They ain’t broke, so they ain’t fixing them… much
Yamaha’s Tracers, MT-07, Ténéré and Niken get smart updates for 2023
First up there’s a new Tracer 9 GT+ for 2023, complete with radar. This informs adaptive cruise control and also a Unified Brake System, which takes advice from the IMU before automatically controlling the bike’s cornering antics. Wow. There’s new switchgear and quickshifter too, plus a revised seat, though perhaps most important is the new seven-inch TFT dash with connectivity and Garmin full-screen navigation. Much better than the previous twin-screen display… which unfortunately is retained on the normal Tracer 9 and GT models.
The smaller Tracer 7 gets a five-inch TFT with connectivity, plus small changes to its forks. More importantly, Yamaha have applied a dash update to the MT-07 as well. The hilarious parallel twin is a big deal for Yam – they’ve sold 160,000 to date and it’s the third biggest-selling bike in the UK so far this year. The new dash has smartphone connectivity, two selectable displays and requires new switchgear on the right-hand ’bar.
The MT-07 also now comes pre-wired to take a new optional quickshifter. Price will be critical: Honda’s new Hornet
(£6999) already undercuts the outgoing price
(£7200).
It’s a similar story with the
Ténéré 700 which gains a TFT display with, yes, connectivity and a choice of two screens.
As well as pinching this from the World Raid version of the Ténéré, the base model also inherits three-mode ABS which adds a ‘front ABS only’ option (helpful on dirt) to the existing ‘all on’ and ‘all off’. Other detail upgrades include a USB charger replacing the previous 12-volt socket, a more crash-resistant front brake lever and, like the MT-07, wiring for a quickshifter. Priced at £9900 in 2022, it seems inevitable that the Ténéré will top five figures.
Finally in this stream of small updates come significant mods to the Niken. The cunning leaning three-wheeler gets the latest 890cc engine from the MT-09, suspension changes, electronic upgrades – and, of course, a TFT dash (with Garmin navigation).