yamaha tracer 900 gt tft display free sample

SINCE 2015 the Tracer has been the sensible one in the otherwise lairy Yamaha MT family, with the GT model adding a bit more sophistication alongside it since 2016.

They’re important models for Yamaha, with nearly 65,000 units shifted since the first Tracer was launched. That’s given the Tracer and GT a 44% share of what Yamaha (and probably no one else...) describes as the ‘Upper Mid-sized Versatile’ segment of the market.

For 2021 the whole MT-09/Tracer/GT platform was due for an update to hit new Euro 5 norms, and rather than tweaking what was already there, Yamaha have gone for a complete ground-up revision - new frame, heavily modified engine, and more tech than you could shake a stick at.

We’ve already ridden the MT-09, and liked it a lot, but how do the new Tracer 9 – and the higher spec Tracer GT - shape up? Only one way to find out – let’s go for a ride...

At £10,199 on the road, the standard Tracer 9 is about a grand more than the MT on which it’s based, which is about what we expected. The Tracer GT is £12,199 on the road - the two grand gap seems like a lot at first glance, but if you added all the GT’s bells and whistles to the Tracer 9 as optional extras, they’d add up to a lot more than that (just the panniers and racks would be over a grand at full retail). So, you pays your money and you takes your choice. Or more accurately these days, you organises your PCP deal and you they take a pre-authorised amount of cash from your account. Lay down around three grand as a deposit, and over 36 months you’ll be paying £109 a month for the Tracer 9, and £129 for the GT.

Probably the closest direct rivals to the Tracer 9 and GT are Triumph’s Tiger 900 GT and GT Pro. Conveniently for comparison purposes, they’re new triples (888cc to the Tracers’ 889cc – they even share more or less the same bore and stroke), similar weights, with two comparable levels of spec, and aimed at a broadly similar audience – experienced riders wanting the best of big adventure bikes (toughness, comfort, long distance and two-up ability and good ride quality) without the downsides (huge seat heights, high running costs, unwieldy parking and maneouvrability).

The Tracers have a bit more torque, but a fair bit more power – the Triumphs peaking at around 94bhp next to the Yamahas’ 117bhp. Unless you’re using the top third of the rev range all the time though, they’re broadly similar on real-word performance. The Tiger 900 GT has cornering ABS and traction control, cruise control and a single 7in TFT screen vs the Tracer 9’s twin 3.5in displays. It has heated grips as standard as well, which the Tracer 9 lacks, and a useful couple of litres extra fuel capacity. At £11,400 it’s a fair whack more than the Tracer 9’s £10,199, but it’s arguably better finished, and has better quality suspension as standard.

The Tiger GT Pro is closer in spirit to the Tracer GT. It takes the standard GT spec and adds smartphone connectivity, a centre stand, LED lights, a quickshifter and heated grips. It has electronic semi-active suspension, but only at the rear. On the other hand, it has a tyre pressure monitoring system and heated rider and pillion seats as standard. At £13,100 it’s 900 quid more than the Tracer GT.

With an extra 42cc over the outgoing Tracer models, you might expect the new one to have more power and torque. You’d be right, but there’s not a lot in it as far as power’s concerned, with around 3% more shove at the top end. Left to their own devices, no doubt Yamaha’s engineers could have gleaned more than that, but the new bike has to hit the new and much stricter Euro 5 emissions and noise regs, so that’s meant they’ve had to compromise. Of more interest than the power though, is a significant torque increase – a claimed 6% extra, which also comes in around 1000-1500rpm lower down the rev range.

Peak torque is now around 7000rpm but you’ve got a wide range, with significant shove from as low as 4000rpm. That makes the new engine much more flexible – you don’t need to chase high revs to make quick progress and you’ve always got good drive from relatively low down. All of that is identical between MT and Tracer. In addition, Yamaha say there’s absolutely no difference in the engine mapping or anything else either. So it’s a bit of a surprise to find it feels.. not completely different, but different enough to make you think there must be something else going on.

It’s still plenty powerful enough to have a lot of fun, and grunty enough to ride like a big scooter if you wish, but where the MT is snappy, eager and always trying to wheelie under hard acceleration (think boisterous puppy jumping up at you all the time), the Tracer feels more controlled, slightly muted (like the same dog a few years later, still up for chasing the ball but not quite so exuberant). It still pulls hard, no question, but it felt to me as if it had been geared up slightly, and it would have made perfect sense for Yamaha to have trimmed a couple of teeth off the rear sprocket or added a tooth at the front – it would give more relaxed cruising, for a start.

But Yamaha say the gearing’s identical between the MT and Tracers, so it’s not that. Maybe it’s the extra weight – 24kg is not an insignificant amount extra to haul around – but I think it’s also the longer wheelbase making it a bit more stable and bit less wheelie-prone. There’s also a difference in sound and feel – less raucous, less buzzy, more refined and smooth – which I suspect is down partly to the extra mass damping out some vibrations, and partly the larger fuel tank and extra bodywork muting some of the intake noise which is such a feature of the MT. Whatever the reason, the Tracer is notably more civilised in both noise and performance than the MT, which is as it should be - even drive Mode 1, which is pure hooligan on the MT, is more manageable on the Tracer.

Yamaha claim the new Tracer has exactly the same theoretical fuel consumption as the MT, at 5 litres per 100km, which equates to about 56-57mpg. We didn’t get a chance to verify that on our 150km loop, but since we were mostly ragging it in lower gears on super-twisty roads it wouldn’t have been representative anyway. Under similar conditions the MT-09 averaged about 42mpg, which wasn’t bad for that sort of use, and I reckon it should be easy enough to get a reliable 50mpg out of the Tracer, and maybe more. With the Tracer having a slightly more useful 18 litre fuel tank (against the MT’s 14 litres), that would give you a range of around 175 miles till you were down to your last couple of litres (there’s no mechanical reserve switch, just the fuel gauge and countdown on the dash). It would still be nice to have a bit more range though.

Here’s where we have to start differentiating between the base model Tracer 9 and the GT. Standard Tracer 9 first. At first glance it’s the same set-up as the MT-09, with 41mm upside down forks and rising rate monoshock, bolted to a new chassis made by an innovative die-casting method which allows very thin walls where possibly (just 1.7mm in places) but adds extra material where needed for stiffness (claimed to be 50% stiffer laterally than the old chassis. The swing arm looks the same as the MT but is actually 70mm longer, for more stability (and fewer wheelies - booo), and the wheels are the same ‘spin-forged’ design which is claimed to allow lighter weight, thinner sections (2mm at the thinnest point of the rim, where double that would be more usual) and lower manufacturing cost. There is one significant – and slightly puzzling – difference though. The MT has fully adjustable forks, with rebound and compression being tweaked by adjusters on the tops of the right and left forks respectively, and preload adjusters both sides. The Tracer 9 has the preload adjusters, and the rebound adjuster on the right, but no compression adjuster on the left.

