MT-09 suspension is better but not right. Still sprung way too soft and the valving is barely adequate. I weigh 175 geared up, turned the preload collar on the shock up 1 notch from stock and have the rebound almost completely hard. The forks weren't adjusted nearly as much but were cranked quite a bit from stock. It no longer pogos, but still pitches more than I'd like and feels unstable way too easily when the pace picks up.

 

It's not so much an FZ vs MT question, but an old vs new one. Newer = better suspension.

In any case they're all MT now.

I went fairly budget on my 2015. Base model Penske out back, different springs & oil up front. (Both spec'ed by Stoltec.) I'm quite happy with the Penske, but if I had it to do over again I'd probably go with the cartridge emulators in the front.

[On the Internet no one knows you're a dog]

 

7.5W oil in the forks seems to improve things - it's hard to do though
Turn the damping screw to max on the rear shock and see if it is good enough, if not a new shock is in order. It's not the spring rate, it's the poor damping.
I have tried to dismantle the rear shock to change the oil (with simple tools) and failed, So...

 

I guess when I go shopping over the winter I'll try for a leftover FZ-09 and change the shock and redo the fork.

 

FZ = fizzy. MT = Mighty

 

Interesting. I guess I went with the more literal sound as if you tried to pronounce the letters. On the range in the BP where large amounts of cartridges were consumed, it became tedious picking up a box someone had thrown back with no contents. We started marking them with MT, writ large with a Magic Marker. If you say the two letters it makes sense. MT. (empty) Most barely pronounce the "p" so it works. But I could never get that out of my head so I went with a '17 FZ. Yeah, I'm a bit of a word/language guy.

 

The MT stands for Monster Torque. I have no idea what the meaning of FZ is when they brought it to the US..?


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It stands for " the american market is afraid of change so stick with a model name we have used before"
Fz1, fz8, so they stuck with fz for the 09, even tbough the rest of the world called it the MT.

Same bike, different stickers. And no immobiliser. Tightarses.

 

Freaking Zippy i believe it was right?

 

I had a 14 fz for a year or so. Went this summer and picked up an 18 mt. Now granted it’s beem a little while since I was on the fz but at the time I really felt the pogo effect on the suspension I thought. I am no racer and usually stock suspension is fine but I felt the fz was soft. Anyway.. I feel the mt might be worth it if your picking up a new one. My .02 is there is a little more that’s improved than the suspension. Overall just a notch up. I vote look for sweet deal and strive for the 17+ mt.

 

Back in the day (mid-70s) Honda had MT-125 /175/250s. Street legal dirt bikes, 2nd cousins to the CR Elsinore motocrossers. They had horrid chocolate colored engines.

We called 'em "empties".

This bit of trivia brought to you by my brain, home to cubic shitloads of similarly useless information.


[On the Internet no one knows you're a dog]

 

Depends on what you want, the tracer has a larger fuel tank +1 gal, a wind screen (the oem sucks), hand guards, and suspension that is almost tolerable. The tracer can come with oem sidebags, and is better suited(riding position) for carrying luggage or a passenger. Also the tracer has really good Led headlights(best of all Mt variations), and a better dash than a mt09.
Tracer is taller, if you have a short inseam it won’t work. Tracer is heavier, and tracer costs more.
Both would benefit from Ecu reflash, and aftermarket suspension.


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tracer 900 (or fz09) it´s more a crossover bike