Any Trumph riders tempted by the MT 09?

It appears Yamaha have taken notice of Triumph's success with their Street Triple and built their own version; a triple, light weight, fun and above all at under £7000. After years of trying to sell old models at inflated prices Yamaha appear to be back in the game and their MT 07 and 09 bikes which I believe are top sellers in terms of numbers for last year.

I sat on the new Yamaha Tracer which is a taller MT 09 at the bike show and liked it. I for one will take one for a test ride when they arrive in dealers next month, and it may make a more exciting alternative to my Current Tiger when time comes to move on.

I hope Triumph will surprise us with one or two new models before long as I do love the Triumph brand, if they don't the competition already have a foot in the door.

 

Yes think I've already mentioned on another thread about BMW, they are making some interesting new and exciting bikes, took the new GS out and was blown away by how well it went and handled. They are also in an other league price wise though and not sure I want all the electronics although Triumph appear to believe we all want Traction control and modes

 

Finally got to ride the stupidly named 'Tracer' today. The bike had only arrived at the dealers yesterday and was not even registered just on trade plates so with just 12 miles on the clock I set about tripling it's mileage.

The snow had just about cleared when I set off from the dealer but the roads were far from ideal and for the first time I was quite glad I had ABS brakes and traction control.

Being a Tiger 800 XC rider I wanted to find out what an extra 50 Yamaha CC's felt like compared to the Tiger. Well both are Triples with that distinctive noise but even in standard mode the Yamaha felt more powerful, more immediate, faster and freer revving, probably more like the Street Triple in its rev limit but with the torque of the Tiger low down. With 115 BHP compared to the Tiger's slightly weedy 94BHP the Yam felt very lively like it wanted to lift the front wheel.

I was surprised both bikes wet weight is 210 -215 Kgs as I was sure the MT 09 was much lighter, it's probably because it carries it's weight much lower and has a very neat under slung exhaust compared to the high side mounted rocket launcher on the Triumph. Handling wise the Tracey felt very flickable; almost super-moto like with it's very wide bars and upright seating making steering easy. I thought I would have buffeting problems with the small screen but no, with the seat and screen both in their highest positions it was certainly no worse than the Tiger. I did think the seat felt firm, not sure if that firm would turn into uncomfortable on longer journeys but I do suspect a conspiracy among all manufactures to sell you a bike then sell you a 'comfort' seat from their accessories catalog.

The LCD dash on the Yam is very neat easy to use, lots of info available and it's easy to flick between modes while still riding. I found the standard riding mode most comfortable and I certainly didn't experience any snatchy fueling that some early MT 09 owners reported. The A mode sharpens everything up with a faster throttle response and there is a rain mode which cuts the powers and softens everything.... not sure if many folks would use the rain mode. Didn't think I would feel the traction control but twice while being quite stupid on the throttle in first in the wet I felt it cut in and the engine splutter; its quite disconcerting the first time it happens, there you are expecting to see the front wheel just start to lift when cough splutter the bike tells you that your being an arse and the road is slippery.

There are some nice touches that you would not expect on what is a budget machine at £8200.00, apart from the top class dash and electronics there are full LED headlights and tail lights and the fit and finish look quality.

There are one or two small niggles; the mirrors are awful being small and only seeing most of your forearm reflected back. The screen adjustment is a bit of a fiddle and can only be done stationary. Looks can be very subjective but for me she doesn't look as nice as the Tiger, the yam is very angular, it's hand-guards look plain weird and it looks like the designer lost the will to do any more behind the passenger seat.

Would I have one and Trade in my Tiger??? Possibly as Yamaha have already offered me a good P/X on the Tiger and to change it would be very reasonable considering I already have 8000 miles on it.

Here is a little vid of me on the test; its not very exciting as the roads were awful and I certainly was not used to the bike.

 

I've tested the Tiger Sport and this is more fun to ride, more flickable, lighter and eager. Perhaps for lots of two work and certainly two up touring then perhaps the Tiger 1050 Sport would be better, shame its a bit of an ugly pup though (sorry Tiger 1050 owners)