Closest rivals
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 of similar capacity (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, two-up ability and good ride quality) without the downsides (huge seat heights, high running costs, unwieldy parking and manoeuvrability). 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-world 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 of 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.
If you don’t like it, a harder feel at the lever is only a set of braided hoses away. On the subject of locking up, the ABS is subtle and unobtrusive at the front, but still a bit eager to cut in at the rear, although less so than on the MT-09, thanks presumably to the longer swing arm and extra weight of the new rear subframe.
Happily, I didn’t need to try the cornering ABS – and if you’d seen the giddying, rocky drops by the sides of the roads we were riding (particularly the RD952 along the Gorge du Verdon – Google it, and then go and ride it one day. You can thank me later...) then you’d have been happy not to push your luck too...
Out of our 150km test ride, I don’t think there was more than about 1km of straight and level riding – it was a struggle to find an opportunity to test the cruise control for more than a few moments, let alone get into a long-distance slouch and see how long you could sustain it, so any comments on the subject of comfort have to be viewed with that in mind. That said, the riding position felt perfectly natural for me (5ft 6in on a good day), with enough leg room and a comfortable reach to the bars.
The footrests are adjustable by shifting to an alternate set of mounting holes, which raises them 14mm and moves them back by 4mm. I doubt taller riders would fancy that, and although it was easy to get a scrape from the hero blobs in bends, otherwise ground clearance is good so I’d leave them where they are. As well as moving the bars in the clamps to swivel them back and forward, you can also rotate the clamps themselves to push the bars 9mm forwards and 4mm up. 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, a little more supportive and a little grippier. There’s also an even plusher comfort version available. 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 pillionfriendly 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...