABS might be broken. On the dashboard no ABS warning light is burning (it does burn when I turn on the bike, and goes off when I drive faster than 6 miles. That’s normal).

Well, fortunately the reflector isn’t a legal requirement so I indeed could remove it.. However, I do have a bit of OCD and don’t like to change the bike when it is not my own choice (tbh, deciding to add the Roadlok was already quite a challenge, but that’s just my own stupid abnormality). And the reflector does add a little bit to the visibility of the bike. But more importantly, when I buy a 250 euro lock, I would like to think it would fit the bike without having to remove parts from the bike. The Dutch Roadlok service support didn’t really know what to do, so he contacted the US branche. They also suggested to remove the reflector. They will get back to me today to let me know if they can provide a different spacer.

I tried to install the Roadlok today. Should be a straight forward job, but it turns out it's not. The thing is there are some options to choose from and see what fits. There are 2 sets of bolts (80mm and 90mm) and a couple of spacers of different sizes. It takes some measuring but for the 900 GT the type B spacers should do fine (with the 90mm bolts). Until....you put the reflector back on the caliper. Then there's a difference in space between the upper and the lower bolt of the caliper, resulting in the lock not working. So I thought I would use the smallest spacer (spacer A), add the reflector to it, measure it and make sure I use a spacer for the lower bolt that equals the thickness of spacer A + the reflector. But none of the provided spacers match that thickness. And there is really not much margin. When I use spacer C it only differs 0.25 millimeter from spacer A + the reflector but that is enough for the lock not to work. Had a chat with Roadlok customer support. They will try to come up with a solution. Let's see how that turns out.

Yes, the cases come with the GT model. The longer swingarm is standard on both the GT and the non-GT version (since model 2018).

The chassis will not be the limiting factor. I think the biggest gain for the Tracer to become more touring oriented would be a different seat and screen. If you change those, it will be a good allrounder.

I love the bike. But to be honest, it evolved from a funbike and that's still a bit in its DNA. One the one side, that is a plus as it is really fun to ride and both the engine and the handling make it a great bike. On the other side, for me the bike has its shortcomings when it comes to long trips. It is just more a sporty fun bike than it is a tour bike. Look at it this way: I love to go touring in the Alps. It will take about 900km for me to get there. I would much rather have a bike like a Versus 1000 or a 1200 GS to get me there, but once I'm there I would definitely want my Tracer. But opinions are what they are: just opinions. So don't take my word for it.

Well, I almost installed a Roadlok on my bike today. If it wasn't for the fact that when I opened the box at home it turned out that everything was there except the lock and the holder....... Let's hope the retailer has it somewhere in the shop!

Thanks. I have considered this but I'm not too fond of the design. I tend to like the Torque design a bit more. Good to hear it does fit. I just ordered one.

My bike-history: Yamaha XJ600s Diversion Yamaha XJ900s Diversion Honda XL1000v Varadero Yamaha Tracer 900 GT (2019) Yamaha Tracer 900 GT (2020) But I feel like I am forgetting one....it is the age I guess.

Well, the size of the bar is 1-1/8 inch which makes the RAM-B-408-112-15U just (really just!) to big. That RAM mount is for bar sizes 1.25 to 1.5. And the smaller version RAM-B-408-75-1U is for bar sizes 3/4 to 1 inch. And the Tracer bar is 1.13 inch. So either I go with the bigger one, which might lead to it not being able to stay steady or I go with the smaller one with the risk of it just not fitting. 😕 EDIT: I just found out the Dutch reseller made a mistake. The large one fits 1.125 bars.

Nice helmet!

That’s a remarkable helmet. Looks like a stormtrooper helmet. What brand is this?