So I took a bunch of pictures, but most of them turned out crap, so you'll have to live with my walkaround video and my test ride video (with comments).
Since I like to be wordy, a little background first. Feel free to skip to the walkaround video if you're not into reading.
After my ride in Okinawa on a VTR250, I started casually looking at bikes of much smaller displacement and weight. I had so much fun on that little thing I wanted something as close as possible to that without being ridiculously cramped. I knew I wanted something taller, something lighter, and something with decent power. I looked at a whole bunch of sumos, but I'm a die hard roadie and the off road look just killed it for me. The hardcore adventure bikes were also in contention. I really wanted a VFR1200X Crosstourer but that was out of my budget and seriously heavy. I very seriously considered a BMW R1200GS (non adventure) but I was seriously concerned about maintenance costs.
At the end of January, I started to get a little more serious about my search, so I sat down at my local Red Baron and had a long chat about different options. The Tracer came up as a possibility and they ordered one from the factory for me to look at. It arrived on February 12, and I was over there first thing in the morning to sit on it. We started crunching numbers and I started thinking about it very seriously, but I wanted to ride it first. So I booked a test ride at a Yamaha dealership in Fukuoka city.
Before I get into my text review, here's a walkaround video.
The ride quality on this bike is really impressive. Once I got into the twisty stuff, I was seriously surprised how easily it took to the corners. It just fell effortlessly into the corners, and the front felt light and took input quickly, in part due to the relatively wide (950mm) bars. The ride-by-wire technology is surprisingly indistinguishable from cabled throttles. The suspension is also well balanced and confident. Preload and rebound adjustment was available on the front and preload adjustment on the back (interestingly, the US version called a FJ-09, lists the rear as having also having rebound adjustment, so that's a possible easy upgrade). The ABS brakes are superb and left the bike very stable and controllable in the slick conditions for my test ride. Dual twin-piston 298mm disks up front and a single 245mm disk single piston rear in combination with ABS meant the bike comes to a halt mighty quick.
Technology for the price point was pretty impressive too. With toggelable traction control, and three selectable riding modes (sport, touring, and standard). Honestly, I only rode in standard mode and really didn't have the opportunity to try the others, but the guy at the dealership indicated that sport mode would surprise me. Although I didn't really believe him, the rainy and slick conditions kept me away from that mode. The ride modes are also toggleable while riding as long as the throttle is closed. LED lights all around as well as a power socket available to the left of the dash. The dash itself is split into two sections. On the right is the multi-function meter which offers a lot of information including trip odometers, fuel efficiency tracking, gear selector indicator, and a host of other options that would take an owners manual to figure out, and I found it to be unnecessarily complicated. The clock was also difficult to find because it isn't on the multi-function meter side (where I expected it to be), but the speedometer/tach side. The display of the dash itself is underwhelming at best.
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In the cockpit, the bark busters are a nice addition and they were designed like a wind screen, to keep the wind off the rider's hands. This was quite noticeable during my test ride because my hands didn't get cold despite the lack of heated grips. The controls are unusual and will take some getting used to. On the right, the kill and starter switches are on the same button (up for kill, down for start, middle for run). The thumb toggleable ride mode switch (labeled "mode") is also over here. On the left, there is a passing light trigger that didn't do anything (and was labeled “mode”), and a big bulky up/down switch for toggling the multi-function meter modes (also labeled "mode" ... creative). Of course, there is also the standard bright/dim switch, turn signal switch, and horn here as well. All of these were clearly labeled and easily selectable, including a big enough difference in location between the turn signal switch and horn that I never hit the horn while trying to cancel the turn signals (something I've frequently done on most Hondas). I also struggled to get the mirrors to give me a satisfactory rear view in comparison to my CB.
The chassis is high and light at 210kg (462lbs). It's also very narrow, so I feel more like I'm sitting on a bicycle than a horse. Lots of adjustment available here as well. The rider's seat can be raised or lowered (two positions), the bars can be moved forward or aft, and the wind screen is also adjustable and did well to protect me from the wind (though I didn't take it on the expressway). The passenger seat is big and roomy as well and the grab bars are big and well contoured. Mounts for side cases were also included on the subframe and they look like the standard slots on the BMWs. I was also happy to see that they included a center stand (I have to park my bike on the center stand at my apartment). My biggest complaint here is that there's essentially zero on-bike storage unless you add luggage.
The drivetrain is excellent. A sweet sounding, jewel of a motor that offers more than enough power, and a 6 speed transmission that is smooth and confident with a light touch on the clutch. As others have mentioned, it lacks in the torque department but not so much that it caused me to look at another bike instead. The cylinders are also angled quite far forward to help keep the center of gravity low. Biggest complaint here is that it takes premium fuel, and with no anti-knock sensor, you'll be paying premium prices at the pump.
I highly recommend this bike for someone looking to move from a sports or standard bike to a budget touring bike, since the entry cost is low and the riding position is high and much more neutral. Maintenance fees will also be lower than the import competition.
Here's the ride video with my thoughts as I ride:
Spec sheet
Model name MT-09 Tracer Make・Model number・Engine number Yamaha・EBL-RN36J・N703E Overall length×width×height 2,160mm×950mm×1,345mm Wheelbase 1,440mm Seat height 845mm Weight 210kg Number of riders 2 Fuel efficiency(Km/L) 27.0(60km/h fixed speed, level course)
19.3(WMTC mode, Class 3, Subclass 3-2, 1 rider)Engine type Liquid cooled 4 stroke DOHC 4 valve inline 3 Displacement 846cm3 Bore×stroke 78.0mm×59.0mm Compression ratio 11.5 Power output 81kW(110PS)@9,000r/min Torque 88N・m(9.0kgf・m)@8,500r/min Starter type Self Ignition TCI Fuel supply Electronic fuel injection Lubrication Wet sump and splash Oil capacity 3.4L Fuel capacity 18L Clutch Wet multi-plate Transmission 6 speed sequential Gear ratio 1st: 2.666
2nd: 2.000
3rd: 1.619
4th: 1.381
5th: 1.190
6th: 1.037Reduction ratio
(primary/secondary)1.680/2.812 Caster angle/Trail 24°00′/100mm Tire size Front: 120/70ZR17M/C (58W)
Rear: 180/55ZR17M/C (73W)Brakes Front: hydraulic dual disk
Rear: hydraulic single diskSuspension Front: telescopic
Rear: monoshockFrame type Diamond truss