help! analysis paralysis- moving from 2019 tracer 900 to tracer 9 GT? other?

[Ride365]

My buddy has a 22 GT, can't say that I am a big fan of it at all compared to my 20. I do like the ESA suspension and the quickshift up/down, but honestly that is about it. That MT-07 is a gem of a machine and it's said that in the T7 it aint too shabby either.......I however cannot fathom riding a motorcycle in NYC. 😲

[DavidS]

On 3/17/2023 at 7:51 PM, Rick123 said:

Seems like you’ve been getting pretty low gas mileage... Comparing 900 to 9GT the only advantage is a lower seat height (which looks like it worked for you for last few years). Disadvantage - big price increase. Just my 2c.

Low mileage could be from riding in heavy Chicago traffic, just a thought.....

[phats22]

again thanks to everyone for their thoughtful comments.  i decided to stick with my bike (which is a bit behind on 8K maintenance) and try to find mods for any issues i have with the bike............

until, this morning when i discovered it was stolen last night.  just made the police report and need a few weeks to figure out the process but i'm going into this assuming it wont be recovered.  but now my decision has shifted a bit since i may not actually have a bike as a starting point......

 

[texscottyd]

Well that sucks, @phats22… sorry to hear.   There’s a special place in hell for bike thieves.  

I don’t typically think of these as high theft risk bikes, but obviously yours was a target.   Hopefully you can get it resolved fairly quickly & painlessly.  

[phats22]

1 hour ago, texscottyd said:

Well that sucks, @phats22… sorry to hear.   There’s a special place in hell for bike thieves.  

I don’t typically think of these as high theft risk bikes, but obviously yours was a target.   Hopefully you can get it resolved fairly quickly & painlessly.  

much appreciated and agree, moto theft feels so personal and transgressive.

the nypd officer and i were also wondering why my bike was targeted given the make/model, fairly obvious evidence of it having survived a big crash with some damaged body work and 2 huge givi engine guards in place- not my conception of urban chic  

[Heli ATP]

Sorry to hear about your bike. I recently sat on a Triumph Tiger GT 900 Low and was able to get both feet on the ground with a 30" inseam. Another triple, might be worth a look. 

https://ridermagazine.com/2023/01/19/2023-triumph-tiger-900-gt-low-tour-test-review/

[Kenny A.]

THIEVING BASTARDS!!!!  😡😡

[daboo]

The marketing folks all want to convince you to part with your hard earned money so they have more money to buy whatever they want...which probably isn't a motorcycle.  

Whenever I get the urge to buy something new, I always look at what will I get that I didn't have?  ...and what will that cost me?

In my case, most of it is getting a cruise control.  Do I care about a cruise control that much?  Nah...not really.  I use a $20 throttle lock that works exceedingly well.  So what would it cost me for a new bike with cruise control.  Hmmm...trade in value maybe at best of $5K on my current bike.  New bike cost of probably $18K out the door with taxes, license, transportation, dealer prep...and whatever additional fees they can tack on.  Hmmm...$20 vs $13K.  Wow...that's a hard choice.

And my current bike gives me a thrill when I walk in the garage and see it, or walk across the parking lot and look at it...or have people when I'm in a hurry come up to me and tell me how beautiful it is.  $20 vs $13K...Hmm...I gotta think about this.  Actually, not really.  

Chris

 

Edit:  Just read that your bike was stolen.  It changes the picture a bit.  Assuming you still want a bike...now what?  The manufacturers all want you to believe their latest is the greatest.  But isn't that what they were saying about the last model...and the model before that?  I'm a firm believer in buying used.  The first buyer payed all those ridiculous fees and depreciation.  And now what was the latest and greatest...is now at a discount.

I have almost 95K miles on my bike.  It runs like new and is totally reliable.  I bought it from a retired cardiologist who had more money to spend on farkles, and never used the bike for his dreams.  Find that bike...and smile all the way to the bank.

Edited April 19, 2023 by daboo

[Wintersdark]

4 hours ago, daboo said:

The marketing folks all want to convince you to part with your hard earned money so they have more money to buy whatever they want...which probably isn't a motorcycle.  

Whenever I get the urge to buy something new, I always look at what will I get that I didn't have?  ...and what will that cost me?

In my case, most of it is getting a cruise control.  Do I care about a cruise control that much?  Nah...not really.  I use a $20 throttle lock that works exceedingly well.  So what would it cost me for a new bike with cruise control.  Hmmm...trade in value maybe at best of $5K on my current bike.  New bike cost of probably $18K out the door with taxes, license, transportation, dealer prep...and whatever additional fees they can tack on.  Hmmm...$20 vs $13K.  Wow...that's a hard choice.

