Greasyjonny

44 minutes ago, peteinpa said:

So you had to drill out a brass plug. Get a "D" shaped pilot screw tool.  Big deal.  

I got this bike and had to pull it's heart out and send it cross country to Wash. state. Just to get it to run right.

You haven't lived till you pulled that carb. bank out of your CBR11 for the 27th time.

Not a big deal, just illustrating how these oem restrictions are nothing new. Still though, buying a tune online and installing it via my phone is much easier than physically modifying a carburetor. 

17 hours ago, ZigMerid said:

Oh man. I'm so glad not to be dealing with jets and carbs. I'll take a few flat spots any day of the week rather than deal with that troglodyte magic. But maybe that's just me. Heck I could hardly balance carbs on my single pot Honda 😀

Same. FI is way better, just gotta weight for a flash to  Also not like oems weren’t pulling this bullshit back in the carb days. They would put brass plugs over the adjustment screws to keep you from messing with the stock settings.  Bikes and cars are so much better and faster now than in the era of “real power” 

The dead spot in second gear is done to meet noise and emission regulations. Not fun,  but can be corrected with a flash, But it’s easily overcome but not granny shifting into second. Rev 1st out to 9k and you’ll never come close to hitting the dead spot in second. My first gear goes up to 64mph, 80 something for second and 3rd tops out at 100mph. Also 3rd will accelerate faster under 5k than 2nd so you could always just shift up. 

On 6/26/2022 at 1:59 PM, whisperquiet said:

Where in the 95 degree heat?  With no humidity or lots of humidity?  Plus, some riders tolerate different types of weather better than others.  I have no problem riding in the 20s with heated gear, but don’t tolerate the high heat and humidity common to the St. Louis, MO area that I live in.

In New England. It’s not the gulf coast but it gets humid. Certainly not a “dry heat” place. The only thing I can say concerning under layers and individual tolerances is that it will be better with the under layer than without. 

Under layers my guy. I have the klim -1.0 cooling layers and I can be out in 95 degrees with AAA rated rev it jeans and a mesh jacket and full face. Comfortable off the bike as well. They’re pricey but worth every penny when you’re out in the heat. 

On 11/24/2021 at 5:58 PM, betoney said:

I finally saw a 2021 Tracer 9 out on the road today, well kind of saw one...  I was pulling out of a side street and almost hit it, that miniature single headlight from the R1 is barely visible in daylight, I can only imagine how ineffective it is on a rural road in total darkness. 😲

The tracer 9 has hands down the best headlight of any bike I’ve ever used for night time visibility. Better than many cars I’ve driven. 

Are those the short ones? I wonder if the standard length would be better. I just had ASV confirm that the CRC540-x levers should work for the 2021 mt09 and tracer 

21 minutes ago, zvezdah1 said:

this is good to see, I'm going to wait til early next year to buy. My local dealer didn't seem interested in trying to get a 21 for me.

It's odd in the article they make it sound like the 22 is new design when the 21 brought in the steel subframe, upgraded engine, increased price etc.

I think the title is a typo for 2022. Specs at the bottom of the article are listed as 2021s and there has been no announcements on the 2022 models 

9 hours ago, betoney said:

Agreed, since owning the FJ that is one thing I have grown to appreciate, NOT have a side mount exhaust.  I like the clean, uncluttered look.

Seeing as Akra’s tracer exhaust is identical to their MT-09 exhaust you could infer that This yoshimura exhaust for the 2021 MT-09 would also be their offering for the Tracer model. Looks a lot better IMHO. Under slung is the way to go. Cheaper too. 

6 hours ago, rlambke19 said:

Akrapovič

Akra has released their exhaust for the new T9.

The carbon one sounds great. But I’m not sure it’s the right look for the bike, at least for me. 

5 hours ago, h1seoul said:

Wow, congrats!  I thought someone from the NE had one.  Doesn't matter, you have one.  Enjoy!

I don’t think they’ve showed up in the NE yet. I had a dealer try and pull a bait and switch tho for a 900gt 

On 5/27/2021 at 6:11 AM, h1seoul said:

Did anyone in the states take delivery of this unicorn yet?  My dealer is now unsure when and apparently, Yamaha of NA is unhelpful. 

Nope still waiting. The dealer I though that had one pulled a bait and switch with me for a for a red (hahah you mean orange?) tracer 900 gt. Yamaha is completely unhelpful. It looks like they just showed up in dealers in the UK tho 

So uh... anyways...what oil you guys using? 

Welp apparently the tracer has landed in Rhode Island. I put myself on a couple of wait lists and when I called one today about test riding one of their used bikes I inquired if there was any updates on deliveries for the tracer 9, and was told there’s a redline on their floor now and another coming in 3 weeks. Going down first thing to check it out and hopefully fall in love with it and bring it home. 

4 hours ago, peteinpa said:

I'm all for lightness, but there have been many pothole damaged rims on many forums through the years with the old tech.

5 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

Think they are still cast but use a spin forging process in the manufacture.  Lighter and strong, 2mm vs 3.5mm according to what I saw.  Not sure how they would handle potholes though.  Below is an article I found on the process - now you can be as smart as me haha.

Yamaha’s SpinForged Wheels | Yamaha Motor Craftsmanship | Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

---

The First Spinforged Wheels for Mass-Production Motorcycles

 

As far as I can tell what Yamaha is calling spin forged, everyone else calls flow forming. And it does indeed result in lighter and stronger wheels. Not that they’ll be immune to pot holes but I’d rather have lighter flow formed wheels than heavier cast even if resilience is the only consideration. I have oem cast 18” wheels on my car for the winter and aftermarket 19” flowformer  wheels for the summer. The 19s have obviously less side protecting them and have held up perfectly against north east portholes compared to my oem cast wheels that have had to be reshaped a few times 

Saw couple YouTube vids of a dealership in Greece unboxing a standard and GT. So it would seem that these are starting to trickle out at least. 

