In case you havenÂ't noticed, itÂ's summer out there and the roads are calling you. Specifically, they are saying this: “Come, discover us, get a cool motorcycle with sporty pretensions but which also has one or two comfort features your otherwise iron keister might appreciate. May we suggest for this purpose the sport touring class of motorcycle, perhaps the Yamaha Tracer 900 GT?Ââ€
Perhaps youÂ've heard these voices yourself. They have a point.
Sport touring is a fairly narrow sliver of the moto world, occupied at the moment by only the aforementioned Yamaha and a few other bikes like the Kawasaki Versys 1000 LT and BMW F 800 GT. There are loads of pure touring bikes that are bigger, heavier and more comfortable, but they donÂ't do as well when the canyons start to curve. And there are many, many sport and superbikes that are supreme on winding roads but abusive after an hour or two. The sport touring class theoretically offers the best of both worlds -– performance, handling and comfort. But maybe a little more performance.
First, some genealogy. Just as cars often share their roots with similar models, so too with bikes. To make the Tracer 900, Yamaha started with the MT-09 naked sport bike, a favorite among sport-bike knee-scrapers around the globe. IÂ've liked them every time IÂ've ridden them. They are great fun on twisty mountain roads. But, as I also found out, the MT-09 (formerly called the FZ-09) is not as much fun on the long ride to and from those twisty mountain roads. Like any naked sport bike, it gets uncomfortable after a while.
So a few years ago Yamaha added some comfort features to its MT-09/FZ-09 and made it into an FJ-09. Those comfort features included: a windscreen and wind fairings, a more upright riding position, a longer subframe, ABS, traction control and a suspension made to handle the added weight that came in the form of full hard cases and maybe even a passenger on the back.
The new 2019 model you see here, an evolution of the FJ-09, gets a new name: the Tracer 900 and Tracer 900 GT. So to be clear: The FZ-09 naked sport bike begat the FJ-09 sport touring bike, which begat the Tracer 900 GT. This ride concerns the Tracer 900 GT sport touring bike. Clear as gear oil now?
In addition to all the features that made the FJ-09 a more comfortable long-distance tourer, this new Tracer 900 GT sport touring bike gets fully adjustable KYB front forks from the MT-09, a preload adjustable rear spring, a 60-mm-longer rear swing arm for more touring comfort, standard removable hard side cases with a couple different optional top cases, a larger windscreen thatÂ's adjustable with a single hand while underway and seats that are easier to sit on for long periods of time, such as when discovering America.
All of the above bikes share the same torquey and powerful fuel-injected 847cc three-cylinder liquid-cooled four-valve engine, mated to a six-speed manual transmission, both transversely mounted in a slim and lightweight die-cast aluminum frame. Many motorcycle manufacturers in the U.S. donÂ't list power or torque figures (why not???), but if you simply look at the European websites you can get that information easily: 113.4 hp at 10,000 rpm and 64.5 lb-ft at 8,500 revs (as converted from PS and Nm). All that in a bike that weighs just 474 pounds.
So what's it like to ride? It is noticeably more comfortable than its predecessor without losing any of its sportiness. The previous-model FJ-09 had me standing on the pegs for relief after only about a half hour. With this new bikeÂ's new seat, I rode happily all day and never really felt seat pain. ThereÂ's an optional comfort seat with these little gel inserts that I tried out for a short stint (and which I appreciated); if I were ordering one of these IÂ'd get it, but the standard two-height-adjustable seat was fine.
The heart of the beast, the magnificent Yamaha triple, remains one of the best engines on the market, with surprising torque all across the rev range and loads of power up at the top half of the tach. Whenever I looked at the new TFT screen during my long day on the Tracer 900 GT, it seemed to be at or above 4,000 rpm, but I never felt the engine lugging at lower revs. When youÂ're out of gears in sixth and start winding up into higher and higher revs, the engine doesnÂ't sound or feel like itÂ's straining. ItÂ's just as happy at 8,000 rpm as at 4,000.
The transmission never faltered on upshifts, especially when accelerating briskly, but there were a few times when I was trying to downshift quickly coming up to stops where it didnÂ't seem to want to go from fourth to third or anything lower. I had to play around with the clutch a couple times to get it down. That could have been my fault for waiting too long to start downshifting.
Most of the day we rode in columns through the forests of Washington state, with andesitic volcanoes keeping an eye on us -- it was what youÂ'd call touring, and the Tracer was lacking for nothing. There are D-MODE selectable engine maps and switchable traction control options available if you want to customize the bikeÂ's responses, but leaving it in the stock settings produced an entirely livable compromise between performance and handling. Likewise, you can dial up or down the compression and rebound of the front shocks and you can twist a big knob under the rear fender to remotely preload the rear shock and spring. But again, with just me on the bike and nothing in the hard cases or on the rack, I was perfectly satisfied in the stock setting.
