New Tracer 900 GT owner

[bikerdup]

Greetings.  Tomorrow (10/6/18) I will be picking up my new 2019 Tracer 900 GT from Harper Cycle and Marine in Henderson, NC.  I'm coming off of a 2016 FJR I bough as a new leftover this past Spring.  At 5'7" with a 29.5" inseam, that bike has proven to be too tall for me to handle in comfort in the parking lot, although it's fine when I'm rolling.  The smaller lighter 900 GT should be just the ticket.  As for me. I'm older than I like to admit and have about 300,000 riding miles under my belt on UJMs, sport bikes, and sport tourers.  My expectation is that the 900 GT will be the last bike I buy.  
 
It's good meet the forum members.

[xcsp]

Congrats on your new bike. Bet you will like the lighter bike!

[betoney]

I'm coming off of a 2016 FJR I bough as a new leftover this past Spring.  At 5'7" with a 29.5" inseam, that bike has proven to be too tall for me to handle in comfort in the parking lot, although it's fine when I'm rolling.  The smaller lighter 900 GT should be just the ticket.

 
Congratulations on the new bike and welcome to the forum.
 
 
 
Have you taken one out for a test ride?  Even though the GT is lighter than the FJR, the seat height is 2" taller.
 
 

[fjrchuck]

Never say never on the "last bike". I said that about my Gen2 VMax, and that was 3 bikes ago! 8-)
 

[roadrash83]

Congratulations on your GT, I thought all the dealers sold out of them. Also, remember you are always one bike short of enough.

[nhchris]

Greetings.  Tomorrow (10/6/18) I will be picking up my new 2019 Tracer 900 GT...  My expectation is that the 900 GT will be the last bike I buy.   
It's good meet the forum members.

Light is right!   You'll love throwing the 900 around. 
cb

[bikerdup]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I got the same from the Hayabusa guys and the FJR crew when I got those bikes back when and joined their forums.. I now have a whopping 64 miles on the odometer (rode the bike off the lot at ~10:00 AM this morning).
 
Things I like:
- Flickable. Not a word one uses when discussing a 'busa or FJR.
- Height of eye. I'm sitting tall on this bike
- Excellent real world power and torque.
 
Things I'm "iffy" on
- After 20 years on VFRs, 'Busa, and the FJR, handlebar mounted mirrors are different. Don't know yet if I like them or not. Bar end mirrors would be the option if I end up thumbs down.
- The seat. It slides me a bit towards the tank and has a sharp edge that I notice on my inner thigh. I'll need a long ride to assess if this something I need to rectify.
- Black seat cover picks up sun heat when parked. I had a black sheepskin seat cover on my 'busa. It would get warm but never hot. May need to make that investment for the "Googt" (pronounced "goojeetee").
- I'm short and this bike sits even taller than the FJR. Good news is that this thing is a feather, so the height doesn't intimidate my 29" inseam the way the massively top heavy FJR does.
- Front brake is a bit limp. For now I'm chalking that up to needing to bed in the pads. We'll see . . .
 
Things I'm not happy with
- The design guys must have really small hands because it's a pain the get a gloved mitt onto the ignition key
- Turn signals must have been sourced from the left over parts bin of a 1980s Virago. Yamaha - Really??
- 60 miles on the clock and already have two warranty issues:
a. Engine light is on and will not go off. I hope this is nothing more than an errant code the dealer can clear.
b. I am unable to enter "Menu" mode to set things like the clock, mph vs kph, etc. I'm guessing this will be more challenging for the dealer than the engine light described in "a" above.
- The three foot long feeler on the left peg interferes with putting down the side stand. I'll be bagging those in the AM before I head out to start scoring my first oil change miles.
- I have a Nelson-Rigg magnetic tank bag. The plastic shroud on the front of the gas tank makes me have to perform unnatural acts with the tank bag's attachment blanket to grip the tank. Not a biggie, but a niggle.
- Bike is a bit buzzier than either the 'busa or FJR, most noticeable in the fuzziness of the mirrors. Hopefully the luggage rack on the top of the car behind me isn't really a light bar when I decide the double
yellow line is a suggestion rather than the law if I should pass Granny doing 40 in a 65 zone (not that I would EVER pass on a double yellow )
 
Thanks again for the welcome. I look forward to exchanging tips and tricks as I tailor the Googt to my preferences.
 
 

[DavidS]

Welcome Bikerdup, a few things to consider, now that you are actually riding the bike.
 
1) Mirror extenders make all the difference in getting the stock mirrors usable, easy cheap mod
2) Seat is a known sore-point (no pun intended) I opted to purchase a Corbin seat, others have had good luck with Sargaent as well
3) A custom seat can be whatever color you want
4) Check to see that you have the seat in the lowest of the two settings. Look where the seat meets the rear of the tank, and make sure you are putting it in the lower of the two settings
5) Not sure about your brake, if it doesn't improve you might try bleeding the front brake lines
 
Ignition location is a pain, no arguments from anyone about that
Turn signals haven't been a problem for me, but they aren't the best looking I've seen for sure
In the older 2015 model I have, you can clear faults from the display, seems like along the line, they decided to restrict this, that's a bit of a shame on Yamaha......., probably a lawyer driven decision though
I removed the feeler peg after my first ride, don't need it, and it irritated me to no end. It was also the low point of the bike, If I remember correctly.
Bike has a tendency to vibrate when new, most folks have experienced it smoothing out after a few miles......
 
Hope this helps, you can search on any of these issues, they are well documented on the forum, with lots of information about how folks tried to resolve them.
 
Welcome and good luck!

[new1709rider]

About the ignition switch being down in a hole, I definitely don't like that either! What I did was take the handlebar caps on top of the risers loose and turn them around so that the pointy ends are now turned towards the driver. It doesn't bring the switch any closer but it does give you just a little more hand room to reach down to it.

[colorider]

On 10/7/2018 at 6:08 AM, new1709rider said:

About the ignition switch being down in a hole, I definitely don't like that either! What I did was take the handlebar caps on top of the risers loose and turn them around so that the pointy ends are now turned towards the driver. It doesn't bring the switch any closer but it does give you just a little more hand room to reach down to it.

I realize this is an old thread, but this post caught my eye as I have been thinking about rotating the caps for this very reason.  In my case, I recently rotated the base pieces, which moves the bars forward a bit - but at the same time it makes access to the key even worse.