Yamaha FJ-09/MT-09 Tracer Initial Review. 

Did you get it thinking of one this year myself coming from a 1200 suzuki bandit

+SuzukiRider82 You're very welcome, thanks so much for watching. :)

+Steve Martin Well if you're talking about Triumph or higher end machines then it will be a smoother ride. Keep in mind the price of this motorcycle. I really haven't spent enough time on other triples to really make a full fledged comparison but I do recall those that I have driven in the past to be a bit vibey. Again not really enough data to be 100% sure.

+jorge santos I soon found out what GIVI was once I googled it, I don't normally purchase parts for my bikes that aren't for increased performance, so that one was new to me. The exhaust idea is still brilliant even though it did not originate on the FJ-09. I'm just glad Yamaha designed it. It allows us to at least have something decent looking while we save up for our fancy after market pipes. :)

Glad you enjoyed it :) Good luck and ride safe!

alunardoable Thanks, Yeah, I made that point specifically because so many people shit on the rear end without giving any thought as to why it's like that.

Thanks for the kind words, i'm very glad I could help you make your choice. Good luck with it. Cheers and thanks for watching. :)

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+Graham Spink Thanks very much for that, and thanks for watching.

Lol. Nice. You'll enjoy it. It's a fun bike and i'm glad I could help you in your decision.

Thanks for the comment and ride safe, you'll enjoy that bike i'm sure.

Yeah it's a pretty fun bike to ride.

+SonicRising Thanks for the in depth review, it was great and not long at all considering all things discussed and the demo ride. Yeah, I think this will be my next bike!

LOL, thanks so much for your comment. Music annoys me too in videos, plus I'm too lazy to add it anyway lol.

+Ahmad Hidayat Mohamad You are very welcome and thanks so much for watching.

Thanks-you for the kind words.

+Jojo Gun Fang I think it has more to do with bang for the buck than being Canadian. It's a great value bike.

SonicRising Thats why i went with the FZ 07, the price was $7.500. Small engine size makes it better on gas. Upright handle bars. But still very hard core tork on take off and mid range. I doubt if i will ever race it. But it has the ability to get going fast now. It can even be a little scary. But i love it.

+Jojo Gun Fang The FZ-07 is a great bike, lots of power and is super fun to ride. You can wheelie it pretty easy too but I officially did not say it's okay for you to do that :)

+Erik Boon You're welcome, thanks for watching.

You're welcome very much :)

My speed limiter WAS 191-192 as well.

+PapaC2000 we match:)

Make sure you take one for a test drive first, you'll find it much different from your GS. Cheers.

Thanks I will.

+Cruiser John It's not weird at all, as he mentioned at the start it's only $11k bike.

Sorry, I must have missed your comment. Thanks for the kind words. Different countries have very different policies about what vehicles can and can't have on them, so it may be legal to have led turn signal in Norway, but not here in Canada or other countries, (at least not from the manufacturer) so the factory has to install the parts that are legal for the countries they are shipping to. A number of years ago Yamaha came out with a new R1 that had red LED break lights with a clear screen, it was awesome, but here in Canada, the law states that break lights must have a red screen on them. So despite the fact that the red LED's were brighter than the sun (almost) and clearly break lights, Yamaha had to ship with normal red screened break lights to Canada. That is why you see so many variations on motorcycles depending on the country you are in.

Very good point. Did not think of that :-)

+Dan Grace Thanks so much, yeah, if you see a dude riding an FJ-09 with a gopro strapped to his face, don't hesitate to say hi :)

Thanks for the comment. They may be better now, but if not, braided break cables helps a lot.

+gryphongryph Thanks for the kind words. I will see if I can get a review done for you but there are only 2 Yamaha dealers here, and that bike usually is not one that they let test rides on unless you are a serious buyer. I may have to wait for a demo day to get that one done, which wont be this year as it is late in the season now.

Thanks for the comment. It is not distracting for me because I'm tall so my field of view looks over it. For a shorter rider it may be an issue.

Agreed. Cruising along mostly in 3rd gear and higher revs, i imagine there would be more vibration!

Thanks for your comment. The FJ-09 is great for short touring, say a couple hundred kilometres at a time. It's not really comfy enough for more than that in one go. I've yet to ride the FZ-10 but I have sat on one and in my opinion would not be as nice on longer trips as the FJ. However if it's sheer power you want then the FZ is the way to go. It's basically an FJ and an R1 mashed together. If it were me deciding, I would take the FZ.