3 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

I've never heard of the term "Spin Forged" before, could they in fact actually be cast and Yamaha is using marketing rather than true engineering terminology?  Being they are significantly lighter, that means they have less gyroscopic effect and permit lighter turn in, and make the suspension more responsive due to the lighter damping permitted. All valuable features.  A better frame likewise has its benefits along with all the other new features.  However, as Wintersdark said, lower dollars per pound is what made the original FJ so attractive.  All in all, I'll stick with what I have until my 15 is no longer cost effective to maintain.

 I wish everyone who obtains a new 21 the best of luck and I am sure they'll enjoy it

Spin forging is also known as rotary forging, or even more commonly as flow forming. It’s definitely not a cast wheel. Here’s a link that goes over it abit (scroll down slightly to see the explanation on flow forming 

On 4/5/2021 at 10:26 AM, 2and3cylinders said:

#1 I'd be concerned about the 21 frame AND "spin forged" wheels due to how thin the wall thicknesses are.  They may be lighter and stronger (frankly how light and strong does a relatively inexpensive sub 900 sport touring bike need to be, is it THAT much better for + $5k?) but real world durability, impact resistance, especially the wheels, IMO is a result compromised.  I paid $8,200 for my 15 in 16, and with the flash, suspension and brake mods spent another $1,300 plus a Sargent.

#2 I like the somewhat snappy, relatively fast spin up of my FJ, it sort of reminds me of my two smokes.  Nothing like a ring ding tuned on the edge of seize-up to teach you very fine throttle and clutch technique.  A heavier flywheel on a CP3 IMO is smoke and mirrors, unnecessary except to cure the edginess brought on my the leaness and snatchiness caused by the Euro 5 compliant tuning and cats.  I've actually had a lighter flywheel waiting patiently to go in my VTR 996 V-Twin since before I bought my FJ.

Yes the 21s may be attractive but there's something to be said for the elemental, simplistic 1st gen FJ.  Less is more and to fail, and anything more than a mouthful is a waste.  How many can truthfully claim they push their steeds close to hard enough that the machines limitations often rear their head??  If it was not for the increase in used prices due to Covid, one could have picked up an already nicely farkled FJ and smoothed out any residual rough edges for the preverbial song compared to 21s MSRP+.

Maybe I'm too old to need the latest and greatest anymore, as my first several bikes were kick start only, had capacitor points ignition, magnetos plus a generator, carburetor(s) you tickled and choked, manual ignition retard, compression releases, single leading shoe drum brakes that faded when hot not that they were much more effective than dragging your feet in the first place, could quickly and thoroughly mix a can of paint strapped to the pillion, blackened spark plugs and fractured light bulb filiments with frustrating regularity, and managed on tires harder than hockey pucks.

And we still loved them, we just couldn't go as fast or far as desired, and always carried clean rags and Goop with our extensive onboard tool kit.

I’m not concerned about the wheels. If the strength is there than wall thicknesses are a moot concern. Forging has always been the superior way of creating a wheel when strength and lightness are considerations and price isn’t an option. My 18” cast wheels on my GTI are heavier and have more tire wall protecting them than my 19” flow formed wheels. Guess which wheels I’ve had to have reshaped cuz they got bent on pot holes? 

On 3/19/2021 at 9:40 PM, betoney said:

Has anyone else gone to their local dealership and asked about availability?  I was at the local shop today asking about the new MT09 and Tracer 9 GT and was told by the owner that they don't know when they will be arriving but expect it to be later in the Spring than originally planned.  He said they were having a hard time getting inventory period, as I looked around, I noticed the showroom was half full at best. 

Last year they were selling the Tenere 700 as fast as they could get them and would re-order and sell out again, this year they put in a request for 30 Tenere 700's over the next 6 months and were told not to expect any.  Infact he said they were going to have a demo days this year but don't have the inventory to sell in support of a demo event so they cancelled it this year. 

Anyone else hearing similar news at their dealership?

Yep same story. With all the oems. My local shop just got a massive shipment of groms and I thought it was kind of a dick move to send 10 groms right before a refresh, but the sales guy says nah they’ll be lucky to get 3 new groms. They’ll have no problem selling the 10 “old gen.” They have one definitive to be delivered tracer 9 with a deposit already and I have a deposit one of the 2 additional ones they have on official order but currently sit with no due date. 

Some ride reviews from the euro press launch are finally starting to roll out. They’re all in French or Spanish at the moment though. Hoping to see a steady flow of them released in the next few days 

3 hours ago, rlambke19 said:

Wow...lots of hate on here for the new model. To each their own, I guess.

Personally I am looking forward to my 2021 Tracer 9 GT (if it ever does show up). And yes, the dash is the one thing I am the most nervous about - but in speaking to several folks in Europe that have seen the bike in person- they all report that it's much nicer/better looking when seeing it "in the flesh".

Given that I am excited about every other aspect of the bike - I'm good with it.

The discounts where I live on previous model years are not significant enough to make me want to go with that option. And that I haven't been bike-less for this long in over 25 years, I'm excited.

Rob 

 

Same, I actually like the dash and thought so as soon as I saw it. It’s got this retro-futurism vibe I dig. Already got my deposit down and if the my-09 reviews are any indication this is gonna be a banger. 

They finally ran out of the 8 million pumpkin turn signals they made 20 years ago, we’ll have to deal with those mirrors for a little while longer