2022 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT Long-Term Review

Motorcyclist

After riding the 2022 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT for a year, we talk about its long-term performance.  --  Over the course of the past year, we’ve been riding Yamaha’s 2022 Tracer 9 GT. Introduced in 2021, the Tracer 9 GT is a middleweight, sport-touring bike from the Tuning Fork brand. We’ve reported on its performance and capability during the 2022 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT Review and 2021 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT MC Commute Review articles and videos. Now, after riding this machine for nearly a year and logging almost 4,000 miles, we’re discussing what it’s like to live with from day to day.   Our original review discussed a couple of annoying hiccups, but fast-forward to now and those bugaboos irk us much less. We’re keen on the versatility and function of the Tracer 9. We really like this middleweight’s size; because it’s a bantam sport-touring bike, it has great everyday utility. It’s great to have a bike with manufacturer hard cases, eliminating the need for a fanny pack or backpack as the lockable and removable luggage swallow nearly 8 gallons of goodies on either side. And even with the luggage mounted, the bike remains svelte and nimble.  Traffic is a bear in Southern California, and larger touring bikes and cruisers can be a handful to slide in and out of traffic. Not so with this Tracer 9 GT; it may weigh just over 500 pounds with a full 5 gallons of fuel, but it’s surprisingly responsive, really fitting our SoCal lifestyle...  Full story here: https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/story/reviews/yamaha-tracer-9-gt-long-term-review-2022/  Photography: Joseph Agustin Video/edit: Ray Gauger Media, Inc.  Motorcycle Riding Gear Worn  Helmet: Shoei RF-SR Jacket: REV'IT! Tornado 3 Pant: REV'IT! Jackson RF Gloves: REV'IT! Sand 3 Boots: TCX Rush 2 Air  Motorcyclist Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/motorcyclist Shop Products We Use: https://www.amazon.com/shop/motorcyclistmagazine   See more from us: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/

Transcript

00:00 Hey folks, over the course of the last year we've been riding Yamaha's 2022 Tracer 9 GT.

00:07 Now if you remember, the Tracer 9 GT was an all-new middleweight sport touring bike from

00:13 the Tuning Park brand that they introduced for the 2021 model year. Now we've reported

00:20 on the performance capability of this 2022 Tracer 9 GT on MotorcyclistOnline.com and in video content

00:29 that lives here on the MotorcyclistMag YouTube channel. Now having ridden this bike for nearly

00:37 a year and having logged almost 4,000 miles on this motorcycle, we wanted to talk about what

00:43 it's like to live with day in and day out. I know when I originally reviewed this bike there was a

00:50 couple of hiccups on this motorcycle that I didn't really like. Well fast forward to now and having

00:57 lived with this motorcycle for that type of duration, those bugaboos don't really irk me

01:03 anymore and there's some things that I've really come to enjoy about this Tracer 9 GT. Let's begin

01:10 with its size and overall proportions. What I really like about this middleweight sport touring

01:15 bike from Yamaha is just its size. Because it's a sport touring bike you can actually use it

01:21 for some utilitary function. It has OE hard cases, you can load things in the bag, you don't need to

01:27 wear a backpack, you don't need to wear a fanny pack, and the bags are capable of swallowing

01:33 nearly eight gallons of goodies on each side. Yet even with those hard case luggage on this

01:41 motorcycle it's still very nimble, it's very narrow, it's easy to slice your way through

01:45 traffic. Traffic's a real bear here in Southern California and sometimes when you're riding

01:51 bigger touring bikes and cruisers they can be a real handful to slide in and out of traffic.

01:57 Not with this Tracer 9 GT. Yeah it weighs just over 500 pounds with a full five gallons of fuel

02:06 but you'd be surprised how nimble and how responsive and how agile this sport touring

02:13 bike is. I really like its proportions and how easy it is to get in and out of traffic. It really

02:19 fits my Southern California lifestyle. Ergonomics on this bike. I love the ergonomics on this bike.

02:27 The seat is nice and plush, it's broad, you can easily raise or lower the seat height very easily

02:37 without any tools. Yamaha made a nice little cam system so if you're a height challenge rider you

02:43 can put the seat in a lower position. I standing at six foot tall, I like the tall position.

02:49 It is very comfortable. I also like the ability to adjust the rider foot pegs. That was a feature

02:57 that we used to see on sport bikes many years ago. They kind of went away from that but I'm

03:03 happy that Yamaha still has that. I like the foot pegs in the low position that reduces the amount

03:11 of knee contortions I have when I'm riding this bike and it just gives me a real comfortable ride.

03:17 I also like the handlebar. It's nice and wide, it's nice and upright. You can adjust the positioning

03:22 of the handlebar based on your preference and it's just a really accommodating ergonomics package.

03:31 I also like the windscreen. It doesn't allow for electronic adjustment. The adjustment is just

03:37 manual tool-less with just lever. You pull it and you push that windscreen up or down.

03:42 Really easy to use. I like how tall the windscreen is in its high position. It does a good job of

03:49 moving the turbulent air over my head and really delivers me to where I need to go

03:53 in a comfortable and quiet manner. I also like the OE fitted plastic hand guards. They do a

04:01 marvelous job of keeping your hands warm in chilly weather. That along with the 10-way adjustable

04:09 electronic heated grips, 10 levels of adjustability. I love it. I'm a wimp when it gets cold out and

04:16 it's nice to put those heated grips on level 10 and with the wind deflection of the hand guards,

04:23 you are guaranteed to have a nice cozy ride even when the mercury is dropped.