I can’t imagine this would represent a significant production cost saving, so it’s a bit of a mystery really. Fortunately the standard settings are pretty good for general riding. The forks have a pretty good feel in most situations, and you get decent feedback from the front tyre which was welcome on the test ride, where we were barelling into unknown corners on dusty, chilly tarmac. The rear shock’s the same as the MT’s (although possibly with different settings due to the longer swing arm and extra weight) and it’s ok most of the time, although both the shock and forks tend to be overwhelmed by bigger bumps, especially when you hit two or three in sequence. This isn’t uncommon with budget suspension that often has relatively soft springs for ride quality/comfort, and compensates with extra damping which only operates well within a fairly limited range. In summary it’s ok, but it could be better. If I were a Tracer 9 owner, I’d be looking at aftermarket options for a new rear shock once the original gets a bit tired. Preferably one with a rear preload adjuster, as the longer swing arm accentuates the MT’s tendency to flop a bit at very low speeds – a little more ride height would almost certainly help with that, and no one needs to lose knuckle skin wrestling with a shock-mounted preload collar if they can avoid it.

Now then, on to the Tracer GT. New for this year is KYB semi-active suspension front and rear. It’s not the most sophisticated system in the world – it doesn’t alter preload, for example, just damping – but it’s still a nice touch, and gives a plusher ride than the Tracer 9’s budget set-up, while also working better over a wider speed range. The system takes data from suspension travel sensors as well as from the IMU, and uses it to alter damping rates front and rear in real time. If you’re expecting some kind of magic carpet ride, then you might be disappointed – big bumps still get through, although without the jarring crash you get with the standard bike over really big hits. Within those limits though, it effectively smooths out all the rough edges, and especially the smaller imperfections in the road that you don’t really notice until suddenly they’re not there. Going from standard Tracer 9 onto the GT is like going from old gravel-dressed tarmac to a nice freshly-laid surface, as if someone’s going ahead of you, sweeping and rolling and smoothing your way.

It’s a slightly strange feeling, to be honest, and at first it seems to reduce tyre feedback, but as soon as you start throwing it around you realise that’s an illusion – my first go with the GT was for photos, so no warming up, just straight into a corner, and straight to peg-scraping lean, no problems – it works. As mentioned, that competence doesn’t extend to changing preload settings, so there’s no touch-of-a-button swap from solo to 2-up as you get with more sophisticated versions (although you can switch from sports to comfort modes as you wish). What you do get is an easy-access remote manual preload adjuster for the rear shock. I experimented with a bit more ride height to try and reduce the slightly vague low speed steering I’d noticed on the Tracer 9, and it did seem to help. I reckon for a pillion and/or a lot of luggage, you’d want to wind the rear shock up close to maximum.

Speaking of pillions and luggage, the Tracer’s new rear subframe is significantly beefier than before, which goes some way to explaining the Tracer’s extra weight over the MT. It’s worth the penalty though, as the max load weight (rider/pillion/luggage combined) goes up to a useful 193kg. It also allows for the use of panniers and top box at the same time, where the old model was only specced for one or the other. Don’t get too carried away though – by the time you’ve got two fully kitted people on board, that’s going to have used up most of that 193kg, so you’ll still need to pack light.

The seat’s more cossetting than the MT-09’s rather spartan offering, and you feel more like you’re sitting ‘in’ rather than ‘on’ the bike. The GT’s version is a little plusher still, a bit more supportive and grippier. There’s also an even plusher comfort version available for any haemorrhoid suffers out there. You have the option of two positions – standard is 810mm off the floor, with 825mm available by re-jigging a few spacers (and finding another home for a fiddly filler piece between the seat and tank).

There wasn’t any opportunity to try the pillion accommodation, but the seat is bigger and thicker than the old Tracer, and the grab rail’s bigger too. To give you some idea how pillion-friendly it is, part of the photoshoot involved following another Tracer, at 40-50mph along a peg-scrapingly twisty road, with the photographer sitting quite happily hands-free on the pillion as he snapped away. Sounds normal enough, except he was sitting backwards...

As with the engine, pretty much all the rider aids are carried over directly from the MT-09, although there are slight differences between Tracer 9 and GT specifics. Taking the Tracer 9 first, it has cornering ABS – which is switchable although I doubt most owners will ever want to do so. It also has lean-sensitive traction control (TCS), but added to that it has slide control (SCS), which isn’t quite the same thing, and it also has an ‘Anti-Lift’ system to help keep the front wheel on the floor more of the time under hard acceleration.

You have a choice of 4 different engine modes (Mode 1 is full power and sharpest delivery, through to Mode 4 which makes it feel like it’s only using two out three cylinders) and three rider aid modes (TCS 1, TCS 2 and Manual), all accessed via the left hand switchgear. TCS 1 is lowest intervention on all aids, TCS2 ramps it up a bit, and Manual allows you to tailor the whole lot to your tastes, with a choice of three intervention levels for each, plus the option to turn the Slide Control and LIF off while keeping some Traction Control. There’s also an option to just turn the whole lot off, although I suspect few riders will do so. Manual mode settings are accessed via a scroll button on the right bar giving access to a sub-menu on the left hand TFT screen – once you’ve done it once, it’s easy. The right hand screen shows four parameters including fuel consumption, range, etc (you get to choose which you want to prioritise) in a nice, clear format, while the left hand screen takes care of all the ‘normal’ info – speed, revs, engine temp, modes, fuel level etc. There’s a fair bit of customisation available.

As previously mentioned, the GT adds to this with a pair of options for the semi-active suspension – A1 for a firmer, sportier feel, and A2 for a more comfortable ride.

The Standard Tracer 9 doesn’t get the MT-09’s up/down quickshifter (the GT does), but both bikes get a cruise control as standard, easily set using the same buttons on the left bar which control the engine modes. Modes are only acessed at a standstill, cruise only above 50kph/30mph, so it makes sense for the buttons to multi-task.

Both bikes come with handguards as standard, which do help a bit, but the GT has heated grips as standard too and they’re seriously effective. There are ten heat settings (controlled with the scroll wheel on the right switchgear) but with summer gloves on a chilly March morning I found anything over number five was overkill. While I remember, both Tracers have centrestands as standard – and they’re easy to use.

