er’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of the 2019
Tracer 900 is $10,699, the same as a 2017 Ya-
maha FJ-09.
The Tracer 900 GT
The new 2019 Tracer 900 GT, however,
has a MSRP of $12,999. And for that extra
$2,300 you get color-matching 22-liter hard
sidecases that mount and unmount without
any tools and lock/unlock with the ignition
key; an electronic quickshifter that makes
clutchless upshifts possible; cruise control;
adjustable heated hand grips; and a full-color,
TFT (Thin Film Transistor) instrument panel
like the one used on the YZF-R1.
The Tracer 900 GT also features up-
graded suspension, including fully adjust-
able, gold-colored, 41mm KYB forks and a
two-way-adjustable KYB rear shock that has a
handy remote spring preload adjuster.
The side cases, quickshifter, and heated
grips can be purchased as accessories from
Yamaha and installed on a base Tracer 900,
but the cruise control system cannot be easily
retrofitted because it requires different 41mm
throttle bodies than the base machine.On The Road
The Tracer 900 GT is tall and it can be
tough to get a leg over it without a boot touch-
ing the side cases, but once aboard there’s
a roomy and relaxed riding position and a
cushy-yet-supportive seat.
The windscreen was easy for me to adjust
with just my left hand while riding and it did
a very good job of shielding me from windblast
and rain. The heated hand grips are also ef-
fective and allowed me to get away with using
road racing gloves during some chilly rides. All
of this plus 42-mpg fuel mileage on the high-
way makes it possible to cover nearly 180 miles
between fuel stops on the Tracer, which is
nice for touring or commuting. My wife gave a
thumbs-up for the passenger accommodations
after a 45-minute ride. And the side cases were
convenient to use, with enough space to allow
me to haul some shopping home, and stayed
water-tight when I commuted home 25 miles
on the highway in steady rain.
In terms of handling on the street, the
Tracer 900 GT steered without much effort,
thanks in part to me taking advantage of the
remote adjustor to add spring preload to the
shock. And as low as the footpegs felt, I was
surprised that I never dragged them while rid-
ing on the street.
The brakes were great, front and rear, butthe transmission required a little more lever
effort to shift than I like. The 900 GT’s quick-
shifter allowed clutchless upshifts, but the le-
ver still required very deliberate input.
The highlight of the Tracer 900 GT is the
engine. There’s a reason Yamaha puts this
Triple in several models. It has ample torque
spread over a wide rpm range, enough top-end
power for exhilarating runs to redline, a sound
that reminds you why you loving riding mo-
torcycles, and it’s as smooth as can be every-
where in between. As for the D-Modes, the en-
gine feels more eager in A (the most aggressive
setting) than in B (the mildest power delivery
setting), but the best part is that the throttle
response is pretty good in all three modesOn The Track
For an impression of the Tracer 900 GT
from a faster perspective, we asked Racing Ed-
itor Chris Ulrich to take the Yamaha out for
a session during a Fastrack Riders (877-560-
2233, http://www.fastrackriders.com) track day at
Auto Club Speedway. We take everything we
can to the track, because it’s a lot safer and
more responsible than trying to do perfor-
mance testing on public roads.
“It’s a big, tall, heavy bike, so it’s got a
lot of weight transfer,” reported Ulrich. “The
amount it pitched forward and back really
caught me off guard. It took me a lap or two to
get used to that.
“It would go through the top of the [sus-
pension] stroke pretty quickly, and then as I
got deeper into the stroke it would ramp up. So
I had to make sure I wasn’t too aggressive on
the brakes. I kind of had to ease on the brakes
and let the thing settle in. If I got too aggressive
it would get out of shape. I was also late on
the gas coming out of corners because I had to(Above) The Yamaha Tracer 900 GT heading into the infield on the Auto Club Speedway road
course in Fontana, California, during a Fastrack Riders track day, with Racing Editor Chris Ulrich
at the controls. It was good for a decent pace, and had pretty good cornering clearance after
peg feelers were removed. (Left) A full-color TFT instrument panel is standard. (Left, Below) A
60mm-longer swingarm increases suspension travel and improves traction and handling.