First ride

[RD52]

Got to go on a little 4 hour spin on my "new to me" Tracer. It will be replacing my 2020 Mutistrada 1260S

Anyway, first impressions...

Rode about 140 miles today. Some rural 2-lane, a stretch of twisties (Hwy 211 between Sperryville and Luray, for those familiar with Va.), the upper third of Skyline Drive, and a freeway blast home.

Great motor. Plenty of power, revvy, smooth, good grunt down low and nice burst of power as the tach swings past 6000. Been 20+ years since I put real miles on anything other than a V-Twin, so it's very different, but I liked it. A lot!
Riding position fits me very well. A little better than the Multi.
It's light!! 70lbs lighter than the Multi, but feels like a bigger difference than that. Definitely less top heavy. Slow speed/parking lot type maneuvers are much easier.
Out on the road, it feels great. Typical suspension shortcomings, springs are soft/not enough rebound/too much high speed compression. But not off enough to make the bike unsettled or uncomfortable. Handled pretty well, nice turn in, stable. Easier to pick and hold a line on than the Multi, more confidence in general when cranked over.
Most importantly, it nails the "fun to ride" metric. Like the SV and V-Strom, it seems to be more than the sum of the parts.

A pic from today, up on Skyline Drive:

[kilo3]

What seat you got on the hog, looks interesting.

[TomTracer]

1 hour ago, RD52 said:

Got to go on a little 4 hour spin on my "new to me" Tracer. It will be replacing my 2020 Mutistrada 1260S

Anyway, first impressions...

Rode about 140 miles today. Some rural 2-lane, a stretch of twisties (Hwy 211 between Sperryville and Luray, for those familiar with Va.), the upper third of Skyline Drive, and a freeway blast home.

Great motor. Plenty of power, revvy, smooth, good grunt down low and nice burst of power as the tach swings past 6000. Been 20+ years since I put real miles on anything other than a V-Twin, so it's very different, but I liked it. A lot!
Riding position fits me very well. A little better than the Multi.
It's light!! 70lbs lighter than the Multi, but feels like a bigger difference than that. Definitely less top heavy. Slow speed/parking lot type maneuvers are much easier.
Out on the road, it feels great. Typical suspension shortcomings, springs are soft/not enough rebound/too much high speed compression. But not off enough to make the bike unsettled or uncomfortable. Handled pretty well, nice turn in, stable. Easier to pick and hold a line on than the Multi, more confidence in general when cranked over.
Most importantly, it nails the "fun to ride" metric. Like the SV and V-Strom, it seems to be more than the sum of the parts.

A pic from today, up on Skyline Drive:

And it's FASTEST RED!

[RD52]

41 minutes ago, kilo3 said:

What seat you got on the hog, looks interesting.

It's the Seat Concepts mod. Previous owner did it, the kit comes with new foam and a seat cover.

He liked it, but for me at least it's not that great. I see a Corbin in my future.

[mikerbiker]

3 hours ago, RD52 said:

Typical suspension shortcomings, springs are soft/not enough rebound/too much high speed compression. But not off enough to make the bike unsettled or uncomfortable.

All true, but get sag and suspension set for your weight by competent bike shop.  IMO stock suspension on 19/20 Tracer will handle very well for riders under 225 lbs.

[RD52]

12 hours ago, mikerbiker said:

All true, but get sag and suspension set for your weight by competent bike shop.  IMO stock suspension on 19/20 Tracer will handle very well for riders under 225 lbs.

Yeah, I'll do all that (done lots of suspension setups in the past), but I always try to get a good ride in first before starting on it.