I see what you're saying but I can easily see my pant leg getting caught in the foot peg on the way down. I'll give it try when I get the bike out of storage for the summer.

+Mads Ladefoged Loldrup Thanks for the kind words. Yes the sound is normal, It doesn't have a slipper clutch so shifting is not quite as smooth as it would be with a sport bike. Having said that, the transmission on this bike does seem a little clunkier than most, I had that in my video initially but edited it out for time reasons.

Had the bike 4 years, then traded in for a ZX10-R, but I loved it, it was a great bike and tons of fun.

+vlinnus Thanks. My helmet is a Shoei GT Air, but I think it is more the positioning of the mic that makes the difference, I had to play with it a bit to find the right spot that didn't pick up a lot of airflow.

+ultimateclimbing Sorry for the late reply, I must have missed your comment then work had me away from the internet for a while. To answer you question, I normally just use the bike for in town riding, I have taken it on trips of about an hour so, I'm assuming your question is regarding touring comfort but personally I can't answer that question because I have back and neck issues that prevent me from riding for more than about an hour and a half before I need to take a break and pop an Advil. But for a perfectly healthy person, I would say you could get at least 2 hours before you wanna let some blood flow back in to your butt.

+Charlie M Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for taking the time to watch :) I think the break issue is a combination of the breaks being used and the fact that I came off a super-sport which has ridiculous breaks so perhaps I was a little hasty in reviewing that aspect. As for the limiter, I too don't have any expectations of riding that fast, however for the purpose of a review I thought it was good to mention it for those that have the need for speed. Cheers.

No issues at all. Because the engine is an inline triple it is located at the front of the bike nowhere near your legs like a v-twin is.

Lol, well you're about 30 years too late for a mid life crisis, but better late than never I guess. Enjoy and ride safe.

I'm 70 as well & mine is going for a ride today.

Best place for it, you are not capable you old dog! ha ha I'll be your age pretty soon, so who am I to talk.

I confirm that it is a safe great bike - just ride it sensibly. I got the 2017 edition for myself a couple of years ago when I hit 50. My first bike ever! I have never know a single second of regret. Just always ride safely Tobey.

I'm 61 and just bought a 2017 with only 2,900 miles on it

+faisal ahmad I do tend to talk a lot...lol. Thanks for the kind words, I'm very glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching.

Thanks for the kind words. As for the question, I get between 20 and 25 kms per liter. Depending on traffic, etc, and is a combo of in-town and back road riding. I checked my last reading on the cluster before I posted this and it said 4.4/100kms. So that will give you a good idea, you're basically looking at 410km per tank as an average, pushing 430km if your on a road trip doing mostly highway, It's not the best I've seen and certainly not the worst, but it's average, which is what I would have expected of this bike.

Hi, Thanks for the comment. Yes this bike can be great for beginners as long as you're tall enough, it's a pretty high bike so that can be troublesome to newer riders, however, if that isn't an issue, then it's great because of it's 3 ride modes. Start off in B mode until you get used to it, then move up to Standard, then when you really want to have fun pop her in A mode. It's very versatile that way. It's also very maneuverable which is good, so if you do buy this bike, just keep that in mind if you get something different down the line because not all mikes handle as well as this one.

This is a lot of power for a newb. If you get it respect this bad boy.

Hi guys my mate has this for his first bike and he 5 foot 11 , and he past his test and had it got approx 1 year now and he has been fine , just have to respect the power and go steady ,he felt too big for the mt07 , hope that helps a little , I have the mt09 but the tank is only 14ltrs compared to 18 on the tracer , will doing a review soon on my channel of the mt09 gazworld🌍

The vibration is there but it doesn't really transfer into the handlebars. On longer trips you may notice your feet and legs tingling a little from it but it's nothing you really need to be concerned about. You have to remember that this bike was not built with comfort in mind, it's more of an adventure bike meets super-moto kind of deal. So you can expect a little discomfort in places on longer rides.

