Australian Road Rider — August 2017

especially when you consider the relative lack of

competition out there.

Yamaha is aiming this bike at a varied

market not just confi ned to LAMs riders

looking to get into the Sports Tourer segment,

although of course that would seem to be

the most likely customer for this bike. It is,

however, also being aimed at any younger

riders, learners or otherwise, who fancy doing

a bit of touring but don’t want anything

intimidating or hard to handle as their fi rst

foray into the category.

In addition, Yamaha wants to a ract older

riders who’ve perhaps done the big sports

tourer and now, for whatever reason, want

to downsize to something lighter, leaner and,

perhaps crucially, easier to move about in the

garage and the car park. Finally, but equally as

important, the Tracer 700 is aimed at a wider

demographic: people who want one bike able to

do everything. That is, commute to work every

day, go out on the weekend to put the willies

up a few sportsbikes and, when the occasion

arises, load it up with pillion and panniers and

take off on holiday. The Tracer is u erly suited

to any and all of these roles, making it a true

all-rounder and a model that’s likely to fl y off

the shelves.

To help keep the price down to the very

competitive $12,299 including GST and

panniers, the Tracer represents back-to-basics

motorcycling. There are no engine modes, no

traction control, no cruise control, no anti-

wheelie and no quick-shi er. In fact, the only

electronic rider aid you get is unadjustable

ABS, which I must say came in pre y useful

as we sploshed our way along 160km worth of

the Pu y Road. Don’t concern yourself with

the absence of rider modes, either; although

the 655cc parallel-twin makes suffi cient

horsepower to get you to well on the wrong

side of the legal limit, it achieves this in a very

controlled and unintimidating fashion.

Even though the 57.5Nm of torque available

feels pre y grunty for a LAMS bike and is more

than ample in town, you’re never in any danger

of unsticking the rear-end in the dry no ma er

how ham-fi sted you might be with the thro le

and, armed with the superb Michelin Pilot

Road 4 tyres, just about as unlikely to achieve

a sideways moment in the wet. Believe us,

we’d have found out that day and despite the

downpour were able to maintain what might

best be described as a pre y respectable pace.

In fact, the Tracer’s sure-footedness in the wet

is very impressive indeed. I was starting to

wonder if the thing actually did have traction

r Factory accessory foglights are nicely protected for the inevitable small spill that we all have from time to time.

r Optional bags aren’t massive but there’s enough room for a few days on the road without visiting the laundrette. r Typical Duallie stance will suit taller riders.

52 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

TEST REPORT: YAMAHA TRACER 700

ARR139_048-056_YamahaTracer.indd 52ARR139_048-056_YamahaTracer.indd 52 6/16/2017 9:47:02 AM6/16/2017 9:47:02 AM