Greetings from Vancouver Island

[Drafter]

New 900GT owner come to learn what the internet has to offer about my latest addition to the family. 

20+ years of riding in the Bio; did some amateur 600 WMRRA /OMRRA racing back in the early 2000's and loved it but it started eating up more time (and money) then I could spare so I switched gears for while and got into the dirt and enjoyed some of the great local enduro riding around the Island.  Saddle time dwindled for a couple years with a couple little kids added to the mix but managed to claw some back in 2019 with a used GSXR750 purchase which then got turned into a trackday only machine that I dare not ride on the road, I somehow forget how old I am when I ride it and am WAY too old to be getting my licence yanked.  Kids are almost old enough to try out some dirtbiking with dad, got them a couple Stacyc bikes last fall and the youngest can ALMOST reach her fingers pull in the brake now (not that she would use it if she could, she's all GO that one)!

I enjoy working (tinkering) on bikes almost as much as riding them but never seem have enough time for either with work and kids, though I don't say that as a complaint.  Put a fair amount of milage on my truck with work so got the Tracer to spend some of that time in the saddle instead.  After trying a few things out the 900GT became the logical choice for me,  was planing to buy used but my local dealer had a 2019 still in the crate and with the 2021's out I got a nice deal on it.   Almost ready for the the first oil change and am SUPER happy with the bike (though I am maxed out on preload and am going to have to get some stiffer springs into the front).   Really loving the motor, cruise control, ergos, bags, and the styling suits me just fine.  

Look forward to learning from the community and hopefully might have something to contribute from time to time. 

Ride Safe!

[betoney]

Welcome.  We seem to be getting a whole herd of new members lately.  With Spring right around the corner, dealers must be blowing out the old inventory.  👍

[knyte]

I grew up in N Vancouver and the Interior - I cannot WAIT to visit my brother in Nanaimo and ride around around the Island.  Tofino, here I come!

Congrats on the new wheels!

[Drafter]

20 hours ago, knyte said:

I grew up in N Vancouver and the Interior - I cannot WAIT to visit my brother in Nanaimo and ride around around the Island.  Tofino, here I come!

Congrats on the new wheels!

Thanks,  feel free to reach out if you're hitting the Island and want to spend a few hours exploring the local twisties.  We've got some decent roads hiding around here. 

[Burley]

Greetings from Victoria.  I'll keep an eye out for you.  Obviously I don't nèed to tell you about Vancouver Island riding.  One of my plans this summer is to ride up to my hometown of Port McNeill.  It's been way too long since I've been up that way.  

[Drafter]

3 hours ago, Burley said:

Greetings from Victoria.  I'll keep an eye out for you.  Obviously I don't nèed to tell you about Vancouver Island riding.  One of my plans this summer is to ride up to my hometown of Port McNeill.  It's been way too long since I've been up that way.  

It's been a while but I remember it being very pleasant highway up there.  The last time I rode it my buddy and I wound up in 3 ft of thick early-morning mist coming off the road on a super clear day and it was swirling around our bikes as we rode down the highway, was a weird sensation I won't soon forget.  

See you out there!

Edited March 15, 2021 by Drafter

[Garz747]

Here in southern Ontario (gta) I had to work to find a new 2019 that dealers would deal on! Most have a set price and wont deviate even with the '21s arriving shortly.  Bike ads up for two years and no sales means something is wrong? 

[Salish900]

Welcome to the tribe! Although I live south of you in WA state, I spend and have spent an enormous amount of time on your island. Know and love it well. My family sailed around it a few years back. You will find this forum unusually civil and helpful. I guess folks attracted to the 900 are not doing so for reasons of image or ego or macho, as though we know the machine is about the best bang for the buck, it is not the ego trip some people want. 

[Drafter]

21 hours ago, Garz747 said:

Here in southern Ontario (gta) I had to work to find a new 2019 that dealers would deal on! Most have a set price and wont deviate even with the '21s arriving shortly.  Bike ads up for two years and no sales means something is wrong? 

My dealer (I stand by any double entendres) said they'd expected them to move fast but they wound up selling about  2 dozen KTM 1290 adv's, a dozen KTM 890 adv's and a half-dozen Africa Twins for every Tracer sold (guess the adventure crowd has the bucks).  Myself I wan't something more street oriented and based on the fact that I couldn't find a negative review on the 900 I was surprised they hadn't sold.  They had two 2019s and a 2020 when I got mine and they all sold that week!

