gerrychuck

On 8/5/2021 at 10:33 AM, Wintersdark said:

Went for a great ride.  Was supposed to be 5 of us, but three cancelled, so just two.  Mid way, we stopped and he was asking some questions about the Tracer, and I offered to swap bikes for a while so he could check it out first hand.  I'm pretty free with this as a rule of thumb, I got past the "it's my bike!" thing early in my riding years.  

He was riding a mid-late model Suzuki Boulevard, a 109 something-or-other.  We were on a big straight stretch, initially (like, a 10 kilometer long straight stretch) which was convenient to really get on the bikes and feel out how much power they have.  The Suzi was... well, I've actually never ridden a *big* cruiser, only smaller cruisers like my old sportster.  This thing... It had roughly the same HP as the Sporty, but weighed almost twice as much.  Took a bit to get used to it, and forward floorboards (accidentally downshifted trying to put my feet on the floorboards but not moving them forward far enough, so I stepped on the back shifter pedal) are really weird after decades of bikes with mid pegs or rearsets.  Got used to it though, and the straight ended in a stop sign, where we were turning left.  Up to this point, I'd not turned on the bike at all.  We'd turn left, and then on to a twisty section.  

I get going through the intersection, try to turn, and nothing happens.  Still going straight.  Try again, and get a bit of lean, but still not enough.  Finally two-hand the thing, pushing AND pulling, finally get through the intersection and managing the turn, though ending up on the shoulder a bit because I went so wide.  Run up the road a bit, pull over.   Nope.  I'm not trying that in twisties.  I'd always kind of wondered why he slowed so much before tight corners, but now I know.  Holy hell.  Turning on the Tracer, even full lean hard cornering, requires just a *tiny* bit of effort; you can literally do it with a single finger.  I needed to get my back into it to turn that thing through an intersection.  And with my feet forward, I couldn't really move my body either (which admittedly wouldn't make much of a difference being so low and light compared to the bike itself)

I do *not* understand the appeal.  Not even a little bit.  Sure, it was a lot more comfortable on a long straight stretch, but... Good lord, it was terrifying trying to get it to turn. 

I owned a Harley FXST Softail custom for about 3 weeks a few years back.  Took it on trade on a Corvette Z06, but that's a WHOLE other story...Anyway, thought I'd give the cruiser thing a try, despite all the bad things I had said about Harleys and their riders over the years.  Bike was gorgeous, and sounded great.  Had drag bars on it, and sitting on it in the driveway the riding position felt pretty good.  But then I actually got it in motion, and my feet started flailing around trying to find those damnable forward mounted pegs, and when I did get my feet on them, all of a sudden that riding position that felt good with my feet underneath me (on the ground) had turned into a back-destroying C-curve.  Torque was great on the Big Twin, but I could not get used to, much less enjoy, the ludicrous riding position.  The bike would turn, but it took, um...commitment...as the long wheelbase required a lot of lean angle to change direction.  Decided after about 3 rides that it was not for me, and put it up for sale. Ended up being offered another Harley, an XR1200, on trade, and happily took it.  Turned out to be a great bike that I enjoyed for 6 years.  But I now know that all my original reservations about cruisers were well-founded, and I will stick to more capable and comfortable motorcycles forever.

I'm not crazy about groups either.  Did several days of riding in Colorado with fellow XR1200 riders in 2016; 23 showed up, which is sensory overload considering I have never seen another XR on the road, before or since, other than on that trip.  Overall, it was great fun, but my favourite rides were when I decided I'd had enough and road back to the campground by myself.  Really, really enjoyed the apres-ride socializing with the group, but was so much more relaxed when riding by myself. Those are some great roads Wintersdark was on, would totally suck to have a ride on those highways screwed up by being in the middle of a big group.

Interesting.  I bought a cheap deflector off Amazon and mounted it on my stock screen, and it has definitely made an improvement.  Took the bike out for a 90 minute highway ride, stopping a number of times to fool around with the position of the unit until I had what seemed like the best solution. Just for kicks put it right down low and almost flush with the screen for one stretch just to see what "stock" felt like again, and pulled over again pretty fast; it really was making a big difference. I'm 6'3", so obviously we need somewhat different setups, but I may try angling my screen the way you have.  So far I have experimented with different heights for the deflector, but always kept it parallel to the main screen.  Can't hurt to keep trying new positions!