+SonicRising thats perfect.. i currently ride an old Yamaha FJ1200 from '86. A lovely old lady but after an hour or so my fingers turn numb and i'm afraid that i wont be able to break when needed. plus shes heavy! so im looking for something lighter, and more fun to ride. So as long my fingers dont turn black and fall of then im perfectly happy with i little tingle

Thanks for watching. I have not had a chance to ride the Tenere yet but it is certainly a nice machine. The biggest difference I would imagine would be comfort and engine. I would assume the Tenere would be a more comfy ride but it is sporting a V-twin vs the FJ's triple which would give you more of the sport bike feel. The Twin is gonna have lots of torque but will lack the pick up you are used to. I'm willing to put money on the FJ coming out on top for cornering performance as well but since I have yet to ride one I can't say for sure. I was planning to get a demo ride on one this summer and do a little review on it but it's really going to come down to personal riding preference vs which one is "Better". Still can't beat the FJ's price though considering all it has. Cheers.

Thanks for the reply. No i find I'm pretty stable on it. I get what you're saying though, some bike seats kinda force you into one spot, this one seems good though, at least for me.

raiderhater90 I'm getting about 300kms on a tank, riding more conservative you can probably get close to the 330km range. I have actually just set a trip to see how much I get with normal riding and will post it on my next review. I still have more to say on this bike. Specifically why the bike has a speed limiter.

+ylism Thanks for your input. I'm assuming you mean the stock pads are insufficient since they are virtually new. My main focus is brake lines first since I know that will increase brake function regardless of pads, then perhaps pads then calipers if needed. I will do a little research on the pads as you suggested and see what I can find. Thanks again.

Most stock pads are not the best, I never used them to know with your bike, but sometimes the pad change will do more than enough, seeing the lines are new and not broken down,,: -) Yes the SS lines will give you better over all feel even with the stock pads, but having ABS with poor pads = not so great stopping sometimes, it depends on the type & stock master cylinder ability to work together ? But In other reviews most say the front brakes are good & rear a little mushy at the worst. ABS alone sometimes makes the bike slower to stop, and there is warnings to this effect. Pads are a cheaper swap if only to see how much an improvement, just bed them in good. Most likely there will be no need of any further changes then the pads & lines, if so you may have a bad bike ? Hope not.. yl

Azmix Razak I have not had an issue with heat so far. Haven't seen it get above 87 Celsius. It has a huge radiator so I doubt you'll have any problems with heat.

+SonicRising Hi. I got mine and in Europe this bike called MT-09 TRACER. The temperature in summer goes till 105 Celsius and than the fan starts and cool it down till around 97. So how You think is it normal or I should go to dealer? It is only 4000 km on odometer... Thanks in advance

Like a sir I don't think you have any worries about those temps. Pretty normal for a lot of bikes to reach temps over 100C in the heat of summer before the fan kicks in. I'd keep an eye on it as the days get cooler into the fall months. If you're really concerned about it then just check with the dealer. They will probably tell you it's normal, but best to get advice from a licensed mechanic.

Thanks so much for the kind words. As to your question, It's really going to depend on what you're looking for in performance and comfort. The FJ is going to be a more powerful bike so if you're new to riding then you should know that the throttle can be very jerky on the FJ until you understand the gear ratios and such, so it may prove to be a turn off for you, the Versys rides a little smoother since it's an inline twin so throttle response will probably feel more tame. Other than overall power and throttle response, I really can't advise you one way or the other. The FJ does come with all those nice little extras though, so that's a bonus. Really the only way to be sure you buy a bike that's right for you is to test ride them. Go to demo days or find a dealership that has them available for test rides. Never buy a bike you have never ridden...EVER!! Despite how many good reviews you see on a bike, it doesn't mean you are going to feel the same about it, everyone is different and so is every bike, you just gotta find the bike that matches your riding personality and style. Good luck and ride safe on whatever you choose.

wouldn't the B-mode help on the jerkyness issue?

Rune Madsen It would since it tames the engine quite a bit, but you don't want to be riding around in B mode all the time, that just takes all the fun out of the bike. If you rode in B mode just because you don't like the throttle response then you've bought the wrong bike.

I bought a fresh Tracer 900 GT last week, best bike I ever owned. I will do 250kmh no prob. Handles amazing, comfortable & tons of balls. Do yourself a favour & test one.

I highly recommend it, even as a first bike. The power modes allow you to start off slow till you get used to it, then step it up a notch and it's very easy to handle.

Ok thanx again for the info.

And also it is always nice seeing south Ottawa area.