In the morning, the roads we took were mostly straight ahead with only a few turns here and there, cruising up and down the scenic Columbia River Gorge, definitely in the touring category. In fact, I began to wonder if weÂ'd ever get to the "sport" part of sport touring. Then after lunch we rode up a wonderful stretch of winding forest two-lane that paralleled something called Curly Creek and, man, did the Tracer come alive. Without even trying, I was scraping the foot pegs, leaning into one corner then flopping it over and leaning into the next. These were fast, fourth-gear turns, with some third-gear corners thrown in for thrills. The Tracer was easy to shift into the proper gears for everything, the assist and slipper clutch making the task as smooth as the seats we were riding on. Occasional superbikes roared up and down the canyon, suggesting this is a place well-known to the Portland moto crowd.
Back in traffic on Highway 14, I appreciated the TracerÂ's nearly 4 inches narrower handlebars, which not only made squeezing through traffic easier but effectively increased the steering response.
The base Tracer 900 stickers at $10,699, plus destination charge. The Tracer 900 GT gets those color-matched hard cases, the adjustable suspension, a quick shifter function, cruise control, heated hand grips and a color display for $12,999, plus destination. Both those prices are a few grand more than the naked sport bike MT-09 on which this sport tourer is based, but it may well be worth it. You could own this and commute on it every day, stowing your briefcase in the saddlebags or in an optional top case and winding through traffic with ease. Then you could adjust the suspension and take the same bike out on weekends for longer excursions that include spirited riding on winding mountain roads.
The sport touring category could easily represent the best of all moto worlds, at least for riding on pavement, and this revised and refined entry is perfect for it.
ON SALE: Now
BASE PRICE: $10,699 plus dest.
AS TESTED PRICE: $12,999 plus dest.
POWERTRAIN: 847cc three-cylinder, six-speed manual, rwd
OUTPUT: 113.4 hp at 10,000 rpm, 64.5 lb-ft at 8500 (Euro specs)
CURB WEIGHT: 474 pounds (mfg.)
FUEL ECONOMY: 44 mpg combined (mfg.)
(EPA City/Hwy/Combined)
PROS: An excellent mix of performance and practicality in a bike that just might do it all
CONS: Our test bike was over 13 grand
Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/motorcy...00-gt-keeps-sport-sport-touring#ixzz5LXKO3qfS
Perhaps youÂ've heard these voices yourself. They have a point.
Sport touring is a fairly narrow sliver of the moto world, occupied at the moment by only the aforementioned Yamaha and a few other bikes like the Kawasaki Versys 1000 LT and BMW F 800 GT. There are loads of pure touring bikes that are bigger, heavier and more comfortable, but they donÂ't do as well when the canyons start to curve. And there are many, many sport and superbikes that are supreme on winding roads but abusive after an hour or two. The sport touring class theoretically offers the best of both worlds -– performance, handling and comfort. But maybe a little more performance.
First, some genealogy. Just as cars often share their roots with similar models, so too with bikes. To make the Tracer 900, Yamaha started with the MT-09 naked sport bike, a favorite among sport-bike knee-scrapers around the globe. IÂ've liked them every time IÂ've ridden them. They are great fun on twisty mountain roads. But, as I also found out, the MT-09 (formerly called the FZ-09) is not as much fun on the long ride to and from those twisty mountain roads. Like any naked sport bike, it gets uncomfortable after a while.
So a few years ago Yamaha added some comfort features to its MT-09/FZ-09 and made it into an FJ-09. Those comfort features included: a windscreen and wind fairings, a more upright riding position, a longer subframe, ABS, traction control and a suspension made to handle the added weight that came in the form of full hard cases and maybe even a passenger on the back.
The new 2019 model you see here, an evolution of the FJ-09, gets a new name: the Tracer 900 and Tracer 900 GT. So to be clear: The FZ-09 naked sport bike begat the FJ-09 sport touring bike, which begat the Tracer 900 GT. This ride concerns the Tracer 900 GT sport touring bike. Clear as gear oil now?
In addition to all the features that made the FJ-09 a more comfortable long-distance tourer, this new Tracer 900 GT sport touring bike gets fully adjustable KYB front forks from the MT-09, a preload adjustable rear spring, a 60-mm-longer rear swing arm for more touring comfort, standard removable hard side cases with a couple different optional top cases, a larger windscreen thatÂ's adjustable with a single hand while underway and seats that are easier to sit on for long periods of time, such as when discovering America.
