Super Tenere or Tracer GT?

[treybrad]

- I rode the FJ-09 for 9500 miles and got sick of buffeting, crappy seat, vibration, a bunch of other little things that bothered me.
- I thought of putting a bunch of $$$ in it to upgrade everything, but decided to buy a used FJR to try it out for a while, as maybe an FJR would have those problems
rectified from stock.

Pretty good summation of my feelings as well. I traded a Honda NC700 that I used for everything for 5 years and 60k miles for an FJ-09 because I got a little bored and thought the FJ would be a bit more fun.

And it was. A lot of fun.

But... so many little issues. On longer trips the wind protection (even with a Madstad screen) and the ADD / hyperactive character became annoying. The suspension was ok for me (light years better than the NC700), but not as good as it should / could have been, IMO. The vibrations and buzziness didn't bother me at first, but after buying 3 sets of different bar ends and performing multiple TB syncs to calm them down I started to obsessively focus on them all the time. It was great on my commute but I couldn't help but think if that's all it really excelled at why didn't I buy the lighter and even more fun FZ-09?

It was a good bike, and I think it was just a bad fit for me -- too far down the sporty, minimalist road. I put up with it for a year, trying to convince myself I liked it before selling it and getting a great deal on my Tenere. Zero regrets -- the Tenere is a much better fit for me and the riding I do.

trey

 

[bruinTENEREguy]

Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention earlier:

Shaft drive > chain drive.

I haven't had to adjust the drive or clean any grease of either my FJR or my Tenere. I was fiddling with my FJ09 chain constantly, in some way or another.

 

[bruinTENEREguy]

Oh, and still another compelling reason, if finances matter:

You're 2k less to get into the lightly used S10. If you buy it at a good price, the bike will likely only depreciate minimally within a year, and slowly after that.

I paid $500 under msrp for my FJ09, plus a setup fee smaller than anyone else was offering and tax. The model had just hit the floor, so dealers weren't really discounting and there were no factory incentives. I wound up losing about 6k on that bike over the year I had it. Admittedly, part of that loss was due to trading it in. However, I managed to get 6400 for the unfarkled bike on trade and probably would have done well to get $8k had I sold it privately. Even at $8k I would have lost over 4k. I imagine you'll be looking at a similar situation with the new Tracer GT.

Consider your 2k savings out of the gate plus a conservative 4k loss (likely more) by way of depreciation the first year, and you're right where I was. It won't matter so much if you love the bike and keep it. But, if you don't love it, it will have been an expensive trial.

If you're tire-kicking, a better option might be to find a gently used FJ09 that is already outfitted with cases, Corbin, madstad, and the other mods that make the bike more tolerable. I doubt the new design justifies the cost, unless the money doesn't matter to you.

 

[twinrider]

The early reviews are out now for the tracer. I watched a short 7 minute one and the take away was that is was pretty good all around. Great brakes. Okay windshield with excellent one handed adjustment, but a little flexy. Easily adjustable suspension on the GT. And more overall room than previous versions. Light weight. Complaints were buzzy engine between 5000 and 8000 rpm. And it did not have the expected high speed stability that a sport tourer should have. A little squirrely I think he said. Now, the buzzyness I could probably live with. I've had bikes that were reviewed as buzzy and thought they were fine, others I hated. Who knows what frequencies we can meld with? But stability at speed is something I require. I even find different shields on my tenere to be deal breakers in that regard. So, I think I'll pass, though I too, was giving it some thought.

I heard a new owner mention it wasn't stable at high speeds. Surprising because the swingarm was extended 6 cm this year.

 

[twinrider]

Oh, and still another compelling reason, if finances matter:

You're 2k less to get into the lightly used S10. If you buy it at a good price, the bike will likely only depreciate minimally within a year, and slowly after that.

I paid $500 under msrp for my FJ09, plus a setup fee smaller than anyone else was offering and tax. The model had just hit the floor, so dealers weren't really discounting and there were no factory incentives. I wound up losing about 6k on that bike over the year I had it. Admittedly, part of that loss was due to trading it in. However, I managed to get 6400 for the unfarkled bike on trade and probably would have done well to get $8k had I sold it privately. Even at $8k I would have lost over 4k. I imagine you'll be looking at a similar situation with the new Tracer GT.

Consider your 2k savings out of the gate plus a conservative 4k loss (likely more) by way of depreciation the first year, and you're right where I was. It won't matter so much if you love the bike and keep it. But, if you don't love it, it will have been an expensive trial.

If you're tire-kicking, a better option might be to find a gently used FJ09 that is already outfitted with cases, Corbin, madstad, and the other mods that make the bike more tolerable. I doubt the new design justifies the cost, unless the money doesn't matter to you.

I ended up buying the S10 for several reasons.

1) I've got bad knees and the Tracer's rear set footpegs didn't seem conducive to long distance touring comfort. The S10's ergonomics suit me better.

2) If I didn't like the Tracer, I'd take a big depreciation hit when I tried to resell it. I got the S10 for a good price and it should keep its value better as they are few and far between here. It also would've cost me about 3 grand more to buy the Tracer and equip it like the used S10 (OEM side cases, driving lights).

3) I decided I wanted a bike that can handle dirt roads when needed. And the shaft drive is a plus for riding in all weather with next to no maintenance.

