Yamaha MT-09 Tracer – Reviewed and Tested – Why all the fuss?

The new Yamaha MT-09 Tracer has become a bit of a poster girl for the magazines recently – just this week RIDE published a letter from a reader complaining about the outrageous amount of coverage its getting. Which, they stuck beside another photo of the tracer just for fun! He did win letter of the month though.

As funny as it may be, the reader is completely right. Which made us think, why has it been so successful with the press? The marketing and PR has been no different to other bikes.

Almost everything sports touring/touring/exploring/adventure is a benchmark

Our first answer to this question is versatility. This enables it to be compared, road tested and reviewed using an unprecedented number of bikes as a benchmark. It’s almost filled a gap that no one knew was there.

Here’s just a few that it’s been compared to on the road: Ducati Multistrada, Hyperstrada, BMW R1200GS, Suzuki V-Strom, Bandit, Kawasaki Versys 1000, 650, Honda VFR, Crossrunner, NC750, Triumph Tiger Sport, Explorer, Tiger 800… the list goes on, which is very interesting, as you probably wouldn’t find a big mag review both a Versys 650 against a Multistrada and certainly not a GS. Yet, somehow, the Tracer seems a viable alternative for all in our eyes.

The history

There are subtle connotations of the Yamaha Fazer all over this bike, even down to the grips and the tank shape. Upon first glance to the trained eye, it’s an early indication that it comes from good stock.

The Yamaha Fazers from over the years have always been a great, solid bike. Built to compete in a new segment of the market identified by Suzuki, the Fazer was launched to ensure that Yamaha got their piece of the pie.

What’s more, it was much better than the Bandit, with a higher quality feel throughout thanks to its solid 600cc engine taken from the successful Thundercat and the brakes based on those developed for the R1.

The Tracer in comparison is a slightly harder ride (the seat isn’t the softest) and more aggressive than the Fazer. There is more than enough power to hand this time, and it’s been clearly designed for optional extras to integrate properly to the bike; there are slots for panniers, the heated grips will link to the dash and use existing buttons. The Fazer was a great bike, although its aesthetics were let down once luggage accessories were added.

What about the bike?

Where this bike fills a gap is retaining as much of the naked MT-09 in a bike that will just about hold its own in the touring market. It’s enough to convince a sporty rider that they can still tour and give it some beans on a bike capable to do both. Those who struggle to justify a tourer and a sports bike may find the Tracer is the answer.

Riders often expect to sacrifice handling and a good power to weight ratio for a bike that will offer a decent touring experience, but with the Tracer they don’t have to.

Last year we toured Ireland with a Tiger Sport, Street Triple, Z1000r and a Yamaha FZS600. The Tiger struggled to keep up with the others mainly due to its size and weight. We all think the Tracer will do extremely well here in future. It looks to be the perfect bike for anyone who wants to be able to have the occasional pillion, travel with luggage or hoon around on the weekend with your mates.

In all honesty, the Tru-Tension office cannot believe the Tracer is priced as it is. Ok, £8,249 is still a lot of money, but the performance and equipment you get for your money is outstanding, and bound to cause a shakeup in the market. An adjustable screen, excellent onboard controls, ABS, centre stand, traction control… all for literally thousands less than many of its competitors that don’t come with the Yamaha brand.

On our test ride, we all agreed that the bike handled exceptionally well after a few adjustments to the suspension. The power delivery is quite unusual due to the vast amount of torque. If you’re inclined to get the front wheel up in the air, you’ll certainly have no trouble once the traction control is off.

The Tracer has a better power to weight ratio than many 1000cc bikes, such as the Tiger Sport, V-Strom 1000, Versys 1000 and Honda Crossrunner. It could be the bike to push many other manufactures away from big, heavy litre road sport tourers. Additionally, the triple engine sounds glorious through the stumpy exhaust.

At slow speeds, the throttle is a little snatchy. We’re still not completely sold on ride by wire throttles, and it feels like a contributing factor to this slight gripe.

With many manufacturers now launching road focused versions of their adventure bikes, like the Triumph Explorer XR range, Yamaha have seized the opportunity to do the opposite and move a sporty naked towards the touring market. And it has worked beautifully.

As Visor Down put it, ‘better and cheaper than the competition’.

Positives:

The price (£8,249 base price)

One of the most versatile road bikes out there

Light and agile

Brilliant sound from the stock pipe with an option from Yamaha to upgrade to an Akrapovic system (although at £945.99+ it’s not cheap).

12v port with another as an optional extra

Centre stand

Pannier options

Excellent dash, taken from the XT Ténéré

Adjustable screen

Negatives:

Slightly low ground clearance

MPG good, but not incredible

Brakes could have more bite

A gel seat might be a good investment for a long journey

Overall score: 9/10

Top tip

The Yamaha accessories are expensive (aren’t all manufacturers’!) however there are some excellent 3rd party options available that do not compromise style.

Panniers

Givi’s pannier option (pictured below) look great and are in keeping with Yamaha’s factory pannier style. In fact, they appear to be much more study.

Yamaha price: £400+

Givi price: £290

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