Jump to content

LOWERING SOLUTIONS FOR 2020 GT


Recommended Posts

24 minutes ago, dazzler24 said:

I've taken this off line and sent a PM in case I've offended unintentionally and to clarify directly.

Hi Dazz, no offence taken. My forum name Suu Kyi is after the Burmese Democracy Icon and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. You see I am originally from Myanmar, migrated here in 1969 but I have always respected Suu Kyi for her tenacity, hence my forum name. The registration plate on my Tracer also bears her name. All good and thanks for your clarification.

Cheers, Michael. 

  • Thumbsup 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Supporting Member
1 minute ago, Suu Kyi said:

Hi Dazz, no offence taken. My forum name Suu Kyi is after the Burmese Democracy Icon and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. You see I am originally from Myanmar, migrated here in 1969 but I have always respected Suu Kyi for her tenacity, hence my forum name. The registration plate on my Tracer also bears her name. All good and thanks for your clarification.

Cheers, Michael. 

@Suu Kyi - Thanks for that.  I had that horrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I'd gotten a little too clever for my own good.  Done that once or twice before ....🙄

I'm off to get the egg off my face now.

Cheers

  • Thumbsup 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, dazzler24 said:

@Suu Kyi - Thanks for that.  I had that horrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I'd gotten a little too clever for my own good.  Done that once or twice before ....🙄

I'm off to get the egg off my face now.

Cheers

No worries, take it easy and enjoy your ride and the great company on this forum.............

  • Thumbsup 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, dazzler24 said:

@Suu Kyi - Thanks for that.  I had that horrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I'd gotten a little too clever for my own good.  Done that once or twice before ....🙄

I'm off to get the egg off my face now.

Cheers

 

20200507_150751.jpg

  • Thumbsup 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, dazzler24 said:

I've taken this off line and sent a PM in case I've offended unintentionally and to clarify directly.

Dazz - and I mean this honestly and seriously - I doubt very much if you could/ would intentionally offend anyone in any way.

  • Thanks 1

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

2 hours ago, Suu Kyi said:

Hi Dazz, no offence taken. My forum name Suu Kyi is after the Burmese Democracy Icon and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. You see I am originally from Myanmar, migrated here in 1969 but I have always respected Suu Kyi for her tenacity, hence my forum name. The registration plate on my Tracer also bears her name. All good and thanks for your clarification.

Cheers, Michael. 

Small world, this!   I too - wife and two small kiddies in tow - migrated here in 1969.   The British leader and democracy icon I always respected (and still do) alas had a name a bit too long for even a WA registration-plate - Winston Churchill.

  • Thumbsup 4

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

Hi Wordsmith. I put the lowering links and the lower seat on, so I can flat foot now. I'm 61 and never got the "growth Spurt" that I was promised in my teens, so I have a pretty short reach. I haven't dropped the forks yet but am going to go a half inch lower with them too. Something I don't like much, to get the bike on the main stand is harder now, the angle changed a bit. I grab the sidecase mount to lift it and helps. The lower seat is still fairly comfy, put 5000k on the bike from new last year, over 4000 of that with lower seat, didn't die. Hope this helps!

  • Thumbsup 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, johnnyparts said:

Something I don't like much, to get the bike on the main stand is harder now,

The Yamaha diversion 900 I had years ago initially came to me with lowered suspension. Until I changed it back to standard I kept a couple of bits of 18mm thick plywood on the garage floor and ran the bike wheels on to them when I was parking up. Made puting it up on the centre stand very easy.

  • Thumbsup 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, HGP61 said:

The Yamaha diversion 900 I had years ago initially came to me with lowered suspension. Until I changed it back to standard I kept a couple of bits of 18mm thick plywood on the garage floor and ran the bike wheels on to them when I was parking up. Made puting it up on the centre stand very easy.

I started eating more spinach, just Popeye it now lol

  • Thumbsup 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Might do just that now that we can legally ride out > 50km from our homes!

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

The low version of the Tiger definitely looks like a good option to check out.  At 50cm/2" lower seat height, that's a pretty substantial difference in an otherwise very similar machine.  I've read it's (the 900 tigers overall, not the low version in particular) a bit more "boring", but... To be honest, I find such arguments to an engine's "character" to be largely meaningless overall - it's way too subjective. 

With that said:

A lot of people drop the front forks some in the triple trees to improve handling so I wouldn't be too concerned about adverse impact (should just make it tip in a bit easier), but if you're looking at lowering the rear AND the front, you'll probably end up more or less where you started handling wise.  @StealthAu has a good point, but I'd counter that how important that is depends really, really heavily on the conditions you ride in.  I know personally I could lose and inch of ground clearance and it wouldn't matter even a tiny little bit.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

  @StealthAu has a good point, but I'd counter that how important that is depends really, really heavily on the conditions you ride in.  I know personally I could lose and inch of ground clearance and it wouldn't matter even a tiny little bit.  

You may thing so, until doing it and end up scraping over speed bumps. 

Stock springs were too soft for me, effectively resulting in the bike sitting an inch lower than designed with me on it. Walking speed over speed bumps, the exhaust would touch. A hair lower and it'd be the sump. 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With covid time on my hands I have been exploring various ways to lower the seat on a Tracer 900 GT - I sold mine last December and have been missing it, but the increasing problem of getting on and off comfortably has been - well - increasing.   

So yesterday I drove to a Yamaha dealership where a demo 2019 GT was for sale, and with the help of the obliging business owner played around with things and discussed what stock solutions there may be.   Long story short - there are none that will overcome my ageing and inflexible knee/ hip/ ankle issues, so I have finally decided that there will be no GT in my riding future.   Not that my lovely BMW R9T is any let-down, with its perfect flat stock 804mm seat-height (without the rear cowl) making for very easy access.   Pic below...      It also panders to my love affair with BMW boxer twins going back to 1997.

While at the dealership we discussed the new 'red' 2020 model.   The dealer showed me a large-scale pic of the bike, and it seems the colour could best be described as pizza-topping-tomato-red/pink/orange - deff not red - but I have to say that I quite like it on the otherwise gloss black machine.   It seems that no actual bikes with this colour are yet on the Oz market, but they are in Yamaha's warehouse.

l also saw a NIKEN in the flesh - not for me.   And a new Tenere 700 - now that looks one mean machine!

So my Yamaha days are now sadly over, after having owned several machines of the brand over the years, from the learner SV250 to the mighty 1670cc MT-01 - which started-off this whole MT business.   Tracers/ GTs represent outstanding value here, and are a great bike on the road, altho' as said often here, in Oz they are as rare as unicorns in my experience.

So I will graciously fade into the sunset, and wish all you Traceristas well into the post-corona future, but I hope to continue my occasional association with this most excellent Forum if I have anything of value to contribute.

 

image

 

 

Edited by wordsmith
  • Thumbsup 1
  • Thanks 3

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

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×