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Motorcyclist Magazine publishes Episode 1 of the 2024 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+ ($16,499) sport-touring bike review from the official U.S. press introduction.

Check out the story at https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/reviews/yamaha-tracer-9-gt-plus-first-ride-review/

Video: Adam Waheed
Photography: Joseph Agustin

Motorcycle Riding Gear Worn
Helmet: Shoei RF-SR
Jacket: REV'IT! Defender 3 GTX
Pant: REV'IT! Defender 3 GTX
Gloves: REV'IT! Sand 3
Boots: TCX Rush 2 Air

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Transcript
00:00 Alright folks, here we are at the official US press introduction for
00:06 Yamaha Motors 2023, I'm sorry 2024 Tracer 9 GT+. This is an updated sport
00:19 touring bike from the tuning fork brand for the 2024 model year.
00:28 So this bike or this version was originally introduced for the 2021 model
00:35 year. It replaced the outgoing Yamaha Tracer 900 so they changed the name to
00:46 Tracer 9 GT and the GT+. This vehicle has semi-active KYB suspension, semi-active
00:58 suspension. What that does is it automatically adjusts compression and
01:04 rebound damping circuits in real time based on rider control input, i.e. the
01:12 brakes and the throttle and the position of the vehicle which is determined by an
01:22 IMU. That is the same type of chip that is used in modern smartphones and it
01:30 gives the vehicle positional awareness in all axis. So yaw, roll, and pitch in
01:42 relation to the pavement of course. Now for 2024 Yamaha has done a number of
01:48 nice improvements to its sport touring bike. Now it's worth noting that Yamaha
01:55 Tracer 9 GT+ customers, they really want a balanced vehicle in terms of
02:02 engine performance, comfort, handling, and all the bells and whistles and doodads.
02:08 And the easiest doodad to spot right now is this new 7-inch color TFT display.
02:17 This display, look at it, look how much of an improvement this display is versus
02:23 the outgoing Tracer 9 GT+ with its curious double MT-10 readouts. I wasn't a
02:32 big fan of that previous display with the two MT-10 displays. It was
02:39 pretty obvious why Yamaha ran that just because it was more affordable to
02:45 use that setup instead of having to engineer or source an all-new display. So
02:52 we understand why they used it but this new 7-inch color TFT display is awesome.
02:58 It's nice and sharp, easy to read, we can view all of our riding metrics right
03:06 here with this button here. This joystick style button is also new as
03:12 is the switch gear on the right hand side of the handlebar. So new switch gear,
03:18 I really like it. I was a big, for years and years and years, we've been
03:23 griping about Yamaha switch gear and how it's subpar, especially in terms of
03:29 tactile feel. So thank you Yamaha for listening to our comments and upgrading
03:34 this vehicle with new switch gear. It's a big deal for us. So here we can go hit
03:44 left, left, left, go to vehicle info and now we can see all the metrics. Let's pull
03:51 that up right here. So during the course of our ride we've averaged 43 miles per
03:57 gallon which is really good for this 890 cc CP3 engine. This engine is thirsty.
04:04 All of Yamaha's cross-plane crankshaft equipped engines are generally pretty
04:09 thirsty and when we're riding this thing in SoCal at home we're usually
04:14 recording fuel mileage in the mid 30s. So 43 is really nice to see but to be fair
04:20 we've actually haven't been riding very fast. Anyways, like seeing all that stuff,
04:25 ambient air temperature, love that that's there, 86 degrees, a little bit toasty.
04:31 Very, very nice. We have more trip information on the right-hand side. Nice
04:38 layout, a little bit cluttered if I had to say anything, a little bit cluttered
04:41 but I still like it. It's a big improvement from its predecessor. There's
04:47 also different themes so you can actually modify the theme of the
04:56 of the display here. So to do that we are going to hit the home button which is
05:05 below the joystick and we'll go into theme. Now we can choose different themes.
05:12 See? It's like little different graphics. Kind of neat. I like this one so we're
05:21 gonna go with that.
05:25 Now another important feature in addition to the new switchgear and the
05:29 7-inch color TFT is the adaptive cruise control. Yes! I love adaptive cruise
05:38 control. Adaptive cruise control, at least I sometimes like it, I should, we'll talk
05:44 more about that later, but adaptive cruise control basically builds upon
05:49 electronic cruise control by introducing a radar hardware in
05:57 the front of the motorcycle. The radar hardware in the front of the motorcycle
06:01 pings the vehicle in front or obstacle in front and is able to assess the speed
06:10 of that vehicle that's in front of you and when it's engaged it automatically
06:17 decreases or increases this vehicle speed based on what's in front of you.
