RIDDEN: Yamaha Tracer 9GT

Yamaha Tracer 9GT ridden: Rich Taylor reports…

I’ve had the chance to enjoy Yamaha’s 900cc CP3 motor a few times in the past, and it’s undeniably a peach, but I’d not ridden it dressed as a Tracer 9. In fact, I’d not ridden the Triumph or BMW either, but I was excited for the ride ahead and a proper chance to get under the Tracer’s skin in, hopefully, myriad conditions.

You see, to me, standing before the Yamaha, I realised it’s basically a supermarket. In essence, it has almost everything you need, but not absolutely everything ever with a cherry on top. 

The 1,000-mile journey ahead was going to be a mix of everything. Motorways, undoubtedly, but nadgery B-roads, wide-open A-roads, villages, towns, single-track roads barely wide enough for a bike let alone anything bigger (the K1600), and car parks, too. You name it, we were sure to be doing it, and a bike good at everything was surely just the ticket; a solid bet in other words, in much the same way a supermarket is a pretty good bet when you need whatever it might be. I reasoned the Tracer 9 ought to be better on average, in almost any situation, than the other two bikes would be, and that’s why it appealed from the outset. 

To wit, 120hp is plenty enough power to offer capability and entertainment. It has electronically adjustable suspension, rider modes, and almost every other electronic gizmo going: heated grips; phone connectivity; bi-directional; cruise control; quick shifter; an electronically adjustable screen; a keyless key; lean sensitive this-that-and-the-other; I could go on – and almost anything it doesn’t have, with the sole exception of radar-assisted cruise control, is available as an option. If you want the radar, then you’ll need the GT+ model. It has a big tank, but not a large one, and it’s light enough to be able to handle impressively for its sports-tourer intentions. To my point, it has everything you need and even more stuff you don’t, but not everything. It’s the middle of the three bikes, but it isn’t middle of the road by any stretch.

Bags attached, we were off and despite having had a small poke around the bike beforehand, someone had left the heated grips on the medium setting and my fingers were turning alarmingly rapidly into charred chipolatas. It turns out there isn’t a button on the ‘bars to deal with those, rather you have to dive into the dashboard settings to adjust… but, it’s quick and intuitive enough and only after the smallest amount of menu-mashing, my feelers were comfy once again. That wasn’t the first thing I was expecting to be thinking about, but there we are – and actually, it made me realise how quickly I felt at home on the Tracer.

I’m 5’9”-and-a-bit, and I suspect Yamaha’s test riders were, too, because the triangle between seat, bars and pegs felt just right, and plonked me right inside the windscreen’s bubble when adjusted to its top-most position. I could sit here all day, I thought, and more or less that’s exactly what I did as we wound our way out of Lincolnshire towards Yorkshire and beyond, taking in a mixture of roads. 

I’d instantly gelled with the torquey CP3 motor all over again, and was happily mulling over all the features and facets that were keeping me free of any irritation as the miles ticked up. I realised my hunch was beginning to pay off.

A couple of things stand out. First, the torque on offer (93Nm) is a trump card that you can play endlessly. Any gear, any revs, and the 900cc CP3 will pull smoothly without any hesitation. You’re not constantly dancing around on the gearbox trying to find the right cog for the situation, which alleviates so much fatigue and irritation on long journeys like these, leaving you fresher when you get to the destination: in our case, Glencoe. I could ride through villages in third, or even fourth, and continue on out of the village riding the torque curve alone.

Second, I’d begun to get a feeling that the Tracer 9 is a bike designed and considered as a package and not a ‘we had these parts lying around, let’s throw them together and hope it works’ job. The suspension set up (in any mode) felt appropriate for the engine’s output; the chassis geometry and feel was in sync; the brakes had the right feel and power; and the gear ratios were spot on. It all worked together really, really well, hence the feeling of it being a package.

4250rpm at 70mph on a motorway made motorway misery far less of a misery, and let’s face it, trips like these involve a lot of 70mph drudgery. But equally, 2nd, 3rd and 4th combined with the torque on offer made twisty stuff, and open A-roads, a sheer delight. Attack them, or not, the choice was up to me, and it did anything I asked of it. It’s fast and stable, yet willing to get on to its nose and dig in when required, pop wheelies over crests, and 120bhp did turn out to be just right – enough to get a real move on and to feel like you’re really using a lot of what it can muster, but not so much as to be a tease of performance you couldn’t ever hope to tap into. Again, it was that considered, package feeling shining through, and a constant ‘throw whatever at me, I’m cool with it’ message being delivered straight to me.

I genuinely mean this, but there wasn’t a single moment on the trip where either I or the bike felt out of place, out of our comfort zone, or where I wished I was riding something else, had some toy or feature it didn’t have, and that’s what I liked so much about the Tracer 9 GT, and why I know it’s the pick of the bunch. 

Sure, Bruce was probably having a tiny amount more fun on the Triumph on the B-roads, but I was right there, too, yet on motorways and A-roads I was clearly and visibly having a better time. Ditto Dave’s BMW – he was cocooned in a huge bubble of air on motorways, but you should’ve seen the rear suspension almost bottoming out on the rollercoaster roads over the Moors.

One thing though, or actually, a few. I don’t think the Tracer 9 GT is a true ‘GT’; it doesn’t have the horsepower or tank capacity, so perhaps the Tracer 9 ST might be a more appropriate name (Triumph might be a little miffed, mind). And the keyless key thingy is so pointlessly annoying and unnecessary. Third, it isn’t much of a looker (once you see the Pan America in it you can’t unsee it, and the rear plate hanger is a monstrosity), but ultimately none of these things matter. 

To really press on that point; the things it doesn’t have don’t matter when all is said and done, and ‘true’ GT bikes with the big headlines and cherries on top don’t necessarily work out as better in the end; while they have more power and more tank capacity, they are heavier and thirstier, as well as harder to tap into.

So, to check out from our supermarket sweep experience, the Tracer 9 GT for me is the pick for all worlds we encountered: the best on average, exactly as I thought it might be, and so effortlessly easy to spend time on, with every toy to hand whether I wanted it or not. That doesn’t make the Tracer 9 GT any more or less valid than the other choices, it’s just the particular weapon I’d pick.

Specs: Yamaha Tracer 9 GT

Engine

Type: 890cc, liquid-cooled, 3-cylinder

Bore x Stroke:  78mm x 62.1mm

Compression: 11.5:1

Claimed Power: 119bhp @ 10,000rpm

Claimed Torque: 93Nm @ 7000rpm

Chassis

Frame: Aluminium Diamond Frame

F Suspension: 43mm USD, semi-active Kayaba

R suspension: Semi-active Kayaba Monoshock

Front Brakes: Four-piston monobloc calipers, 298mm discs

Rear Brake: Twin-piston caliper, 267mm disc

Electronics

Riding Modes: Yes

Traction Control: Yes

Slide Control: No

ABS: Yes

Quickshifter/Autoblipper: Yes

Wheelie Control: Yes

Launch Control: No

Pit Limiter: No

Cruise Control: Yes

Dimensions

Wheelbase: 1500mm

Seat Height: 820-835mm

Wet Weight: 223kg 

Fuel Capacity: 18.7 litres

Info

Price: £11,216From: www.yamaha-motor.eu

In association with Metzeler. Supported by Oxford Products