The Japanese Motorcycle That Does Touring, Commuting, And Weekend Fun Equally Well
Motorcycles are going through the same thing as a lot of other products, or even jobs and careers — they’re getting more and more specialized. And just like those other things, they end up doing one thing extremely well and everything else below average, if not forcing you into a painful compromise. You could opt for a versatile digital machine, which in the marketing material looks like an all-around perfect machine.
But when you actually experience it, it turns out to be mediocre at pretty much everything. What you need is something honed over the years that gets the balance right. Japan has always excelled at doing this, thanks to heft platform-sharing practices. So it’s no surprise that one of the most well-balanced tourers hails from a Japanese giant.
Crossover-Type Tourers Offer Impeccable Versatility
Any tourer is expected to be incredibly comfortable on the highway, but also, by definition, you are going to set off from an open area and end up in an urban area or, at the very least, visit an urban area along the way. So, tourers have to be good at everything from an all-day ride on the highway to going through curves in the mountains all the way to filtering through traffic.
Traditional tourers don’t really do that well, thanks to their massive heft and air-cooled engines. You’ll need serious tech support to maneuver them in traffic or tight spaces, which drives the price up tenfold. These bikes aren’t too versatile on rough terrain, either, which is part and parcel of the exploration game.
That’s where a sub-category of touring bikes comes in: crossover-type tourers, commonly known as sport-tourers. These bikes can do touring and commuting well, without being a pain on slightly bad roads. After all, they have tall statures, long-travel suspension, and good ground clearances. At the same time, these are mostly based on sporty machines, so they are light and easy to ride regularly. The 17-inch wheels further bring a sporty edge.
Japan Has Some Impressive Crossovers On Offer
Thanks to all the pros, this sub-category has picked up pace. Japan has truly gone all in on the idea, and all of the Big Four have representation here. Out of these, there’s only one bike that truly justifies the title at hand. It is based on a naked bike platform, with a proven and fun mechanical package. The curb weight is low, meanwhile, so commutes and weekend rides are perfectly possible when you’re not touring. Oh, and there’s oodles of tech, which is plain hard to fathom for its affordable MSRP.
The Yamaha Tracer 9 Does Touring, Commuting, And Weekend Fun Equally Well
We’re talking about the Tracer 9. It profiles as a middleweight sport touring motorcycle of the crossover type, and Yamaha has managed to cut down on R&D costs by using a chassis and driveline from the MT-09. This is paired with long-travel suspension and a very comfortable rider’s triangle, resulting in the ultimate all-rounder. Yamaha has also thrown premium tech and hard saddlebags as standard. Small wonder then that it is the Japanese motorcycle that does touring, commuting, and weekend fun equally well.
The Price Puts It In An Unoccupied Space
The Tracer 9 costs $12,599, which puts it somewhere above other mid-size tourers and well below Japanese crossovers powered by liter-class engines. At the price, it quietly outclasses more expensive alternatives. As it stands, though, there is just one Japanese competitor within $600 of it. It’s worth noting Yamaha doesn’t sell the international top-spec variant here, so you don’t get a radar or the Y-AMT auto gearbox here. Considering that would take the price up beyond $15,000, we’re not complaining.
The MT-09-Derived Engine Always Eggs You On
The Tracer 9 is powered by the CP3 crossplane inline three-cylinder engine that first powered the MT-09 and now also does duty in the YZF-R9. This is a very flexible engine and is always ready to play thanks to its great torque across the rev range. It displaces 890 cc, has a compression ratio of 11.5:1, and generates 117 horsepower at 10,000 RPM and 68.6 pound-feet at 7,000 RPM. This is put to the wheel via a six-speed manual transmission with an assist and slipper clutch and chain drive.
This driveline is well over a decade old and is proven and as reliable as a Honda, featuring forged pistons and connecting rods with ceramic composite cylinder liners to reduce friction. A lot of recent MT-09 owners have managed to cover over 50,000 miles on their bikes, and a few have even reached 100,000 miles with no problems.
The Diamond Chassis Keeps Up With The Engine
Yamaha uses a diamond frame for the Tracer 9, and it nails the sweet spot between comfort and performance. This uses the engine as a stressed member. KYB provides the suspension with 41 mm inverted forks and a monoshock. There is adjustability available for preload and rebound damping at both ends, with the travel being 5.1 inches at the front and 5.2 inches at the rear. The front brakes consist of twin 298 mm discs with radially mounted four-piston calipers and a 267 mm disc at the rear with a single-piston caliper. These are mounted to 17-inch alloy wheels that have tubeless radial tires on them.
A Sub-500-LB Weight Enables Versatility
This Tracer is a midsize tourer, and that can be seen in its dimensions. It is 85.6 inches long, 35.4 inches wide, and has a 59.1-inch wheelbase. It offers 5.3 inches of ground clearance and a slightly high 33.3-inch seat height. Despite the high seat, the rider can feel a little cramped because of the aggressively positioned footpegs. Considering this is based on a naked bike platform, the 483-pound curb weight isn’t a surprise. This should mean easy handling on fun weekend rides.
A Large Feature-List Checks All Boxes
The Tracer 9 is unironically a flagship touring motorcycle for Yamaha in the US market. Especially now that there’s no FJR. So it has quite a few very good features, beginning with a large 7-inch TFT display with Bluetooth navigation as standard. The matrix headlamp is cornering-enabled, the windshield height can be adjusted manually, there is a USB charging port with a storage space for the phone, and the indicators are self-canceling.
The electronics are top-notch, too, and they outdo everything else in the segment. The by-wire throttle and six-axis IMU offer access to ride modes, cornering traction control, cornering back-slip regulation, and cornering ABS. Yamaha has also equipped the Tracer 9 with anti-wheelie and slide control. There are a total of five ride modes, out of which two are user-customizable. Surprisingly, there is no quickshifter as standard.
Only One True Japanese Competitor For The Tracer 9
Yamaha has very smartly positioned the Tracer 9 so that it doesn’t have any true competition. In other markets, the slightly smaller engine is not such a problem, and the amount of technology and features it offers makes up for the lack of performance. That is why we are going to leave out the $19,499 Kawasaki Versys 1100 and the $18,749 Suzuki GSX-S1000GX+ despite them delivering premium ride quality. Yes, the Versys 650 is closer to the Tracer’s price at $10,399, but it is quite firmly in a lower category when it comes to performance and features.
That leaves us with the Honda NT1100 DCT, which has a legitimate claim as the most versatile touring motorcycle. Like the Yamaha, it is available in a single trim level and retails for $11,999. It has a large TFT screen, but it adds touchscreen functionality and Apple CarPlay to it. It has also been updated with a six-axis IMU, and the six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox is a standard feature. It is also much larger than the Tracer, which means that a pillion will be more comfortable. However, the fun factor is simply missing here, and there are no standard saddlebags.
Sources: Yamaha Motorsports
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