In my previous post, I mentioned about getting the Yamaha Bolt XVS950 Actuator, and it arrived. The MT-03, R25 will also fit for the Tracer, and they are the longest Actuator so far.
Yamaha XVS950 5S7-16340-00 Clutch Actuator
But before assembly, here are some physical fundamental on leveraging – Longer distance = lesser force, vice versa.
This mod is a preference mod and if you are after the lightest pull, the tallest order to least as follows:
1) Do the XSR900 clutch assembly swap, Yamaha claims this reduce 20% clutch effort
2) Actuator Swap, pros & cons depends on your needs and requirements
3) Clutch Assembly Swap – to compliment 2)
Do understand that having a lighter pull through means of changing the actuator leverage ratio. what it means is that it requires you to pull a longer distance over the original assembly. Setting the Tracer’s actuator as baseline, any longer actuator fitted will result in a longer pull distance to disengage the clutch plates. There is no best length to please all.
Here are the Center to Center measurements:
Tracer 40mm
Bolt +5mm or +12.5%
MT-03 +10mm or +25%
Bolt vs Tracer
Stock when fully engaged
I shifted a notch off to reduce the R1 Cable slack
Definitely responsibly engineered. I am gald I did not choose this assembly through faith and hope they fit all Yamaha, and ordered through direct part numbers when the cost difference for certainty is just SG82¢(as of the day of my order). Of course we need to factor in additional cost to match the Ignition key to the helmet lock, though this is optional to match the wafers in the tumbler to have a (almost in my case) single key solution. I definitely will go for it (when I eventually order the candy red FJR cases)
The helmet hanger is a generic part but the key difference is definitely the hanger’s bracket.
My passenger stood at 1.8m/ 6foot tall. She is uncomfortable squatting on the OEM pegs. That wouldn’t help if she refuses to take the ride, while doing our acclimatisation ride, she felt like throwing up even though it was less than 10 minutes. My KLE500 was more upright for both of us, but despite the compact ergonomics, it is definitely more comfortable than the Tracer and we both agrees on that. However I did customise the KLE500 before we could get it right, so the Tracer will be the same.
After searching through the web and saw a few solutions, here are my findings:
Hepco & Becker offers a full replacement kit. Others’ are from Wunderlich, and Indie makers.
I also had a wild card choice to retrofit the Tracer 700’s assembly over.
However, all of the above are not the best, either cost a lot and/or for a poor solution.
Hepco & Beckers will lose the ability to use other side carriers less their own products.
Vario’s 360º
Hepco & Becker
Wunderlich
Interestingly, the Tracer 700’s passenger comfort seems more promising over the 900.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Tracer 700Tracer 900
The 900 passenger pegs is definitely much higher and slightly forward compared to the 700. 900 also have a sportier Rider’s position with its pegs lower and backwards, and its handlebar higher and forward, while the 700 offers a more upright stance with the pegs forward and higher, while the handlebars lower and closer towards the Rider.
I can safely conclude the Tracer 700 is a more comfortable tourer out of the box compared to the 900.
This finding influence my decision to opt for a 1 ½ inch “360º” lowering peg that from Aliexpress eventually. They cost ⅓-¼ from those offered by the Americans and Germans, and are definitely a well made shameless copy. Do note these pegs are about ½ inches narrower compared to the stock pegs, but because of the nature of the lowering pegs’ design, they also stick out about 1 inch out from the Rider’s peg. I will keep it this way in considerations to safety aspects though I wished to swap the pegs off with some rubber mount, wide type.
12 positioning
when closed
when unlatched
Sticking out over the engine guard, within handle bar
front view, position 4 o’clock to give enough clearance away from Rider and low enough for passenger to stretch lesser
distance sticking out from stock about an inch more
Her feedback is the lowering kit improves over the original passenger peg’s position. She still have to bend her knees and is still a little far off to her usual position to grip her thighs to my hips. She is still having a lesser foot print supporting her compared to the dual foot pegs set up I did on the KLE500 for her.
Since I cannot lower down her pegs any further, the next option is to customise her saddle and improve it. We will evaluate and see how it goes.
The Tracer have a heavy clutch pull for my preference, since I am coming up from a smaller bike. It also do not allow Rider to adjust the clutch lever reach and commonly causing the Rider to compromise between a hard tension clutch pull or slack feel.
The Tracer’s OEM clutch cable is know to snap easily, to remedy this, a Yamaha R1 clutch cable had been swapped on this Tracer. The R1 clutch cable however is longer the Tracer’s and is slightly causing some slack on the hanger and assembly if you tune it to specification.
R1 vs Tracer clutch cable
Another view
R1 clutch cable part number
R1 cable without the route guide as on Tracer’s
Note the mounting due to the excessive length
About two threads left in order to keep the free play within specification
So here are the 3 challenges I will aim to solve:
Heavy Clutch Pull
Excessive Clutch Slack
Clutch Reach
I came across in FZ-09.org, where the clutch arm was cut and welded 8mm longer than stock. I chanced upon Yamaha XSV950 Bolt’s clutch arm to be 5mm longer and had placed an order for it. This will effectively lighten the clutch pull and takes away some cable slack off the clutch tension.
As for the clutch reach, I could not find a good and affordable lever that matches the stock lever’s feel. The Chinese CNC levers simply ruin the actuation and are clunky to grab. Others I compared seems thick to feel comfortable. The best/most promising levers for feel and adjustable reach so far seems to from Renthal’s Intellilever LV-507 @ $144.95, but they are out of stock
Renthal Intellilever
I wanted to cannibalise my KLE500’s clutch lever assembly over, since I am certain they can run Yamaha cable as I am using an R6’s clutch cable now, but the issue is the mirror mount position is off. After a few searches and comparison from different motorcycle and ATV makers, I narrowed down to Triumph’s and Kawasaki’s clutch assembly which offers adjustable reach.
The clutch assembly should be as close to the Tracer’s current assembly in the mirror position mount and clutch switch, as I do wish to use back the Tracer knuckle guards. The Triumph’s uses a circular clutch switch though the lever itself resembles a mirror image of the Tracer’s brake lever whereas the Versys’s are an updated version of the KLE500 with a beefed up lever.
Kawasaki’s older gen clutch assembly
Yamaha’s typical clutch assembly
Triumph’s
After weighing the pros and cons, I went with the Versys and lucky to ordered a near new assembly from eBay.
Objective is to set the bike back to neutral and accustom to my preference:
Letting go the SW-Motech risers
Changing to BMW grips – which left a huge gap from the mounting holes
Switching to stock levers
Drop the fork to 0mm and this made the ride instantly steerable. Also managed to fine tune the bar after spotting the stupid dimple located on the LHS clamp facing rider. There seems to be only one way to find the sweet spot. Overall, the ergo has improved. However accelerating at 160 km/h, the high speed wobbling kicks in. I will have to try at NSHW to validate this.
Yamaha Tracer 900 MT09 FJ09 Build n Ride 