06:23 And you can adjust how sensitive it is in terms of range with this switchgear
06:31 mounted button right here on the left. So if we want to be very close to the
06:38 traffic in front of us we can have only one bar showing and now we'll have the
06:44 shortest range distance. Conversely if we want to have a lot of room between us
06:51 and the vehicle ahead we will use the four bars. Let's split the difference and
06:57 go to two. And our cruise control is enabled at 70 miles per hour so the
07:04 vehicle will be pacing, our vehicle will pace the vehicles in front of us until
07:10 70 miles per hour. Kind of neat. Kind of neat. It definitely takes the worry about
07:18 having to keep your speed constant so you're not too far ahead or behind the
07:25 traffic in front of you. Kind of neat. But you don't want to rely on the
07:31 electronics too much because you still got to ride the motorcycle and pay
07:34 attention. So it's definitely a neat feature but you still have to really pay
07:39 attention because stuff can happen on your bike and you always have to be in
07:45 control and aware of your surroundings.
07:49 So those are the two big changes to this bike. We also have, if you can even believe
07:56 it, it sounds crazy, but now they have radar powered linked braking. So let's
08:04 say you're operating this bike and you're manipulating the front or rear
08:07 brake and the radar sees that the object in front of you is closing at a faster
08:15 speed than the electronic window allows that to happen. The vehicle will actually
08:20 apply extra brake pressure to help you slow down your Tracer 9 GT+. Pretty neat.
08:29 Along with that we have a larger diameter rear brake disc. So 267
08:38 millimeter brake disc is now fitted out back. It used to be a 245. So kind of neat.
08:44 Neat to see Yamaha improving things.
08:50 Now underneath this 7-inch color TFT we have a USB charging port
08:58 right there so you charge your gadgets on the move. I really like it.
09:05 Now this Tracer 9 GT+ is powered by Yamaha's tried-and-true 890 cc CP3
09:14 engine. Dual overhead cam. Four valve, four valves per cylinder. So we got a 12
09:24 valve cylinder head. This engine was overhauled for the 2021 model year.
09:33 It received extra stroke and a bunch of other modifications that really
09:40 upped the game in the terms of power and charisma. We've reviewed
09:47 this engine extensively in our previous 2021 MT-09 reviews and XSR 900 reviews
09:57 and Tracer 9 GT reviews. So make sure to check all that content that lives on
10:03 MotorcyclistOnline.com. We've literally written a couple articles, thousands and
10:09 thousands of words, hours of video commentary about that engine
10:14 configuration. So check that out on the MotorcyclistMag YouTube channel. You'll
10:19 probably find insights about that powertrain that you probably won't find
10:23 at other YouTube channels or magazines or anything else. So check out that
10:28 content if you're interested in purchasing a Yamaha motor vehicle
10:31 equipped with a 2021 spec and newer CP3 engine. A lot of good facts. But this
10:38 engine is so neat because really when it came out for 2021, Yamaha closed the gap
10:43 to Triumph. So this engine literally sounds just like a Triumph, except it's
10:51 more smooth and has way less engine vibration. Triumph engines of course are
10:57 awesome but they vibrate like crazy. So this has all the pluses of a Triumph
11:02 engine with less vibration and I really like it. This engine is good for right
11:08 around 105 ponies at the business end of the Bridgestone Batlax 180 series
11:17 tire. So around 105 ponies at the business end of the tire, upwards of 50
11:24 pound-feet of torque from I believe 2,500 rpm. This is a torquey little
11:29 engine and it's got a character and a sound to match. I love how awesome this
11:36 engine sounds.
11:39 Now this engine's mated to a six-speed transmission, operated through a cable
11:50 actuated clutch. So cable actuated, wet clutch with slipper function. So if you
11:58 downshift too low of a gear for your vehicle speed traveled, that isn't so
12:04 much of a big deal. Now like before this vehicle continues to employ an
12:10 electronic quick shifter but Yamaha has made some improvements to the quick
12:14 shifter. It's a lot more fast in its response and now it up shifts and down
12:21 shifts while you're on the throttle. So before it had a lockout so if you were
12:26 on the throttle you couldn't downshift or upshift but now you can. Let's give
12:34 old Alan a little pass here.
