Picking up my new bike today

[AceOfHearts]

Yamaha MT-09 Tracer, very excited

First ever new vehicle, and a bit of a change from the old Enfield!

[AceOfHearts]

Cheers guys

50 mile ride home went well but can't get out again until tomorrow Looking forward to getting the tyres scrubbed in and getting it past the 1000 mile run in period. Dead chuffed

[AceOfHearts]

Mug shot

[AceOfHearts]

3DP said:

Very nice - these look like fantastic bikes!

Is that a Trabant in the background?

For my sins

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[AceOfHearts]

Thanks for all the comments, I will keep everyone updated with how I get on with it, and I plan on getting some decent mileage in over the next couple of weeks

[AceOfHearts]

Chicken Chaser said:

Incidentally, side by side with the Triumph 800 how did it compare?

A lot faster and a lot more sporty. It feels a lot less grown up as well if that makes sense, I can't really imagine going on any hard rides with the Tiger but the Tracer definitely seems a lot more fun, and I would also consider taking it on a trackday. On the downsides the suspension is not as good (but the Tiger i rode was the XCX with WP suspension) and it was very impressive 2 up, and the engine in the Tiger was smoother and with a more gentle throttle. In 'A mode' the Tracer can be a bit snatchy on and off the throttle but there are a few well regarded cheap fixes which I will have a go at in the near future.

Also I prefer ergonomics of the Tracer, the footpegs are a lot further back than the Tiger and although it is still all day comfy the foot back position just suits me better. The dash I also found easier to read and navigate, with all the information needed right there at a glance, but i must admit I don't like the look of it (Just a big rectangular box right in front of you).

[AceOfHearts]

jaf01uk said:

Have they stopped doing the free Akropovic exhaust or does the Tracer not qualify? Looking at one of these in red myself,
Gary

No free Akropovic from the dealers I went to (was a £1000 option!)

Its annoying as I love the carbon Akropovic full system which can be found for around £550 but it requires the centre stand removing to fit it



It will get a louder exhaust at some point but I think I will wait until there are a few more options. The best so far I think is the Arrow system which still allows the centre stand to be fitted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlQBXsjwS_o

(7:00 onwards)

Also on a separate note I am now up to 200 miles, and today have just fitted the front fender extender and an R&G tail tidy. I have also given it its first thorough coating of ACF50 which I will do quite regularly to keep any corrosion at bay

Edited by AceOfHearts on Wednesday 27th May 15:45

[AceOfHearts]

The titanium Akropovic fits with the centre stand, but not the carbon one. Problem is I can stand the triple outlets on the titanium one

No deals apart from free fitting of accessories and no labour cost on first service. They are popular at the moment so i think deals are thin on the ground.

[AceOfHearts]

1 week / 350 mile Update

Got through my first full tank yesterday. 190 miles before reserve and took around 15 litres. That works out around 57mpg which I am very happy with over my commute (half dual carriageway and half sweeping a roads), and gives a theoretical tank range of about 250 miles if you wanted to run it dry. This is also only 3mpg different to what the trip computer said which is handy)

First complaint of though from riding it in to work today (first time out in the rain)

I got to work all ok but found the pillion seat, my back and laptop bag absolutely soaked with dirty road water

Ive never had a bike which has soaked my back before so not really sure how to go about fixing it. I have a hugger on order which should be here in the next week or so, but i don't know if it really needs one of those little guard things that hook round the back of the wheel? If not hopefully a top box will sort it as I will be getting one anyways but its not really ideal.

Edited by AceOfHearts on Sunday 31st May 07:09

[AceOfHearts]

Just treated the bike to a full set of Shad hard luggage including pillion backrest and pannier inner bags Should be here next week so I can start planning my summer euro trip

First service booked in for the 15th June so I will try not to overshoot the mileage too much (was the nearest date they could do!)

[AceOfHearts]

J B L said:

AceOfHearts said:

Just treated the bike to a full set of Shad hard luggage including pillion backrest and pannier inner bags Should be here next week so I can start planning my summer euro trip

First service booked in for the 15th June so I will try not to overshoot the mileage too much (was the nearest date they could do!)

