Posts Tagged ‘Yamaha Tracer 9’

Post Number 2000: Checking Out A Tracer At The Dealership

Monday, August 10th, 2026

As that title above indicates, this is post number 2,000 on this blog. My very first post was on Saturday, April 8, 2006. Wow. Who would have thought.


Bikes set up for demo rides in Cheyenne.

As I’m assuming you are aware, I have been looking seriously at buying a Yamaha Tracer 9. I went up to Cheyenne a few weeks ago to test ride one and since then I’ve been looking at the aftermarket mods I would want to make to the bike if I bought it.

As the next step, I visited a local dealership with one in stock, Grand Prix Motorsports. The guys up in Cheyenne were too busy running the test rides to take a lot of time to seriously go through the details of the bike and I wanted to do that.

Coming into the shop I was greeted by a sales guy and I told him what I was there for. He led me over to the bike and we talked. I had a lot of really basic questions. Where is the sight glass for checking the oil level? How do you remove the seat? How do you adjust the seat? (It can be raised and lowered.) How do you open, and how do you remove/mount the side bags? How do you raise/lower the wind screen? Stuff like that.

I also asked him about modifications. For that, he told me, I would need to speak to someone in parts. He led me upstairs and handed me off to a fellow up there.

My questions:

What are the options for a case guard? I want to mount highway pegs and it appears the way to do that is on a case guard. First you need the case guard. That’s OK, I want one of those, too. I have had case guards on all my bikes. Yamaha does make one for the bike so that would seem like the best option, although I’ve seen others on forums that I find more attractive.

What can I do to improve the seat? In test riding I felt the stock seat was too hard and too narrow. Yamaha makes a “comfort seat” but what I’ve read about those is not favorable. I offered that I could just take it to Bitchin Stitchin, a local motorcycle seat customizer, and get it done there. The parts guy strongly recommended I go to Bitchin Stitchin.

The Tracer originally came with an option for a top bag, which I want but now they appear to have backed off on that, leaving that item to the aftermarket. The parts guy told me the bags originally offered were made by Givi and now Yamaha has ceded that whole market directly to Givi. We looked at what Givi has to offer and when I pointed out one that they listed as being good for the Tracer the parts guy told me that yes, it would work, but I would also have to buy the mounting kit–it doesn’t just attach directly the way the one they sold with the bike does. So that mounting kit would be about $350 on top of the $400 or so for the bag. Ouch.

I headed back downstairs to look at the bike more and the sales guy rejoined me. I had told him that I wasn’t planning to buy that day but of course he asked me what it would take for me to buy today. I asked him what deal he could offer me that would push me to buy from him rather than any of the many other places I could get the same bike. He told me he couldn’t negotiate a price unless I was intending to buy. Fair enough; I get that. We can get to that part later, perhaps, but not today.

Then he went all salesman on me, telling me they originally had three in stock and this was the last one. If I didn’t buy it today it might not be there when I came back.

“Then I’ll just buy it somewhere else,” I replied. That shut that down.

The important information I got from the exchange was that when it came down to actually making a purchase, they do have negotiating room. The $12,599 list price is not set in stone. Also, he pointed out that with taxes and fees and whatever, out the door the price is closer to $14,000. Good to know.

I’ve looked online and $12,599 seems the standard price, though some dealerships are asking a bit more and others are asking less. Some a good bit less. But what I’m told is that some states, such as California, charge a sales tax even if the vehicle is to be licensed in another state. In Colorado we pay a use tax so if you are taking the vehicle out of state you don’t pay the tax here. So if I were to buy elsewhere I would need to discuss the terms in detail beforehand to be sure it’s actually a good deal.

Am I going to do this? I do think I am. Right now, though, this beastly heat is just discouraging me from even riding the bike I have so I’m not exactly motivated to buy another one. But it has to cool off sometime. Then . . .

Biker Quote for Today

“That is why, as soon as I felt a real attraction for my first passion which was the motorcycle, and in spite of the danger it could represent, they encouraged me.” -– Jacky Ickx

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Posted in Motorcycle Gear, Yamaha motorcycles | No Comments »

Test Riding The Yamaha Tracer 9

Monday, July 20th, 2026


This is the Tracer 9 I test rode in Cheyenne.

The notice about the Yamaha demo days event at Cheyenne Motorsports said you would be allowed two test rides per day. I was there specifically to test ride the Tracer 9 so I figured I wanted to ride it twice. Not sure how many people there would be and how many would be interested in the Tracer, I made it a point to be the first to arrive in the morning. That was not hard considering that my motel was just a block away.

There weren’t many people there right away so I asked if it might be possible to get in more than two rides. Maybe. Depends on the crowd.

We got lined up for the first ride. It wasn’t going to be very long–just 9 miles, they said. And this being Cheyenne, they said they found the only two curves anywhere near. Fine. It is what it is.

