2021 Tracer 9 GT 160mi First Impressions; is it worth the upgrade?

[Suu Kyi]

On 6/30/2021 at 6:20 AM, jthayer09 said:

Been on the hunt for a new bike after my 2015 FJ09 got a hole in the engine; on a whim I called all the dealers within 250mi radius yesterday and asked for OTD prices on their 2021 Tracer 9 GTs. One dealer roughly 160mi from me gave me an awesome $15,295.xx OTD price ($13,899 for the bike) so I went and picked it up today. Remember I'm coming from a 2015 FJ09 so some of the below improvements may have happened on the 2018-20 GT models.

These are my first impressions with about 40min of interstate riding (75mph), 2 hours of state-route riding (wide sweeping turns and 55mph straights, 20min of that in a thunderstorm), and 30min of twisties in one sitting:

Engine & Throttle

Power comes online a bit lower in the rev range than my 2015 so I'd call it more "useable". This does not come at the cost of the top-end at all, it is up on power across the board and it is noticeable but only in a nuanced way. I didn't notice any jerkiness riding in mode 2... which I think is the equivalent of "standard" on the FJ. Engine braking is strong, it caught me off-guard the first few times.

Windscreen

Still sucks, either have it all the way down and and it's loud but clean air. Or have it all the way up and give yourself a neck workout from buffeting, but quieter. I'm 5"10 and lean a little bit into the wind.

Vibrations

Nearly completely gone from the foot-pegs, handlebar vibes are much reduced but it seems like they were just moved to the brake and clutch levers.

Seat

Much better, I was surprised this was such a big improvement: flatter, and much wider. When I noticed a hot spot on one side of my rear I shifted my weight for about 10 seconds and went back to normal and was comfortable again.

Brakes

I think these needs to be worn-in, they're really bad until about the 130mi mark when I noticed them start having bite.

Suspension

This is the big one. I had my doubts that a semi-active suspension would be adequate, especially coming from my '15 FJ09 Ohlins setup. I cannot stress enough how good the suspension is. I had it in mode 2 - "road" mode and the best way I can explain it is that it smooths out all but the largest of bumps without losing any feeling or adding pogo. I can pay it what I consider the highest compliment: I never had to think about it, I started to forget that it was there. I'm 170lbs for reference. Mode 1 tightens everything up and seems like it'd be great for aggressive riding but I'll have to test that further.

Quick Shifter

Has auto-blipper for downshifts. It's good! I don't have another point of reference but upshifts are lightning fast and smooth, downshifts take a firmer foot press but is equally smooth in how it blips the engine and shifts. The firmer foot press requirement makes it a little "clunky" to interact with, but the execution is flawless. There are two arrows on the digital dash that light up when you can use the quick shifter, one for up and one for down. The QS does not let you down shift unless you are off of the throttle.

Electronics

Cruise control is very intuitive; works perfectly and like a car's. The bike feels like it turns in "on its own". This is due to the traction, slide, and lift control systems of the IMU; TCS measures rear wheel slip, SCS measures lean angle, and LIF measures front wheel lift to keep you going through a corner as fast as possible. These are adjustable from levels 1-3 with 1 being least amount of intervention; I rode on 2 for today. ABS works fine, I found it a little less intrusive than my FJ09 but maybe that's because the brakes suck until worn-in. I kept in BC1 which doesn't have cornering ABS; will test BC2 on a more aggressive riding day.

Misc.

The silver paint is a deep silver, and the blue on the wheels are kind of a satin finish. I liked the red better in pictures but once I saw both in person the liquid silver and blue stole my heart.

Passenger seat is big, also max payload has increased over the previous chassis so 2-up touring should be more manageable. The seat is also flat with the grab handles which served as a large even surface to set down my backpack to change into rain gear when the storm hit.

Storage compartment under passenger seat is much larger than the FJ09.

Digital screen has a lot of glare, max brightness isn't bright enough and combined with a weird angle it's hard to read.

Needs more testing:

Heated grips, tires, fuel economy. 

All in all I'm happy to the extent that I'm ashamed I ever considered buying a different bike; got my deposit back from the 2020 BMR r 1250 r. If you're rocking a 2015-2017 model year FJ09/Tracer without any updates added to it like the slipper clutch, cruise control, suspension, or need more passenger room I think it's worth an upgrade.

Cheers,

J

Good review and congrats on your new bike.

