Finally got hold of the Tracer yesterday morning - not exactly sunny and a bit windy (the weather, not me) but at least it was dry. First impressions - not a bad looking bike for an adventurer style machine and not a bad colour - to be fair, their colour choices are better than Triumph for the Tiger 900. Second impression, it's a tall bike - more like the old Tiger XC compared to the XR. Like the BMW F900XR, there are no off-road pretensions here, it's definitely a road bike and it goes and handles well. In fact, the engine is superb - a very smooth and responsive triple pushing out 113 bhp and it's quiet, no Tiger 800 gear box whine. It pulls like a train, even in 6th gear and it made the old 800 feel a bit short of breath on the way back home. Handling is very good, sure footed and confidence inspiring. I understand that the original 900 Tracer was a bit suspect in the suspension department - too soft and spongy - but this was rectified by improved gear on the GT. (and I think on the standard 900 now anyway). The bike is good value as the £11199.00 on the road price includes colour coded panniers, centre stand (take note Triumph), quickshifter, heated grips and a fair few other goodies. Service intervals are longer than Triumphs so running costs would be cheaper too. Cost does start to creep up if you try and match the Tiger 900 GT Pro's specification (you can't fully) - easily pushing past £12,000.00. Seat was super comfortable and riding position generally good once I got used to it. It did feel to be a higher up riding position than the Tiger, as the tank is almost flat in front of you as opposed to the sitting behind it feeling you get on the Tiger. Screen was not quite as good as the Tiger 900 but decent enough and better than the stock effort on my 800. Would I buy one? Simple answer is no - it is just that bit too tall for me to feel 100% comfortable with and the riding position was just not as comfy as my 800 Tiger. I probably would get used to it but stopping at junctions and not being able to flat both feet (which I've got used to now) is a bit of a pain and slightly awkward feeling. Not sure I would want to manoeuvre around on a gravel or uneven surface with this one. Apart from that though it might have been a contender. Now the niggly bits! Why hide the ignition key in front of the bars and even worse, to one side behind the clamp? Almost a finger and thumb job to turn on and off and get the keys out. Centre stand and side stand levers are too close to each other and the centre stand lever annoyingly catches your ankle when your foot is on the peg forcing you to twist it slightly. TFT screen has all the usual fancy and changeable displays but why not make it fit the whole screen? Adjustable brake lever but non-adjustable clutch lever - come on Yamaha that is just penny pinching! Some of the switch gear has a bit of the bargain basement feel to it and why oh why would you have your heated grips as only accessible through the menu via a bloody scroll wheel! So basically a decent bike but not quite for me - it goes better than the 800 Tiger but the difference between the new 900 Tiger won't be that noticeable. Slightly annoyed to find out that the comfy seat was in fact not standard and even worse, the screen fitted to the demo bike was actually an aftermarket MRA (Madstad) one as the original screen is noted for being useless!
That's why i never bought the sp version of my mt10 because the screen dosen't fill out all of the clocks like it does on my mt10 and the standard tracer and i agree with you about the clutch lever,but the comfort seats are standard on the GT not the ordinary tracer and you can get a GT New for £10,395 but if you like both feet flat you are limited for bikes,i am the opposite i only have a 28" inside leg but i don't like having 2 feet flat on the floor[feels like the back end has collapsed] i like to feel like i'm sitting on it NOT IN IT,the comfort seat makes it 15mm taller,i'm glad you finally had a go,i was looking forward to your review,in an ideal world i would have the tracer as my winter bike and my mt10 for everything else as they are only £200 to service.I'd buy a tracer and get the comfort seats off the GT.
@steve lovatt Have you considered the Tenere 700, by all accounts it's the adventure bike of champions
They had a new demo next to the tracer. Sounded nice when started up but too much off road biased for me, would be a bit of a waste as all it would see is the occasional gravel path!
Also if you find the 840 seat height challenging of the tracer,the tenere is 875.A question steve did you change modes,i noticed in 1 of the pics it was in standard,if you stick it in A mode it feels like it's got another 20bhp.I do that to my bike and you have only got to look at the bike and it wheelies for england.
Yeah, I think the Tiger seat is around 820 so 875 is never going to work for me! Does look a cool bike though.
nice write up, I had a 2016 900 tracer and the two main reasons for selling were I’d have ended up with lots of points as 80-90 felt like 60 and the lack of stability at speed on bumpy roads ment I could get the bike out of shape, I had 3 different sets of tyres on and the suspension upgraded and it still did it.
Hey I’ve not mentioned any names you trouble maker But if you’re taking about the bloke with a Satnav,,,,,don’t say he’s got another that he doesn’t know how to operate
I’d set my heart on buying a tenere 700 until I test rode one,the front brake was poor and the suspension was a bit harsh,I had seen on videos that some had mentioned the front brake was poor but most said the suspension was good but on forums a few were complaining about the suspension, the engine and finish on the tenere was good but I’ve had enough of spending over a £1000 to sort suspension out.
Another well-written and informative review, steve! Great photos as well. Now go buy that Tiger 900 and post some rideout threads.
