What did you do to your FJ-tracer-gt today?

[piotrek]

19 hours ago, Heavy said:

...made a deal on a 2024 Honda Transalp.  I figure it should be able to replace the two bikes I have now...

Congrats on the new bike. The Transalp seems to offer a good balance between street and off-pavement. 👍

[DT675]

19 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

It's a really good looking bike. 

If you don't mind my asking, what are you asking for the Tracer?  I'm not looking, but as mine was stolen today, I'm trying to get a feel for what they're worth now for when I deal with the adjuster.  

I still have my Tenere, so am in a fairly similar spot in the end.  While there's definitely downsides to two bikes, this at least is an upside: while the insurance and such are being sorted on the Tracer, I've still got a bike to ride

OMG!  Sorry to hear that.  Thats terrible... Glad you have your T7 to hopfully carry you over. Im curious how you will get "adjusted".  Hopfully you dont loose out real bad.

[theog]

8 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

It's REALLY not common here.  We're in a good part of town, in a residential area, there's bikes on the street all the time - and hell, there's two other bikes on the street right now within a block of where mine was stolen.  

 

Sounds like the bastard had good taste. 

[Heavy]

11 hours ago, piotrek said:

Congrats on the new bike. The Transalp seems to offer a good balance between street and off-pavement. 👍

Thanks ... maybe something better suited to the Nipissing Rd,  😃

[Wintersdark]

On 9/29/2023 at 6:47 PM, theog said:

Sounds like the bastard had good taste. 

Curious really.  The Tracer is generally not a high theft sort of bike, that's more Harleys and fully faired sport bikes.

Sadly, mine was less dadmode (no handguards, small sport windscreen, didn't have the bags on it, etc) so it was more just a big mt09. 

I kind of expect to get screwed by the insurance, but who knows, maybe I'll get lucky.  Then I've got to figure out what to do with my hardcases, handguards, and old windscreen; kind of odd stuff to be left with.

Meanwhile, there's an new MT10 sitting at a local dealership looking like it needs a home.  Hmmm.

[theog]

2 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

Curious really.  The Tracer is generally not a high theft sort of bike, that's more Harleys and fully faired sport bikes.

Sadly, mine was less dadmode (no handguards, small sport windscreen, didn't have the bags on it, etc) so it was more just a big mt09. 

I kind of expect to get screwed by the insurance, but who knows, maybe I'll get lucky.  Then I've got to figure out what to do with my hardcases, handguards, and old windscreen; kind of odd stuff to be left with.

Meanwhile, there's an new MT10 sitting at a local dealership looking like it needs a home.  Hmmm.

Good luck, I hope you don’t get raked over the coals by the insurance company!

I’d recommend a long test ride on the MT-10. It’s a great bike (I had two over the years), but seat was the number one problem for me. Stock, Yamaha comfort, Sargent, Corbin…none of them did the trick and my bony rear end would get sores on longer trips. But it was a hoot with that engine. That bike will pass anything except for a gas station. The Empty-10 as it’s affectionately known…

[fr8dog]

Meanwhile, there's an new MT10 sitting at a local dealership looking like it needs a home.  Hmmm.

Test rode one for about 30 minutes a few years ago. Just me and the lead guy. I liked it. Front wheel comes up easier than the fj. I leaned forward on it more which was uncomfortable for me. Nothing bar risers wouldn't take care of. I don't have numbers but I think fuel mileage has increased. I'm not buying for fuel economy though.

Dan

[knyte]

10 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

kind of odd stuff to be left with

Odd, yes, but also useful.  Keep me posted; we might be able to work something out.  I'm hoping you find your bike in great condition and won't need to sell anything off.

[Wintersdark]

13 hours ago, fr8dog said:

Meanwhile, there's an new MT10 sitting at a local dealership looking like it needs a home.  Hmmm.

Test rode one for about 30 minutes a few years ago. Just me and the lead guy. I liked it. Front wheel comes up easier than the fj. I leaned forward on it more which was uncomfortable for me. Nothing bar risers wouldn't take care of. I don't have numbers but I think fuel mileage has increased. I'm not buying for fuel economy though.

Dan

I've not ridden one, but I've sat on them and ridden R1's.  I'm *very* comfortable on the MT10, and while I've not ridden the MT, the changes to gearing and power delivery are things I view as pros rather than cons.

Being a wheelie machine is absolutely a pro - the Tracer certainly can but it requires deliberation and clutch work (or a near empty fuel tank/me sitting way back on the bike).  I kind of miss my old 07's hooligan nature, and the 10 seems in many ways just a big rowdy 07.

