Tracer 900 GT

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Discussion

CaptainSlow

Original Poster:

13,179 posts

218 months

Sunday 29th April 2018
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Coming out next month and looks pretty good.

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-reviews/yamaha...

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

261 months

Sunday 29th April 2018
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Can't say it looks terribly exciting, yet another ugly faux adventure bike.

WaferThinHam

1,680 posts

136 months

Sunday 29th April 2018
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Yamaha getting more money out of that MT09 platform. Can't say I blame them!

Shadow R1

3,816 posts

182 months

Sunday 29th April 2018
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I will have a look when the local dealer gets one.
I own the xsr900.
Engine is brilliant (with the fueling sorted out).
Mine has a rapidbike evo taking care of that.
Suspension is a weak point, I have a nitron shock, front is standard for now.
I put the heated grips on from Yamaha, so they connect straight to the bikes wiring.

Fuel range is about 100 miles from the 14l tank, the tracer has a 17l.
My brother used it in winter, the other budget area of the xsr came out, with most of the bolts furring up.
Sorted them with Autosol, but he has used a 2010 R6 and my previous 06 R1 for the commute and they were fine.

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

261 months

Sunday 29th April 2018
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WaferThinHam said:
Yamaha getting more money out of that MT09 platform. Can't say I blame them!
I don't blame them at all, and I think the XSR900 is a lovely looking machine. I'm not a huge adventure bike fanatic but I can totally understand their purpose and why people love them. This seems to be the equivalent of a crossover in the car world i.e. looks like a 4x4 but is just a jacked up hatchback with no off road capabilities at all.

Edited by Mr2Mike on Monday 30th April 09:06

CaptainSlow

Original Poster:

13,179 posts

218 months

Sunday 29th April 2018
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Not sure it has claimed to be an adventure bike, it's a sports tourer.

moto_traxport

4,238 posts

227 months

Sunday 29th April 2018
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CaptainSlow said:
Not sure it has claimed to be an adventure bike, it's a sports tourer.
As mentioned above it's more a crossover / SUV equivalent. How many GS's honestly get proper off roaded?

I bought the normal model 2 years back (having a mid life crisis) and the front suspension was truly awful, screen was annoying (better completely off), seat comfort was shocking (both rider & passenger even when upgraded to 'comfort' seats) and the fuelling was annoying (always flicking between the modes). Sort all that out and it'd be a bargain.

Lovely engine for the road and great heated grips I seem to remember. Does the latest one have cruise control? It was a blanked out switch (MT-10 stuff) on mine and that lack of progress annoyed me for the sake of 10 quid.

Sold it as an early R1 was way comfier (both solo and with pillion) so it sort of missed the main point.

CaptainSlow

Original Poster:

13,179 posts

218 months

Sunday 29th April 2018
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The GT version has upgrade suspension, cruise, heated grips, quickshifter, luggage etc

graeme4130

3,890 posts

187 months

Monday 30th April 2018
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I rode a few of these up at Silverstone last week for the dealer launch, and they were very impressive indeed
Yamaha had pretty much one of every road bike they make there, and we had the pick of the range to use to lead a 25 min fairly fast road loop made up of A roads, country lanes and dual carriageway
I did that loop probably 15 times, and would try and grab a tracer gt every time given the choice
I’m not in the market for another road bike having just sold my Africa twin, but if I wanted a do everything bike, that’d be the top of my list

Edited by graeme4130 on Monday 30th April 09:18

JulianHJ

8,785 posts

268 months

Monday 30th April 2018
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Meh, I see no reason to choose the Tracer over the new Tiger 800.

YouWhat

130 posts

83 months

Monday 30th April 2018
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JulianHJ said:
Meh, I see no reason to choose the Tracer over the new Tiger 800.
Because its a better bike maybe

EvoBarry

1,903 posts

271 months

Monday 30th April 2018
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YouWhat said:
JulianHJ said:
Meh, I see no reason to choose the Tracer over the new Tiger 800.
Because its a better bike maybe
I own a MY17 Tracer and even I'm not sure that's true, better how? I bet the seat is comfy, I bet the screen doesn't cause tinnitus, I bet the rear shock cost more than a tenner?

That said, I do feel a strange attachment to the Tracer, it's flawed but you can live with those (I've upgraded screen, shock is next).

YouWhat

130 posts

83 months

Tuesday 1st May 2018
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EvoBarry said:
I own a MY17 Tracer and even I'm not sure that's true, better how? I bet the seat is comfy, I bet the screen doesn't cause tinnitus, I bet the rear shock cost more than a tenner?

That said, I do feel a strange attachment to the Tracer, it's flawed but you can live with those (I've upgraded screen, shock is next).
I don't have any issues with the seat, or rear shock (even two up), screen yes its awful but easily swapped. I find the tiger 800 just lacks excitement, the engine is 20 bhp down on the tracer and the way it delivers the power it does have, just send me to sleep. Plus Yamaha's build quality leaves triumph for dead, the last few trips I've been on its always the triumphs or BMW's that have problems.

SteelerSE

1,930 posts

162 months

Tuesday 1st May 2018
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All the reasons that people list are why I bought the Crossrunner and not the Tracer. by the time you sort out all the stuff that's wrong with it you're at the same cost as the Crossrunner with worse build quality.