9 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

This is more jacket related than motorcycle related.  Most jackets these days have adjusters around the waist to keep them snug and prevent this.

Generally speaking, it's something that happens more the more you're leaning forward, as the low pressure behind you pulls your jacket back and up from your body, and this opens the bottom if you're not kind of sitting on it.  When sitting straight upright it happens much less.

I've got one jacket that's pretty bad for it, a Joe Rocket jacket (it has a waist adjuster, but it's just a simple pair of straps and snaps that can be in two positions, neither of which really help) and a Revit Sand 5 that's phenomenal and has adjuster straps at multiple points so it's formed to my body and cannot do that (without feeling constricting at all).  

Opening rear vents does help with the inflating jacket issue, less when it's from the above problem, but if it's from intake vents or sleeves open it helps significantly.

Interesting.  The jacket I was having this issue with is an old Joe Rocket ballistic.  I did tighten the side straps down, and it did help somewhat.  More recently, with warmer weather, I have switched to a Joe Rocket mesh jacket with lots of airflow; no problems with this jacket!  Also added a cheap deflector/extension to the stock windscreen, which has really improved the helmet buffeting and clearly altered the airflow; that may have been part of the improvement as well.

I now have a massive 450 km on my '19, so please take my observations with a grain of salt!  I have ridden almost exclusively in Std mode until today, when I decided it was time to try A mode.  Loved it.  I did have one slight lunge with a bump (or something; already can't remember exactly what triggered it) but it was very minor, and nothing compared to how my Suzuki TL1000S reacted to little upsets like that.  The Tracer in A mode is still light years smoother than that was (until I went to a Power Commander, but I digress).  What I really like was that zipping around town with two fingers covering the brake, I could still easily get deep into the throttle.  Bike just plain felt frisky.  Put it back into Std when I got into more dense traffic, so as to avoid becoming part of an F150'a rear bumper in a moment of inattention.  I think my day to day choice regarding which mode to use will come down to whether I want to relax or focus and get sporty.  As others have said, it's nice to have the choice.

On 2/12/2019 at 6:55 AM, funkspieler said:

I actually love this. I rode with my toes on the pegs and with my US9.5 boots my heels rest on the passenger peg bracket. It creates a nice stable platform for my feet, almost like angled floorboards. Makes me feel very planted on the bike and to me it feels like it improves my ability to handle the bike in turns. 

I wear US size 14's, and this is exactly what I do.  Works great not only for scratching, but also makes for a nice change of position when cruising.  For me, with my big feet, I love it.

You have me thinking now; we are hoping to spend some time in BC's Okanagan valley this season, and I'll trailer the bike out there to ride in the mornings.  Dropping down from Osoyoos on #97 to this road would be pretty quick and easy.  Could take a couple of days, ride #20 to the coast, up to Abbotsford, and back on #3, which I love as well.  40 years ago I rode down 97, eventually going over the Blewett Pass before riding the superslab west to Bellevue.  LOVED the Blewett as well.  Some really nice roads in WA. Might be a good excuse to drop in on my cousins in the Seattle area while I'm at it.  All of that assumes that at some point we are allowed to cross the border again, of course!

45 minutes ago, TomTracer said:

Sometimes we obsess over little things nakkng them big deals. Is this one of those? 

Fair question lol. However, in our cool climate a cold breeze going up the back literally makes it feel like you forgot to put your jacket on, which is a little bracing at 10c/50f. The buffeting from the stock windscreen and the less than stellar stock seat are a bit annoying, but wouldn't keep me from taking this bike across the country. This bothers me a lot more. I'm sure I'll fool around with gear and position until I find a solution; just curious as to whether it was something that others had also run into with this bike.

I've used this jacket, or an identical one, with 5 bikes now; haven't really experienced quite this much ballooning with any of the others. Of those 5, the Tracer has the most wind protection; the others had sport fairings, small aftermarket screens or nothing at all. Definitely appears to be a function of the size of the hole punched by the fairing and screen, and where the air is sucked back in.

