Anyone modify the Handlebar Position to be more forward?

[Tim Anderson]

Hi @AndyW,

The page I started this post about was from the 2021 Tracer9/Tracer9 GT Service Manual. I purchased an electronic version from 

retro-motorcycle-manuals <store+57124847663@t.shopifyemail.com>

I believe print versions are available as well.

 

[AndyW]

Thanks Tim.

Don't know why the Retro name... they only have manuals for the post 2021 models 🤔 😄 

[Tim Anderson]

Here’s a (long) update on my bar position question that started this thread, especially for @texscottyd who helped get me looking in the right direction…

My goal was to get the bars lower and more forward, if possible, to allow a bit more weight on the bars and a better feel of what the front was doing. First easy step was rotating the OEM risers from the factory aft position to the fwd position, which only moved them forward by 3/8”. Felt a bit better, but not enough… Next step was to find some aftermarket risers that were lower than OEM, and use them as ‘lowerers’. Some other FJ owners had gone to Rizoma risers but the ’22 Tracer 9 GT has very little vertical room for lowering – the bar controls practically touch the top of the tank in full lock with the OEM setup. Decided to try a set of risers from NICECNC.com that were meant for a Tenere 700 but seemed compatible and for $50 seemed worth a try.

https://www.nicecnc.com/products/handlebar-riser-for-yamaha-tenere-700-xtz700-2019-2023

Details below, but bottom line is that I ended up with the bars 3/8” lower and 15/16” more forward than the factory OEM position. Combined with the seat mod I did to move the seat back ½”, the total shift in seat-to-bars is 1-7/16”.  Certainly feels better on a quick test, but a sporting ride soon will have to be the final judge. I'm 6'4" with long arms so now I'm leaning forward just a bit and getting more weight on the bars...

The reversable NICECNC risers are only 3/8” lower than OEM, but they have a much larger difference in their fwd/aft positioning, about 1-1/16”, and that was key. I went thru several iterations of adjusting the height of the risers with washers underneath, and adjusting the bar rotation in the top clamps, and even rotating the clutch and brake assemblies on the bar. But with the large forward change, the perfect setup seemed unobtainable. If I rotated the bars down enough to keep the front brake lever from hitting the display, then the elevation of the brake lever was too high and required a very unnatural motion to grab the brake so that was not acceptable.  If I rotated just the lever forward again to fix that, the interference with the display was back… Bottom line is that the tight design dimensions on the Tracer 9 GT just don’t allow much change.

So finally decided to solve the problem from the other end. The interference only occurred at the very last ¼” of left fork rotation (right rotation was fine), just prior to hitting the full lock hard stop. So, I decided to reduce that left rotation by ¼” by installing a little rubber bumper on an angle bracket attached to an existing bolt, so at full left lock, it hits the bumper and protects the display. Losing that ¼’ of rotation will only affect garage maneuvers or full lock U-turns, so it should be fine. This finally allowed me to make the bar and control adjustments that felt good. (Flashlight in photo to aid viewing)

Interference now resolved....

 

I know…. it was a long process to gain a seemingly small amount of change, but hey, that’s what we do to make our bikes fit us as best they can, right?  🙂

Tim

 

 

[2and3cylinders]

Nice job but Oy Vey!

The Gen 1 was easy with just lower bars...This was during the winter after I bought my fastest red 15 new in July of 16, AND before I did the suspension, brakes and a zillion other mods ongoing to this day at 65k miles & counting.  I already had Sargent cut me a custom saddle first though.

If you want the bar info LMK but I've literally gone up & up to Renthal Street Nakeds & 1x .75" riser inserts.  The latter of which the jury is still out on due to me only being able to ride it once...  I did notice maybe I went too far and may have lost touch with the front contact patch.

Suspension tuning is everything. 

[JonnyB]

Hi All.

Just a word of caution. I had a recall notification to get the risers checked at a dealer. The fixings were tight on my (2016, U.K.) model but took the bike in anyway to get the recall records updated. Apologies if I'm stating the obvious, but please re-check fixings after a few miles. Access is definitely awkward so may get overlooked. I'm not sure if the dealer check was for torque setting or if a thread locker was applied.

Just for info, after trying different screens, angles etc. to try and reduce buffeting, I  fitted riser blocks that move the bars BACK! and up about an inch. Seems to have helped a bit. 

Ride safe.

John (long arms too!)

[2and3cylinders]

Same here.Took it in.They changed the risers because paint had been applied before the studs were installed and they loosened up idiotic.

I checked what the dealer mechanic did And surprised surprise he didn't Do it quite right.

First and last time the dealer touched it and that was back god knows when

Did you see how people have gotten longer clutch Cables and then found relocating the clutch cable with the throttle cables worked in a pinch.

I don't know if you came up with the term. Probably not, but if you did, here's tuya and I'll buy the first round. But I called them something other than riser blocks. I think I use the term inserts.

The jury's still out on those due to lack of testing. I took care of my screen years ago or should I use the term screens? Cause I use 3 different ones depending on the weather primarily but also how long I'm on the saddle in one sitting.

Rewatching the 24 Tissot sprint Grand primo D'talia brembo race.

Advantage #1 of old age