Grumpy Goat

The panniers are an odd shape but from the right angle they can be acceptable. You didn't mention the seat which I dislike almost as much as the dash ... it is even more dished than the previous model, which we know needs the shim-fix to stop us sliding into the tank. That said I like this particular colourway.

🙂 Can never forget the first naked bike I rode - a gorgeous Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 Factory ... I was blown away by how quiet it was from the wind perspective. The exhaust note was something else. Also, it was the first time I felt breeze in my butt. 🤪

I agree with you almost completely ... I would not say "no noise". Smooth air and zero buffeting definitely, but if there is wind movement there is noise. 🙂 That said the wind noise is smooth and quite reduced. The down-side of the naked bike (aside from weather protection) is for long distance riding the wind pressure is tiring for most. Aside from that nakeds are the way to go! My Tracer is a naked in summer. 😄

Good move. Now have fun on your long ride and be safe.

I suggest you change it now as you are close enough to the conventional first oil change of 600 miles. First oil change usually has the most stuff in the oil and you are saving nothing by waiting. Later oil changes can be more safely stretched out.

Both cost $313 at Partzilla. Looks like the new one is for 2021 and up. How did you know that this was the solution? Was there a thread that discussed this?

When it comes to BMWs they are also the most popular over here as well and for me that is a down-side. I tend to like sport bikes which is why so far my boxer of choice is an RS rather than a GS. That said, much as I like riding, my bike is a tool albeit one that I enjoy using. I ride to get somewhere and to do something. nit ride for ride's sake. I often find it hard to go for a ride without destination (except when taking the bike out for exercise). I like touring and motocamping (remote / offroad) best, with the riding as secondary. This means that like it or not, the GS is the best tool for the job. I definitely do not fit into the Starbucks / poser crowd. 😄

It is sensible to me also. However from what I can tell there is a HUGE difference between the motorcycle culture over here and the culture in Europe. Here it is purely a luxury and dealers expect to sell you a motorcycle with least amount of trialing if they can help it. If they trust you, you may get a test ride and if you look mature enough maybe the ride won't be escorted. You definitely won't get it for anything like a day or more. At least here in Houston they don't have a test / demo fleet and if bikes are set aside for demos they are not advertised as such (e.g. with labels etc.).

Thanks for the ride report. I think that Yamaha could have a winner with this bike. They just need to fire the stylist first. The above items that makes me take a pass on the current GT. You said you sat "in" the bike more than "on" it and I guess that is because of the curved seat. I am not a fan ... I ride long distance sometimes and like a flat seat. And I don't like having to go spend additional money to get a custom seat which may or may not work. The dash is another deal-breaker especially when I hear that despite the fugliness, it is also functionally deficient. The looks are not a deal breaker although I am not in love with it and regarding the one-eyed spotlight look I agree with you. Triumph is the other manufacturer of triples (which I like) but they have gone to some BS firing order to make the bike sound like a V-twin ... why are manufacturers doing this? If I wanted that old-school sound I'd get a V-twin. To my ears the Yamaha triple sounds much nicer than the Triumph triples of similar class. Hopefully Yamaha can offer a better designed Tracer GT in time for the next time I am seriously in the market, although I am leaning towards the next 1300 GS.

Thanks for taking the time to come back and update the thread. Now I know what signals to get.

Glad you like your bike. Mine has no deceleration hump and the rest of the issues are subjective, and for me it is nothing to do with age although at my age things become less acceptable when there are options. Yamaha can have a great sport tourer and a value leader if they fix the issues I mentioned. Until then people just have to “settle” or move on. For me it’s a hard pass on the present T9.

Great tip, thanks. I’ll consider it if I keep the bike much longer. But for me I should not have to do this. I already paid my money and bought the bike … shouldn’t have to spend more to fix what should have been right from the start. If Ivan can do it so can Yamaha, no?