Hah yeah, that worked well for me until the T7... I'll get to go play in the dirt.  Which turned out to be world's of fun, and not too shabby for 12300 out the door (which was amusingly pretty much exactly what I paid for my Tracer!)

But I've had that same thing play out lots of times.  Eyeballing an MT10 - so many zoomzooms, but really: how often am I zooming about on my Tracer and thinking "Man, this bike is slow." (Answer: Never).  But it'll cost me some 20k when the smoke clears to be able to say I've got a faster bike that I can never really ride flat out.  

I think the only thing I mean consider for a while to come is a Tenere 900 release, where it may well make sense to trade the two bikes in for one.  I don't even know if I'd do that though.

The reality is that while the Tracer isn't the best at anything it does, nor is it the best at being a jack of all trades, it IS damn good at what it does.  And (at least for the first and second gen bikes) is an extremely good value proposition given their capabilities.

Lots of different bikes would be upgrades, but it's a LOT of money for actually fairly minimal improvements.

 

[Wintersdark]

The above said, if I where in such a position as having my Tracer stolen, would I replace it with another or something else, while holding a fistful of insurance dollars?

Honestly the answer comes down to basically what @daboo said... I'd look to see what was available in late model used.  The last couple years have seen significantly increasing prices in this space and I think the 2019-2020 era of sport tourers has a lot to offer at better pricing.

[maximo]

On 3/18/2023 at 10:20 AM, DavidS said:

What betoney said!!!!!!!!!

I once traded my old FJ09, fully outfitted with after market sparkles to the Tracer 900 GT. I quickly realized I had the newer version of my old bike, but not much improvement or extra features. I had added all the extra sparkles after market on my old bike, and my old bike was about the same in almost every way to the new tracer. And I still wish I could have the shorter wheel base like the original bike, I miss the character of the old FJ09.

Come take my FJ09 and sell your 900GT! It has all the farkles, including cruise control and the hooligan wheel base.  🙂 

[Jayzonk]

On 3/20/2023 at 3:04 AM, Wintersdark said:

As I said, I've got both too. 

This is something I've rambled on about at length, and while it may be less popular on this specific forum you'll find it's not an uncommon opinion.

The CP2 is a more fun engine.  It's not a faster engine, but it often *feels* faster.  The CP3 is more refined and powerful, but needs to spin up more to make that power and (particularly before the refresh) has kind of a flat spot around 4000-5000rpm.  On the other hand, the CP2 hammers the power on *immediately*, giving it a very raw, visceral feel with acceleration being hard and fast.  

The problem with the CP2 is that it kind of runs out of steam at the high end, and while the CP2 bikes will hit top speeds just a little shy of the CP3, after 100mph the CP2 noticeably lags where the CP3 roars.

On the flip side, to get the CP2 experience out of the CP3 you need to rev it up into the 7000-8000rpm range.  There, it's a monster, tons of power on tap.  But the problem you run in to in town is that with that power and at high rpm you find yourself hitting unusable speeds too fast.  Where the CP2 bike can roar off a stop pulling power wheelies gear after gear as you bang through the gears... But not end up going felony speeds.... The CP3 is either in its flat spot (where I'll note it's still very powerful, just not exciting) or accelerating *extremely* rapidly and god I hope there isn't a cop around.

So.  If you're riding mostly in town, or on windy highways where you're not really exceeding 100mph/160 kph, the CP2 feels gruntier and more exciting. It's simpler, direct cable throttle, no ride modes, traction control, or other degrees of separation between wrist and zoom. Put a short throw throttle tube on it for $20 and it feels almost frenzied. 

But once you're on highways more often, open roads (winding or otherwise) where being able to put significant power down when you're already moving pretty fast is important, and suddenly everything changes.  Or if you want to ride two up, and need more power to overcome the weight.

As well, if you ride like a hooligan on both, you'll tend to get better gas mileage out of the cp3 as it gives fewer phucks about wind resistance due to the higher power, whereas after around 120kph/75mph the CP2 becomes very inefficient as too large a percentage of its output is going to just countering drag.  This specific point is less relevant for the R7, however.