04:30 Other things I really like about this motorcycle of course is the engine. This 890 cc i3 is just

04:39 awesome. It has gobs of torque, over 50 pound feet of torque from as low as 2500 rpm. Right around

04:46 100-405 ponies at the business end of the Bridgestone 180 series sport terrain tire.

04:54 This bike has a lot of get up and go. It also sounds cool. That electronic quick shifter is a

05:01 real nice feature. I love electronic quick shifters. You don't have to use the clutch when you're up

05:05 shifting. You don't have to use the clutch when you're down shifting. It just makes for a much

05:10 more entertaining experience especially with the torquey punch of this inline 3. Now what's really

05:18 neat about this motorcycle is its elevated maintenance intervals. Yamaha Motor recommends

05:25 engine oil changes every 6,000 miles. Engine oil filter changes every 12,000 miles along with spark

05:34 plugs and an air filter. Valve adjustment intervals are spaced out to 24,000 miles. This motorcycle

05:43 goes quite a lot of miles with not a lot of maintenance. Like I said before we logged nearly

05:50 4,000 miles. The only really hiccup we had with this motorcycle was a flat tire. We got a flat

05:57 tire. We got a nail in the 180 series Bridgestone tire. Not a big deal because this bike has a

06:03 center stand. Popped it on the center stand, took the wheel off, put a new tire on. We were back in

06:09 business in just a couple hours. Now $15,000 is a lot of money for this motorcycle especially

06:17 considering that the outgoing FJ09 only cost around $10,000. But of course that didn't come

06:24 with the OE luggage which is another $1,500 more which would put it at right around $11,500.

06:31 But for the added price you get a lot of accoutrement. I really like the heated grips.

06:37 I like the cruise control although it is a little bit annoying that you can only

06:42 engage cruise control in fifth and sixth gears. Fourth gear too. If you're below that gear,

06:49 those gears it won't actually engage. It would be nice if you could engage cruise control in any

06:54 gear because sometimes you're just cruising at low speeds through town and you want to do that.

07:00 I also like the function of the LED headlights. I think it's cool that Yamaha comes with

07:08 cornering LEDs as an OE feature. Realistically we rode this motorcycle after dark for probably

07:15 hundreds and hundreds of miles and the OE cornering headlamps just don't do a very good job

07:21 of throwing light into the corner when you're riding. We've ridden other motorcycles that have

07:29 much better cornering headlight function. It'd be really nice if Yamaha revisited that application

07:35 for 2023 and beyond. Now fuel economy wise we love riding fast and we love riding fast on an

07:44 entertaining motorcycle like this Tracer 9 GT. We only average around 32 miles per gallon but again

07:52 this engine is so peppy and so fun to ride and has such cool engine exhaust notes. You're going

07:58 to find it really easy to rev this thing out and really let her eat. But still with its five gallon

08:06 capacity fuel tank you still have some decent range. Of course bigger fuel tanks are always

08:11 better in my book especially for a sport touring bike but we can live with the five gallon fuel

08:18 tank. Overall after riding this bike nearly 4,000 miles I really like this Tracer 9 GT. It really

08:25 grew on me. Again I really like the packaging. I like that you can have a sport touring bike

08:30 that has capability that doesn't take up a lot of room in your garage. I like that it has a real

08:36 peppy and real fun loving engine. Has decent handling. The KYB semi-active suspension I think

08:42 that's neat that Yamaha's adding these kind of features to the bike. Realistically yeah it's nice

08:48 not having to adjust damping adjusters but the actual function of the semi-active suspension

08:54 it's kind of meh. We've ridden other bikes with semi-active suspension that performed

08:59 better but that's not saying that this thing doesn't handle good. Around town it handles

09:03 real nicely. It soaks up the bumps really well but when you're getting some in the corners

09:08 on a favorite curvy road like Palomar Mountain Road this bike has a tendency to get a little

09:15 bit unglued but I can certainly live with it based on its day-to-day capability. Now for

09:22 15 grand would I pony up my $15,000 for this motorcycle? Well initially I thought it was just

09:28 way too expensive for the features that it brings to the table but now after riding it for

09:35 nearly a year I like it. I like that it has good traction control. I like that it has wheelie

09:41 control integrated. I like Yamaha's updated D-mode system with its APSG throttle tube setup that they

09:51 originally unveiled on the 2020 YZF-R1 and R1M. Those features just make for a more lovable and

09:59 easy riding bike and for $15,000 if you're looking for a motorcycle that can do a whole heck of a

10:05 lot this thing has bags you can go place on this thing yet it's still small still easy to park and

10:11 it won't break the bank in terms of maintenance. I think this $15,000 Tracer 9 GT bike from Yamaha

10:19 is pretty good. I really like it. I'm sad that it has to go back to Yamaha Motor. All right folks

10:26 that's a wrap from our long-term review of Yamaha's 2022 Tracer 9 GT. As usual please

10:35 surf on over to MotorcyclistOnline.com that's where our vast array of performance motorcycle reviews

10:42 lives. Give this video a thumbs up if you liked it, thumbs it down if you didn't because we love

10:47 hearing from all of the naysayers out there and we'll see you guys next time. Thanks for riding with us!

10:54 [Music]

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