If you liked the older model Tracers, then you’ll like these, no question. You’re getting the same recipe as before, with a bit of added spice in the shape of more torque and more tech. They’re both genuine all-rounders, equally suited to daily commuting, weekends away or longer two-up trips. And they wouldn’t disgrace themselves (or you) at any twisty trackday either. So there’s a lot to like, and not that much to criticise. I’d have liked a bigger fuel tank (I think anything with touring pretensions should have an easy 200 mile range) and the low speed steering is a little vague on standard settings, but I can live with that. So the question is which one to go for. I’m not exactly tech-phobic, but although the GT’s semi-active suspension is good at what it does, I think I’d probably go for the standard bike and invest in a decent rear shock and a professional fork rebuild to suit my riding style. Same with the rest of the GT’s standard bits – I can take or leave the quickshifter, and I’d probably go for aftermarket luggage. I’d definitely want the heated grips though. I’d probably end up spending the same as if I’d bought the GT in the first place but I’d know it was tailored to my specification.

However, I suspect very few people will see it that way. If prior sales are anything to go by then around three quarters of Tracers sold in the UK will be GT versions. Both models are available in bright red or Tech Camo (matt grey/black) while the GT is also available in Silver/Black/Blue.

Both models should be in dealers sometime in May. As with the MT-09 there are several accessory bundles available as dealer-fit options, ranging from the Sports Pack (which just adds a quickshifter, tank pads, number plate surround and engine guards to standard Tracer spec) through to the Travel Pack Pro which pimps either model up to the max including heated seats, tyre pressure monitoring, USB outlets and huge 50L top casewith back rest, among other bits). No prices for accessories yet.

There are a lot of motorcycles that, on paper, look perfect. Ride enough bikes and apply a little critical thinking and you can start to spot the things you like and the things you don’t in each offering. Eventually, you build up a list of the best aspects of each, mentally combining them into one bike that, if it existed, would have no peer. For me, that bike could well be the Yamaha Tracer 900 GT.

Now that platform sharing has become the new normal, bikes like the Tracer series are inevitable. Developing, and crucially homologating a road engine is an expensive business, so manufacturers have joyfully embraced the opportunity to cheaply fill out their product lineup by reusing the same architectures. Take BMW as an example; there are Naked, Sport-Touring, and Adventure motorcycles based on their 1250cc boxer engine and associated running gear. The same is true for their 1000cc inline-four, which can be had in Supersport, Naked, or Adventure-Sports format.

Yamaha‘s naked MT-07 and MT-09 motorcycles donated much of their engineering to their Tracer variants, and the 700cc engine has even arrived in Teneré format. But while the Tracer 700 has previously proven itself a worthy adversary for the Suzuki V-Strom 650, the Tracer 900‘s 847cc three-cylinder engine means that the bigger bike has the potential to represent that most elusive of concepts: a perfect combination of sporting performance, touring capability, and every-day riding practicality.

First impressions of the GT-variant Tracer 900 are good. Four-piston radial brakes on adjustable upside-down forks? Check. Smart half-fairing with adjustable windshield and standard-fit handguards? Check. Integrated scaffolding-free lockable panniers with optional top box? Check. Cruise control, TFT instruments, LED headlights, reasonably large fuel tank and surprisingly frugal engine? Check. While 200 miles per tank is nothing to write home about in my book, it’s still welcome in a world where manufacturers are increasingly using theoretical incremental gains in fuel economy to justify smaller and smaller fuel tanks. Heck, you even get a centre-stand, something many other bikes don’t even support, never mind fit as standard.

There are, of course, also a few disappointments right off the bat. While the design is, in my eyes, a significant improvement over the ugly original, there are still a lot of untidily routed and exposed cables and hoses. Unlike the V-Strom 1050, the mudguard is too short to do any useful work. And despite this being a top-of-the-range flagship model in 2020, Yamaha still asks you to pay extra for indicators that don’t rely on super-heated wire filaments for illumination.

Some of the plastics seem a little flimsy, some of the decals look a bit cheap, and after experiencing BMW‘s beautifully animated and easy-to-use TFT dashboard, Yamaha‘s version looks functional at best. Brake hoses are cheap-looking rubber as opposed to braided steel, and the clutch lever is non-adjustable – something I’d expect to find on a 125cc learner bike, not a premium Sports-Tourer. Features aside, the Tracer can’t quite shake its budget-bike roots. This is a problem when the GT model now costs more than £11,000.

Pulling out into traffic, the riding dynamics of the Tracer don’t immediately impress either. When cold, throttle response is decidedly fluffy at lower rev ranges, and experimenting with the three throttle modes only seems to make things worse. Fixed in the lower of its two adjustable positions the seat seems to tip you forward into the tank, and even at its closest position, the brake lever is a bit of a stretch for small hands. The suspension seems fussy, never quite settling itself, as though the forks and swingarm are rubber-mounted to the frame. In reality, it’s likely that double-rate springs have been used in the forks, a common tactic in cheaper mass-produced units.

The riding position begins to feel much more Supermoto than Adventure-Tourer; you feel like you are sat much closer to the front wheel than on e.g. a V-Strom. I always believed that larger 19″ wheels conferred an advantage on bumpy Northamptonshire B-roads, but Yamaha has clearly demonstrated that they can handle rutted surfaces just fine with the smaller, and therefore more accurate 17″ wheel. There’s a sense of playfulness that other, similar bikes simply can’t match, helped of course by the class-leading 214kg wet weight. A modern frame and modern engine mean a 30kg mass advantage over many competitors, and the results are immediately apparent in how quickly the bike gains and loses speed.

It’s also a likely factor in how long the Tracer 900 can make its 18-litre petrol tank last. In mixed riding, the trip computer reported that I’d managed 56mpg (UK), something that Fuelly.com confirms is a realistic and achievable real-world average. Take it easy, and pushing past 60mpg (UK) should be possible, a remarkable feat for a bike that, in the right gear, can build speed with deceptive and frightening ease. More than once I found my grumbling about brakes or suspension tempered when I glanced at the speedometer and found that I had wildly underestimated my rate of progress.

The minor annoyances continue with unintuitive on-screen menus, and the clickable scroll-wheel on the right-hand control cluster is stiff and awkward to use. Your left boot will catch on the footpeg when trying to lower the side stand, and the up-only quick-shifter is clunky at anything other than high-rev, high-throttle applications. The fuel gauge won’t tell you anything useful until after you have less than half a tank remaining, and activating or adjusting the heated grips can only be done by navigating into a submenu. It’s all a little bit…unrefined. Unfinished. And like Suzuki’s V-Strom 1050XT, at this price point the Tracer 900 GT is picking fights with Triumph Tiger 900s, BMW F900XRs, and Ducati Multistrada 950s – all bikes with more brand cache and decidedly more premium user experience.

Of course, buying European carries its own perils, not least of which are the cost and frequency of servicing. With valve clearance checks not due until 24,000 miles, the Tracer 900 costs just 6p per mile to maintain, and Yamaha regularly tops the reliability surveys that the likes of BMW and KTM sink to the bottom of. The Tracer is also noticeably lighter than anything in its class, a side benefit, perhaps, of dispensing with any off-road pretensions.