12:39 There we passed him. Now we're speeding a little bit guys. I apologize. I apologize
12:46 for speeding but this vehicle and this engine is just so dang fun to ride that
12:52 it's really easy to up the speed. So the quick shifter was improved for the 2024
13:00 model year. It now allows you to up shift while you're on the throttle and you can
13:06 down shift on the throttle too which is awesome. Just a lot faster response. That
13:13 was another gripe we had with the previous version. While we like it had an
13:18 electronic quick shifter it was really sluggish in action. This thing is way
13:23 more responsive. Good job Yamaha Motor.
13:30 Now we still have this height adjustable windscreen. It's really easy to use with
13:36 this lever. Some people might gripe that it's not electronically adjustable but
13:41 honestly having a manual lever that's really easy to use like this one I'd
13:45 rather have it than an electronically adjustable windshield because just it's
13:50 just another doodad to you know potentially break. So having this manual
13:54 lever is awesome. I like how big this windscreen is. Right now we have it in
14:00 its highest position and it does a good job of protecting us from the elements.
14:05 Of course if we wanted a little bit more wind in our helmet or against our torso
14:10 we can lower it but I like it high so that's the way we're gonna run it.
14:14 Listen to that engine. This thing's a hoot. It literally sounds just like a
14:21 Triumph inline-3 engine. Love it.
14:28 Now we talked about how smooth this engine is. Now the tuning fork brand
14:34 really knows how to tune, hence their name tuning fork brand, how to tune
14:39 precisely the harmonics and vibration, the noise,
14:45 the noise and harshness of the engine very easily.
14:52 Now Yamaha Motor really knows how to tune the dynamic of its engines. This
14:59 engine has a little bit of engine vibration but it's the good kind. Makes
15:05 you feel like you're riding a motorcycle. You feel just a hint of vibration
15:09 through the controls but it's definitely you can tell that Yamaha put some time
15:16 and effort to make sure it's the right type of vibration. And this engine is way
15:21 less vibey than other inline-3s which is really nice.
15:29 If you're riding a touring bike you want a motorcycle that you're gonna be able
15:33 to put some miles on and it's gonna deliver you to where you want to be
15:37 comfortably without a bunch of buzzing and annoying things. So that's why we
15:42 like this engine configuration so much.
15:48 Chassis on this vehicle continues to employ a twin spar aluminum frame with
15:55 KYB semi-active suspension. So the suspension automatically adjusts the
16:03 rebound and compression damping circuits in real time based on rider control
16:09 input and the position of the vehicle on the road. We have just over five inches
16:16 of suspension travel fore and aft.
16:21 All right folks we're gonna take a little break here. We have to do some
16:26 more photography and videography. There is the photography and videography team
16:32 calibrating the white balance with that card. So we're gonna take a little break
16:38 here and collect some content for all of you folks to see and watch here at home.
16:46 All right folks we'll check in with you in a little bit. All right folks we're
16:51 gonna give you some exclusive BTS. So right now we are doing photography and
17:01 videography camera tracking footage. This is called tracking action footage.
17:10 And we're gonna record video 4k video because all we publish is 4k video
17:17 because our US audience demands the very tasty most premium content. So 4k video
17:24 and probably 30 megapixel photos probably even more. So that's what
17:34 we're about to do right now. I really like this dash display. Look how much
17:40 better that thing looks. So much cleaner looking and a lot more functional than
17:48 the previous double rectangular color displays that was used previously.
17:55 And this tactile function of this switch gear is awesome. We'll keep her in custom
18:03 mode and away we go. This bike is so neat because it's just I like how compact it
18:09 is. Sometimes adventure sport bikes are a little big and I really like this
18:19 bike just because it's not too big, it's not too small, it's not
18:27 too long, it's not too narrow. It's just really good.
18:35 So as you can see we have the road closed right now. That's why we're
18:39 allowed to be doing what we're doing. So the roads closed. There is a sheriff on
18:46 either side of the road who is allowing traffic to be blocked. You can pay the
18:52 local police departments for that service. So pretty neat that they do that.
18:59 I think it's pretty neat. Let's lower the windshield.
19:06 We are right in the pocket. This is the ideal location to be for capturing
19:12 photography and video. It feels odd having a car driving in the
19:20 opposite lane of traffic. It just doesn't feel very natural even though the road
19:26 is officially closed and theoretically nothing bad can happen. There's still
19:31 something in the back of my head that says why are we doing this? So that's
19:35 really the secret sauce with Yabahas Tracer 9 GT is just the proportions are
19:41 really nice on this bike. Not too big, not too small.
