1321 miles later....

[Larz]

What a great bike; really enjoying getting to know this machine. Like Coop said, it's just about the perfect bike for me: light enough, more than nimble enough with enough power to lose your license in a hurry.

I appreciate the refinements Yamaha has built into the bike, while still retaining it's Hooligan soul. I've ridden out a gas tank on on the Highway- very comfortable with the cruise control ( got some extended front frame sliders, let me stretch my legs out a bit, that'll help on the long hauls). Done lot's of 30-50 rides in the twistys up in the mountains as well as slogged through a fair amount of stop and go traffic. The bike hasn't disappointed in any scenario so far. 

I'm finding the seat good as long as I use my knees to grip the tank- got some cheap grip pads, wow, what an improvement in cornering and braking control, going to have to get some better ones, it's a bitch trying to get them to stick to the plastic panels.

The windshield is pretty damn noisy, I'm thinking of trying the MRA windshield for a little less noise.

The suspension seems decent off the floor- good enough to wait for 20k or so before upgrading. The brakes are more than adequate.

But  the Fuel range is a bit short- although the bike seems to get about 42-43 MPG consistently, it be nice if you could confidently go 200 miles before worrying about fuel.

I have to admit to a wee bit of a let down; albeit, a self-inflicted one. I rode the first 200 miles in Mode B with TC 2 ( getting to know the machine, haven't ridden anything this sporty since I was a kid with a Honda 400/4 SS ( ok a lot less sporty). Put her in Standard after that. Finally had enough miles on the clock to put her in Sport mode with the TC off. OK, I guess I was expecting fireworks- can't keep the front wheel down , going to need a new rear tire real quick scary kinda stuff. It is super quick, no doubt, and feels like it would not take much urging to loft the front wheel or spin the rear tire, for sure. But it wasn't scary :>0. That's good in a way- I've got 9k into a Blueprinted engine in my Dyna- and no it's not as fast as the GT, but it ain't much slower; and the GT is plenty fast enough, although I'm thinking full pipe and some airbox mods with a re-flash just for shites and giggles

I'ts no wonder this bike is so popular in Europe- budget price with kickass fun and amenities built-in ;>)

 

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Edited June 9, 2019 by Larz

[Coop]

And on the plus side, wearing my fitbit while riding gives some nice numbers like 97 elevations or walked 212 miles.  It's the only way I can get ahead of my wife.  After 97 elevations I can skip the stairs for a while.

[kingfisher]

If you like it now, I think you will find that it continues to get better with some mileage. This is the 4th bike with this triple cylinder powerplant that I’ve had, (what can I say, I like this motor,) and I find that it takes more time to fully break in than some other powerplants. Every one of them seemed to take about 5,000 miles to peak power output. Must be tightly assembled. You referred to sport mode; if you meant A mode, that is my favorite. It is a significant change from std, and lets that raw triple torque be felt, especially in the midrange.  In this 2019 iteration it is not too abrupt in fueling, at least to me. I’ve had more powerful bikes, but the output of this engine never fails to exite.

Edited June 10, 2019 by kingfisher

[johnmark101]

Just 800 miles on mine so far.  Weather and other obligations have kept me from riding as much as I wanted to since purchasing the bike near the end of last month.  I am impressed with the versatility of this bike.  It strikes the perfect balance between sport and touring without disappointing at either.  So much fun to ride no matter the road.

[Larz]

On 6/9/2019 at 10:37 PM, kingfisher said:

If you like it now, I think you will find that it continues to get better with some mileage. This is the 4th bike with this triple cylinder powerplant that I’ve had, (what can I say, I like this motor,) and I find that it takes more time to fully break in than some other powerplants. Every one of them seemed to take about 5,000 miles to peak power output. Must be tightly assembled. You referred to sport mode; if you meant A mode, that is my favorite. It is a significant change from std, and lets that raw triple torque be felt, especially in the midrange.  In this 2019 iteration it is not too abrupt in fueling, at least to me. I’ve had more powerful bikes, but the output of this engine never fails to exite.

4th Triple, cool, respect. Yeah, I'm finding it to be an exciting engine; it's only been Twins and an inline four on my previous bikes, this engine has some nice characteristics in comparison. I buy the extended break-in to full power. Been breaking in this engine with a lot of short rides, complete cool down in between: heat cycles, man ( I read too much, obviously). It's been interesting feeling the bike get smoother and more powerful with each little ride. But noticing it is still improving even though I'm stretching the rides out to a gas tank or so now that I'm over the 1k hump. Going to do a 3K round trip up to Idaho and back end of this week- that should have me close to 5K on the clock.