I test rode one last week here in Perth Western Australia as we only just got stocks of it. In addition to your comments I need to add:

Not keen on the new front brake fluid reservoir being external and gravity fed, unlike the previous which was integrated, looks prone to damage too and a throwback to the 70s.

I found the instrument cluster way too low, have to tilt my head and look down as the helmet chin guard obscures it otherwise, can be a distraction. Also; the background/wall paper is black, which makes it difficult to read in bright sunlight plus there's also reflections coming off the screen, went looking for the option to change this to white like on the 900 but couldn't find any.

I found the seat ok but the new foot pegs too wide for me, they keep getting in the way of my legs when trying to manoeuvre the bike or coming to a stop. Maybe my height of 170 cms / 5ft 7 1/2 has a lot to do with that, taller riders may not have a problem.

Screen maintains the usual buffeting problem but a Yamaha touring screen should fix that.

Price has gone up by around AUD 5K from the previous, difficult to justify.

On the plus side; the 9 is a dream to ride, love that stock exhaust note and the up/down quick shifter.

Decided against updating as the price is difficult to justify against the gains when compared to the 900.

[jthayer09]

7 minutes ago, Suu Kyi said:

Good review and congrats on your new bike.

I test rode one last week here in Perth Western Australia as we only just got stocks of it. In addition to your comments I need to add:

Not keen on the new front brake fluid reservoir being external and gravity fed, unlike the previous which was integrated, looks prone to damage too and a throwback to the 70s.

I found the instrument cluster way too low, have to tilt my head and look down as the helmet chin guard obscures it otherwise, can be a distraction. Also; the background/wall paper is black, which makes it difficult to read in bright sunlight plus there's also reflections coming off the screen, went looking for the option to change this to white like on the 900 but couldn't find any.

I found the seat ok but the new foot pegs too wide for me, they keep getting in the way of my legs when trying to manoeuvre the bike or coming to a stop. Maybe my height of 170 cms / 5ft 7 1/2 has a lot to do with that, taller riders may not have a problem.

Screen maintains the usual buffeting problem but a Yamaha touring screen should fix that.

Price has gone up by around AUD 5K from the previous, difficult to justify.

On the plus side; the 9 is a dream to ride, love that stock exhaust note and the up/down quick shifter.

Decided against updating as the price is difficult to justify against the gains when compared to the 900.

Objectively the new radial master cylinder is better since the force is applied directly onto the piston inside the master cylinder; not sure if I'm actually noticing a difference since I haven't found the time to go on an extended aggressive riding session yet.

I was going to comment on the foot peg positioning in my next update. You are correct: the wider pegs make the bike feel taller than it actually is because you have to spread your legs further from the bike to clear the pegs. I can see this being an issue for shorter riders; I've found that I'm ok just putting my legs forward "in front" of the pegs, it's a matter of retraining my brain.

I'm glad you brought up the stock exhaust, it is the going to be the unsung hero of this bike: it sounds great, is a good volume, and gives the bike a tidy look as the entire assembly is underneath the chassis. I wonder if it helps warm up the rear tire faster 🤣

Got some landscaping to do this weekend but hopefully I can get out and finish off the break-in period with a day of twisties and I can make an update post at the first service interval.

[Suu Kyi]

17 minutes ago, jthayer09 said:

Objectively the new radial master cylinder is better since the force is applied directly onto the piston inside the master cylinder; not sure if I'm actually noticing a difference since I haven't found the time to go on an extended aggressive riding session yet.

I was going to comment on the foot peg positioning in my next update. You are correct: the wider pegs make the bike feel taller than it actually is because you have to spread your legs further from the bike to clear the pegs. I can see this being an issue for shorter riders; I've found that I'm ok just putting my legs forward "in front" of the pegs, it's a matter of retraining my brain.

I'm glad you brought up the stock exhaust, it is the going to be the unsung hero of this bike: it sounds great, is a good volume, and gives the bike a tidy look as the entire assembly is underneath the chassis. I wonder if it helps warm up the rear tire faster 🤣

Got some landscaping to do this weekend but hopefully I can get out and finish off the break-in period with a day of twisties and I can make an update post at the first service interval.

How'd you find the instrument cluster? Like I mentioned previously, I found it a tad low. Also the black background, is there an option to change that to white? As for the wide foot-pegs there is an easy solution, you should be able to easily swap them for the shorter all metal ones from the 900. 