As such, the Tracer 900 GT definitely makes my shortlist, in a way that I’m not sure the heavier, more expensive, and less exciting V-Strom 1050XT does. I’m still going to be sampling more of the competition first and may yet be swayed by the Moto-Guzzi V85‘s charismatic air-cooled engine and shaft drive, or Triumph‘s genuinely impressive build quality and uniquely-configured three-cylinder engine. As always, I’ll have to weigh up the pros and cons and may still decide that the Tracer 900 GT is the best choice for me, even with all its minor faults. So I can only recommend that you do the same and make up your own mind before handing over your credit card.

Do expectations always deliver? And just what is the true potential of the new Yamaha Tracer 900GT? Keith Yallop reports on his bike purchase of May 2018. After over 9,000 miles he asks, “Is this the ultimate jack-of-all-trades?”

So what fitted these requirements? I started to look at a range of bikes all in the upright adventure touring position. During December 2017/January 2018 I visited BMW, Triumph, Honda, Ducati, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha. All the dealers offered great sports tourers, all with good points and some not so good. However at The Motorbike Shop in Farnborough I was invited to take out a Yamaha MT-09 Tracer. This bike was not on my list but I thought why not give it a try? After an extended 50 mile ride I felt that this machine and I could have a long and happy relationship. It all seemed to gel for me, this was probably helped by the fact that I have owned a number of Yamahas.

The throttle response was very lively, especially when in sports (A) mode, where with its short wheelbase it would easily lift its front wheel if you left traffic lights too energetically. On my return to the shop I was informed that a brand new model called the Tracer 900GT would be launched in early summer 2018. It would have an extended swing arm to reduce front wheel lift and make the bike more stable with panniers fitted. It would have a host of extras as standard, including panniers, touring screen, narrower bars, better seat, quick-shifter, updated suspension, cruise control and the list went on. It would be sub £11k. They offered me an excellent part-exchange price for my Z1000SX so I made an instant decision to place an order, one I hoped I would not regret.

I spent a nervous 5 months wondering if I had made the right decision and found myself asking if it was going to be anywhere near as much fun as the demo MT-09 on which I had ridden. Or had the practical additions to the GT changed this new model for the worse?

On the 21st of May I was the first rider in the UK to take delivery of the Tracer 900GT, or so I was told. The first thing that struck me was just how impressive the bike feels. It has the same grand presence as an adventure bike, but obviously with the road-focused bias. Sitting on the machine allows for a good view over the traffic ahead and the large screen appears to provide good protection (more on that later).

It’s all well and good babbling on about the GT’s finer details but unless it rides well on the roads and operates well in real situations then it doesn’t mean diddly squat. So how does it ride?

Well the suspension was not one of the best points of the MT-09 based models of old. I was therefore pleased to discover that the revised suspension immediately puts to rest any previous questions over the earlier model. The suspension has been uprated using Kayaba units featuring dual springs and adjustability of both high and low speed compression damping, as well as preload and rebound damping. The rear shock preload is easily changed thanks to a side-mounted adjuster, perfect for those who are looking to travel with a pillion and/or lots of luggage. Yamaha have obviously been listening carefully to their customers, which is certainly refreshing in the motorcycle industry. Through corners it is probably one of the most ‘flickable’ bikes I have had the pleasure to ride.

Yamaha have also gone to town on reprogramming the MT-09 ECU mapping. Renowned for being a little snatchy on the power, the old map has been updated to give a much smoother delivery and also make the bike much more manageable when sat at a higher revs.

It would be pretty easy to think of these rather significant updates being the end of the story, but it is in fact just the beginning. Yamaha have seemingly thrown most of their accessories catalogue at the GT to make it into a machine that you could pick up tomorrow and set straight off on a European tour.

Alongside the panniers the GT also comes with a centre stand, hand guards and heated grips where all 3 settings can be programmed individually to allow 10 different heat choices for each setting (30 in total), this makes winter riding a far less disconcerting prospect.

The rest of the electronics package is also very impressive with three selectable engine modes and traction control settings. There’s also cruise control, which definitely makes long range touring much more pleasurable. The coloured TFT instrument panel is from the R1 dash and although it is a bit on the small size it can be programmed with just about any information you would like the bike to give you, including gear indicator.

Impressively, the Tracer 900GT also comes with a slipper clutch down and quick-shifter up. The quick-shifter certainly makes for a smooth and simple affair when kicking up through the gearbox, it’s very easy to get used to clutchless upshifting. However I have to say that I still often prefer to use the old way and change gear with the clutch. But the choice is yours.

However it is not all honey and roses – I do have a few gripes. The first is with the original tyres. The Tracer 900GT came with Dunlop Sportsmax D222 as standard and I was not at all impressed with them. I think Yamaha must have got a bulk cheap deal from Dunlop! Driving hard out of bends the back end seemed to be a little skittish and lively which took me back to my old days of scrambling. It also seemed to grab at every crack or seam in the tarmac. Not quite what I wanted on my new touring bike. So at sub 2,000 miles I visited Mel and he advised fitting a pair of Bridgestone Battlax T31’s. The difference in handling was amazing, the skittish feel had gone and the line grabbing was vastly reduced. What a difference a good tyre can make!

Secondly, I don’t personally like the fuel gauge. It only starts reducing after you’ve dropped to lower than half of the tank’s 18 litre capacity, then it shoots down and hangs around for a long time at 1/8 of a tank. It’s not a big deal and to most of you it won’t make any big difference at all, it’s just what I prefer. So I have set the TFT screen to show how much fuel I am consuming. When it gets near 4 gallons (18 litres) I know I need to look for a petrol station pretty quickly. The fuel consumption indicator is showing 55mpg and on tours I have managed to push a full tank to over 200 miles, the warning light comes on at around 185 miles. That makes it one of the most economical bikes I have owned, other than a BSA Bantam and a Triumph Tiger Cub!

My other major gripe is the screen. I seem to be in good company with this moan as nearly all magazine and online testers say the same. At higher speeds the wind coming around the screen is noisy and seems to buffer me around, especially on motorways travelling behind vehicles. Before my tour to Europe I purchased an MRA touring screen with an aerofoil on top and that has made a lot of difference. The screen is manually pinch and adjust with one hand which was useful in Alps when we came out of a tunnel straight into a tremendous rainstorm. Yamaha do offer their own larger touring screen but it costs a lot more and I am not sure how good it is.

I have to be honest though, what I’m most impressed with is the price. While on paper the £10,649 price tag may seem like quite a lot, what you get for the money is nothing short of incredible value. I could not find another comparable motorcycle in this price bracket that even comes close to the specification of the GT as standard and it really makes this motorcycle very hard to fault.

So what extras have I deemed necessary apart from the MRA screen (£108)? Well I have fitted a radiator guard (£40) along with a front mudguard extender (£22). I have also fitted twin horns (£15), a Yamaha larger side-stand foot (£48), a pair of R&G bar ends (£23) and Givi engine crash bars (£126) – just in case I feel the need to gently lay the bike down.

