PhotoAl

My sport bikes had the short windscreens and the airflow was smoother. With the Tracer I did mostly long trips and the windscreen was nice. Some airflow to helmet but not buffeting. 400 mile days in the rain were better too. Have ridden a lot in the rain and don't see many bikes but every one that is out there is friendly. Met some very nice HD riders in Gillette WY on a very rainy day. We had all stopped for gas and a coke. Afterwards we put on our rain suits and rode on. The stock screen on mine buffeted helmet and shoulders a lot. Bought the bike in Sioux Falls SD, rod 600 miles in that area and then 1,100 miles home. By that point I really did not like the stock screen.

I had a pulsating on my 2020 Tracer 900GT. Lots of road miles - less braking and generally don't brake hard but sometime do. Talked to a Galfer rep at the Barber Vintage Festival. He told me if rotors are warped you will feel a pulsation in the brake lever when braking at speed (not necessarily high speed just not slow speed). If pulsating or grabbing feeling at low speed then it is something on the rotor. Mine were particularly bad when almost stopped - could feel part of the rotor was braking harder than other parts or more like there was a lump on the rotor. Cleaned bobbins - didn't help. Cleaned rotors with sandpaper and Scotchbrite and if my memory is correct brake cleaner (used gloves). Swapped out brake pads and it was smooth again. I bought the bike new and the front brakes always seemed like they needed more force but worked fine. The pulsating didn't happen until 12,000 or so. Figure it was something I did or stopped hard to a stop and left the brakes gripping tightly or something. Not sure what caused it.

yes to the lip, I put an MRA touring windscreen on and then added an inexpensive lip from Amazon. MRA made one with the lip but was not sure so did it is two steps. I set the lip and forgot about it, worked great and not issues with coming loose or anything.

Mine was not bad. Prior to the Tracer I had a BMW F800GT with the Rotax parallel twin. It vibrated much more. The Yamaha triple is not the higher frequency of an inline 4 or the lower frequency of the parallel twin. Grip puppies are an option - they really tamed it on the BMW but never put them on the Tracer - only did 28,000 miles on that bike in 2.5 years and many days over 400 miles.

30 years away is a long time but the rust should get knocked off pretty quickly. I'm partial to the Tracer 900GT and the 9GT. Biggest advantage of newer bikes is ABS and right behind that is traction control. ABS is the feature you hope to never use but nice to have. Traction control on the Tracer will not only limit wheel spin but will also keep the front wheel on the ground. Launched hard the Tracer 900 is a quick bike and 0-60MPH in 2.9 seconds. Prior to the Tracer I had a 2012 CBR600RR and a 2014 Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R 636. Up to about 70 or 80 the Tracer was just as quick but not as much noise. For your riding style there are many great bike out there. I don't know about your area but where I live the traffic has gotten faster and more aggressive in the past several years. Certainly want something that can get you out of harms way. Low speed handling. Any bike can be ridden well but some are easier than others to balance and control at parking lot speeds. My sport bikes could be a real handful at low speeds - after all they were designed to go fast on a track. Even though my Tracer was taller it was easier to handle at low speeds. Even loaded with a full 58 liter duffle on the rear seat and full sidecases and an overfilled tank bag it still handled well on gravel roads in campgrounds with low speed limits. Bikes like the Royal Enfield 650s might be a good choice, again ABS is important and traction control is desirable but they are very hard to get to wheelie. My CBR600RR would walk the front wheel up under hard acceleration unless I was working very hard (leaning forward a lot) to keep it down. Get some good gear. Today there are lots of choices in good gear and good does not have to be expensive. I do recommend an airbag vest or jacket. I bought my first Diane's airbag vest 4 years ago and have ridden with it in all kinds of weather and temperatures up to 106F - for hours. The Tracer 900GT is amazing in another respect in that it does not put heat on the rider or cook their feet. I've had bikes that would put a lot of heat back on the rider but the Tracer did not. If stopped and the fan kicks on you will feel that but in motion it is a very cool bike - important for someone in the south.

I have a Yamaha rack that came off my 2020 Tracer 900GT - it's available.

Not too hard to lift the tank. I always take a plastic parts box and but the fasteners and screws from each step or panel in one spot and in order. That way assemble is reverse and helps me not get confused. Some of the screws are different lengths and it's easy enough to miss steps. One of the fairing pieces slips down over a pin and about half the time I miss that step and have to go back and re-do it. Whenever you lift the tank, after re-seating it make sure all the vent hoses are properly connected. ON my CBR600RR I had a tank vent line slip off and I was lowering it. I took the bike out for a test ride and stalled it and dropped it! Act first I thought it was steaming but after I quickly picked it up realized it was gas running down onto the engine! Still don't know how it didn't catch on fire! the was a 4" circle of gasoline on the pavement after I picked it up. Waited a few minutes to start it and then rode it home.

Fuel should not spill. Everything I've heard about the frame sliders is they are OK for drops but a slide may or may not cause them to break off part of the frame. At the track I've seen lots of frame sliders and parts next to the track.