[fjray]

6 hours ago, Suu Kyi said:

How'd you find the instrument cluster? Like I mentioned previously, I found it a tad low. Also the black background, is there an option to change that to white? As for the wide foot-pegs there is an easy solution, you should be able to easily swap them for the shorter all metal ones from the 900. 

Owners manual

[h1seoul]

On 6/29/2021 at 6:55 PM, 2and3cylinders said:

"The QS does not let you down shift unless you are off of the throttle."

This makes no sense, I get holding steady or backing off  but OFF throttle?

So if I have the fastest red 15 with slipper, McCruise, Razor R & front forks massaged, Flash, case guards, Sargent, Shad SH36 & SH46 top cases, Street naked bars, 3 screens, modified QR screen adjuster, skid plate, and many many more mods, it's not worth upgrading?  But for $15k, I'd maybe look for a used full optioned S1000XR...

This is a normal behavior of the down blipper.  You have to be off the throttle when shifting down. What the down blipper does is rev match automatically.  This is one of the smoothest I have ever used.  Have experience with the Triumph Speed Triple RS and BMW R1250RT QS/DB and the Tracer beats them both in my opinion.

[jthayer09]

10 hours ago, Suu Kyi said:

How'd you find the instrument cluster? Like I mentioned previously, I found it a tad low. Also the black background, is there an option to change that to white? As for the wide foot-pegs there is an easy solution, you should be able to easily swap them for the shorter all metal ones from the 900. 

On paper the instrument cluster should be a knock out of the park, it shows tons of relevant information and it's very easy to navigate through the modes with the left hand trigger, or different stats with the right hand wheel.

In practice: it's too low, I have to take my eyes off the road to glance at it, it's angled so there's a lot of glare especially from the silver handlebar, and even at max brightness it's not enough to overcome the glare. Currently there's no option to switch it to a white background, which would help. I hope Yamaha releases an update to increase the brightness or allow an "inverted" color scheme to get a white background with black text. If not, it's nothing a polarizing film mod can't fix; which is a popular mod on the MT07 and MT09.

[PhotoAl]

Thanks for the writeup and followup.  Just rolled over 11,000 miles on my 2020 and not quite ready to trade but gives some great info.  Just returned from a 5,000 mile trip around Wyoming.  Was able to catch several mountain passes along the way.  QS downshifted would have been nice on more than one occasion when passing slower vehicles on 2 lane roads.  All the modes and adjustments are nice when on the road.  Looks like they improved a good bike and made it much better.  I'm impressed with how the "old" 2020 munches the miles on the slab.  For me it's 1,100 miles and 2 days to mid Nebraska and having a bike that can cover those miles in comfort is great.

[jthayer09]

600mi update!

Did some more riding this week to get to the 600mi mark on the T9GT, you can find the one of the longer routes at the below link, I just went there and back fully loaded with gear just as a test:

https://bit.ly/3qJgTkC

Below are more impressions on the bike, expanding on what I stated previously and some new discoveries:

Brakes:

They’ve finally settled in, braking power is pretty similar to the old FJ09; maybe marginally better with the radial master cylinder.

Seat:

Again, would like to reiterate how good it is. I’m 5”10 170lbs-ish and it’s never uncomfortable; it is W I D E.

The under-seat storage is hilariously large: it holds my side stand puck, and both pant and jacket rain liners and still has a little bit of room to spare. My jacket liner has a finish to it for comfort, you could probably fit two un-finished rain liners in it for a pillion.

Windscreen:

I added a $23 eBay spoiler to it. It helps the buffeting at the tallest setting, but I think most of the turbulence does not come from the height, but rather the profile & shape of the stock windscreen. The hourglass taper lets wind wrap around the screen and hit you, which creates noise as it finds its way under the helmet. Also, as confirmed in another thread it uses the same mounting points as the previous 2018-2020 Tracer 900 models.

Exhaust:

As a mentioned previously in a separate comment this is probably my favorite part of the bike. The entire assembly being under the bike keeps a tidy look, I also personally adore the sound: it has a great mid-bass purr at idle but absolutely roars when you get on it. It hums nicely when cruising. Yamaha earning that tuning fork logo with flying colors on this one. I don’t think I’ll be getting an aftermarket system.

Electronics:

Since my initial impressions I’ve done almost all of my riding in the “least intrusive” settings: TCS1, Drive mode 1, Suspension 1.