So did the Tracer 900GT tick all my boxes from my Christmas 2017 ‘nice to have’ list? I think it has and probably more. I believe the hard fact about the Tracer 900GT is that you’ll grin like a Cheshire cat whenever you ride it, despite the weather, season or journey. Cold or hot, rain or shine, commuting or charging; the GT will be everything you could ever need and be lots of fun whilst doing it. It’s definitely a bike that has been designed to be a little easier to live with and, importantly, you don’t need to remortgage the house to buy it. The Tracer 900GT is definitely going to appeal to those who want just one bike that will comfortably do a bit of everything and do it well. And finally, to quote MCN, ‘a seriously good bike at a seriously great price’.

“Adventure sport touring” motorcycles have taken the place of most of the “sport touring” class of the 1990s/2000s. There has been a recent resurgence, like with the Suzuki GSX-S1000GT (and others), but bikes like the Yamaha Tracer 900 / GT and Yamaha Tracer 9 / GT are much more common, as are their competitors like the Triumph Tiger 900 range, BMW F 900 XR, and Ducati Multistrada 950 and V2.

I always liked the Yamaha Tracer 900 GT (in particular the GT). In fact, my only criticism of it was that it was a bit too easy to ride. I found it a bit unexciting, because it is so capable — there’s no difficulty in taking it to 100+ km/h on winding roads and riding non-stop between refills without ever getting tired.

So I’ve kept my eye on it. At some point I’ll get tired of trying to make the wrong bikes work and settle into an adventure sport tourer like the Tracer 900.

Now, from 2021, Tracer updated their line of CP3-driven motorcycles. The Yamaha Tracer 900 GT (along with the MT-09 and XSR900) was updated, and replaced by the Tracer 9. Suddenly the bike in its topmost spec is significantly more expensive.

There are very few manufacturers who use inline three-cylinder engines (triples) in motorcycles. The three main ones are: Triumph, MV Agusta, and more recently, Yamaha.

Finally, there’s Yamaha. Yamaha has done a wide range of motorcycle engines in the past. They’ve also done some things that few others have done at scale, like their “Crossplane” inline four in the Yamaha YZF-R1 (2009-onward), or muscle cruisers with V4 engines (the Yamaha V-Max 1200 and VMAX 1700). Like Honda, Yamaha tries some interesting stuff.

The Yamaha FZ8 is a great bike (and a great used buy, these days a bit of an unsung hero). But the FZ-09 is more powerful and lighter. It is, in the words of most owners, a wheelie machine.

The Yamaha Tracer used (and still uses today) the exact same engine as its FZ-09 stablemate. It’s the same 847 cc triple, code-named the “CP3”, tuned for the same power and same torque. I note this repeatedly because in nearly every other upright adventure sport tourer, manufacturers change the power delivery, opting for mid-range torque over top-end power.

Triumph had been making the Triumph Tiger 800 since 2010. The Triumph Tiger 800 is based on a long-stroke 799 cc triple, a longer-stroke version of the original 675 engine. The original Tiger 800 also came in a standard model and an XC, which came with more protection, 21-inch spoked rim, tubed tires, and longer travel suspension (just mentioning this as Yamaha never did this with the Tracer).

MV Agusta had announced their Turismo Veloce 800 in 2013… though it didn’t make it to the market until 2015 (slightly after the arrival of the Yamaha Tracer 900 / FJ-09). The MVATV is also powered by a triple and has roughly the same power specs as the Tracer, but generally has higher-end equipment (higher end suspension, brakes, standard cruise control, etc.). MV Agusta never went the “adventure” route.

Anyway, enough about other bikes. The first Tracer 900 (a.k.a FJ-09 in the US and MT-09 Tracer in Australia) is basically a Yamaha FZ-09 but more… all-day.

Since the first Tracer 900, Yamaha has changed the name (standardising it worldwide, eventually), released a GT version, revised internal and external bits, and changed the engine once. More on this evolution of the Yamaha Tracer below.

For 2018, Yamaha standardised the naming worldwide, calling it the Yamaha Tracer 900. At the same time, they released the Tracer 900 GT — again, with the same name worldwide. They kept this naming convention through 2020.

For 2021, Yamaha released the Yamaha Tracer 9, which is based on the updated 890 cc triple engine. The Tracer 9 and Tracer 9 GT have the same name everywhere.

Spec2015-2020 FJ-09 / MT-09 Tracer / Tracer 900 (including GT)2021+ Yamaha Tracer 9 (including GT and GT+)EngineGen 1 CP3 — 847cc inline-3 (triple), DOHC, 12-valveGen 2 CP3 — 889cc inline-3 (triple), DOHC, 12-valve

Second, we’ll look specifically at the extra things you get in Yamaha Tracer base spec vs GT of each model. This includes 2023+ Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+, which gets radar-assisted adaptive cruise control, putting it among a select few motorcycles with adaptive cruise for 2023.

SpecTracer 900 / FJ-09 / MT-09 TracerTracer 900 GT (2019-2020)Tracer 92021+ Tracer 9 GT2023+ Tracer 9 GT+Curb / Wet weight210 kg (463 lb)215 kg (474 lb)213 kg (470 lb)220 kg (485 lb)223 kg (492 lb)

Added accessoriesn/aHeated grips, side cases, center standn/aHeated grips, side cases, centre stand, protectionHeated grips, side cases, centre stand, protectionTracer 900 GT vs Tracer 9 GT and GT+ — Core changes

The headline feature (for some, anyway) in the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT is the new engine. Like its predecessor, it’s a “nearly 900 cc” inline 3-cylinder 12-valve engine with dual overhead cams, liquid cooling, and a revvy character.

Yamaha calls the Yamaha Tracer 900 / 9’s motor the “CP3” engine, meaning “crossplane three-cylinder”. The word “crossplane” is borrowed from their marketing for the 2009+ Yamaha YZF-R1 engine (also seen in the MT-10). In the inline-four engine, it denotes a different firing order to the conventional one seen in other inline fours. But the CP3 engine has an even firing order — 240-240-240 degrees between each cylinder top-dead centre, giving a firing order of bang-pause-bang-pause-bang-pause.

By contrast, the 2020+ Triumph Tiger 900 uses a more unusual, unevenly spaced firing order for their engine, which they call the “T-plane”. They say the firing order is “1-3-2”, with 180-270-270 degrees between each cylinder firing, giving a bang-short pause-bang-longer pause-bang-longer-pause.

Also like its predecessor, the engine in the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT is exactly like the one in the revised 2021 Yamaha MT-09 and 2022 Yamaha XSR900. Same engine, same power spec, same everything.