Fuel economy is much improved as of 2022, but still terrible. But yeah, if fuel economy was important to me, I wouldn't be considering it.

At this point, I'm set on it.  Going to buy it Tuesday, trade the Tenere in for it, and if the Tracer is found (REALLY unlikely) I'll deal with that later.

6 hours ago, knyte said:

Odd, yes, but also useful.  Keep me posted; we might be able to work something out.  I'm hoping you find your bike in great condition and won't need to sell anything off.

Will do, but as above I think it's extremely unlikely it'll be found.  The cop was pretty clear that if it doesn't show up in an impound lot in a day or two it's probably just gone.

 

[Wintersdark]

On 10/1/2023 at 7:30 AM, theog said:

I’d recommend a long test ride on the MT-10. It’s a great bike (I had two over the years), but seat was the number one problem for me. Stock, Yamaha comfort, Sargent, Corbin…none of them did the trick and my bony rear end would get sores on longer trips. But it was a hoot with that engine. That bike will pass anything except for a gas station. The Empty-10 as it’s affectionately known…

As an aside, I'm deeply jealous of places where test rides are a thing.  They just aren't here, at least for new bikes, even as a long term rider with a clean record, and being a repeat customer.  There's demo days, and if you can stumble across one it's awesome (recently had a KTM demo day where I got to ride a new 1290 Super Adventure) but outside of a specific vendor demo day at an event, it's pretty much not a thing anymore.  

With that said, sitting on it I actually found the seat weirdly comfortable.  It's very firm, but it's wide, and I'm a 300lb guy with a big butt. Wide seats spread the load, firm padding helps distribute the weight.  Miles beyond the MT07 and Tenere 700 seats, that's for sure; different than the Tracer's seat but not worse for me.  I'm probably going to order the comfort seat when I buy it regardless, though.  

[knyte]

15 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

They just aren't here, at least for new bikes

Blackfoot Motosports (now Barnes ?) had a demo Triumph that my g/f rode before she bought it.  But, yeah, demos are rare indeed.

[Wintersdark]

5 hours ago, knyte said:

Blackfoot Motosports (now Barnes ?) had a demo Triumph that my g/f rode before she bought it.  But, yeah, demos are rare indeed.

Yeah, there's *rarely* a demo bike for certain specific bikes, but if there isn't one you're screwed.  There's currently a DesertX demo bike at Blackfoot that I was really tempted by, but I don't think I'm ready to leave behind Yamaha reliability, support, and price to go Ducati. 

My Tracer, in fact, was a demo bike for Blackfoot.  Had 800km's when I bought it, paid ~$11,000 for it.  Killer deal, really.  

Amusingly, I put a deposit on an MT10SP today, traded in the Tenere - was in for the base model, but they had a previously demo SP for $3k off (which is almost entirely the price difference between the base and SP) with 892km.  I was prepared to pay list for the base model, so paying it for the SP certainly worked for me - and it's had it's first service done already too.  So, that's definitely a thing now.  

Of course, my Tracer may still be recovered - a couple days left before insurance just pays out - I don't actually know what I'll do if it is recovered.  Probably sell it, but I dunno.  

[piotrek]

5 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

I put a deposit on an MT10SP today, traded in the Tenere

Have the tears even had a chance to dry?... new BFF already? 😁

I am surprised you gave up on the Tenere... thought this was your preferred winter bike. 🤔

[piotrek]

On 10/2/2023 at 8:04 PM, Wintersdark said:

There's demo days, and if you can stumble across one it's awesome

It was a fairly popular thing in our parts before Covid... definitely. Not so much anymore. I distinctly remember a Ducati event at GP Bikes in Whitby ON... fresh sandwiches, drinks, free swag... and rounds of 30min test rides on pretty much anything in the lineup... the year was 2015. Then I rode the FZ-09 at the Yamaha event the next year (no free anything), and bought the FJ... 😁

[theog]

I’m dating myself here, but I remember the good old days circa 2007 when Buell was in business. They had an excellent demo program if you could get past the assless chaos line at the door. They would let you ride anything you wanted and gave out pretty cool swag with each ride. They even had an annual track day tour with discounted rates, catered meals, and any bike you wanted to ride. 
 

Ducati and Triumph were always good about demos, too.  It seems the Japanese bike dealers just didn’t care enough to go along with it.  And I guess it works for them.  I’ve purchased 4 new Yamahas over the years, ordered sight unseen, no test ride.