2019-07-01_RiDE

Versatile

value

TheTracer 700 gets accessorisedand

emergesasthismore-practicalGT

WordsMartinFitz-GibbonsPicturesChippyWood

first ride YaMah raCer 700GT

I

t’s been three years since theworld

first met the tracer 700 — a semi-

grown-up Mt-07 that succeeds in

delivering similar smiles for more

miles. Apart from paint, the current

tra cer is unchanged but for 2019 it’sbeing

joined in showrooms by this new Gt.

I say ‘new’, but there aren’t actuallyany

new parts here. the Gt is a tracer 700

th at’s flipped open Yamaha’s accessories

catalogue and picked out a tall screen,

comfort seat and hard panniers. Don’t

bother hunting for any unique ‘Gt’

branding or other upgraded components,

as on the tracer 900Gt. the 700Gt begins

and ends with these bolt-ons.

A standard tracer 700 is £7545 on the

road. to get to Gt spec you’d have to add

20 -litre panniers (roughly £400 per side,

£50 for locks and £180 for mounts), a£1 70

comfort seat and a £140 touring screen.In

to tal that’s more than £1300 — yet the 700

SPEC YAMAHA TRACER 700GT

Price £8145 (£8486.10 as tested) Engine689ccparalleltwin,4vpercyl,l/cPower74bhp@9000rpm

Torque 50lb·ft @ 6500rpm Transmission 6-speed, chain Frame tubular-steel diamond Front

suspension 41mm forks, 130mm travel, no adjustment Rear suspension monoshock, 142mm travel,

adjustable preload Front brakes 282mm discs, 4-piston calipers Rear brake 245mm disc, 1-piston

caliper Front tyre 120/70 R17 Rear tyre 180/55 R17 Wheelbase 1450mm Rake/trail 24.8°/90mm

Seat height 835mm Kerb weight 213kg (measured) Fuel capacity 17 litres

Gt costs just £600 more than the standard

tracer. First hurdle cleared: on paper at

least, its £8145 is a deal.

but are the extras any good? the new

screen is substantially wider and taller

than the standard tracer part, and still

retains the sliding height adjustment. the

windblast is definitely reduced but it’s still

a bit noisy even at full height. the comfort

seat is pleasant for a couple of hours, and a

decent match for the 150ish-mile range.

but the panniers (the same as fitted to the

900Gt) are disappointingly titchy — not

deep enough to take a helmet, for example.

the weight of these extras also chips

away at the tracer’s already-scant payload.

Our scales show the Gt (with tank

brimmed and panniers fitted) weighs

213kg — fairly light in isolation but deduct

it from the bike’s ludicrously low 366kg

gross weight limit and you’re left with just

153kg to cover the rider, pillion and

anything in the panniers.If you’replanning

touring, only petite couplesneedapply.

Otherwise, everythingelseis pure tracer

70 0. Its short wheelbaseandwidehandlebar

let it turn with featherweightease,needing

ju st the gentlest inputto diveinstantlyintoa

tu rn. be warned though:gettoogiddy and

those pegs touch downearly.the 689cc

parallel-twin motoris a joyhoweveryouuse

it, with spot-on fuellingfroma shutthrottle,

flexible reserves of low-downpunch,masses

of midrange, plus a seductivelysparkling

top-end when you dialup all74bhp.

Four-piston front brakeshavehugepower

and great feel, whilesuspensionandride

quality are decent enoughfortheprice.

As a tracer 700 withmore practicalityand

no downside, the Gt hitsthemark.butit’s

by no measure a ‘Gt’ —notwithpanniers

this small, a payloadthismodest,andno

centrestand (even asanoption). Andnot

when Kawasaki’s Versys 650 toureralready

exists: £100 less; a largerfueltank;more

spacious riding position;largerpanniersand

payload. still, while theVersysmightbethe

more capable two-uptourer,it doesn’t

capture the tracer’s cheekyspirit.

Tracer 700GT

gets a few

choice extras

Lots of

‘Tracer’, not

so much ‘GT’

28 | july 2019

new bikes