This is a different approach for Yamaha compared to other manufacturers, who usually re-tune the engine for their larger sport tourers. For example, Kawasaki re-tuned the engine in the Versys 1000, making it more torque-forward compared to the Kawasaki Ninja 1000.

Yamaha chose path three, lengthening the stroke by 3 mm, increasing the displacement, and letting Yamaha tune the motor for marginally more power and overall, much improved torque.

So overall, which is the better motor? The fact is, they’re both great. Both generations of the CP3 engine have really flat torque curves with just a bit of sport bike spunk between 6-9000 rpm if you feel like playing.

Here’s what they all look like (click through). Personally, I don’t mind the LCD, but the twin TFT is also cool, a bit like looking at the sunglasses of a fighter pilot.

The dual TFT is a pretty unique configuration in motorcycles in general as well as in the class. It gives me the feeling of looking at something other than a phone screen, which I enjoy.

The display on the Tracer 9 GT+ brings with it a couple of new tricks, like smartphone connectivity, that can let you take calls or listen to music, and integration with Garmin navigation when you have the Motorise app.

The original Yamaha Tracer 900 already had upgraded suspension compared to the MT-09 that it replaced, with increased damping, and adjustable preload and rebound damping on both the fork and rear shock. The Tracer 900 GT has higher-spec suspension again, with adjustable compression damping on top.

Like its stablemates the 2021 MT-09 SP and the 2022 XSR900, the new Yamaha Tracer 9 GT gets a six-axis IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), which means it gets cornering ABS and traction control.

But Yamaha has been slow to add an IMU to other bikes. Others in the CP3 class have it (like the 2021+ Yamaha MT-09 and 2022+ Yamaha XSR900), but few others do.

More importantly, the other premium middleweight adventure motorcycles that are alternatives to the Tracer 9 all are equipped with an IMU. So Yamaha is in line with the competition here — and ahead in a few other aspects.

The 2023+ Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+ also gets radar-assisted adaptive cruise control, which helps you set a following distance to avoid having to constantly tweak cruising speed. See below on this.

Finally, the Tracer 9 GT+ gets radar-linked assisted unified braking (UBS, for Unified Brake System). If you turn it on, you get a some pretty nifty new safety technology.

So the Tracer 9 GT+ brakes have active systems not just for the throttle but also for the brakes. This is taking motorcycle safety to another level — though some might be wary of that level of intervention.

I always liked the Tracer 900 for being one of the more affordable middleweight sport tourers with cruise control. (See other affordable/mid-range motorcycles with cruise control.)

The 2019 model Tracer 900 GT had cruise control, though the standard model did not. But the 2021+ Tracer 9 base model (where available… not everywhere gets it) has cruise control, as does the GT, obviously.

The Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+’s new 7-inch TFT (replacing the twin TFT meters on the standard GT) has new functionality to show the status of the ACC system.

You can shift gears when using Yamaha’s ACC, as long as you use the quick shifter (which is a new-generation on the GT+). You can also do this on most other adaptive cruise control-equipped motorcycles, as long as they have a quick shifter (not all of them have one, e.g. the R 18 B / Transcontinental, and if you can do a shift while holding the clutch in for only 1.5 seconds on the R 18 B / Transcontinental, good for you!)

The adaptive cruise control system’s radars feeds as an input not just to the throttle, but also to the unified brake system (UBS). When UBS is switched on, the Tracer 9 GT+ will automatically apply brakes to avoid collisions. Next-level safety!

To keep things simple, I’m comparing the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT spec (which is the only spec available in the US and Australia — though Europe gets both) with the higher spec equivalents from other brands, and the most recent models, otherwise this would be a massive matrix.

If you’re persnickety you’ll notice I didn’t include the Kawasaki Versys 1000. It’s just a bit too big and heavy. This is despite the fact that I think of the Yamaha Tracer 9 (and other triples) as an alternative to the Versys 1000 — because the Versys 1000 is kind of unique with its four-cylinder engine.

ModelYamaha Tracer 9 (2021+)Triumph Tiger 900 GTDucati Multistrada 950 / V2BMW F 900 XRMV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800Engine890 cc triple, “CP3”888 cc triple, “T3 crank”937 cc V-twin “Testastretta”895 cc parallel twin798 cc triple

Peak power87.5 kW (119 PS / 117.4 bhp) @ 10000 rpm70 kW (95 PS / 94 bhp) @ 8750 rpm83 kW / 113 CV / 111 bhp @ 9000 rpm77 kW (105 PS / 103 bhp)81 kW / 110 CV / 108 bhp @ 10150 rpm

Special features* GT spec has standard luggage, protection, center stand, heated grips, cornering lightsS version has electronically adjustable suspension and QS* S version has Skyhook suspension, cornering lights, cruise control, quick shifter* Premium package includes active suspension, ABS Pro* Lusso for all premium features

Right away, looking at the above, what stands out is that the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT is still the value pick of adventure sport touring motorcycles. You get a LOT of features for your dollars!

The Triumph Tiger 900 GT is the first motorcycle I think of when thinking of alternatives to the Yamaha Tracer 9 — mostly because of its engine. After all, the Tiger 800 was the most obvious alternative to the Tracer 900.

The Tiger 900 motorcycles are all based around the same engine — an 888 cc triple. It’s very similar to the CP3 motor in the Yamaha Tracer 9, but with one difference — the unusual 1-3-2 (compared to the Yamaha 1-2-3) firing order, with 180 degrees between crankpins 1 and 3, then 270 degrees to pin 2, then 270 degrees back to 1. Triumph calls this “T-Plane”.

The stated goal of T-Plane is to give the bike more low-end torque without sacrificing top-end power. But you can’t forget that it just gives the Triumph motor a unique character which makes it harder to directly compare the Tiger 900 with other bikes.

The Tiger 900 GT is the road-going version of the Tiger range — the off-road/adventure version being the Tiger 900 Rally. And the GT Pro is the higher-rated version of the same bike with a few features that bring it nearly on par with the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT.

The Triumph Tiger 900 is a wonderful bike, but you can’t ignore that even though it’s higher-priced, it’s significantly down on power, and doesn’t come with active suspension. If those are important to you, give it a miss.

The Multistrada V2 is a very capable bike in base form. But the one most people would really want is the V2 S, which comes with a few basics I’m a bit miffed aren’t on the V2, like a TFT display and cruise control, or even cornering lights.

An upgrade that I’m less surprised only comes on the S version is “Skyhook” suspension, which aims to keep the Ducati Multistrada always upright, as if hanging from a hook in the sky above it. (It’s completely the opposite of the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT’s “Ground-hook” suspension, by the way.)

Anyway, the F 900 XR was also very interesting. This is BMW’s “do-all” middleweight. It has a very lively 895 cc parallel twin in a road-goading package with simple good looks and just enough spec for a wide variety of things.

