Mark Jackson

Thanks for your input guys. Yeah, I’ll get it sorted out to exactly the way I want it. Within 24 hours of getting home I started with taking the hand guards off, I’ve never liked the look of them, not to my taste. I should be getting my FACO screen soon along with a pair of second hand OEM FJR footpegs. The previous owner hadn’t replaced the clutch cable for the new one so got that today. Ordered a Nitron R1 shock and will soon order a new C&S kit, there’s a few other things I’ll be getting. That’s one of the reasons I went for a high mileage well priced bike, I knew I was going to modify it to get it the way I want it. I could have got a bike with 15k mls on it for £1000-£1500 more but that would have left me with less budget to change it. Looking back on the ride up, it was all pretty hectic with the weather conditions and it is easy to remember my first shock reaction to it. The more I think about it the more I realise what an absolute hoot it was to ride. I’m used to riding fast in rain, it doesn’t faze me, in fact I find it raises my level of awareness and bike control to a higher plane so I kinda enjoy the challenge, yeah I know, weirdo🤪 But to get on a bike I’ve never ridden before having not ridden since the end of last October and to gel with it so quickly shows what a complete package the Tracer is. I’m starting to really look forward to this summer now😃

So, yesterday saw me riding back to Edinburgh from Doncaster (240mls) in 6c temperatures on the edge of Storm Dudley! Nothing like high winds, rain and cold to get you to bond with a bike!😃 I'd put a deposit on a lovely Red 2015 Tracer 900 with 26,000mls on the clock for £5K. it had a full service history including the 25k biggie! It looked good in the photos so I put the deposit down four weeks ago, it took that long for the money to come for me and I knew they wanted the bike out of the shop which is why I ended up riding back in weather which turned out to be a lot more dodgy than I thought. I've been ring my ZRX1200 (92k mls) and '77 Z1000 (37k mls) for the last 20 years and just fancied a change and I'd always liked the Tracer the minute I saw one. I've always liked triples, the previous 24 years had seen me riding a KH250, GT750 'Kettle', three Hinckley Triples as well as a couple of big Z's and a GPZ, I like smooth power! After just 3 miles into my journey and my first thought was, WHAT HAVE I DONE! Stopped at the first set of traffic lights into neutral let the clutch out and the vibrations felt horrendous. Moving off I became aware of strange vibrations coming from the transmission, I'd quickly checked the chain and sprocket and everything looked OK. Man, this was not looking good, after all the wait I was totally deflated, I'm used to super smooth bikes! Then I got onto the motorway, quickly going through the gears, weird having 6 gears after 20 years with 5, and I'm up to 70-80mph and everything is smooth, tons of power, great riding position and even the screen wasn't as bad as I feared. I hate motorways so after 70mls I turned off onto the A68, a better road on which to go home, this is where I really started to gel with the bike. The suspension, like the screen, was better than I imagined. It kept everything in line and along with the Michelin PR5's made cruising at 70-80 feel totally safe with no drama despite various heavy rainfall. The Tracer has about the same BHP as the ZRX1200 but, obviously gives up a lot of torque (about 20) but to be honest I didn't notice the deficit it's a stonking engine....and then I slow down to a village and everything feels a bit rough and harsh, no way as plush as my ZRX or even my 45 year old Z. Today I went to the garage to wash all the mud the bike had accumulated thanks to 'farmer Palmer' in their tractors leaving half the countryside on the roads😄 The other thing I did was whip the sprocket cover and, there it is, the sprocket looks well worn and partially hooked, I'm hoping this may solve some of the clunking grinding motions coming from the bike and I suppose I'll have to live with the harsh tickover. After a disappointing start, not helped by boring motorway, I really started to get on with the bike as the miles went by. The engine feels a bit harsher than I'm used to, the transmission should hopefully be softened by a new C&S kit. The screen was OK but I prefer a short screen to cut down on wind noise and will be getting a FACO screen delivered soon. The suspension was fine, kept things together but is too harsh for me. I've spent the last 20 years riding on Ohlins, which is a tad expensive for the Tracer so I'm going for the highly recommended Nitron, I like to dial in my comfort. I'll be looking for handlebars with a bit more pullback at the grips, I'm not keen on the angle my hands are with the standard, if anybody has any suggestions I'm all ears. I'm 50/50 on the looks of the rear mudguard/tailight assembly but I did notice despite the bike being coated in mud the pack on the rear seat didn't have a bit of mud on it! impressive. There's a few other little things I'll be doing to the bike to get it the way I want it so I'm looking forward to getting to know the bike a bit better over the following months. Like the ZRX and Z owners forums, the Tracer 900 forum has been a huge help in offering information on all aspects of the bike. I had already read about the roughness in neutral and, although shocked at how bad it was, knowing it was a 'trait' stopped me from turning around and taking the bike back!😄 so thanks to all the members for their inputs which help spread the knowledge of these bikes. Here's a photo of me entering Scotland where the clouds parted and sun came out to greet me. 10 miles down the road I was riding in torrential rain and sleet. They say, in Scotland if you don't like the weather just wait 15 minutes......😄

Nice screen betony, nice scenery as well, almost as good as Scotland!😃 I'll be after something even lower than that as I have tinnitus so it's always a battle between windnoise vs wind protection. I got a MRA tall screen for my ZRX and cut it down in stages until I got the best compromise, I'll probably do the same with the tracer.