Check out this article on Cycle World ... focuses on possible adaptive cruise control but also teases a proper dash instead of the dumb-faced split dash that is there on the current model. Test rider is sitting on the seat or else we might also get a hint whether they cured this other problem. Regarding the cruise control ... I think that is a nonsense upgrade given this price point. They should first fix the cruise control so that you can activate it at more than 28 mph and lower than 4 gear (this for my 2019 900GT). Otherwise leave the cruise control alone and focus on other design missteps. The dash is a good start and the twitchy ride by wire throttle and weak rear brake are two others. Oh, and the U-shaped seat should also be fixed. After all that then I might consider a new one. 😏

Your timing is off. I'm not at all surprised they were not interested. Now is a seller's market. For that bike they'd probably turn down $14.5k out the door.

The V100 Mandello is indeed a work of art and I can’t wait to see it in person. Luckily there is a dealer about 20 - 25 miles from my house.

That is a beautiful bike indeed. I was out of motorcycling for over 34 years - first went to university so too poor, then met my now wife who was not supportive (put it that way). She agreed back in 2014 and I jumped on the opportunity. Got a nice Honda CBR500R ABS before upgrading to the RS. Before that motorcycles to me were Japanese and fast, but a dream. Went to a demo days ride at a dealership looking to try a GS and they had none and so I jumped on the S1000XR without knowing what it was and came back saying "holy sh*t ... wtf was that?!" then went home and looked it up. 😁

For me it is value, no so much cost. Value is an improtant part of my consideration. I don't mid buying an expensive bike if it will last forever and if it ticks most of the boxes while doing it. Buying something that is expensive and always in the shop is BS and represents very poor value for me. For me the first BMW I fell in love with (I thought) was the S1000XR (not R1000XR; huge difference 😄) and at the time I was in that state (2015) there was no Tracer here to compare to. But the deal breaker at that time was the tingling handlebar with high engine rpms when cruising, and the absurd curved seat. Sound familiar? - at least I didn't slide into the blasted tank! And then I rode my boxer and the rest is history. Didn't even love my RS when I first got it (bought it on the rebound from the S1000XR), but that all changed after my first long distance road trip. Comparing the S1000XR to the current T9, from a riding standpoint the value winner (and better bike, looks aside) is the T9. If the Tracer 900 GT had an autoblipper (let alone a 6-axis IMU), I would have no hesitation saying that is the better bike for the average rider. That said, the T9's dash and the seat are the reasons I would wait until a redesign, but by that time I will likely have made a different decision. Note I said "from a riding standpoint" ... ownership for me also includes working on the bike and my BMW is a better bike to work on than my Tracer, but that is a separate discussion.

I don't disagree at all, and that is one of the reasons I have a Yamaha as a sort of counterpoint, and to clarify I am not (as the thread title said) not sick of Yamaha. That said, when it comes to a bike that will go all over the world *and* have high mileage and seem to last forever, few can dispute that BMW is at the top of the list. Problem with BMWs is they have their people and they tend to be older and more well off (just go to a Rally and see how many grey heads you see!) and that helps to drive up prices ... not only of the bikes but also the accessories. I also don't have the shekels to spare like the typical owner but, surprisingly to me, there are intangibles that make one stick with the marque (even if it means rolling all bikes into one) and that includes heritage and tradition, and - interestingly to me lately - that sense of brotherhood in the national club here in NA. I an surprised to note that factor is influencing my likely decision to stay with BMW over other manufacturers.