I like the BMW, and it’s very easy to ride, and I’m a BMW fan. But even with the premium packages it falls a little short on spec compared to the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT. Besides which, I didn’t find the ride that thrilling — just functional.

I really like the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce for its style, but the riding experience is very similar to that of a Tracer, in part because of the triple engine. Dyno runs show them working very similarly – a wide plateau of torque from 3000 rpm to the redline.

Like I said, I’m constantly drawn back to the Yamaha Tracer. Out of all of them, now that there are a few on the used market, I’d look at a 1-2 year old Tracer 9 GT that someone bought intending to ride around the country until sense got the better of them. A bike like that would only have a few thousand Ks or miles on it and would look new, but the owners would sell it at a big discount.

A few things that make the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT a uniquely good bike to ride are the active suspension, the unique display layout (it’s what you look at all day!) and acclaimed Yamaha reliability with extremely wide service intervals to boot (42000 km / 26600 mile between valve services).

The only part where I feel a bit let down by the Tracer 9 is in style. Not in an objective sense — I mean, it’s not ugly — it just doesn’t have a style that screams at me with uniqueness or inspiration.

The best part is that the Tracer looks pretty good. It’s not going to rock your world like the latest superbike or shiny cruiser, but it looks pretty good. Anyway, enough about this.

Once in a while I will come across a bike that will make me rethink if there’s truly a need for different types of motorcycles when one will already do, and one such bike is the Yamaha Tracer 900 GT. It can stitch corners nearly like a sport bike, easily cover huge distances like a sport tourer, and tackle gravel roads like an adventure tourer would. It’s a classic example of a 3-in-1 bike rolled into one very handsome package.

The Tracer 900 GT got its agility from the MT-09 sport naked where it was based, but with major improvements to key areas to make it more appropriate for its role as a grand tourer; the swingarm was lengthened by 2 inches for increased stability, the throttle maps offer more subtle throttle response, the suspension got multiple adjustments, passenger accommodation was improved, and removable panniers are now standard. It may not be readily apparent at first glance, but the quarter fairings were revised from the last Tracer 900 we tested back in 2015. It’s now more angular and more substantial. The seat height can also be adjusted between 845mm to 860mm.

What carried over unchanged from the MT-09 was the excellent 849cc crossplane triple cylinder motor that makes the Tracer 900 GT such a fun bike to ride, especially if you ride on the pavement most of the time. As an Adventure-Sport motorcycle, the Tracer 900 GT is destined for 90 percent pavement and 10 percent on unpaved roads. Having 17-inch front and rear size wheels limit the Tracer 900 GT to hard packed gravel and dirt roads where its standard Dunlop Sportmax tires work best (If you really want a serious middleweight adventure bike with off-road performance Yamaha has the excellent Tenere 700).

We took the Tracer 900 GT to our favorite adventure bike proving grounds in Lobo, Batangas and we couldn’t have chosen a better place to evaluate the bike’s on and off road performance. From Makati, we took the Skyway and SLEX going to STAR Tollway where I enjoyed the comfortable riding position and the wind protection offered by the windscreen. Speaking of which, the windscreen’s height can be adjusted easily using one hand with its clever pinch to pull up or down mechanism on the base of the windscreen. I also enjoyed using the standard cruise control to maintain a steady 100 Km/h because the Tracer 900 GT always begs you to break the speed limit. The redesigned fairings also channels hot air away from your legs more effectively than I can remember on the last Tracer 900 we tested.

When we reached the twisty roads near Monte Maria in Batangas City, the Tracer 900 GT  corners like an MT-09, with its wide handlebars providing plenty of leverage for attacking corners after corners. I just wish Yamaha included a downshift function for the quickshifter, which only offers clutchless upshifts like on the previous Tracer 900.

The large color TFT screen provides all the information that you need at a glance. Like on the MT-09, the Tracer 900 GT offers 3 ride modes; A, B, and Standard. While there’s still some trace of throttle jerkiness on mode A from a closed throttle, it’s now more subtle. Mode B is best reserved for wet riding conditions because of its delayed throttle response. The Standard mode is what I used the entire time because it offers the best balance of the A and B riding modes. The triple brake setup (2 discs in front and 1 in rear) offers plenty of stopping power and I like that the ABS is not intrusive and calibrated to maximize front tire grip before intervening.

The suspension offers a compliant ride quality regardless of road conditions. The rear shock absorber has a remote adjuster knob for setting the spring preload if you want a softer or stiffer ride without the need of a C-spanner. The only thing that annoys me with the Tracer 900 GT is its foot pegs. Their high and slightly rear set positioning works well for road riding, but feels a bit awkward when riding off-road. It somehow forces you to lean down to reach the handlebar which makes it a bit hard to steer. Then again, the Tracer 900 GT is biased for ‘Grand Touring’ rather than adventure riding. If you want to be reminded of that, just look at the standard panniers that can pack enough clothes for a week of cross country touring. And they easily detach and carry like a suitcase.

After completing the Lobo loop as we call our route exiting via San Juan in Batangas, the Tracer 900 GT passed with flying colors. So if you can’t decide between a sport naked, a sport tourer, or an adventure bike, then why not buy a Tracer 900 GT and have them all? At PhP 719,000, getting three bikes in one is truly a bargain. But don’t just take my word for it. Schedule a test ride but be prepared with your checkbook. It’s really that good.

Since 2015 the Tracer has been the sensible one in the otherwise lairy Yamaha MT family, with the GT model adding a bit more sophistication alongside it since 2016. They’re important models for Yamaha, with nearly 65,000 units shifted since the first Tracer was launched. That’s given the Tracer and GT a 44% share of what Yamaha (and probably no one else...) describes as the ‘Upper Mid-sized Versatile’ segment of the market. For 2021 the whole MT-09/Tracer/GT platform was due for an update to hit new Euro 5 norms, and rather than tweaking what was already there, Yamaha have gone for a complete ground-up revision - new frame, heavily modified engine, and more tech than you could shake a stick at. We’ve already ridden the MT-09, and liked it a lot, but how do the new Tracer 9 and Tracer GT shape up? One way to find out – let’s go for a ride...

Just like it"s sibling, the MT-09, Yamaha"s three-cylinder tourer - the Tracer 9 and Tracer 9 GT - have been significantly updated for 2021 so we met up with Yamaha UK"s Marketing Manager, Jeff Turner, to learn all about the new bike. And we start it too!

The standard Tracer 9 is about a grand more than the MT on which it’s based, which is about what we expected. The two-grand gap between the Tracer 9 and the Tracer GT seems like a lot at first glance, but if you added all the GT’s bells and whistles to the Tracer 9 as optional extras, they’d add up to a lot more than that (just the panniers and racks would be over a grand at full retail). So, you pays your money and you takes your choice. Or more accurately these days, you organises your PCP deal and you takes your choice. Lay down around three grand as a deposit, and over 36 months you’ll be paying £109 a month for the Tracer 9, and £129 for the GT.