The GT looks like they're making significant steps towards sorting that stuff out. I might go and get a test ride to see the difference.

YouWhat

130 posts

83 months

Tuesday 1st May 2018
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SteelerSE said:
All the reasons that people list are why I bought the Crossrunner and not the Tracer. by the time you sort out all the stuff that's wrong with it you're at the same cost as the Crossrunner with worse build quality.
That must be why the MT09 and Tracer are one of the biggest selling bikes in Europe, because they are so bad. DOH!

EvoBarry

1,903 posts

271 months

Tuesday 1st May 2018
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YouWhat said:
SteelerSE said:
All the reasons that people list are why I bought the Crossrunner and not the Tracer. by the time you sort out all the stuff that's wrong with it you're at the same cost as the Crossrunner with worse build quality.
That must be why the MT09 and Tracer are one of the biggest selling bikes in Europe, because they are so bad. DOH!
RRP is why it's a best seller IMO, there are clear and well documented shortcomings on these bikes that most people either live with or upgrade to suit - and still come in cheaper than rivals. I could add screen and shock upgrades to my Tracer and still have money left compared to buying a Tiger800 for eg.

CrossRunner is a nice bike underneath for sure, but I'd suggest not as much fun as the MT range.

SteelerSE

1,930 posts

162 months

Tuesday 1st May 2018
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EvoBarry said:
YouWhat said:
SteelerSE said:
All the reasons that people list are why I bought the Crossrunner and not the Tracer. by the time you sort out all the stuff that's wrong with it you're at the same cost as the Crossrunner with worse build quality.
That must be why the MT09 and Tracer are one of the biggest selling bikes in Europe, because they are so bad. DOH!
RRP is why it's a best seller IMO, there are clear and well documented shortcomings on these bikes that most people either live with or upgrade to suit - and still come in cheaper than rivals. I could add screen and shock upgrades to my Tracer and still have money left compared to buying a Tiger800 for eg.

CrossRunner is a nice bike underneath for sure, but I'd suggest not as much fun as the MT range.
Completely agree. It's horses for courses in the end. The lower cost is obviously a huge attraction for people. And I'm not saying it's a bad bike but to get a centre stand, heated grips, comfort seat, top box, suspension sorted etc when I was buying a couple of years ago negated the cost difference completely. And the Crossrunner came with an Akrapovic end can as well at the time.

It's good that Yamaha have addressed that stuff with the GT. It has everything that I would have wanted now - assuming that the seat is more comfortable than the 2015 model.

pauldavies85

423 posts

192 months

Tuesday 1st May 2018
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The tiger 800 brakes are woeful Imo. Your stopping a sugnicant weight and takes a good grab. I test the new tiger last weekend, nice enough but still found too much turbulence off the screen(still needs to be taller/wider) and be nice to have bigger stoppers, maybe no good off-road though?

The 900 GT looks appealing and not trying to do the off-road thing, plus it must be 2k cheaper?
Not sure build quality is great but definitely reliable.

tjlazer

875 posts

180 months

Tuesday 1st May 2018
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pauldavies85 said:
The tiger 800 brakes are woeful Imo. Your stopping a sugnicant weight and takes a good grab. I test the new tiger last weekend, nice enough but still found too much turbulence off the screen(still needs to be taller/wider) and be nice to have bigger stoppers, maybe no good off-road though?

The 900 GT looks appealing and not trying to do the off-road thing, plus it must be 2k cheaper?
Not sure build quality is great but definitely reliable.
Had exactly the same feelings about the new tiger 800. I tried the xrt but although it's a lovely engine I also felt the screen was worse than useless (my naked Street triple more comfortable) and brakes, lean angle pretty poor. Scraped the pegs and wasn't really trying just used to something more sporty i guess. Now need to look at s1000xr, GT and maybe a multistrada. Ideally a turismo veloce as they look incredible but so much money. Might just keep my street!

YouWhat

130 posts

83 months

Wednesday 2nd May 2018
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SteelerSE said:
Completely agree. It's horses for courses in the end. The lower cost is obviously a huge attraction for people. And I'm not saying it's a bad bike but to get a centre stand, heated grips, comfort seat, top box, suspension sorted etc when I was buying a couple of years ago negated the cost difference completely. And the Crossrunner came with an Akrapovic end can as well at the time.

It's good that Yamaha have addressed that stuff with the GT. It has everything that I would have wanted now - assuming that the seat is more comfortable than the 2015 model.
Still dont understand where you get your figures

1. Centre stand is standard on Tracer
2. Seat is fine, I ride all day no problems
3. Heated grips, yes a tad expensive but good
4. Suspension I have absolutely no problems with suspension, can easily keep up with mates on the S1000RR, Panagale, etc.
5. Bought Shad panniers (far better and cheaper than Yamahas)
6. Bought nearly nearly new TI Akro from mate for 1/2 price, full system not "end can"

All in cost me £9250, far less than Crossrunner, and a bike that's been voted best all round bike and has received numerous accolades from the motorcycle press.

As for quality they top the charts, I have owned Yamahas for 37 years and not had one single problem with them, other than 2 recalls.