Hopefully won't be a problem with me, I prefer short sports screens, intending on getting the FACO one. Handy to know though as some of the bikes I've been looking at have the very big Givi touring screen on so I'll be sure to check that out, cheers.

Nice!

Yeah, Looks like I'm going to have to travel down to Englandshire😁 to get the bike I want. Not too many for sale up here. Still, if the weather holds out it looks like it'll be a nice ride back to get used to the new bike.

Cheers PhotAL, all good info to have. I use DID chain and JT sprockets on my ZRX and rarely get more than 12k mls out of them despite using a Scotoiler. The problem isn't the chain, the front sprocket is usually well worn by then. What type of skid pan do you use, any pix?

Cheers guys. Bwringer, yeah, I hate under the bucket shims, the old Z650's had them. I prefer the shims on top of the bucket like the old 70's Z1000's which, I'm fortunate to own. The ZRX shims are also a doddle, finding out about the Tracer shims was disappointing but not too much of a problem. 2and3, yes I've read about the sump pans, a bit more worrying for me as I intend on getting a Nitron shock lowered by 15mm, I'll be looking into that more thoroughly. The other things you've mentioned I'm also looking into. For the price I suppose one can't complain, the only other bike I considered was the Tiger 1050. It has higher quality finish and fittings but that comes with a heftier price tag. I can spec the Tracer up to the way I want it and it'll still be cheaper than the Tiger...I hope!

Hi guys, I'll be hopefully getting a used Gen 1 Tracer 900 by late February early March. I've been using the excellent resources of this forum to get me familiar with the bike. Here in the UK we have a good selection of used bikes and it's very easy to track down what's available thanks to 'autotrader'. I've ridden 92k miles on my Kawasaki ZRX1200 so know how bikes can last if looked after well and the 900 looks like it's a pretty solid bike. The Tracers I'm looking at within my budget range from 15k mls to 30k mls, I've read about the cam chain woes and the valve check at 25k which a lot of folk suggest would preferably be done at 20k. Are there any other things folk can advise me to look after which is specific to the tracer? One last thing, could somebody tell me what the exact length of the Scorpion Seket can is, that's including the carbon end piece and the bit which clamps onto the link pipe. Any help and advise would be gratefully received, cheers.

Cheers guys, yes going to go with the HPA, it’s expensive but it’ll save a lot of spanner rash🤓

Cheers for that😃 it looks like a good quality shock and the adjusting tool looks good. I am likely to make adjustments many times over the year when I’m taking my wife on the back so I’m thinking in the long run an HPA, although expensive, will be the way to go, thanks for your feedback

Just wondering, does anybody out there have a Nitron R1 shock without the HPA? How do you find adjusting it with the very capable looking adjuster. How many turns do you make for taking pillion. How do other shocks, like K-Tech etc compare. Thanks in advance

No worries HGP, I've got the measurements from Steve, the 2018 Tracer had lowered the pegs from the 2015 by 33mm so I know the 2015 is the one that'll suit myself and the wife🤓

Hi Steve, that's absolutely perfect! On my ZRX the vertical yellow line is 18" and the red line is 20". This indicates the pegs are further forward on the GT. My wife has ridden pillion with me for 30 years and certainly will not get on with the extra leg room. We spend most of our time hooning round the fantastic roads in Scotland and the Borders, she likes the pegs in a certain position so she can brace her body using her legs on the pegs. My other concern with the Mk2 Tracer was folk have mentioned the riders feet fouling the pillions while on the balls of their feet, this will certainly happen with the Mk2. This is really good to know as there are no Tracer's in Edinburgh at the moment to test ride and 'winter's coming' so I'm now pretty confident she'll be happy on a Tracer Mk1 or a Mk2 with Mk1 footpegs. Much obliged for your help with this, cheers. Mark

I HGP, that would be great if you could measure the distance. If you take the measurement from the centre of the seat and draw a vertical line down then draw a horizontal line from the pegs that should match where I've taken the measurement from my ZRX. Steve is going to measure his GT as well. Although a Mk1 is first on the list I sometimes find myself looking at the Mk2 so it'll be good to know the difference between the two bikes, cheers.

Hi all, I'm based in Edinburgh, Scotland and will soon have a Tracer 900! Loved the Tracer as soon as I saw one in 2015. Always loved triples, started off on a KH250, then a Suzuki GT750 'Kettle' before moving onto big Zeds. Went back to Triples when the Hinckleys came out before going back to Kawasaki again (had a few mechanical problems with the Triumphs, ahem!) I've spent the last twenty years racking up 92,000 miles on my Kawasaki ZRX1200R with no problems (mileage would have been way more but I'm fortunate to also have a '77 Z1000 which I can't stop riding) I've made various changes to the ergonomics to the ZRX to facilitate my old bones but have taken things as far as I can now. The Tracer has a perfect riding position for me along with that fantastic triple engine, and next year I'll have the money to buy one. Despite the Tracer being on it's third version it's the 2015 model which I still want. I have found your Forum very handy for filling in the extra bits of information I need in preparation for looking for and eventually purchasing a Tracer. Between now and February '22 I may have a few questions to ask, indeed my first question is; Could somebody measure the distance between the pillion seat and the pillion footpegs, I've modified the pegs on the ZRX and am curious if they will match. Thanks in anticipation.