But those Virginia drivers sure let loose once they are out of Virginia - similar to Ontario drivers 🙂 Never had a stability issue with my side cases and 58L duffle on the rear seat. A couple of miles on western interstates with 80MPH speed limits.

Went to the local Kawasaki demo day last week and rode a Ninja 1000SX and a ZX6R 636. Ninja was great, lots of power and good sound. Would probably go with the Tracer 9GT but the 1000 I4 is sweet. Suzukis are nice but lack a center stand. For me the Tracer 900GT I had was a good balance between screaming high RPM power of a ZX6R and the big power of a liter bike. EDIT: Got my motorcycle permission temporarily reinstated for the demo but not to ride anything home 🙂

I ran a ScottOiler on my 2020 Tracer 900GT. The standard version and it worked well enough. I found that local riding needed it adjusted up more than when on a long trip will lots of time at speed (above 55 or 65 mph) versus the stop and go of more local rides. I used both of the oil weights and found it good to switch to thicker in hot weather. Kept my chain in great condition and chain wear was drastically reduced compared to OEM. Most of the miles I put on the bike were on long trips. Having the ScottOiler meant I didn't need to remember to lube the chain after a long day or riding. Most of the time I left it adjusted for trips and when riding locally would just use chain wax.

Good gear is critical. Last week called up and made an appointment with my orthopedic doc to have a look at my knee. He reattached to patella tendon almost 8 years ago after a 15 mph crash pulverized the bottom quarter of my kneecap. I have no limitations but messed it up a month ago taking photos of a Porsche track day. Too much aggressive panning plus too much walking and then I helped out out by doing more walking to get in better shape for the Barber Vintage Festival where I didn't help it either. A good pair of riding pants with knee pads would have saved lots of pain and suffering. Earlier this year I replaced my 2020 Tracer 900GT with a 2021 Miata. Many reason with the primary one being to reduce stress in my wife's life. I'm 6 months cancer free after prostate cancer surgery plus being on a blood thinner plus having an enlarged aorta are addition major risk factors. I mostly rode my Tracer on long 2 to 3 week trips and the shorter local rides had been dwindling. Took the Miata on a "short" long trip to North Dakota and while different it was a fun put the top down have wind in your hair experience. Doing the trip in early September meant I was in a heat wave. It is so nice when it starts raining to just put the top up 🙂 It's not the same but a fun experience and after a 58liter duffle bag and the two side cases the Miata trunk is huge! What I miss most is the exciting acceleration and the synergy of man and machine that a well ridden motorcycle yields but the tiny convertible is a different but very fun experience. I could have bought a Corvette convertible or a Porsche Boxster but the simple easy to maintain Miata is perfect for me.

My experience on my 2020 900GT was the big differences are speed, gas and elevation. Shift points make a big difference as well. The Tracer is great for being able to get great mileage in a pinch - shift early, keep speed down and avoid large throttle openings. Spirited riding can tank mileage. Most of the 28,000 miles I put on the bike were on long trips. I could get as little as 40mpg at interstate speeds particularly into a headwind. Interstate speeds ranged from 79 to 85 MPH. Here in the south the enforced speed limit is 79mph. Out west on 80mph roads I'd run 85 mph. I mostly rode secondary roads and days spent running at 65 mph made a big improvement in mileage. Ethanol free gas also increases mileage. Last year went to Calgary Canada across Saskatchewan. Think a lot of the gas was ethanol free but they seem to be getting more gas with ethanol. If ethanol free was available I always bought it. Higher elevations seemed to help fuel mileage as well - have wondered if it might be a combination of ethanol free and elevation. Different modes will affect how quickly the power is increased. More power earlier means more fuel earlier. As noted in the earlier comments the difference is not much. When riding in remote areas keeping track of fuel and mileage and the distance to the next fuel station becomes important. Nothing like rolling out of a town and it's 79 miles to the next gas station - and there are fun mountains ahead. Fill up, don't worry and have fun riding.

Something I neglected to mention in my previous post in this thread is heat. All motorcycles make heat, some cook the rider and some do not. I found my Tracer 900 GT to be a very cool bike. Well if it was 95F it was going to be warm but the bike didn't add to with with engine or radiator heat coming back on the rider. I've had bikes that did and it is not fun to be riding in 90+F temperatures at interstate speeds and feel like there is a hair dryer on high pointed at parts of your body! On the Tracer 900 GT my feet didn't get hot from the engine either. Now if it was 95F and I was stuck in stop and go traffic it would be toasty and when the radiator cooling fan kicked on I was going to feel it, I can live with that because when the traffic opens up I'll be able to cool off in the breeze. Ive ridden in up to 106F and that for hours while wearing full gear including an airbag vest. Had to drink lots of fluids and was hot but the bike didn't add to it.

Welcome, had my raven red 2020 out to Utah a couple of times. Great riding out there.