How is such a great bike so unpopular!?

[DavidS]

On 4/18/2020 at 8:01 AM, keithu said:

This seems to be regional. Here in Oregon I see FJ-09s and Tracers all the time. If I'm out on weekends and the weather is nice I always see at least one riding around, sometimes more. I've seen at least two others just in the parking lots at my work.

Must be a pacific northwest thing, I see them up here in Seattle too. Clearly not as many as I see Harley's, but they are around. When I purchased my GT last December, each dealer seemed to have only one, so maybe they just don't think they will sell. I rarely see them in the showroom floors either. It's like they hide them in the back......

[keithu]

I wonder what percentage of FJ-09s and Tracers in the USA have been sold by Power Motorsports in Sublimity. Quite a few members of this forum bought there, and they always seem to have some in stock. When I bought mine in May 2015 I think they had 12-15 FJ-09s in stock, and they sold through pretty quickly. Once in a while they get previous year leftovers in; I think they must pick up unsold stock from other dealers. I'm sure they've sold more than 100 FJs/Tracers since 2015. 

Keep in mind that although the FJ/Tracer may not be a huge hit in the USA, it is a major seller in Europe. The Tracer 900 is Yamaha's second best selling model overall in Europe, and it's in the top five for ALL manufacturers in France and Spain. This is a hugely popular bike for Yamaha, if not in the USA. 

[wordsmith]

Exactly the same story here in Oz - rare as unicorns, despite everything that's said about their super value for money, sparkling performance, etc.   Most Yam dealers don't even carry one on the floor, so how're folks supposed to see and buy?  It baffles me too!   GSs are ten a penny here despite being $000s more expensive (I know - apples for apples, but...). 

I'd buy another tomorrow if only the seat height was more accommodating to my aged, stiff, unbending, wonky knees, hips, and ankles.

[rodb47]

I've seen five other than mine here in northeast Florida. But I'm in Harley country for sure.

[mingo]

It's a very popular bike in Europe and BMW has taken notice by releasing the BMW 900XR to compete with it. 

[wordsmith]

2 hours ago, mingo said:

It's a very popular bike in Europe and BMW has taken notice by releasing the BMW 900XR to compete with it. 

I eagerly await the mobike magazine writers' reviews and comparos of the two.

[wordsmith]

Thinking more about this topic, I have a view that one of the reasons why buyers - at least here in Oz - shunned the bike from day one was the ghastly North Atlantic Shipping Container Grey paintwork on the first editions of the Tracer.   Worse, it was a matte finish, and looked so drab and - well - grey that it tended to induce suicidal thoughts in onlookers!   The later iterations and GTs have moved ahead considerably in this regard, but first impressions tend to linger...

[knyte]

7 minutes ago, wordsmith said:

Thinking more about this topic, I have a view that one of the reasons why buyers - at least here in Oz - shunned the bike from day one was the ghastly North Atlantic Shipping Container Grey paintwork on the first editions of the Tracer.   Worse, it was a matte finish, and looked so drab and - well - grey that it tended to induce suicidal thoughts in onlookers!   The later iterations and GTs have moved ahead considerably in this regard, but first impressions tend to linger...

I have to agree in that the 2015 - to what, 2018 ?  ...had the candy red option, which really pops compared to later colour scheme offerings.  Truthfully, it's what caught my eye in the dealership.  After sitting on it a few times - well, I mean, I'm here now

Edited April 22, 2020 by knyte
(corrected typo)

[2and3cylinders]

I'm in real Motor Company land, them being just up the road in Beer Town.  I've seen one other FJ, a fastest Red like mine.  I almost plotzed when I saw it on the roadside together with a Red VTR1000F also like mine too!  Had to stop.  Neither rider really knew what they had other than they bought them relatively cheap but not for a steal.  I also had a 88 Honda Hawk GT NT650 and a Vision (the latter a real PITA to get the carbs right).  Yamaha really did not push to sell the FJ, more so maybe the GT, despite most moto journos praising them for the most part.  I don't get it...  Maybe we have the makings of another cult bike.  I'm trying to hang on to mine but the seat height is challenging for me too due to my sciatica.  I'm learning to get off using the left foot peg while on the side stand, and on using the peg with the centerstand but I'm shaky.  To get it off the centerstand I have to lean off and push with my left foot and try to keep it from tipping over to the right.  And I have a 32" inseam but keep it the saddle on the upper position for leg room.  My McCruise helps my arthritic hands and am now looking at an up-down QS.  Done most everything else to it but the cost even excluding all the labor by me has brought it well past the price of a used 2015 S1000XR with all the bells and whistles, which a buddy bought for $8k cash late last year.  Can you say "couch rocket"?  I had to buy my 15 on payments in 16 or I would have gone a similar route.  Still not sorry though.