I guess I like to be different, because this is annoying me much more than the seat or the dreaded buffeting lol.

10 minutes ago, micah2074 said:

Lay off the bean burritos. 

Not gonna happen

Every time I go on the highway with my GT, the back of my jacket inflates with updraft air, which is not particularly pleasant at 10 degrees C, although would probably feel pretty good at 30.  I can open a vent on the back of the jacket, which would probably help, but there is still going to be a lot of cool airflow.  I tightened up the side straps on the jacket, which has helped somewhat, but still not great. I am using the stock seat in the high position and the stock windscreen (shocking, I know, but I've only been riding the bike for 170 km so far).  I am 6'3".

Anyone else experience this?  Wondering if this is something that would be improved by a change of windscreen.  I have a clip-on deflector/spoiler/extension on order, but I suspect it won't do much with regard to this problem; seems more likely that this is related to the wind coming around the sides of the screen.  If I scoot forward as far as I can, it improves a lot, so it seems like the bubble of still air I sit in isn't quite deep enough, and the aft vacuum is starting right at my backside.  Any and all comments, advice, observations appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

I've only been riding my 19 GT for a few weeks now, but the QS has been flawless so far; smooth shifts, no sense of being hard on the tranny at all.  I have been using it in all gears, and various throttle openings, and I haven't had a single shift that made me wish I'd used the clutch in that particular instance.  One more data point.

^^Plus one.  I am still dithering about whether to order an aftermarket seat or not.  Very interested in how it works for you.

I understand.  Lost my medical last summer after 33 years as a pilot, and had to relinquish a major part of my life and identity.  So I immediately bought a new Tracer 900GT!  'Cause there's always something else to entertain you and spend money on; ) You'll find yours soon enough!  Good luck with the search🙂

I don't envy you!  I wear a 14, and that is tough enough to source, but my son is a 16 and those are orders of magnitude harder to find. Best of luck with your search!

*Quick question:  Have you checked with Tourmaster?  I have a pair of their boots in 14; not sure how big they go.

18 minutes ago, TomTracer said:

Worst seat I ever had was a Corbin ordered when I purchased a new R1100RT BMW. They had zero interest in working with me on it. The best was a CBailey the made free for me. I bought a used Russell Day Long and Bailey was just getting into the seat business. I suggested on a web site that those of us who had different seats we didn't really like could on an honor system swap those seats to try other makes. Bailey contacted me volunteering to take the Russell in exchange for a rider/pillion custom seat made free. They paid for shipping the Russell, and within 2 days of me sending my info sent me a custom seat combo. It wasn't quite right, I told them so and in 2 days I had a remake that was fantastic fit. They paid for return shipping. I rode many 500 - 900+ days on that seat. I forgot all about Terry Adcox, good reputation and apparently good workmanship with options. Thanks for the post! CBailey has gone out of the seat business sticking to airplane window products I think.

 

I've had two Corbins, one bought used and one ordered through their website, which was exactly as ordered and was delivered in very reasonable time. I know that hasn't been everyone's experience, but my experience with the company and their products has been good. Thanks for sharing your experience.

3 hours ago, johnmark101 said:

I have a 19 GT also.  I can not say enough good things about my Terry Adcox seat.  He has you take photos of you sitting on the bike so he can build the seat to fit you.  He also will discuss with you what concerns you have with the stock seat to help him understand what you are looking for in the way of comfort.  Turn around for me was six days and worth the wait!!

When riding I completely forget about the seat and just enjoy the ride.  On one particular trip I had to make time getting home so on the last day I had to use the interstate toward the end.  I did 150 miles non stop sitting in one spot on the seat.  No squirming or "hot spots" to speak of.   The forward slope is gone as well. 

 

I've seen his seats mentioned, and checked out his website. If I wait til winter I would consider getting one from him, but with the two way cross-border shipping times added on to the time it takes him to build the seat I imagine I would be off the bike for a month at the very least. Thanks for the post and the pic!

5 hours ago, Waldo Jeffers said:

I have a ‘20 and a Corbin on order. I have already replaced the stocker with a Bagster and still get sore around my inner thighs. I’m praying the Corbin solves that issue. A gamble I know. I feel like a might be the “Princess and the Pea”.
 