19:59 And that was a successful pass. There is the sheriff blocking traffic for
20:05 everyone. Here we go on our next pass back down the road.
20:13 [Motorcycle engine]
20:29 Trying to get some dynamic movement in the video. It's kind of crazy because
20:35 when you're doing this you have to operate the vehicle a little bit
20:39 differently. For video you want more dynamic movements but for photography
20:44 you can't move too much because the photo will be blurry and out of tack sharpness.
20:51 So that's kind of the deal with that. Let's get some more dynamic movement shots.
20:58 How's that look boys and girls? Are we doing okay?
21:08 [Motorcycle engine]
21:10 I love doing that. It's fun getting on the brakes. We're gonna talk about the brakes
21:14 a little bit when we get back on the road. The brakes on this bike are very
21:19 very pleasing. Very nice. Mission accomplished.
21:24 All right folks here we go. We are done with our video commentary. Here is the
21:30 mechanical key. Typical mechanical key from Yamaha Motor. Nothing fancy. You know
21:37 I like mechanical keys and they don't need to be fancy but for a $16,500
21:42 bike the key should be a little bit nicer. Just saying. Cool starting sequence.
21:48 Let's see that again. You flip it the OS starts real quick.
21:53 Yamaha right there. Very cool.
21:57 Okay so we are now going to ride back to our destination which is in
22:07 Boise, Idaho. Look at this cool old Yamaha bike. This is a Yamaha TDM. Look at that
22:14 thing. TDM 850. That's a rare bike. Parallel twin powered it looks. Wow cool.
22:23 That guy's hanging out camping doing the thing. Where were we? We were talking
22:32 about the suspension I believe. I love this bike. This is a really really nice.
22:43 This is like a good Swiss Army knife sport touring bike. It's not too big. It's
22:51 not too small. You definitely wouldn't want to go on an interstate journey. I
22:57 wouldn't want to ride this thing across state lines. It's not quite heavyweight
23:03 enough for that. For that you need a bigger windshield. You'd want
23:08 an engine that's at least liter class. You want something that's a little bit
23:12 bigger dimensionally so block the elements a little bit better. But for
23:17 just kind of around town sport touring like quick weekend getaways using it
23:24 to run around town and go to work on and run errands. Even go to the grocery
23:29 store. You can do that on this bike because of its OE supplied almost
23:35 nine gallon, 18 gallons in total cargo capacity. That's why I really like
23:41 bikes with luggage because it just opens up the utility factor. You can
23:47 actually use these things as utility vehicles. Especially in California where
23:52 you can split lanes. It's just you're gonna save so much time by riding a
23:57 motorcycle.
23:59 All right should we give her the beans boys and girls? I would say yes. Let's give
24:05 her the beans. Yes beans! Full beans!
24:09 Listen to that thing! Yeah! Oh boy this is awesome! Sorry we got going quick.
24:18 Love the sound of this engine. Love that improved quick shifter. Very nice. Brakes
24:26 on this bike triple disc hydraulic brakes with a radio master cylinder.
24:33 Brakes on this bike are nice responsive. Yamaha fitted a larger diameter rear
24:40 brake rotor. So it used to be 245 millimeters now it's 267. So larger rear
24:47 brake rotor so you have more feel and more stopping power at the business
24:55 end of that rear brake pedal. I'm a big rear brake guy. I love using the rear
25:01 brake so having a real strong rear brake is always a plus for me. It's worth
25:06 noting that this bike has linked brakes. So every time you use the rear brake it
25:11 actuates the front brake and vice versa. It's a very mild actuation. You can't
25:20 really feel it while you're riding. I mean a little bit you can but just it's
25:26 it's it's not very noticeable and that just helps with folks who don't have a
25:32 lot of experience using both brakes together. So it takes a little bit of
25:39 worry out of that. Jeez Louise these guys in front of us are taking off. We better
25:46 speed up.
25:49 Now because we're an official Yamaha Motor ES Press introduction we can't
25:59 just do what we want. These are lead follow type rides and we're not
26:04 going to be able to put this vehicle through our our usual testing protocol.
26:10 That means we're not going to be able to operate this vehicle after dark. But we
26:16 have ridden this motorcycle after dark extensively in the 2021 and 2022 versions.
