KrustyKush

Thanks, Mike. I tried that my 2021 9GT also, but doing so put the lower “shift rod joint” (as the manual calls it) perilously close to the side stand cutout switch during up shifts. Early on, I actually removed the switch and took it out of action so as to get that clearance. With the switch in place I can’t be certain the shift lever isn’t bumping that switch body. Riding without the switch isn’t my cup o’ tea, so I taught my 73 y/o ankle how to bend enough to make the lever work.

The problem with adjusting the linkage on the 21 9GT is the quick shift switch. The spec length of the thing just doesn't allow much of any adjustment range. This was my first obstacle on the 9GT. I fiddled with the shift mechanism for days before giving up and adapting my shift style to the bike. This is very different from the Harley design which allows a wide range of adjustment, and a couple of acres of room down there. On the Tracer you better have some pretty narrow toed boots.

It’s more a matter of style. I go with what could be called KnuckleHead Style. I insist on doing all my own work even when it makes no logical economic or safety sense. I will spend $2k to buy tools I will use maybe once or twice a year. There usually is a stack of old tires in the back yard because I’m too busy riding to carry them down to recycle. Definitely on the trashy side. Others are more elegant. They have “people” to handle things. The $1400 doesn’t seem excessive to me. Tires alone, we’ll done with proper balance and care, is worth an awful lot.

Welcome... from southern California.... Oh! to be 59 again.

I’ve got Shorais in both my Tracer 9GT and Gold Wing. Absolutely flawless. I also had one in my late Harley FLTRU. The lithiums start the bikes lickety split. I don’t know about super cold but the Harley ran all year in SoCal winters which can be frosty, and I never noticed any reticence at all on cold start.

I’ve had Corbin on several bikes dating from 1992, starting with my 92 Concours. I have mostly loved each saddle, deciding long ago that “firm” is way better than “soft.” I got one for my Tracer. Compared to the stock Tracer saddle, the Corbin is MUCH better in every possible way except perhaps positioning. Corbins always seem to move the rider back and down just enough to matter. My Tracer Corbin required a Heli adapter. The adapter made the situation “near perfect” for me. I prefer a bias towards a front-lean. I hate vertical upright position that lays weight upon my 73 y/o overgrown prostate. To say nothing about the disappearance of the fine butt I once had, that now is just a boney hot spot My best position on any bike is the one that allows me to find a dozen or more different sub-positions. Must be able to scoot about on the saddle. That requires a broad, well contoured and extremely firm saddle covered in leather. Leather is the ideal material because of its friction chacteristics, and because it feels so fine on what is left of the butt. In the long run, saddles are like shoes. Each rider needs something that accommodates his particular butt-back-arm situation. Since we come in such wide varieties of shape size weight health age etc, it is real impossible to make one that works for all.

An unusual thing to have happen! This is the first time I've ever heard of this happening, though I have often thought it "could" happen, and why I install the valves nice and snug, and keep caps on the valves. Good thing we check our tire pressure every few days.

True. I approached it from that way, not wanting to deal with draining the coolant. I pulled the valve cover out from the top, with the rad tilted as you suggest. BTW, I feel like the valve cover is a lot easier to get back in from the front than the top, especially so with the new gasket stuck to it and not wanting to knock it off anywhere. Checked all my valves, found an adjustment "necessary" and then decided I didn't want to fuss with it ONLY from the top. This my first valve service on this bike, so I wanted every space advantage available. Even though reluctant to remove the rad, I went ahead and did so. Now having done it with the rad pulled out, I would not do it otherwise. It isn't enough trouble or mess pulling the rad to make it undesireable. Drain the coolant into clean jars for re-use. Cover the hoses. Put the rad away in a safe place until the rest of the work done. With full access from the front, the entire process of working on the top end is greatly easy-fied. I wanted to remove all the lifters to note what value of shim is under them, for reference the next adjustment. Save a step, so to speak. Pulling lifters out and retrieving shims is a LOT easier from the front than from the top. Also, I feel like working with the cam chain to restore the timing is made easier/safer with more access from the front, not having that rad in the way.