I've got a '20 900GT and have spent significant time on a '16 MT-07.  If you do not need the additional height of the Tenere 700, I'd look at the MT-07 as it's got a steeper rake and the bike will in general be more maneuverable that the longer wheelbase of the Tenere.  And I really don't think that gravel and curb jumping is going to be part of your daily commute, so I see the MT-07 as being a good fit.  I personally found the SV650 to be interesting but I kept sliding forward from the seat into the tank so much that I sold the bike (I also found the brakes and lack of ABS a little unsettling).  

That being said, there's NO WAY that an MT-07 engine is going to give  you nearly the enjoyment that the 900 triple would.  Keep that in perspective.  I've had lots of time and speed on an MT-07 and it's a great bike, but the engine is rattly and chuggy, and it just doesn't compare to the 900 triple.  If you're merging onto freeways then jumping off, you're going to find the acceleration much smoother and sharper on the Tracer, and you're going to find the engine braking much better as well.  Overall, the stability of the Tracer will be much much better at speed, fatiguing you less than the 700 twin.  

I think what you're experiencing is the curse of the Tracer...it's working well for you but you're looking for something better as an excuse to get a new bike!  I know, I've been there, but I'm telling you, keep your Tracer.  You'll always wish you did unless there's a groundbreaking change in the sport tourer segment that I haven't heard about.  The curse of the Tracer is that it becomes incredibly difficult to find something better than the Tracer for just about any type of urban riding you're going to do.  Short of venturing to Alaska (and I'm sure it could do that too), it's just so damned good.  

[Wintersdark]

On 4/22/2023 at 5:08 PM, Jayzonk said:

I've got a '20 900GT and have spent significant time on a '16 MT-07.  If you do not need the additional height of the Tenere 700, I'd look at the MT-07 as it's got a steeper rake and the bike will in general be more maneuverable that the longer wheelbase of the Tenere.  And I really don't think that gravel and curb jumping is going to be part of your daily commute, so I see the MT-07 as being a good fit.  I personally found the SV650 to be interesting but I kept sliding forward from the seat into the tank so much that I sold the bike (I also found the brakes and lack of ABS a little unsettling).  

That being said, there's NO WAY that an MT-07 engine is going to give  you nearly the enjoyment that the 900 triple would.  Keep that in perspective.  I've had lots of time and speed on an MT-07 and it's a great bike, but the engine is rattly and chuggy, and it just doesn't compare to the 900 triple.  If you're merging onto freeways then jumping off, you're going to find the acceleration much smoother and sharper on the Tracer, and you're going to find the engine braking much better as well.  Overall, the stability of the Tracer will be much much better at speed, fatiguing you less than the 700 twin.  

I think what you're experiencing is the curse of the Tracer...it's working well for you but you're looking for something better as an excuse to get a new bike!  I know, I've been there, but I'm telling you, keep your Tracer.  You'll always wish you did unless there's a groundbreaking change in the sport tourer segment that I haven't heard about.  The curse of the Tracer is that it becomes incredibly difficult to find something better than the Tracer for just about any type of urban riding you're going to do.  Short of venturing to Alaska (and I'm sure it could do that too), it's just so damned good.  

Oh, I had an 2018 MT07 before I got the Tracer, and put about 20k onto it before trading it in for the Tracer (loved it, but too physically small for my 6'4" frame)  I'm *very* well aware of the pros and cons of the MT07.  And, having 20k on that MT07, then 32k on my Tracer now, and roughly 10k on my Tenere... I still think that for urban riding the CP2 is a flatly better engine (* caveat, this is comparing to the old CP3, I have only minimal experience on the new CP3).  

And really, the CP2 was rattly?  Man.  I love the CP3 as well, I'm not dumping on it here, but between the Tracer's general front end clunkiness over bumps and the GRONK in the older clutch basket, it is a rattly, noisy bike.  I mean, seriously, look through the forum here at how often people ask about noises and we all just tell them to put in earplugs and ignore it.  I can - and have - started up both bikes and just let them idle in neutral, and despite the open aftermarket exhaust on the Tenere, somehow that clutch is still super noticable.  

Yeah, if you're doing long freeway hauls, for sure it's all CP3 all the time.  300+ mile days through the mountains?  Tracer again. But ripping around town on a MT07 or Tenere 700 is much more fun than it is on the Tracer.  I'm not saying the CP2 is a better engine, just a different one with its own sweet spot - and that is urban and dirt riding where low end torque and agility is king and you're never going to be doing much over 100mph.

[Ride365]

Both the CP2 and CP3 are amazing platform engines, hence why they are being used in multiple current models and likely more to come.

[Ride365]

Tenere 900 please.......all the bells and whistles please.