Fun over function
Yamaha’s Tracer 900GT has been great for smiles but less impressive at the miles
What’s the best thing about the Yamaha Tracer 900GT?
Five months with the 900GT has revealed plenty of pleasing details. The heated grips are toasty hot; the cruise control holds speed solidly; the LED headlights are eye-poppingly bright. But the most relentlessly impressive feature is the motor. On every single ride, that 847cc triple reinforces its case for being one of the greatest engines ever put in a road-going motorcycle — mountains of midrange, lashings of lurid drive irrespective of speed or gear, with a growling edge to its intake and exhaust. Endlessly addictive.
What’s the worst thing?
There are several limitations to its touring aspirations. The 22-litre panniers mount neatly but they’re way too small. The screen is noisy, the seat’s firm, the fuel gauge drops unevenly and there’s no tank-range countdown. But the Tracer’s biggest failing as a practical all-rounder is the pathetic payload. The Tracer’s gross weight rating is just 394kg — on RIDE’S scales, it weighs 229kg and I’m 90kg, so that leaves just 75kg for a pillion or luggage. In practice, it means it’s impossible to carry two normal-sized humans with their stuff and stay within the Tracer’s limit.
What was your defining moment?
Not a big trip or a long ride, but a spontaneous evening blast. Left work one late-summer evening and met a Vfr400-riding mate. For an hour we soared along empty backroads like a pair of low-flying jets, dancing through rolling countryside in synchronised speed and backlit by a glorious golden sinking sun. We probably looked like a pair of barely-in-control wazzocks. An evening of overpriced gastropub-grub later we charged home through the cool night air, the Tracer’s headlights decimating the darkness. From start to finish it was utterly, unforgettably, life-affirmingly, soul-rechargingly glorious.
What have you learned?
The Tracer GT is a fun, all-year, do-most things solo bike. But it’s not a GT.
If you had £10,792 to spend on a new bike, would you buy it?
No. If I was after an upright all-rounder I’d buy a Triumph Tiger Sport (£10,950) or a Suzuki V-strom 1000 GTA (£10,842 with three-piece luggage). Both less fun but a lot more functional.