Welcome. I'm also in SoCal. Near Temecula. Got my 21 9GT last January. I got a Corbin saddle for it, and I like it, but I had also made peace with the stock saddle. On the highway drone I prefer a forward lean, and spend a lot of my time leaning on the fuel tank with one forearm or the other keeping my head close to the windscreen. This position is very comfy for me, and the stock saddle works fine in it. So does the Corbin. I prefer the Corbin. If nothing else, it is a much better looking saddle.

I changed mine a couple weeks ago at just past 12k mikes. They looked fine and surely could have gone much longer. I read somewhere the reason the factory wants them replaced so often has to do with some sort of dissimilar metals reaction in the threads. The Harley big twins get plugs changed every 30k miles. They cost $5 each.

I just had my rad off doing a valve adj check. I put it all back together and spent a couple of days jetting around town. Then noticed little spots of white splattered behind the rad, on the engine case. I had tightened my two worm type clamps (factory, of course) but I am a tentative tightener when it comes to radiators, owing to my over tightening one on a car many years ago and pretty much screwing up my rad by crushing the tube. I just hadn't made one of the clamps quite tight enough and the joint was seeping just a tiny amount. The white revealed the location of the leak. Another turn on the clamp, leak gone.

I bought my 2021 back in January this year. My previous bikes had been Harleys, and though I have owned a couple of "sport-bike-like" bikes, none has had the engine type as in the Tracer. I had similar reaction as the OP. Surprised at how furious the motor seems to be running at a steady cruising speed, which for me is usually between 80 and 85 mph. I got used to it. What I love the most is roll-on hard at 85 mph, the engine opens its mouth and goes WAAAAAAAH. It's a beautiful sound. And there's no lack of power right along with the sound. Must be those intake trumpets. Yam did a great job making this motor sound good without annoying everyone else.

I agree, and recently checked/adjusted mine at 12k. However, I think it is Ok for a valve to get down to minimal clearance. As you say, that is what you will find at 26k. Many riders go way past 26k without trouble. Yamaha knows this. Otherwise, they would call for the 16k interval, no? Anyways, all of my valves were fine at 12k, except the two exhausts on cylinder #3. Those were down to around .25mm with spec being minimum of .28. The other two cylinders were right around .30 with max being .32. I went the extra effort to replace those two shims to make #3 exhausts be .30. But really, would it matter? I seriously doubt it.

Yamaha must use fantastic materials in their valves and valve seats. A 26k mile interval? Wow. I've had Kawasakis and Suzukis that had 4k intervals, and you'd better not wait much longer...

Holdover thinking, maybe, from the 70's when the manufacturers built general purpose motorcycles which then were adapted by the owners. That was the age of the Universal Japanese Motorcycle. That bike could go several different directions, depending. Nowadays it is about specialization. However, I personally consider the 21 Tracer to be a modern version of the UJM. It "can" be adapted to various uses. Including two-up riding, assuming the passengers are lighter weight than average. It isn't as good at two-up touring as a Goldwing, but it's pretty good. And a lot cheaper. And faster, and more fun to ride twisties. Most important to many of us nearer the end than the beginning, it is much lighter.

I'm ready to re-install the cams, so this morning I grabbed the CCT, with which I am totally unfamiliar, and following the inadequate instructions in the Yamaha manual I spent a couple of hours figuring out how it works. There are two circular clips on the end of CCT body, one of which prevents the rod from coming all the way out, and the other for locking the rod in place prior to installation in the motor. It took me quite awhile to wrap my geezer brain around these two clips! I disassembled the thing. There is a worm type gear inside with a long spring inside it. This worm gear goes up into the ram, which has similar threads inside it for the worm. The nature of this is that it will thread into the CCT body only if very light pressure is exerted on the ram end. If any pressure other than VERY light is applied to the ram, it is locked and will not travel further into the CCT body. It took me quite awhile, and a couple of sore hands, to figure this out. So later today I will install cams and get this thing back on the road. I'm tempted to scrap this auto tensioner and go to a manual, but I am not finding a product out there for the 21 GT.