Having said that, I will most likely be putting the Bagster up for sale. 

Which model of Bagster?

3 hours ago, Heli ATP said:

The Corbin seat I have for the '19/20 is different to the one for the 15-17. I did not ride on the 19/20 so my input is subjective.

I have a short inseam and with the '17 I sit back while cruising but slide forward in traffic for stops. I really like the comfort of the Corbin for long distance (2.5Hrs max so far) as it causes no ill effects. The stock seat had me hurting after 30 minutes.  I'm including a pic of both seats 19/20 on left and 15-17 on right. The 19/20 seems like it would be more suited to us with short legs as it is narrower. All the same I would not give up my 15-17.

I picked up the 19/20 by mistake and have it listed in the for sale section.

That is more of a difference than I would have expected.  Very interesting.  Thanks for posting that pic.

I am just about ready to pull the trigger on a new Corbin for my 19 GT.  I've looked at (and used the Search function diligently) all the main options, from doing the simple mod to eliminate the slope with the stock seat to the Bagster options and Top Sellerie (both from France). For a variety of reasons, including the fact that Chromeburner doesn't appear to have much in stock at the moment in the Bagster line, I am now leaning toward the Corbin.  I've had Corbins on my last two bikes (Suzuki TL1000S and Harley XR1200) so I know what their design philosophy is, and understand their penchant for firm support, so my questions are more specific.

First, I am a tall guy (6'3") with most of that height in my legs (36" inseam jeans).  I find on the stock seat that I want to push my butt to the back of the seat, but that is not a good spot on that seat; I find myself pushing uphill and then really feel the crack between the rider and passenger seats.  So, I have seen at least one comment suggesting that your butt does sit further back in the seat with the Corbin than with the stock seat, and I am interested in observations and comments as to whether that is accurate. That is my main question, and I thank you in advance for any responses.

Second, I would be interested in what others have included in their build in terms of any custom options that don't show up on their quick order page on the website. I'm considering the heat option; certainly never had that on any of my bikes over the past 45 years, but heck, since I've got heated grips now, maybe a warm butt would encourage me to ride a little deeper in the season.

Any general comments and observations welcome as well!  Like I say, I have read everything I can find here on these seats, but need to confirm a couple of things before I place an order.  Thanks in advance.

18 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

Ooof!  Here in Alberta, my GT costs $80/yr to register, and $350/yr to insure to a ridiculous degree (if written off in the first two years of ownership, I get 100% of the purchase price, my gear and accessories are fully covered, etc).  Vehicle ownership - particularly motorcycle - in Alberta is really cheap 😃

Here in Saskatchewan, I pay $160/month for my plates, which includes liability, collision, and no-fault injury and income coverage.  There is also an option for accepting reduced no-fault benefits for a slightly lower premium.  The good thing is that I can suspend the registration for winter.  I carry a cheap policy which covers storage, etc, and increases my liability coverage as well.  All in costs me around $1000/yr.  Way worse if your bike is classified as a sports bike. The problem is the no-fault injury coverage; it only calculates your odds of being hurt, and doesn't care whose fault it is, so all the car vs bike accidents caused by drivers that don't see us drive our rates up, not theirs.  Sigh.  Oh well, the price of fun!

I understand, Garz747!  The triple is a sweet engine for sure.  I have a massive total of 80 km on mine now lol, so I guess that makes me an absolute expert!  It really does seem to be a virtually viceless power plant, and I am very impressed by what Yamaha has managed to accomplish with only 847cc.  I have owned one other triple; a 1980 Yamaha 850 (I believe the actual displacement was 827 or something close to that).  Hard to believe the difference in performance generated by an extra 20cc and 40 years of technological advances.  Go figure; )  

 In my 3 main rides so far, I have had a difficult time finding fault with anything in the dynamic qualities of the machine as a whole.  I really wish it wasn't snowing today...

1 hour ago, Wintersdark said:

Oh dear!  hah stock the bike is kind of flat around 4000-5000rpm, so... yeah, you're in for a lovely surprise once you can get going on it.  The CP3 is an absolutely brilliant engine, crazy fun, and it sounds so amazing at 8k!