I will agree that the Yamaha quickshifter is significantly better than the BMW's on the R bikes in the lower gears (shifts 1-2-3). Everything else I tend to disagree with, including the brakes. The R/RS's brakes are better than the Yamaha's by the same amount that the Yamaha's QS is better than the BMW's. I own/run a forum on the watercooled boxer in the R1200/R1250 R/RS, and am moderator on a larger German-based RS forum, and the issues you mention do not apply. For one, as far as I am aware the tanks are plastic and the ring area has zero rust problems. I also am part of a largish RS Owners group who meet annually and who have bought both the R1200 and then the R1250 RSs. Non one has reported any rusting issues anywhere. I suspect you may be mixing/matching years of R/RS bikes. Based on my 2 minute Google check, the ones with the rust on the "abdeckring" are pre 2014 and the R1200 R/RS waterboxers started in 2015/2016 depending on the market. The 1250 engine only showed up in the 2019 model year. When it came to rust, common complaints on some bikes are the centre stand which gets lots of debris damage from the road, and in the UK people note superficial rust on pannier racks ... in some cases. None of these are widely reported. The BMW service interval is 6000 miles while that for my Yamaha is 4000 miles so I am confused about this shorter service interval you mention. Never heard of anyone having issues with alternator belts either. I don't mean to come on a Yamaha model forum and extoll the virtues of the BMW but just thought I needed to correct certain generalizations based on personal experience as an owner of both bikes. The R/RS are not perfect, just like any other bike, and there are some things that I like on the Tracer better, but the issues you raised are not the issues which one should look at if in the market for a present model R/RS.

If in your quest for a second bike, the finances allow the BMW R1250RS, I say without hesitation - get it. Of my two bikes, the RS is my "naughty bike" but it is also so much more, and the 1250 is even more powerful. The bikes are quite different, but i you like torque and powerful brakes - front and rear - an many other things I will not mention on a Yamaha forum, then the RS is the perfect counterpoint to your Wing.

I don't think so. Aside from the M1000RR the RS and GS are both more expensive than the typical S1000RR / S1000R. Its in the tuning for the brakes (components like the brake master cylinder) and the pads used that makes the difference. Just looking at them, the Brembo calipers on the RS and the S1000R were very similar if not the same. Of course, it does help that the S1000R was more than 100# lighter than my RS. Agree that the Tracer is not a premium bike so it cannot be compared to the BMW (and I am not, or else I'd mention the front brakes also, but I have not - the Tracer's are quite adequate) but all I am saying is that a bit more on a touring bike of this weight would be a good thing.

I don't know ... my S1000R had even better brakes than the RS - front and rear. I'll just change out the pads and hope that it improves it to the best that it can be ... 🙂

I agree on the typical use of the rear brake but I paid for rear brakes and I want it to work properly. As the rider I must have the option of how much rear brakes to apply, if at all. My BMW has linked brakes and that system works quite well. I apply rear brakes when I want / need it, which is maybe 5% of the time, but that is hardly the point. I am not expecting it to be as strong as the BMW's but heck, I should not have to press that much to feel a good slowing effect. Added to that, the pedal was factory-installed such that it required too much ankle angle downward to get into the braking zone, and that is with the pedal adjustment all the way up. I made a video about this. I ended up having to put a pad on the pedal to bring it up to a good level where I now can press it properly. And yes since adding the pad I can activate the rear ABS, but the rear brake is still a wuss. Front brakes are quite adequate for what it is, thank God.

I like / use the Dupont waxy stuff and it works well for me, all without the fling. I also have it in both spray and dropper bottle, the latter of which I use when travelling. As for the brakes ... my previous BMW S1000R has both a chain and strong rear brakes and I used the waxy lube on that chain as well. I think the weak rear brake on the Tracer is due to the anaemic rear brake caliper. There is no appreciable buildup of chain lube on anything and I don't wipe anything down regularly. The bike gets washed maybe once a month and the chain gets the waxy stuff every 500 miles. Pads may make a difference and I have EBC pads slated for that end. I didn't put them on when I fitted the fronts because they were somehow rubbing at a very slight angle. I didn't have time to be faffing about with that so I put the original pads back on for now as they only had about 3500 miles on them IIRC.

How are the rear brakes on the T9? Any different / better than the mediocre brakes on the 900 GT? Rode my RS recently and deliberately used rear brake only to check and needless to say they are quite powerful, compared to the "hint of a brake" from the rear of the Tracer.