[keithu]

12 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

I'm in real Motor Company land, them being just up the road in Beer Town. 

Yep, whenever I'm in Wisconsin, Minnesota, or Illinois on business I think 80-90% of the bikes I see are Harleys. They definitely own the market around there. I am not one for Harley bashing, but I think that's why their management has been so myopic; they mostly live in Milwaukee and of course that's what they see most of the time. It's why their former CEO Keith Wandell said, "Why would anyone want to ride a sportbike?" They are a niche in the upper midwest. 

Get out west in California or the PNW, and yes there are still a lot of Harleys but it's only about half the street bike market, at most. 

[2and3cylinders]

You'd a thunk HD, which had demonstrated pretty savvy marketing for decades, would have known as their baby boomer base was dying off so to speak, that they needed to reform or shrink like a geezer's schlong.  They never much worried about Victory but I think the new Indian has got their attention.  And IMO Indian is going down a similar Orange and black road despite their FTR series.  It may be too little too late for HD at least, as their earlier success has flooded the market with low mile examples of their pedigree that are too big and still too expensive for those who know better or aren't sucked in by the mystique.  It was interesting, and for me also humorous, how for a while if not still, and I'm not being jingoist, +1990 eastern block US emigre were drawn superficially to the bar & shield lifestyle.  Kind of like when their pre-1970 fathers dreamed of a big caddy.  However, dissimilar in an inverse manner anthropologically to how certain East Asian US residents prefer German cars.  Or am I being prejudiced in my assessments?!  

[betoney]

20 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

It was interesting, and for me also humorous, how for a while if not still, and I'm not being jingoist, +1990 eastern block US emigre were drawn superficially to the bar & shield lifestyle.  Kind of like when their pre-1970 fathers dreamed of a big caddy.

Maybe not directly related but a similar type observation.  Last summer a buddy and I took a 10-day road trip through Utah and Colorado, when stopping at roadside cafe's or vista point lookouts, we came across many groups of European tourists on rental Harleys.  They were completely enamored with the 'culture' and 'lifestyle', dressed head to toe in Harley swag and claiming the high point of their vacation, which they had saved for and planned out for years, was being able to ride a Harley. 

[keithu]

46 minutes ago, betoney said:

Maybe not directly related but a similar type observation.  Last summer a buddy and I took a 10-day road trip through Utah and Colorado, when stopping at roadside cafe's or vista point lookouts, we came across many groups of European tourists on rental Harleys.  They were completely enamored with the 'culture' and 'lifestyle', dressed head to toe in Harley swag and claiming the high point of their vacation, which they had saved for and planned out for years, was being able to ride a Harley. 

It's understandable. If I were a European vacationing in the USA I'd probably do the same. If you're visiting America you want the perceived "American" experience, right? It's like when you visit Hawaii you basically have to attend a Luau with flaming stick twirlers and grass skirted dancers. 

[keithu]

1 hour ago, 2and3cylinders said:

And IMO Indian is going down a similar Orange and black road despite their FTR series.

Indian's business model makes sense. H-D still sells a LOT of big cruisers in the USA, and even getting small chunks of that market represents significant annual growth for them. Eventually, yes, their cruiser growth might stagnate and they'll be in the same boat as H-D, but I don't think they're there yet. At this point they're just another thorn in Harley-Davidson's side.

Polaris is probably also in a stronger position because their business is more diversified: ATVs and side-by-sides are their bread and butter.  

[betoney]

5 minutes ago, keithu said:

It's understandable. If I were a European vacationing in the USA I'd probably do the same. If you're visiting America you want the perceived "American" experience, right? It's like when you visit Hawaii you basically have to attend a Luau with flaming stick twirlers and grass skirted dancers. 

Yes, the fact that they planned a vacation around, and traveled to a different continent to experience this 'cultural phenomenon' was so interesting to me.  To Harley's credit, irrelevant of their product, they have managed to capture the attention (and $$$) of ordinary people (non-riders) on every corner of the planet, equally engrained in modern culture as Coca Cola or Star Wars.