Got it!

[Mark Jackson]

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......😄

[betoney]

1 hour ago, Mark Jackson said:

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.

The new C&S kit should help smooth out the final drive and remember,, NO MATTER WHAT the service manual says, the chain tension recommendation is TOO tight, the FJ/Tracer likes the chain a little on the loose side.

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 windscreen is probably the #1 hated feature on this bike, I agree with you though, go smaller on the screen to reduce the wind noise.

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,

The FJ/Tracer responds VERY well to a suspension upgrade, regardless of the brand name, a well set up shock and at least correct springs in the front completely improve the ride quality and handling.

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 have used the Rizoma MA011 bars on a few different bikes and love them, the modest pullback is a huge improvement over the stock bars.

 

[pilgo]

Welcome on board 👍 

The A68 is a bloody great road , I only ever rode it once and always planned to get back up that way again but have since emigrated over the Pond so that's highly unlikely to happen.

Glad you are enjoying your new Tracer .

[DubT9]

Welcome on board. 

The clutch is a bit agricultural at idle but check the shop hasn't adjusted the chain to book values which is way too tight. Also have a look at the xsr900 slipper clutch mod. 

[HGP61]

12 hours ago, Mark Jackson said:

After just 3 miles into my journey and my first thought was, WHAT HAVE I DONE!

Hi Mark, I enjoyed your write up and have similar memories of the day I brought my bike home to Lanark from Batley in Yorkshire. What I felt was a Snatchy throttle and horrible noisy screen when I hit the motorway had me regreting my decision  No regrets now the Tracer has been a fantastic bike for me over the last three years and 20'000 miles. Probably got the run home much easier than you however because I bought mine in June.

[Peddler]

I enjoyed your writeup. Enjoy your new bike and I hope that you quickly get it set up to your satisfaction. 

[Instinct28]

I also enjoyed the write up Mark. Wow,what a first ride. I got my 2015 FJ-09 last July and my first ride was in 92° heat for about 100 miles. After about 20 minutes my right hand went numb and my butt hurt already. So I've fixed that stuff with a new Sargent seat and a ECU flash that totally transformed my bike, even fixed the handle bar vibration. I've done a lot to it, Galfer rotors, Competition Werkes Slip-on, K-Tech rear shock, Andreani cartridges in the front that I haven't installed yet. 

[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😃

[pilninggas]

The A68 is a great road.

[Instinct28]

This tire will be going on next, $135 with shipping was a good deal I thought. 

[2and3cylinders]

What's the bake date of that doughnut?  The ST came out in 09 but may still be in production?

https://www.motosport.com/product/?cc=us&gclid=9d7ae5474f3e1a73286b8756c39bd5e5&gclsrc=3p.ds&key=Pirelli-Angel-GT-Tire-Combo&msclkid=9d7ae5474f3e1a73286b8756c39bd5e5&product_id=PIR002F-X001-Y001&psreferrer=https://duckduckgo.com/&pssource=true&segment=badger&utm_medium=pla&utm_source=bing&variant[PIR002F]=PIR002F-X001-Y001

https://www.pirelli.com/tyres/en-ww/motorcycle/all-tyres/sheet/angel-st

A 190/55 will certainly speed up turn-in but I'm not sure about high speed stability.  It'll add ground clearance too but I've never had an issue on the street (albeit in our sadly flat terrain though even up in the "twisties" in Cheesehead Land) dragging anything even with full hard luggage and my lard arse.  Now I have massaged front damping, .95 springs and a Razor R but stil...

[2and3cylinders]

On 2/18/2022 at 1:55 PM, Mark Jackson said:

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😃

Oh and welcome aboard!

Back in 6-16 I paid USD $8,200 for my also fastest red 15 brand new.  Covid has really pooched the used bike market...

Also check out the Renthal Street Naked bend.