The thumbwheel is annoying, to be sure.  Mostly because it'll push in, but if you don't push it *straight in* it'll register the push as a turn, and I figured in my first months with the bike I was certain that I'd kill myself due to the distraction in trying to turn the grips on or off.  You do get it figured out eventually, but yeah that thumbwheel is an objectively terrible piece of equipment.

As a fellow tall guy... Yeah, the windscreen is hot garbage.  You basically need to get a bigger one, or a smaller one, because either of the positions it can be set in suck.  I've still got my stock screen, but I've had a browser tab open to this:

FortNine | Verifying Browser...

---

 

 for about a month now.

This totally fixed the issue for me, but on the other hand I hear the Bagster seats are amazingly comfortable while still looking pretty bike-appropriate.

Glad you're enjoying it! 

 

Something to keep in mind: The handlebars can be moved forwards or back by turning the clamps 180 degrees, so there's a pretty significant amount of easy egonomics customization there that people often aren't aware of.

I did know about the handlebar position options.  Based on very short experience, I have no complaints with the riding position; I do like a bit of a forward lean, so the handlebar setting may be something to consider at some point.  On the other hand, I love not having weight on my wrists.  Experience on my last two bikes (XR and Suzuki TL1000S) have let me know that high pegs=stiff knees and ankles after an hour or two, so I'm looking forward to a little less knee flexion and ankle extension.  With my 36" inseam I have no desire at the moment to run out and order rear sets!  One more ergonomic detail; I know lots of people complain that their heels run into the passenger pegs when they slide the balls of their feet up on top of the pegs.  I have size 14's, and I've already found that if I feel like scratching, I should leave the passenger pegs folded down, and with the size of my hooves I can actually put my heels right up on them.  Very comfortable, actually!  They built this bike for people with either really small feet or really big lol.

Welcome from Moose Jaw. I'm very new here too, but so far seems like a great forum.  Hope you get your bike soon and get some kliks on it!

Update:  After patiently (well, mostly) waiting through our prairie winter, I have had my first actual rides on the Tracer.  First impressions: LOVE the engine.  Even keeping it below 5 or 6k rpm to respect that there were zero miles on this thing, the throttle response throughout the rev range is very satisfying. Can't wait to whack it open all the way to redline. Handling is sweet, with very light steering; I found myself oversteering in corners because of the lower effort required compared to my departed XR1200.  I took my benchmark cloverleaf on ramp, taking it VERY easy to respect my lack of experience on the bike and the brand new tires, at 63 kph.  I could do it over 70 with a knee down and full focus on my TL1000S, and only got into the low 60's with that same focus on the XR, so I'm sure I can get to the same speeds as the ol' TL on this bike without breaking much of a sweat.  Nice.  Also love the speed shifter.  Feel like I may need a new university degree to turn on the grip heaters.  Or get the display to show the odometer.  The Thumbwheel of Frustration is not my favourite so far. Whatever, I'll figure that stuff out.  Drive mode and TCS are easy, though.  Windscreen; oh, yeah, that needs work.  I am 6'3", most of it in my legs, so not hugely long-waisted, and if I sit up REALLY straight with the screen in it's lowest position I can get my head into clean air.  Any other combination of windscreen and riding position equals loud buffeting.  Options for me would be a different screen or cutting the stocker down an inch or two.   Seat was an unpleasant surprise; felt ok on the center stand, but not so good on the road.  As many have noted, too much forward tilt.  May try the washers under the tank bracket trick before ordering a different seat.  Also need to try it with my cycle shorts under my jeans, which I used on the XR for longer rides.

Anyway, first impressions are definitely very positive.  I was surprised at how much more open the riding position was than on the XR, which was a lot more sport bike like, especially with the different (lower, narrower than stock) bar I had on that machine.  Pegs on the XR are a lot higher too, though, which surprised me a bit.  This machine should indeed be much easier on the knees over long rides.  I put the XR on a truck for Ontario this morning, and had my first rides on the Tracer Saturday, so I am now officially transitioned from being an XR rider to a Tracer rider.  Let the fun begin!