26:23 And the LED headlamps on this bike they work really well. This bike also includes
26:30 cornering headlamp function but the cornering headlamps they're not as
26:36 effective as they should be. Yes they definitely help light up this side of
26:42 the road but it they could do a better job of lighting up the side of the road.
26:48 So it's nice that it has cornering head beams but they should be a little bit
26:53 more functional.
26:56 Still all LED lighting helps you stick out on the road.
27:02 And the nose of the bike just has really nice, just looks cool.
27:10 Just has a really nice high-tech yet not overly futuristic profile.
27:20 Maintenance on this motorcycle, Yamaha wants its owners to change the oil every
27:28 6,000 miles. So every 6,000 miles Yamaha recommends change the engine oil and it
27:36 wants you to replace the engine oil filter every other oil change.
27:42 Spark plugs and the air filter should be replaced at 12,000 miles.
27:50 So every time you change the oil filter you should also change the spark plugs and
27:57 the air filter according to the owner's manual. What's really neat about this 12
28:03 valve engine is that you can, you don't have to, the valve adjustment
28:11 interval is a whopping 24,000 miles. Isn't that crazy?
28:18 24,000 miles this bike can go before you have to check the valve specification.
28:27 Isn't that neat? It's cool that Yamaha Motor really takes pride in making
28:34 durable motorcycles that can go the test of time. I love that. You know when I
28:41 plop down my hard-earned dollars I want something that's gonna last and that's
28:48 why I like Yamaha Power Sport vehicles because they are going to last.
28:54 Yes! Look at this beautiful river. This bike is a hoot to ride. I really like the
29:03 upright ergonomics. If you're someone who doesn't want sport bike like contortions,
29:13 body contortions, you're gonna appreciate more upright and forgiving ergonomics on
29:19 this bike. Well folks, this basically wraps up our
29:26 review from the official US press introduction.
29:33 When we get back to base we're gonna wrap things up.
29:37 Alright folks, we'll show you real quick that's the inside of the bag. There's all
29:42 my waters I drank and that is the capacity nearly eight gallons on each
29:47 side. We also have that slick cam seat thing where you open the key, you open
29:56 the rear seat right here, pop that thing off right there. There's the rear seat.
30:01 There's some storage for stuff and then there's a little latch right here. You
30:06 push this latch and this exposes the little seat adjuster mechanism.
30:12 So you move this up or down and then you slot the seat in this. This is the low
30:17 space, this is the high space. Really easy to do. So if you're a taller rider like
30:22 me you're gonna want the tall setup. If you're a shorter person you're gonna
30:26 want the seat in a lower range. Whatever you like, the choice is yours with this
30:32 Tracer 9 GT as I'm having a hard time putting this rear seat back in. Well
30:36 folks, we did it. That was a fun a hundred and sixty some miles on Yamaha's 2024
30:45 Tracer 9 GT+. Big fan of that new instrumentation. It's super slick. Let's
30:54 look at it again because it's so boss. I love it. One gripe though we do have with
30:59 it is although it does offer the ability to have turn-by-turn navigation, you have
31:06 to have you have to download a Garmin app and a Yamaha app to access it. We did,
31:12 we were able to pair our phone with our iOS enabled smartphone with this bike
31:18 very easily and that's awesome but turn-by-turn navigation requires the
31:23 Garmin app and Yamaha's app which is kind of goofy in our opinion. Of course
31:29 that adaptive cruise control is awesome. I love adaptive cruise control. It just
31:35 takes the worry out of having to speed up and slow down when you're following
31:40 traffic. That bigger back brake is always a nice touch and the thing about this
31:45 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+ is it's just it's a really good mid-size sport touring bike.
31:51 It's not too big, it's not too small, it's easy to park, it's not very heavy, it comes
31:56 equipped with a center stand which eases maintenance chores and if you're looking
32:01 for a high-tech practical sport touring bike, not something heavy-duty that's
32:07 gonna take you across America but practical for local touring rides and
32:12 small distance stuff, this $16,500 bike would be a good option.
32:19 Alright folks that wraps up our review live from the official US press
32:24 introduction for this vehicle. As always make sure to surf on over to
32:28 MotorcyclistsOnline.com that's where all of our written content comes to life.
32:31 Give this video a thumbs up if you liked it, thumbs it down if you didn't and
32:35 we'll see in the next episode. Thanks for riding with us.
32:39 you
32:41 you
32:44 you
32:46 you
32:48 you
32:50 you
32:52 you
32:54 (engine revving)