FIRST RIDE: YAMAHA TRACE R 700
A brilliant all-rounder, now even better.
Here’s an interesting fact: Yamaha’s new £7799 Tracer 700 is built two hours south of Calais in the Japanese firm’s St. Quentin (MBK) factory. With the production of just about everything moving further east nowadays the French-made sports tourer is now as home grown as you’re going to get. Which should warm your Coquelles.
It’s also an improvement on the 2016 original, not that it was shabby to start with. Anything powered by Yamaha’s brilliant MT-07 engine is guaranteed to be decent – it’s one of the most exciting parallel twin four strokes of the modern era. Having said that, the Tracer 700’s extra weight and 60mm longer wheelbase knocks off some of the engine’s sparkle – Kawasaki’s Versys 650 and Suzuki V-strom 650 have proven to be livelier when tested.
It was on the compact side compared with rivals too, making it feel and look small with a big rider plonked on top. And for those with personal space issues pillions were always too close, and the screen wasn’t quiet either. But, for the most part, the Tracer 700 was light, nimble, comfortable and riotously cheap. So what of this first update since inception? A 10mm thicker and plusher seat, slimmer bodywork and 34mm wider bars all add to satisfaction levels, and here on our seven-hour, 150-mile ride on the world launch in Tenerife, the Yamaha is a thoroughly nice place to be. Still no bigger though.
A redesigned screen has a new manual adjuster but it’s no quieter, and even at full 65mm extension it won’t shield a tall rider from windblast. Yamaha will sell you a bigger one as an accessory or include it in one of their mix and match ‘packs’ (Sports, Travel, Urban and Weekend). But a sports tourer should have a proper screen in the first place.
Low friction valve lifters, a new intake and revised mapping keeps power at 72bhp (and delivered 250rpm lower in the revs), so engine performance doesn’t feel too different to before, but that’s no bad thing. The new Euro5 exhaust note is slightly muted, but the burbling twin is still urgent when you pull the pin and there’s enough grunt swilling around to potter around in cruisy gears. Power delivery is nice and smooth with the odd hint of throttle-snatch at very low speeds.
Its new rear sprocket does make a difference, though. The old Tracer 700 was a touch over-geared, but now with two more teeth (now 45) the Yam is slightly more urgent under acceleration. But if you’re thinking MT-07 levels of front wheel pawing lunacy, don’t. The Tracer is an altogether calmer concept, which is no bad thing for easy touring – at 70mph it lollops along at 5500rpm.
Although on the bouncy side the out-going Tracer 700 was always well balanced and you always knew where you were, even at peg-grinding speeds. Happily, Yamaha have left the chassis alone, but replaced the previously non-adjustable forks with cartridge type units with rebound and preload adjustment (the rear shock now gets a rebound adjuster, too). The net result is a slightly more composed ride and the option to dial in suspension, but the showroom settings work pretty well. Brakes are strong, new Michelin Pilot Road 4 sports touring tyres are all-weather gold and despite the extra Euro5 poundage the Yamaha still weighs 196kg wet (thanks to lighter bodywork and battery). A huge leap forward it isn’t, but the new Tracer 700 is still a lot of bike for the money. It’s a smartly finished, genuine mile-muncher that never does anything wrong and will never let you down. And when you consider its detailing – R1 style projector LEDS, a new white on black digital dash and extra switchgear controls – forking out less than eight grand or just 89 quid a month on PCP is nothing short of une magnifique affaire.