wordsmith Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 The new GT came third out of eight contenders in the annual 'Bike of the Year' comparo in Australia's best-selling motorbike magazine, Australian Motorcycle News (AMCN), a fortnightly publication. The winner was Ducati's V4 Panigale S which, at AUD$37,500 is well over twice the AUD$16,990 cost of the GT! AMCN criticised the forward-sloping rider's seat - which many here have commented on too. The GT's new suspension came in for some damning with slight praise too. The article erred somewhat in suggesting that the earlier Tracers were disadvantaged due to the 'added cost of panniers', when in fact from day one on the Oz market the hard OE panniers were included, which IMHO made the package an excellent value-for-money proposition. Overall, the AMCN article was reasonably positive, but the bike didn't jump off the page at me, and had I been relying on the article to point me in the direction of a new bike I think I'd have overlooked the GT. Which would also be easy to do 'out there' on the road', for I'm not at all sure that it has yet been widely released to Joe Public! Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member DavidS Posted December 16, 2018 Premium Member Share Posted December 16, 2018 That's too bad! Back in 2015 when I bought mine, there was a lot of very positive press about the bike and it's capabilities. I hadn't been riding for many years, and really made my mind up before even riding it. I looked at a few other bikes, but nothing captured my imagination like the FJ-09. I found a dealer who had one available for a test drive, and rode the bike home. Honestly, I can't imagine a better bike for me. I'm tempted sometimes, when I see friends with their new BMW's or KTM's, but as soon as I get back on my FJ-09, I'm reminded why it is perfect for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duhs10 Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 Kind of makes me laugh that the Tracer GT and the Panigale V4 are even in the same conversation... '15 FJ-09 w/ lots of extras... Fayetteville, GA, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsmith Posted December 16, 2018 Author Share Posted December 16, 2018 DavidS - I should clarify that I await delivery of my non-GT (in fact a brand-new leftover 06/2015) Gen 1 Tracer, so the AMCN article had little value for me. Point was, had I been casting a net far and wide to help me make a buying decision, I doubt the article would have guided me to the Tracer GT, so bland was it. Which is the mag's fault, not the bike's. Fact is, there are very, very few Tracers to be seen here in Oz and it has undoubtedly been a sales flop for Yamaha, hence no doubt my being able to buy the zero km 06/ 2015 leftover model. This won't be my first Tracer, and I do agree it is, warts 'n' all, a great little bike and outstanding value for money too. (Love that doggie! Newfoundland, or some such?). Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsmith Posted December 16, 2018 Author Share Posted December 16, 2018 1 hour ago, duhs10 said: Kind of makes me laugh that the Tracer GT and the Panigale V4 are even in the same conversation... Couldn't agree more! Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugie Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 By the sound of it the article is pretty useless. Some one looking for a sports tourer couldn't give a rats arse about a comparison between a Panigale. I mean the accessories you require on a sports bike is worlds apart from that of a sports tourer, as is what classifies it as a good bike is very different (even in terms of handling). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member DavidS Posted December 16, 2018 Premium Member Share Posted December 16, 2018 2 hours ago, wordsmith said: DavidS - I should clarify that I await delivery of my non-GT (in fact a brand-new leftover 06/2015) Gen 1 Tracer, so the AMCN article had little value for me. Point was, had I been casting a net far and wide to help me make a buying decision, I doubt the article would have guided me to the Tracer GT, so bland was it. Which is the mag's fault, not the bike's. Fact is, there are very, very few Tracers to be seen here in Oz and it has undoubtedly been a sales flop for Yamaha, hence no doubt my being able to buy the zero km 06/ 2015 leftover model. This won't be my first Tracer, and I do agree it is, warts 'n' all, a great little bike and outstanding value for money too. (Love that doggie! Newfoundland, or some such?). Dog is a long haired Rottweiller, although he is commonly mistaken as a Newfoundland. One of the sweetest dogs I've ever had, loves kids, people, motorcycles, and even cats.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsmith Posted December 16, 2018 Author Share Posted December 16, 2018 Thanks! Didn't know that Rotties can be long-haired - never seen one here, tho' plenty of short-haired models about. Great dogs... Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 11 hours ago, DavidS said: That's too bad! Back in 2015 when I bought mine, there was a lot of very positive press about the bike and it's capabilities. I hadn't been riding for many years, and really made my mind up before even riding it. I looked at a few other bikes, but nothing captured my imagination like the FJ-09. I found a dealer who had one available for a test drive, and rode the bike home. Honestly, I can't imagine a better bike for me. I'm tempted sometimes, when I see friends with their new BMW's or KTM's, but as soon as I get back on my FJ-09, I'm reminded why it is perfect for me. I don't know how you compare a Panagale and a FJ 09. I just picked a brand new 2017 leftover FJ 09 to replace a 6 week old XSR900 which got totalled. The only thing that really appealed to me about the 19 is the longer swing arm. Excepting that, it's pretty much the same bike. all the big improvements happened in 2017. I love the previous bike and I love this one. It does every thing I want it to do and it's a good looking bike. I think it's a ton of motorcycle for $8999 otd price plus sales tax. I figured for 2G less i'd buy the 17 over the 19. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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