[Salish900]

14 minutes ago, Drafter said:

Myself I wan't something more street oriented and based on the fact that I couldn't find a negative review on the 900 I was surprised they hadn't sold.

Besides those KTM's being the ugliest bikes on the road, you will be a far happier long term owner with the cost of maintenance and any repairs. Also, aftermarket is plentiful and cheaper than the Euro models. I find the 900 the most versatile blend. I can keep up enough with most bikes out there, and faster than the majority (given the HD crowd), and yet good gas mileage and good low speed. My two former faster bikes in the FJR and Connie had better top end power, but how often did I use that? And they were beasts around town and not noticeably faster 0-60. My eyeballs get attracted to some other bikes, but my optic nerve connects to my brain and my brain says the 900 is my steed for years to come. 

[Drafter]

24 minutes ago, Salish900 said:

My eyeballs get attracted to some other bikes, but my optic nerve connects to my brain and my brain says the 900 is my steed for years to come. 

Agreed,  I find the 900's power & weight very acceptable, usable, and fun!  For me 900GT is a great balance of all the features I wanted on the street.  

V-Stroms, A-twins and NSX's didn't tick enough of my boxes, and I will get on a dirtbike if I want to go offroad riding.  I actually did a trackday on a Superduke 1290R and I do have to admit the huge brakes and electronic suspension on the KTM where AMAZING but I wasn't looking for a hooligan bike and I'm not looking to ride the Tracer on a racetrack.  I rode a 1290GT around town and didn't mind it but it is definitely fugly, the extra power isn't usable on the street, it was not more comfortable, and for the $22,000.00 price tag (plus tax) I can do anything I want to the 900GT and still be into it for way WAY less cash. 

I expect many years of happy use out of Sheila (all bikes must be named for maintenance purposes). 

[Wintersdark]

The 1290R duke is an absolutely nutty bike.  Very cool, but like you said: Most of that you'd simply never never be able to use.  That was the same big draw for me with the Tracer - I went up a couple teeth on the rear, so 0-100 I'm right there with big supersports, and the upper limit of around 230ish is irrelevant because aside from the odd "just because I can" top speed run it's just not something that's practical to do much at all... and the risks are pretty severe, too.  Getting nabbed at over 200kph on the street can be a really, really bad thing.

Anyways, welcome!

I grew up on Vancouver Island, at various times living in Victoria, Shawnigan Lake, Cobble Hill, Duncan, and Nanaimo.  Absolutely love the riding there; there's basically no bad roads, and basically no end to the riding season (with decent rain gear, anyways!)  

[Drafter]

28 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

 I went up a couple teeth on the rear, so 0-100 I'm right there with big supersports, and the upper limit of around 230ish is irrelevant

Are you happy with that gearing or are you feeling the need to play around more?  I'm considering an adjustment just to get out of 2nd gear around town more and also to get into 4th sooner and take better advantage of the cruise control.  ...with riding the Island highway regularly, cruise control at 70km/hr around Ladysmith would be handy but I can't quite get there properly at the moment.     

[Wintersdark]

1 hour ago, Drafter said:

Are you happy with that gearing or are you feeling the need to play around more?  I'm considering an adjustment just to get out of 2nd gear around town more and also to get into 4th sooner and take better advantage of the cruise control.  ...with riding the Island highway regularly, cruise control at 70km/hr around Ladysmith would be handy but I can't quite get there properly at the moment.     

Very happy.  It's about 500rpm higher at any given speed, which also helps deal with that annoying kind of flat spot at 4k (which, for me, ended up being where I was sitting around town a lot).  You could go down a tooth in the front, as an alternative, but that'd end up with 15/45 teeth which gives a bad wear pattern.  The 47 tooth rear sprocket fit with the stock chain though my bike had a few thousand km's on it to get the initial stretch in; it may not be possible with a new chain.

Interestingly, as the bike is drag limited for top speed, not RPM limited, it actually made for both increase acceleration *and* increased top speed, which is fun.  

 

That bump downhill on the big hill in Ladysmith, oh man.  I've badly damaged more than one car there; never got up the courage to take a bike down there fast.