Not exactly, but a few times I’ve hit the decel button and perhaps it only dropped 1 rather than 2. I will pay closer attention and nail it down. I prefer a 1 interval, so when it happened I noticed it but couldn’t swear that it actually happened. Usually, it drops 2. However I have not had it fail to respond.

The only thing I removed is the CCT. Good idea on the tension shoe, though. I like it. Next time. I only need to replace the two #3 exhaust shims. The two valves aren't at exactly the same clearance, but so close that replacing the existing 185's with 180's will do the trick. Should bring the two valves back from 0.25 to 0.30. All the other valves are fine. The exhausts are right close to 0.30, and all the intakes are around 0.15 This is very similar to what I found years ago when I did my first 26k miles valve check on my 97 Yam Royal Star. All the valves pretty much OK, but one stinking exhaust valve, on the end, at less than .0015" freaked me out! I decided right then that would be the last time I let a new engine go 26k miles to the first inspection. Of course, being anal, I do tend to over do some things. I haven't yet used a mic to measure the shims, though. Now THAT is anal... ha ha Thanks for all the help. It sure is a good thing to compare experiences on these things.

I leave off the clamp on that hose, which vents fumes from the engine into the airbox. There's no need to have a big hardy clamp like that on the hose, and leaving it off makes future removals a lot easier. I also leave some other clamps off, such as the little ones that grip the plugs that cover the throttle body adjustment tits. Those clamps are unneeded, and only complicate removal and re-installation. I've been doing this on Yamahas for nearly 30 years and have never had a problem doing it.

Yes. At a little over 12k miles, while replacing the spark plugs, I decided to do a quick check of the valve clearances. Turns out both exhaust valves on cylinder #3 are tight, out of spec. All the other valves are fine. I considered just buttoning it up and riding another 14k and checking them again at 26k, the normal interval for valves. But I'm way too anal for that. I ordered a couple new shims, they are here, and I will get all the valves in shape. So yes, the valve cover is off. I'm about to button it all back up. When I turn the crankshaft, I will be able to view the cam chain and the cams.

NikenLee, thanks, but you are misunderstanding the situation... The 2021 Tracer 900 Manual sez to install the cams, install the cam chain, install the CCT, then turn the crankshaft clockwise (as viewed from the left side of the bike) to release the CCT. Then, turn the crankshaft counter-clockwise in normal operational direction a few times to check that everything is in place. Yeah, seems odd to me, too. That's why I want to make sure this isn't a mis-print in the manual. There are a few misprints in every manual. I recall one in the manual for my long gone Royal Star that cost me a couple of days of work before I finally figured out there was a mis-print. Anything I see in a manual that strikes me odd, I suspect mis-print.

Thanks.

I agree. I’m going to just bump it clockwise without actually moving the crankshaft much. Hopefully that will do it. If I have to actually turn the crankshaft clockwise, gonna do it real slow and watch.

Yes, apparently from my reading around, it is different. The older versions have a screw that is adjusted to get the correct tension. This newer one on my 21 GT has no screw. You cock it with a valve compressor and apparently reset it in the engine by, according to the Yamaha manual, "Turn the crankshaft clockwise several times to release the timing chain tensioner rod." I am interpreting this to mean, not fully 360-degree clockwise turns of the crankshaft to release the CCT, but rather a few short bursts on the wrench. I hope to be able to hear the CCT release, and observe the tightened chain.

Thanks, Photo. I'm out now looking for something sticky... But doesn't leave behind anything to make me struggle later.