Yamaha Tracer 900 GT+ (2023 - )

As the half-faired, roomier, sports-tourer version of Yamaha’s brilliantly perky MT-09 roadster triple the story of the Tracer 9 is one of success and repeated refinement since the original’s launch in 2015. It’s become a Europe-wide best-seller for its fun, versatility and value, has been successively updated and improved while the luggage-equipped GT version and now this ‘Plus’ version take quality and tech even further. On top of the GT’s luggage, tall screen, heated grips and quickshifter the Plus adds new premium paint and seat, better screen, flash new dash and switchgear and even radar-controlled cruise and pioneering assisted braking. In short, it wants for nothing. The true success of its design, however, is how well it all works and blends seamlessly. The Plus could easily have come over as an over-accessorised dog’s dinner. Instead, the thrillingly effective heart and handling of the Tracer remains. Its practicality and versatility is almost irresistible and now it also has the features and class virtually no other bike can match.

Pretty much unchanged from the Tracer 9 GT and there wasn’t much wrong with that, given the combination of upright sports tourer stance and lightweight roadster triple foundations. To that end Yamaha is at pains to point out that, even though the Plus is 3kg heavier than the GT, it’s still 20kg lighter than its previous flagship tourer, the heavyweight FJR1300. There are a couple of significant improvements, however. The Plus also gets a thicker, wider adjustable screen which gives more protection and is less prone to buffeting than the GT. The seat is uprated and higher quality, too. On top of that the whole riding position – bars, pegs, seat – is adjustable. What’s not to like?

If any bike brings to mind Wacky Races’ Professor Pat Pending’s uber-versatile ‘Convert-a-car’ it’s surely this. As a comfortable sports-tourer with all the equipment imaginable (from heated grips to adjustable screen and radar cruise) it has it all. As a lively, sunny Sunday afternoon sporting machine it also delivers, thanks to the perky CP3 triple, quickshifter and excellent, nimble handling and brakes. Yet it’s also ‘cute’, slim, manageable and nimble enough to be a perfect city commuter, although you might want to substitute the panniers for the optional top case. It can even be an unintimidating first big bike for relative newcomers compared to more heavyweight tourers. Overall, short of having knobbly tyres and being capable of going off road, it’s hard to think of anything the new Tracer 9 GT+ can’t do.

One of the few areas where the Tracer 9 GT+ is less than ‘ultimate’ – but even that’s a moot point. The brilliant heart of the MT-09/Tracer family has always been its perky, characterful and effective three-cylinder engine. The GT+, like the GT before it, gets the latest 890cc version which is now Euro5 compliant and, with 119 horsepower, has bags of grunt, an uprated quickshifter and four effective modes. These comprise Sport, Street, Rain and Custom, all now even more easily accessed via the new TFT dash and switchgear. More than adequate for the road and its intended role, but great fun as well, though we can understand why those used to larger, more heavyweight sports-tourers might think they want more. Trust us - unless you and your pillion are particularly big and heavy, you don’t. The standard brake set-up is excellent, too, assisted by cornering ABS and the debut of Yamaha’s pioneering ‘Radar Linked Unified Braking System’, or UBS in the jargon. When the radar cruise control is active this can intervene by automatically operating both brakes if necessary and even ‘assisting’ when the brakes are operated by the rider, even if this proves a rare occurrence and subtle enough to be barely noticeable. It’s so new our jury’s still out on whether it’s actually necessary, but it’s undeniably an impressive technical accomplishment.

Thanks to the combination of inherently nimble steering and handling from the MT-09 base bike, years of refinement and the addition for the GT of Kayaba’s excellent ‘KADS’ (Kayaba Actimatic Damper System) two-mode semi-active suspension the ride and handling of the new Tracer 9 GT+ is pretty much spot on. Steering is instant, nimble, intuitive and yet still sufficiently secure. Manageability, thanks to the Yamaha’s relatively light weight, is better than most. We’re clutching at straws but the only possible complaint you could potentially make is that all of that was already beyond criticism on the GT, and for nearly a couple of grand less.

Most of the driving force behind the creation of the new GT+ was to provide a more premium Yamaha sports-touring offering. Three-quarters of the sales of the existing Tracer 9 were of the GT model, while the demise of Yamaha’s old FJR1300 left a gap for a high-end tourer. Hence the GT+. One by-product of that, however, is that the new GT+ is far and away the most expensive Tracer so far, a launch price just shy of £15,000 meaning it’s nearly two grand more than the GT and best part of £4,000 more than the base Trace 9. So, in top spec trim at least, no longer is the Tracer 9 the affordable sports-tourer it once was. That may have an effect on residual values, although its popularity will counteract that. Otherwise, being light and lesser-powered than some rivals should mean its appetite for consumables such as tyres, chain, brake pads and similar shouldn’t be too bad, fuel economy is in the mid-40s and other costs should be reasonable, too.

There’s an argument we should be more prudent here. The GT+ is a new model derivative with brand new, unproven features (specifically the radar assisted cruise control and brakes) and masses of other tech. But we also take the view that the base Tracer 9 mechanicals have an excellent reliability record, the bike’s been continually refined and improved and, in this GT+ form, quality has gone up a notch from the poor finishes and vulnerability to corrosion seen on some early Tracer 9s as well. Hopefully we’re proved right!

Nothing unusual here, the new Tracer 9 GT+, like the other members of the Tracer family, benefitting from Yamaha’s current standard two-year, unlimited mileage, manufacturer-backed warranty covering all parts and labour. Servicing-wise, Yamaha recommends engine oil swaps every 6,000 miles, engine oil filter changes every 12,000 miles along with fresh spark plugs and an air filter while the expensive valve adjustment service is now every 24,000 miles. We’d also expect additional expense to check the new radar-controlled cruise and brakes.

It’d be easier to list what the new Tracer 9 GT+ HASN’T got, given an adjustable screen, luggage, 10-way heated grips, semi-active suspension, riding modes and quickshifter were already on the standard GT. The screen and quickshifter are improved here, though. On top of that the Plus also gets premium paint and seat, and, most impressively of all, a new seven-inch TFT dash and updated, easy-to-use switchgear which is a joy to interact with. Bluetooth connectivity for phone and sat-nav is a massive step up over the annoyingly fiddly twin dash and switchgear system on the GT and stock Tracer, too.

The Tracer 9 and 9 GT were already brilliant bikes, both making the case for best all-rounder status depending on how much touring kit you wanted while still offering more lightweight sporty Sunday ride fun than most heavyweight rivals can muster. The new GT+ adds to all that, literally, with premium touches, improved features and extra technology – specifically the new radar-controlled cruise control and assisted brake system. And you get all of that for less than two grand over the GT. That makes it very tempting indeed. The downsides, if any, are that in Plus trim the Tracer 9 isn’t the bargain all-rounder it once was and technophobes may need convincing on the value of the radar-assisted gadgetry. Overall, that doesn’t matter, though, and the premium price is worth it for the brilliant new dash, switchgear and premium paint and seat alone.