All of the above bikes share the same torquey and powerful fuel-injected 847cc three-cylinder liquid-cooled four-valve engine, mated to a six-speed manual transmission, both transversely mounted in a slim and lightweight die-cast aluminum frame. Many motorcycle manufacturers in the U.S. donÂ't list power or torque figures (why not???), but if you simply look at the European websites you can get that information easily: 113.4 hp at 10,000 rpm and 64.5 lb-ft at 8,500 revs (as converted from PS and Nm). All that in a bike that weighs just 474 pounds.
So what's it like to ride? It is noticeably more comfortable than its predecessor without losing any of its sportiness. The previous-model FJ-09 had me standing on the pegs for relief after only about a half hour. With this new bikeÂ's new seat, I rode happily all day and never really felt seat pain. ThereÂ's an optional comfort seat with these little gel inserts that I tried out for a short stint (and which I appreciated); if I were ordering one of these IÂ'd get it, but the standard two-height-adjustable seat was fine.
The heart of the beast, the magnificent Yamaha triple, remains one of the best engines on the market, with surprising torque all across the rev range and loads of power up at the top half of the tach. Whenever I looked at the new TFT screen during my long day on the Tracer 900 GT, it seemed to be at or above 4,000 rpm, but I never felt the engine lugging at lower revs. When youÂ're out of gears in sixth and start winding up into higher and higher revs, the engine doesnÂ't sound or feel like itÂ's straining. ItÂ's just as happy at 8,000 rpm as at 4,000.
The transmission never faltered on upshifts, especially when accelerating briskly, but there were a few times when I was trying to downshift quickly coming up to stops where it didnÂ't seem to want to go from fourth to third or anything lower. I had to play around with the clutch a couple times to get it down. That could have been my fault for waiting too long to start downshifting.
Most of the day we rode in columns through the forests of Washington state, with andesitic volcanoes keeping an eye on us -- it was what youÂ'd call touring, and the Tracer was lacking for nothing. There are D-MODE selectable engine maps and switchable traction control options available if you want to customize the bikeÂ's responses, but leaving it in the stock settings produced an entirely livable compromise between performance and handling. Likewise, you can dial up or down the compression and rebound of the front shocks and you can twist a big knob under the rear fender to remotely preload the rear shock and spring. But again, with just me on the bike and nothing in the hard cases or on the rack, I was perfectly satisfied in the stock setting.
In the morning, the roads we took were mostly straight ahead with only a few turns here and there, cruising up and down the scenic Columbia River Gorge, definitely in the touring category. In fact, I began to wonder if weÂ'd ever get to the "sport" part of sport touring. Then after lunch we rode up a wonderful stretch of winding forest two-lane that paralleled something called Curly Creek and, man, did the Tracer come alive. Without even trying, I was scraping the foot pegs, leaning into one corner then flopping it over and leaning into the next. These were fast, fourth-gear turns, with some third-gear corners thrown in for thrills. The Tracer was easy to shift into the proper gears for everything, the assist and slipper clutch making the task as smooth as the seats we were riding on. Occasional superbikes roared up and down the canyon, suggesting this is a place well-known to the Portland moto crowd.
Back in traffic on Highway 14, I appreciated the TracerÂ's nearly 4 inches narrower handlebars, which not only made squeezing through traffic easier but effectively increased the steering response.
The base Tracer 900 stickers at $10,699, plus destination charge. The Tracer 900 GT gets those color-matched hard cases, the adjustable suspension, a quick shifter function, cruise control, heated hand grips and a color display for $12,999, plus destination. Both those prices are a few grand more than the naked sport bike MT-09 on which this sport tourer is based, but it may well be worth it. You could own this and commute on it every day, stowing your briefcase in the saddlebags or in an optional top case and winding through traffic with ease. Then you could adjust the suspension and take the same bike out on weekends for longer excursions that include spirited riding on winding mountain roads.
The sport touring category could easily represent the best of all moto worlds, at least for riding on pavement, and this revised and refined entry is perfect for it.
ON SALE: Now
BASE PRICE: $10,699 plus dest.
AS TESTED PRICE: $12,999 plus dest.
POWERTRAIN: 847cc three-cylinder, six-speed manual, rwd
OUTPUT: 113.4 hp at 10,000 rpm, 64.5 lb-ft at 8500 (Euro specs)
CURB WEIGHT: 474 pounds (mfg.)
FUEL ECONOMY: 44 mpg combined (mfg.)
(EPA City/Hwy/Combined)
PROS: An excellent mix of performance and practicality in a bike that just might do it all
CONS: Our test bike was over 13 grand
Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/motorcy...00-gt-keeps-sport-sport-touring#ixzz5LXKO3qfS