Thanks for comment. I don't remember the exact number as I traded a Ninja 636 in on it, but I think the sticker was around the $8000 Canadian. I remember it being roughly 2 grand less than new if that helps. It had low Kilometers on it though, so you can probably find one cheaper than that with 15k plus on the odometer.

SonicRising beautiful. are you still riding this bike? still happy with it?

Yeah, she's still in my garage and I'm really happy with it, it's a lot of fun to ride.

Here is a copy of a reply I gave someone else further down in the comments. I get between 20 and 25 kms per liter. Depending on traffic, etc, and is a combo of in-town and back road riding. I checked my last reading on the cluster before I posted this and it said 4.4/100kms. So that will give you a good idea, you're basically looking at 410km per tank as an average, pushing 430km if your on a road trip doing mostly highway, It's not the best I've seen and certainly not the worst, but it's average, which is what I would have expected of this bike.

+holymolie Thanks for the comment, for your first question you can watch my review update video here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ke8AUdbgWKg.html for more info on that, but the simple answer is yes.

+Jazmine Thomas Thanks for the heads up on this issue, I will be looking into all of this once the winter decides to f-off and I can get back on the road again.

Well to be honest, it wasn't really a fair review on the brakes since the bike was used, also, my previous bike to this one was a Ninja 636 and sport bikes have incredible brakes. So maybe a combo of used brakes and the unwarranted expectation of racing brake performance. Had my previous bike been a Harley, I probably would have praised the brakes.

Yes, and quite noticeable too.

Not really. It would take a lot of time and effort to do something like that. It's just not worth it.

+Thomas Odom Yes, that is my initial plan of attack on the brake issue, one step at a time. :)

+Thomas Odom i ride but i normally leave my bike stock, so the qn is how does brake lines changes the performance of brakes?

+Tony Tng the lines don't have any give that rubber lines do. When you apply the brakes, a lot of hydraulic force is being created. Rubber lines will expand while Braided lines won't. This translates to better braking and better feel at the lever.

Well it's not bone rattling but it's not really the pleasant kind either. Its more of the "makes your butt go numb" kind.

+trublu2nu I would suggest taking one for a long test drive or 2 before making that switch, I traded my Ninja and there are a few things you may not like (clutch and tranny for example). Give the FJ-09 a good going over before switching, wouldn't want you to regret the decision.

+SonicRising I have an opportunity to check one out this weekend, so we'll see how it goes. My Ninja is 20 years old and I am ready for something newer ;)

+trublu2nu For the money you can't go wrong. Keep in mind that this is not a true adventure bike, it is just meant to look like one. If you want real adventure bike performance you will have to spend about 5k more for something like a Triumph Tiger or a BMW GS.

+Ingeniería Asociada Vino con la moto, que es un "Givi". Aquí hay un enlace a la página web. www.giviusa.com/givi-products/windshields/airflow-windshields

SonicRising muchas graciasssssssss.

+PapaC2000 I'm always up for meeting fellow riders, I live in the Barrhaven area.

+SonicRising Look me up on FJ-09.org forum under the same online name. We can set it up

+Yang Yi I didn't know the previous owner but the salesman at the dealership told me he upgraded to the BMW GS, which is an amazing bike if you have the cash for it.

Traser900GT the screen you like

+Photo314159 I know this bike won't do these speeds, I was just referring to the reasoning behind why the bike would have a limiter, which I also made a video about but despite all the research, there is still only speculation and theory. The numbers I quoted were merely to make a point that there must be some other reason for the limiter other than simply just speed.

+SonicRising Yep, well that's sort of the point I'm making too. The reason for the limiter being the stability of the bike at those speeds. I sat on one yesterday and it's a very comfortable position, but I wouldn't want to do 120+mph on one. I wouldn't trust the chassis stability in the wind at those speeds. I think it's just to save Yamaha's ass from lawsuits thing if someone were to crash one. If they disabled the limiter and did it, then it's not on Yamaha.

It's made by Givi, but I don't know which model since it was already on the bike when I bought it.

its a givi shield

+Michael Meyer Yeah, it's a bit of a pain in the ass for sure. But you get used to it.

SonicRising yes I have 125,000 miles on the FJR and I still have trouble with catching my boot laces, heal or toes on the center stand and foot peg trying to get at the side stand. drop the bike once got a good laugh out of my buddies. I can ride but I suck at parking was my new nick name that day.