At the end of the day...
For me the price is the first of the Kawasaki’s two main problems. It’s 1300 quid more than the Tracer GT — enough to put it out of contention as far as I’m concerned. Yes, it comes with the topbox and box liners and spotlights as standard but the Tracer has cruise control, heated grips and newer generation electronics to balance that.
I’m a bit torn over the Triumph. The engine’s magnificent, the handling’s solid and it’s properly all-day comfortable but to me the whole package feels oldfashioned and the muted matt paint doesn’t do it any favours either. Simon agreed, but Martin didn’t care: “If I had a bigger wallet I’d consider apologising to my Tracer and swapping. Sadly, by the time you’ve added the panniers and fitted a centrestand, the price is out of my ballpark.” Mine too — boxes and stand take it to the same price as the overpriced Versys.
Which just leaves the Tracer GT. We all loved its combination of attitude and ability, competence and craziness. It’s not as smooth and cosseting on a long motorway day as either of the others (and looks like it might not be as pillionfriendly) but in every other situation — low speed or high speed, bumpy or smooth — it comes up trumps. You can ride it like a sportsbike or ride it like a tourer and it’s equally happy. It’s the best-equipped and the least expensive as well — by a big margin. Job done.