Yamaha lists suspension as Sus-1 being for smooth roads and Sus-2 being for bad roads. I don’t think that’s quite an accurate way to describe them. I would consider Sus-1 for twisty riding and Sus-2 for straight riding for the following reasons: sus-2 is wonderfully smooth but will pogo in the hard corners, but it’s also fantastic on straight smooth roads at damping out bumps and sewer lids; but because it will pogo when you push it too hard sus-1 should be used for all aggressive riding regardless of road condition, you’ll need its stiffness to feel the front wheel and you can just deal with the harshness. Sus-1 is very stiff though, I would only use it when you are taking a twisty joy ride or on the track.

TCS1 has less of the “leans itself over” feel than TCS2, definitely lets you ride the bike more than it “riding itself”. Anecdotally I think I’m faster in TCS2, it pains me to say that but the computer “helping” in the corners definitely works.

Drive mode 1 is much smoother than the old A mode on the FJ-09, no more dirt bike “on-off” feel. I will probably use this for 90% of my riding.

BCS2 (cornering ABS) is nice to have? I couldn’t trigger it; even my “oh shit” braking into a posted 10mph curve didn’t trigger it, but I have progressive braking drilled into my head. Owner’s manual states that BCS2 will change cornering characteristics if you’re on a track pushing it hard, so maybe this is only for extreme cornering.

Quick Shifter:

It is a little spongey below 3k RPM so I’ve pretty much stopped using it when going from gears 1 to 2 or 2 down to 1 when putting around in town.

Other:

Side cases fit my XL full face helmet, but you must flip the helmet upside-down.

Take the saddlebags off and the stubby back end makes the bike kind of look like a streetfighter.

Radiator hose is routed differently and is now as low and exposed as the painfully unprotected oil-sump; at this point the bike needs to just come with a guard or plate of some kind from factory.

Passenger grab handles are very solid, now retained with a tamper-proof torx. The entire subframe seems to have been greatly beefed up, I had my camping gear on the back the entire time and it never seemed to upset the chassis.

The blue wheel paint gets a lot of attention and comments from people, like every stop.

 

Bike is running beautifully at this point; just going to do an oil and filter change for the first service and look everything over. If anyone wants pictures of anything specific, please request!

Cheers, and a happy 4th to those of you stateside!
J

 

[OldBikers]

OK time for me to pitch in after finishing a 900 mile ride in the twisties of western Wisconsin.  Here are my observations:

Windscreen; it works and really keeps the sound level down compared to my old Zero Gravity touring screen on my FZ1.  I was able to clearly hear my SENA's music at a lower volume at 80mph.  Buffeting is tolerable.  The coverage is so good that I could ride with my Nolan's visor on the up position to cool down.  The screen doesn't allow a lot of air to hit the helmet's vents.

Seat:  I'm 5'9" and can reach the ground with both feet but barely.  It is a wide seat but very comfortable.

QS:  I have a hard time overcoming my muscle memory but when I did it is pure awesome compared to the 900 GT.

Exhaust:  I expected it to be quieter but it isn't very obtrusive and after a while got use to the droning.

Fuel mileage:  I truly got 49mpg or more, the average was 48.3mpg for the whole trip including a lot pof second gear twisty action.

 

Overall I am very pleased with the 9 GT over my FZ1. 

[rlambke19]

I love the exhaust note on my T9 GT...will not be swapping the exhaust any time soon.

The wide seat does make the reach to the ground a bit farther for my 31" inseam - but still managaeble.

Windscreen went as soon as I got home - the MRA Sport from my 2019 GT went on. It works great as it did on the previous bike - except the larger handguards on the T9 will hit the screen if it's raised up and the bike is at full turn (like you would doing a u-turn or moving the bike around in the driveway/garage). I reached out to MRA and asked them if they are going to be developing a new version for the T( and they said yes. I sent them pictures of mine and said to let me know if they needed anything else. I pretty much leave mine in the lower position anyhow.

Bike is ridiculously smooth, both from a power delivery and a suspension perspective (I've been riding in mode 2 for both)

I disabled the quick shifter as I didn't like the up shifter when taking off from a stop. I think I will re-enable downshifting and leave the upshifting disabled. You can do this easily from the user menu.

Has anyone attempted to clean the dash yet? It's a dust magnet but I am loathe to touch it as I hate scratches/swirls on my dashes. 

Cheers

Rob