 

[bruinTENEREguy]

I ended up buying the S10 for several reasons.

1) I've got bad knees and the Tracer's rear set footpegs didn't seem conducive to long distance touring comfort. The S10's ergonomics suit me better.

2) If I didn't like the Tracer, I'd take a big depreciation hit when I tried to resell it. I got the S10 for a good price and it should keep its value better as they are few and far between here.

3) I decided I wanted a bike that can handle dirt roads when needed. And the shaft drive is a plus for riding in all weather with next to no maintenance.

Confirms my thinking is rational. ;D

Congrats!!! ::012:: PICS PLEASE! ::014::

 

[twinrider]

Confirms my thinking is rational. ;D

Congrats!!! ::012:: PICS PLEASE! ::014::

This pic's from Sunday, when I picked it up.

 

[bruinTENEREguy]

Very nice!

 

[twinrider]

Very nice!

Thanks.

All in all, I have to say if someone doesn't mind the knee bend (aka they have good knees) and wants a fun sport-tourer, they should give the Tracer GT a look. Amazing motor and some nice features now like cruise control, quick shifter, slipper clutch, TFT screen and nice fitting OEM bags.

 

[regder]

This pic's from Sunday, when I picked it up.

Congrats, picked up my S10 in the same colour a month ago.

 

[tomatocity]

I like the look.

 

[Colin]

Congrats, picked up my S10 in the same colour a month ago.

Hi Regder - I'm also from Toronto, looking for a 2nd gen S10. Listed at any given time on Kijiji are a ton of 2012's which was the first model year, and a smattering of 2013's. But 2nd gen started at 2014, and there are barely a couple listed on Kijiji at any time. And of those. I'm avoiding dealers because of higher costs and I want a bike with a few good farkles on it. Maybe I'm being too picky.

Where did you locate your bike? Did you find it in Ontario or did you go to another province or state to buy it? Thanks --

Colin in Toronto
'88 Honda HawkGT 650

 

[richarddacat]

I debated the same and wanted the shaft. Nice bike though.

 

[regder]

Hi Regder - I'm also from Toronto, looking for a 2nd gen S10. Listed at any given time on Kijiji are a ton of 2012's which was the first model year, and a smattering of 2013's. But 2nd gen started at 2014, and there are barely a couple listed on Kijiji at any time. And of those. I'm avoiding dealers because of higher costs and I want a bike with a few good farkles on it. Maybe I'm being too picky.

Where did you locate your bike? Did you find it in Ontario or did you go to another province or state to buy it? Thanks --

Colin in Toronto
'88 Honda HawkGT 650

Hey Colin!

I bought mine off Kijiji, in Toronto, paid $11k a year ago for my '15ES with 30k ish km's at the time. You definitely have to be patient as they don't come up too often and less at a decent price. I started my search around August and bought it in May. I was lucky in that I was the first person to contact the seller and was prepared to buy it on the spot. It was posted in the afternoon, I bought it about four hours after that.

I missed on a few as I wanted it to come with hard bags, which was stupid of me. I sold off the OEM bags for not much, and bought a set of Givi Trekker Outback's for an obscene price.

If I were you, monitor all of Ontario, as well as Quebec. When I was looking for mine, there were a bunch in Quebec, but barely any in Ontario. Figure out what a decent price to you is, when you find one, jump on it.

 

[Champagne InHand]

My long and exhaustive look into the ADV market had me looking at the Tracer-GT, but I’m a fairly tall guy, and after looking very hard at Triumph Tiger 800s both the Xrx and the Xca, as well as a used Explorer , I was sort of at an impasse. While not turned off by chains, they do need a lot of initial upkeep and adjustment.
I have owned a V-Star 1100, until I went down but really enjoyed the worry free shaft drive. That made me want the new Explorer over the Tracer GT. After watching tons of YouTube videos I agree that it’s taking the base Tracer and adding a lot of niceties, but the same could easily be done, by patiently searching for a well kept, low mileage S10.

I did also look at the Kwaki Versys 1000, but I just couldn’t get past the pegs and how difficult it was to actually get your toe onto the rear brake pedal. That and it felt so cheap, next to the S10 in materials. I do like the V2 engine in the Suzuki VStrom, but I just loved everything about the S10.

The used bike has the custom fuel injection mapping as the previous owner was a forum member, and he chose a 2 Brothers slip on to match. I’m much more familiar with Yoshimura, but I’m enjoying the sounds made by the 2 Brothers thus far.

The Yamaha family is great and well designed. I don’t need to go 0-60, in 2.2 seconds. I had a 1999 Hayabusa, and was lucky not to have had my vehicle impounded, be tossed in jail, or have died as it was way too easy to twist the throttle and find yourself blasting at speeds in excess of 150mph, as it really strutted it’s stuff at those speeds. In fairly flat, straight West Desert roads, this would be way too tempting.

I think the parallel twin is a well designed engine, getting better with each new generation.

The ADV category has so many choices it’s almost ridiculous and it comes down to the small things like foot pegs, reliability, as well as modability.

Sure cruise control on my Gen 1 would have been nice, but certainly not worth double the price or close to it, and a different bike as well.

But enjoy whatever you choose based on the trips and terrain you want to adventure into. This is such a great category.