We started to pull out and I immediately stalled the bike. OK. This clutch is a bit different than what I’m used to. Gonna need to experiment. It turned out I just need to roll on the throttle a little before I start releasing the clutch. The kind of thing that becomes second nature after awhile.

Looking at the bike beforehand I had wondered if the reach to the grips was a bit far. Would I need or want risers? When I bought my Concours that was the very first thing I did and it made all the difference in the world. But in this case, as soon as we headed out I could see that the reach was just about perfect. No mods needed here.

Unlike any bike I’ve had before, this one has a screen instead of an instrument cluster. How readable is that screen in bright sunlight? It turns out, they seem to have solved that glare issue. Even in direct sunlight the screen is totally readable. Nice.

I’m used to riding my V-Strom and it is designed for you to stand up while riding. That means the pegs are down pretty low. That is not the case with the Tracer. How quickly might it become uncomfortable riding with my legs not extended? What can I do about it? Speaking with the dealer later I said I want highway pegs and he said he was sure they can be had. Looking further I found that I would probably need to put a case guard on and then put the highway pegs on it. That’s exactly what I had done with my CB750 Custom and my V-Strom so I’m fine with that. Plus, it’s nice to have the extra protection for the engine.

How was the ride? Really nice. I like this bike. It has tons of acceleration and good brakes. The handling is very light and easy. We got to the two curves they spoke of but there was a slow-going truck in front of us so we didn’t get to take it at any kind of speed. But the bike felt good.

We got back and now there were more people showing up. Could I get on the Tracer again right away? No one else had signed up for it so I did. Great.

Riding it again was a very good thing. For one, I was by now acquainted with the clutch and I had no issue with that. We also had a chance to hit some higher speeds and the engine got a chance to show me what it can do. Let’s just say it can do a whole lot more than the engine on my V-Strom. And we were able to hit those two curves with a bit more speed. Very smooth. I like this bike. I may just have to buy one.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if your boots cost more than you spend on gas in two months.

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Posted in Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom, Yamaha motorcycles | No Comments »

I’m Convinced I Want A Bigger Bike

Thursday, July 16th, 2026


A stop on the recent Utah trip.

I’m down to only one motorcycle now and it’s the smallest one I have ever owned. This Suzuki V-Strom is a 650cc machine and it has done very well by me. That said, this recent trip to Utah convinced me that having something just a bit bigger and more powerful is desirable.

On the way out we blasted across Colorado on I-70 and the guys up front were running about 10 miles per hour above the limit. The limit is 75. So my V-Strom was working hard. I kept up, there’s never any issue about that. But it was working.

Then we got into Utah and the speed limit went up to 80. So we were doing 90. Or more. Now that little 650 was working hard. But I was keeping up.

Later in this trip we climbed some pretty high mountains, often on some particularly steep roads. That was when I really felt it. There were a couple times when I wasn’t sure we were going to keep up. I had to shift way down low to get the oomph to make those climbs. That was when it really gelled in my head that yes, I do want a bigger bike.

Not a lot bigger. I really don’t miss my old Concours. It was 1000cc and it weighed a whole lot. It had the power to carry that weight and on the highway it cruised just as smooth as glass. It was a nice highway bike. But oh man, at slow speeds in a parking lot you better not let it lean too far or there’s nothing on this planet that you can do to keep it from dropping.

So I’ve looked around a bit in recent years and I have identified the Yamaha Tracer 9 as just about the ideal bike. It’s 800cc and weighs around 450 pounds. That’s almost exactly the same as my V-Strom. The Connie weighed 600 pounds.

Weight is not the only thing; there’s also handling. But weight influences handling, particularly at very slow speeds. I’ve mentioned before how when the RMMRC went on a New Mexico/Arizona trip a few years ago I watched all these other guys wrestling their big machines around these tight curves, and meanwhile, on my V-Strom, I was dancing.

But I hate the idea of buying a motorcycle without having ridden one at least once. Last summer I heard that the Yamaha dealer in Cheyenne was hosting a demo days event. I had it on my calendar and a sure thing. Then, a drunk driver altered all my plans for the summer.

There was no Cheyenne demo days event listed on the Yamaha site this year but there was one set for Boise. OK, that would mean a road trip. That works. But then we ended up going to Alaska at that same time. We got home and I looked again, thinking I might need to go on a long trip. But apparently these events get added during the summer. And it turned out there was a demo days at a Denver dealership . . . the day we left for Alaska. Dang!

But then, oh my gosh, there it was: Cheyenne. The very next week. I’m going. And that’s the answer to the question you may have had, why was he going to Cheyenne?

Biker Quote for Today

I couldn’t find the right man, so I settled for a motorcycle. I’ve never been so happy.

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Posted in Kawasaki, motorcycle clubs, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom, Yamaha motorcycles | No Comments »