With an extra 42cc over the outgoing Tracer models, you might expect the new one to have more power and torque. You’d be right, but there’s not a lot in it as far as power is concerned, with around 3% more shove at the top end. Left to their own devices, no doubt Yamaha’s engineers could have gleaned more than that, but the new bike has to hit the new and much stricter Euro 5 emissions and noise regs, so that’s meant they’ve had to compromise. Of more interest than the power, though, is a significant torque increase – a claimed 6% extra, which also comes in around 1000-1500rpm lower down the rev range. Peak torque is now around 7000rpm, but you’ve got a wide range, with significant shove from as low as 4000rpm. That makes the new engine much more flexible – you don’t need to chase high revs to make quick progress and you’ve always got good drive from relatively low down. The four engine modes make a huge difference to power delivery, but the immediate impression is of a much more civilised power delivery than the MT - even Mode 1, which is pure hooligan on the MT, is more manageable on the Tracer. Which is a bit of a surprise since Yamaha say there’s no difference between the two set-ups. More on that later.

All of that is identical between MT and Tracer. In addition, Yamaha say there’s absolutely no difference in the engine mapping or anything else either. So it’s a bit of a surprise to find it feels... not completely different, but different enough to make you think there must be something else going on. It’s still plenty powerful enough to have a lot of fun, and grunty enough to ride like a big scooter if you wish, but where the MT is snappy, eager and always trying to wheelie under hard acceleration (think boisterous puppy jumping up at you all the time), the Tracer feels more controlled, slightly muted (like the same dog a few years later, still up for chasing the ball but not quite so exuberant). It still pulls hard, no question, but it felt to me as if it had been geared up slightly, and it would have made perfect sense for Yamaha to have trimmed a couple of teeth off the rear sprocket or added a tooth at the front – it would give more relaxed cruising, for a start. But Yamaha say the gearing’s identical between the MT and Tracers, so it’s not that. Maybe it’s the extra weight – 24kg is not an insignificant amount extra to haul around – but I think it’s also the longer wheelbase making it a bit more stable and bit less wheelie-prone. There’s also a difference in sound and feel – less raucous, less buzzy, more refined and smooth – which I suspect is down partly to the extra mass damping out some vibrations, and partly the larger fuel tank and extra bodywork muting some of the intake noise which is such a feature of the MT. Whatever the reason, the Tracer is notably more civilised in both noise and performance than the MT, which is as it should be.

Yamaha claim the new Tracer has exactly the same theoretical fuel consumption as the MT, at 5 litres per 100km, which equates to about 56-57mpg. We didn’t get a chance to verify that on our 150km loop, but since we were mostly ragging it in lower gears on super-twisty roads it wouldn’t have been representative anyway. Under similar conditions the MT-09 averaged about 42mpg, which wasn’t bad for that sort of use, and I reckon it should be easy enough to get a reliable 50mpg out of the Tracer, and maybe more. With the Tracer having a slightly more useful 18 litre fuel tank (against the MT’s 14 litres), that would give you a range of around 175 miles until you were down to your last couple of litres (there’s no mechanical reserve switch, just the fuel gauge and countdown on the dash). It would still be nice to have a bit more range though.

Here’s where we have to start differentiating between the base model Tracer 9 and the GT. Standard Tracer 9 first. At first glance it’s the same set-up as the MT-09, with 41mm upside down forks and rising rate monoshock, bolted to a new chassis made by an innovative die-casting method which allows very thin walls where possibly (just 1.7mm in places) but adds extra material where needed for stiffness (claimed to be 50% stiffer laterally than the old chassis. The swing arm looks the same as the MT but is actually 70mm longer, for more stability (and fewer wheelies), and the wheels are the same ‘spin-forged’ design which is claimed to allow lighter weight, thinner sections (2mm at the thinnest point of the rim, where double that would be more usual) and lower manufacturing cost. There is one significant – and slightly puzzling – difference though. The MT has fully adjustable forks, with rebound and compression being furtled by adjusters on the tops of the right and left forks respectively, and preload adjusters both sides. The Tracer 9 has the preload adjusters, and the rebound adjuster on the right, but no compression adjuster on the left. I can’t imagine this would represent a significant production cost saving, so it’s a bit of a mystery really. Fortunately, the standard settings are pretty good for general riding. The forks have a pretty good feel in most situations, and you get decent feedback from the front tyre which was welcome on the test ride, where we were barrelling into unknown corners on dusty, chilly tarmac. The rear shock’s the same as the MT’s (although possibly with different settings due to the longer swing arm and extra weight) and it’s ok most of the time, although both the shock and forks tend to be overwhelmed by bigger bumps, especially when you hit two or three in sequence. This isn’t uncommon with budget suspension that often has relatively soft springs for ride quality/comfort and compensates with extra damping which only operates well within a fairly limited range. In summary it’s ok, but it could be better. If I were a Tracer 9 owner, I’d be looking at aftermarket options for a new rear shock once the original gets a bit tired. Preferably one with a rear preload adjuster, as the longer swing arm accentuates the MT’s tendency to flop a bit at very low speeds – a little more ride height would almost certainly help with that, and no one needs to lose knuckle skin wrestling with a shock-mounted preload collar if they can avoid it.

Now then, on to the Tracer GT. New for this year is KYB semi-active suspension front and rear. It’s not the most sophisticated system in the world – it doesn’t alter preload, for example, just damping – but it’s still a nice touch, and gives a plusher ride than the Tracer 9’s budget set-up, while also working better over a wider speed range. The system takes data from suspension travel sensors as well as from the IMU and uses it to alter damping rates front and rear in real time. If you’re expecting some kind of magic carpet ride, then you might be disappointed – big bumps still get through, although without the jarring crash you get with the standard bike over really big hits. Within those limits though, it effectively smooths out all the rough edges, and especially the smaller imperfections in the road that you don’t really notice until suddenly they’re not there. Going from standard Tracer 9 onto the GT is like going from old gravel-dressed tarmac to a nice freshly laid surface, as if someone’s going ahead of you, sweeping and rolling and smoothing your way. It’s a slightly strange feeling, to be honest, and at first it seems to reduce tyre feedback, but as soon as you start throwing it around you realise that’s an illusion – my first go with the GT was for photos, so no warming up, just straight into a corner, and straight to peg-scraping lean, no problems – it works. As mentioned, that competence doesn’t extend to changing preload settings, so there’s no touch-of-a-button swap from solo to 2-up as you get with more sophisticated versions (although you can switch from sports to comfort modes as you wish). What you do get is an easy-access remote manual preload adjuster for the rear shock. I experimented with a bit more ride height to try and reduce the slightly vague low speed steering I’