New Owner 1,200 mile Observations

[Bowie]

As mentioned in my initial post of yesterday, I bought a new '22 Tracer 9 GT in late August. I have owned a series of Japanese bikes (mostly standard styles) over the decades. My most recent bike was a 2016 Kawasaki Versys 650.  It was a faithful companion for almost 26,000 miles, but was a little low on power and didn't have any modern features, such as cruise control, which I wanted in my next bike.  Here are some initial comments and questions.

1. Price. I was pleasantly surprised at the level of discounts being offered on these bikes today. I bought mine from a dealer outside Philadelphia for $10,000 plus $1,200 in shipping and document charges. That was about $5,000 less than a comparably equipped Triumph Tiger 900, which I was also considering. 

2. Suspension.  The semi-active suspension is a little disappointing in one respect. Even in the comfort setting with the preload backed off a couple of turns, it is still rather harsh in certain road conditions--such as frost heaves.  I see that others have made the same/similar comment. In short, the semi-active suspension is ok, but nothing magical. 

3. Instrumentation.  The dual display, which has been almost uniformly criticized by MC journalists, isn't a problem by itself, but certain aspects of it could be improved. The lack of a range function seems inexcusable. The odd fuel gauge, which doesn't indicate whether the tank if completely full or only half full, is dumb. The turn signal lights are too small and should be placed at the far end of display instead of near the middle to make them easier to recognize. Most of the information on the left side, such as the clock,  is almost unreadable for me.  I also feel that the placement of the screens themselves is a little low. I seem to have to take my eyes off the road too much to read the information. I suspect this last point will resolve itself over time. 

4. Seat.  I'm not thrilled with the seat. It pushes one forward, which my Versys seat did as well, but I understand that's an easy fix by raising the front a bit. I also don't like the shape. It seems to be a little too wide in the rear for my taste. I'd like to narrow it some. Unfortunately, I don't know any MC seat guys who are still in business. I sent my Versys seat to Spencer in Florida who did a good job fixing the forward lean and making it more comfortable with different foam, but he is no longer in business. If anyone knows a good seat guy please let me know. 

5. Levers.  I didn't like the fact that the clutch lever was not adjustable. In addition, this bike, along with other Yamahas that I have ridden, have engagement points that are very far away from the bar, which was very different from my Kawasaki.  I bought a pair of Pazzo levers from a forum member, which are great.  

6. Windscreen.  How could we forget this last one.  Fortunately, my short stature (5'7") helps here.  In the high position, I get relatively little buffeting, though it is still more than I would like. I have ordered one of the small deflectors to see if that solves the problem. What bothers me more than the buffeting, is the lack of wind protection for my arms and shoulders. I assume this is due to the cut out shape of the stock screen. Seems like an odd design.

That's a lot of complaints for a new bike you might say. True, but as you all know, they are all eclipsed by its glorious engine. 

Forgot to mention the Givi SRA2159 rear rack. I was about to order the Yamaha rear rack and top case until I saw a YouTube video of the absurdly complicated installation. You practically have to disassemble the rear quarter of the bike just to put three bolts in the rack. My patience (and ability) for such work has declined over the years so I quickly discarded this idea and went for the Givi aluminum rack.  Very glad I did. Took 30 minutes to install and looks great. Highly recommended. 

Cheers,

 

 

 

 

[Ride365]

Not sure about the 21/22, but my 20 has 4 easily accessible bolts that come out to take off the OEM rack once the seat is off......that is it. I went with the Yamaha rack and 39L top case, pretty sure it took me a whole 10 minutes to do? Seats and windshields are the first to be upgraded on most any bike, as are clutch/brake levers and foot pegs. I don't think you mentioned much negative at all, and yes that CP3 is a glorious engine isn't it.

[RomKnight]

For the arms you'll need the larger not taller, Yamaha windshield. It has plastic where the original is cut on the sides.

I had the same issue and comment on that already, I think.

It's not taller so you might still want that deflector on top. With the seat in lower position I thought about it but even at 180cm tall I think it'd be in front of my eyes which I don't think I want. I had a lot worse and this is actually great in comparison to other bikes. I could try seat in higher position but it's really bad to the point it hurts tights.  Otherwise it's fine. But to me far is your close as USA is a LOT bigger than Portugal.

I'm use to sporty suspension so I also don't find it too hard as everyone does. But they did condensed settings on the GT+ so they might have make it softer in street mode to address the complaints. Take this with a grain of salt though it it the same suspension as far as I know.

Now that I'm thinking about it I thing Yamaha's were always setup perfectly for me. I never had issues with levers, suspension, seat height foot pegs... I mean solo riding only. 2 up and loaded it's another thing but just preload on the back has been enough (thank god GT+ has a knob for that )

[Bowie]

Is that what Yamaha calls the Touring screen?  I have also read positive reviews of the Madstad screen. Any thoughts on that one?

On the top case rack issue, here are a couple of videos: one in Greek and one in German. The German guy has already installed his rack but goes through the process again  I guess to show you how painful it is.  This appears to be necessary because the Yamaha rack hides the top of the mounting bolts, unlike the Givi rack.  

 

 

[RomKnight]

Yes, the touring screen. Those extra bits on the side really work.

I have the touring screen because it was an offer but I confess I am surprised with this one so I'll keep it.