Did you go for the Yamaha genuine adaptor plate for the top case or are there sufficient 3rd party supplier out there not to bother?

Mine would be coming with OEM heated grips as they are nicely integrated but I reckon that's all you'd need.

Yes I have the heated grips ordered for mine too but apparently there is a bit of a lead time on them, the only other genuine accessory I got was the radiator guard.

All of the luggage bits were from Shad (The pdf's are quite useful):

http://www.shad.es/en/shad-world/products/fittings...

I decided against the Givi stuff due to the price and I much prefer the Shad 3 point mounting brackets as they look a lot less intrusive when the panniers are not on the bike.

[AceOfHearts]

Good man!

I am just at Hemel Yamaha waiting whilst it gets its 600mile service. Can't wait to get past the breaking in period and properly open it up

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Look what turned up today





And pannier inner bags



The mounts also look very very and solid. I will get it all fitted up today

[AceOfHearts]

Well that was surprisingly easy!

The only issue was that with the tail tidy the original indicators hit of the pannier bars, so I have just ordered up some smaller rear indicators.

[AceOfHearts]

I will go get one now. Also its not too obvious but in the second picture you can see that the carbon fibre covers on the panniers actually match perfectly with the fake carbon panels on the bike. I think it could actually be the same material. I have the matching cover on order for the top box too as I am a bit of a tart like that

[AceOfHearts]

[AceOfHearts]

Haha i knew somebody would spot that. It does about 15mph, and have taken it on a couple of decent rides, but it is properly embarrassing.

Its fast enough to be unstable and scary but slow enough for people to have time to take photos

I will be getting it out for some more summer rides though

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[AceOfHearts]

Liam876 said:

Looking good!

Glad you mentioned the indicator clearance issue. Could you measure the gap at some point?

I'm waiting on my Yamaha led indicators arriving and they're due to be fitted on the first service so would be good to know of any issues beforehand and I'll see if they can fit them a bit closer in if possible.

Thanks,

They are only an issue if you have a tail tidy (mine is a R&G one). With the standard indicator positions they will easily be far enough back. The indicators I have ordered are 2" long which i measured and will leave plenty of room

[AceOfHearts]

Andy XRV said:

The pannier mountings look really neat. I fancy one as a commuter but I'm not sure about the high mirrors. Do they go below transit van mirrors when filtering?

I haven't had much chance to filter yet as I work shifts, so I have only had to filter on it once in rush hour which was on the way to get it serviced. I didn't notice any issues apart from the hand guards do make it quite wide at the front which would be a consideration for city commuting I would imagine.

The main reason I went for the Shad luggage was due to the mountings, as they look a lot neater on the bike unloaded than the huge Givi ones.

[AceOfHearts]

Well I am now 2400 miles in, and still loving the bike. I am taking it on a Europe trip at the start of September so at this rate it will be due its 6,000 mile service by the start of winter.

I am still using it every day for work, 60 mile round trip and it really is great. The only annoying thing to me is the screen does create a lot of wind noise so I might put the large Givi screen on for winter commuting (although its not the best looking screen about). Me and the misses also took a trip up to York on it a couple of weeks ago and it was very good 2 up.

So the plan (so far) for September is this:

-Ferry to the Hook of Holland with my mate on his ZZR600, and spending a day in Amsterdam.
-Ride down to the Black Forest via Luxembourg and spend a few days exploring the roads and scenery around there (including a day trip to Rhine Falls in Switzerland)
-At this point my mate has to start heading home, so I am carrying on alone to Prague for a couple of days, and then to Berlin to visit the Trabant museum among other things
-After a day or so in Berlin I will then be blasting back to the Hook of Holland and get my night ferry home.

I will make sure I get plenty of photos and give a proper update when I get back. I'm really looking forward to it now



ETA

I have also fitted LED indicators front and rear so they actually fit with the pannier brackets now