Yamaha MT09 Tracer 1st Impressions

[Occams Razor]

Picked the bike up from MMC on Monday, I'd test ridden one a couple of weeks before so the tall seat didn't come as a surprise, anyone under 5'10" would struggle even with the seat on the lower setting.
First proper ride was 200 miles into North Wales on Tuesday, on the few miles I did on Monday the suspension felt a bit soft so I set the rear preload almost to max and similar to the front. In 30-40mph limits the fuelling isn't great, the throttle's snatchy and I found myself riding in a higher gear than normal to try to smooth progress. A 1 junction spell on the motorway gave me a chance to open the taps bearing in mind the run in rev limits but this doesn't hinder acceleration, there's loads of grunt from low down the front wheel doesn't need any encouragement to pop up in the first 3 gears.
Around 5000 revs there's a fair bit of vibration, it starts to smooth out at 6000 but what happens over this remains to be seen when it's run in.
On into Wales and some interesting roads, The riding position is nice and relaxed, high wide bars, the seat is firm but confortable after an hour in the saddle, handling was an absolute revelation. It's immediately obvious that this is a light, well sorted bike, despite being on new tyres I was comfortable braking into bends (the Tuono didn't want to turn if I did this) the bike inspires confidence feeling flickable but stable, this is going to be loads of fun on tight twisty roads. The occasional car I came across despatched with ease in a choice of gears.
Bumpy bends caused one or two flutters, some pogoing I think the rebound damping may be a bit hard so I'll play around with that, the suspension only adjusts for preload and rebound damping.
After a brief stop in Bettws y Coed I had a play with the power modes, there is a choice of 3 modes, standard which is always the default on start up, A mode, which gives a sharper throttle response and B Mode which is a "rain mode" B mode I found is a good selection for 30-40mph limits softening the throttle response and smoothing some of the jerkiness. A Mode is amazing in the twisties, acting like a quick action throttle.
Overall I'm very happy, the looks are bit "marmite", the engine lacks the character of the Tuono but isn't as pleasant or refined as the Triumph Triples but the overall package is hard to beat at the price.

[lee]

Can you change modes on the go?

[Occams Razor]

Yes, close the throttle and you can toggle between the modes.

[CRM]

looking forward to a hoon on this Phil
swop yer for the LC

[Occams Razor]

looking forward to a hoon on this Phil
swop yer for the LC

You've got a deal.

[Dave]

is the engine restricted to 6000 RPM till the first service ? or is that you just running up to 6000 ?

[Occams Razor]

is the engine restricted to 6000 RPM till the first service ? or is that you just running up to 6000 ?

Not restricted Dave it's just the suggested limit till the 1st service. I've taken it a bit higher on a couple of overtakes but just for a few seconds.

[Soviet]

Nice write up - I've seen one or two about and they look impressive ...and incredible value ...

[Cabernet]

MPG?
Knowing how you ride it will give me more useful yardstick than most.

[Occams Razor]

MPG?
Knowing how you ride it will give me more useful yardstick than most.

Hard to be accurate I'm only half way through my 2nd tank but certainly getting 60mpg.