LAUNCH TEST – 2017 Yamaha MT-07 Tracer

The problem, as I see it, is that LAMS riders don’t actually ride any proper distances. They may ride every day (and they should), but not many of them load up their bikes and set out to explore the vast Australian continent. They do not ‘tour’, per se. 
But they should, because only by touring can you truly drink from the deep well of motorcycling.
There could be a few half-baked reasons for this…
Reason 1. Riding from Sydney to Darwin on most LAMs bikes will render the rider insane, and he will kill himself with a rock and be eaten by buzzards even before he makes it to Broken Hill.
Reason 2. It’s not easy to carry gear on a LAMs bike, and this may prove discouraging to L-platers. Mastering the art of the Ocky Strap is not for everyone. And it takes years to learn the craft.
Reason 3. No-one under the age of 20 believes there is WiFi and Internet once you leave a major capital city. And that induces fear into the minds of the young.
So L-platers tend to hang around the city. If they venture out of the CBD, then it’s just to ride the heavily-policed and traffic-rich popular bike roads, like the Old Pacific Highway, or the Black Spur, and that then becomes the sum-total of their motorcycling life. Which is kinda sad. 
Australia is a big country. There are lots of roads to ride and things to see. And while I would never encourage anyone to speed, it pays to understand there are a finite number of Highway Patrol cars, and as I said, Australia is a big country.
But with the advent of Yamaha’s new MT-07 Tracer, L-platers now have a viable touring bike.
And the world has become their oyster.

Meet the Tracer
Here is the very popular and able 655cc, parallel twin LAMS MT-07, but re-jigged for its new touring purpose with a bigger 17-litre tank (that’s three more than before), an adjustable screen, semi-soft panniers, hand-guards, re-worked suspension settings, different handlebars and risers, and a 50mm-longer swingarm. So it’s longer and thus more stable at speed, has a higher seat height (835mm from 805mm) and longer-travel rear suspension (142mm from 130mm). And it’s about 14kg heavier.
Yamaha also provided an up-spec “Australian” version of the Tracer for us to try on the press launch. This came with dual-purpose tyres, a bigger screen, crash-bars, driving lights and a beaut-sounding Akro pipe. And that’s just a few of the factory accessories Yamaha has made available for the model.
So it’s taking this LAMS touring thing seriously.
A fuel-range of more than 300km to the tank shows just how seriously.
So does the Tracer tick the touring boxes it has to tick? Pretty much.

On the Road
The Tracer’s ergos are spot-on. You’re canted slightly forward, but still upright enough for all-day banging. I would have liked a more comfortable seat for big miles, but then I don’t have 20-year-old buttocks anymore.
The motor is a delight. Smooth and torquey and true to the MT credo of bathing you in useable power. And while it’s a LAMS bike, it’s still good for about 170km/h. Trust me on this.
But all day, every day, it will sing its song at normal touring speeds. Sure, you’ll find yourself downchanging to get around a semi doing 110km/h, but so what? Downchange. Make that 38.3kW (at 8000rpm) and 57.2Nm (at 4000rpm) work for you. It’s keen to please.
The bike is light and competent, and thus a lot of fun to hurl into corners – even if you’re not very good at that in your early years. 
Understand that it is precisely bikes like this - bikes with excellent chassis integrity which are designed to handle without surprises - that will, eventually, make you better at corners. And then you can go and buy an R1.
But until that happens, the Tracer 700 is a great way to make your bones. It’s a proper motorcycle and it behaves like a proper motorcycle. And to be perfectly honest, once again, Yamaha is offering a lot of motorcycle for not a lot of money, and this new Tracer comes standard with stuff you just won’t find on any other LAMS bike.

Safe Starter
All of that stuff works like it’s supposed to. You’re not going to have any issues getting the Tracer off the line – it’s fully sorted in that regard. The clutch is light, the take-up positive and the fuelling perfect. 
This is a hugely comforting thing for L-platers. Setting off on a long ride and wondering if your bike is going to make it, or whether some banjo-player is going to wife you up in Nymboida, can be off-putting. 
So while I do recommend the School of Hard Knocks and have been guilty of entreating L-platers to buy an Ironhead Sportser to tour on, I understand modern young people see the world through a different and altogether more benevolent prism.
Their sense of entitlement is not to be sneezed at. Nor is Yamaha’s cast-iron reliability. So I don’t. 

Rain, Man
The Tracer’s press launch was a mixed bag of happiness.
Our route was the Putty Road to the Hunter Valley, whereupon we would hand over the bikes to journos from Melbourne and New Zealand, who would ride the bikes back to Sydney.
All equal and all happy – apart from the fact that the trip to the Hunter Valley for the Sydney contingent involved riding through a Biblical downpour for most of the Putty.
Which was fine, because I got to try the bike out in the pouring rain – which is always a great way to find out just how user-friendly the package is.
Do you know what? Not one bad moment was had. It did not put a Michelin Pilot Road tyre wrong. If I stayed smooth, it stayed smooth. We were smooth together.
Once again, L-platers will be rewarded with a confidence-inspiring motorcycle in the MT-07 Tracer, even if Global Warming dictates we are to grow gills at some stage.
So yeah, the Tracer is very much a viable and competent touring bike for L-platers.
There is now no excuse you can make for not doing the miles and seeing the sights, kids. You can carry stuff, you can bolt your Smartphone to the handlebars via that clever little piece of drilled metal across the front, you have brakes that work, a gearbox that forgives you, and a genuine grown-up motorcycle that will only add to the credibility you must achieve if you’re ever going to drink beer and exchange stories of daring and devilry with leathery, tattooed men who will not think twice about filling your girlfriend with overproof rum and watching her dance on tables.
Just kidding, kids. Honest. 
Good job, you big blue Yamaha bastards. Now I will never be able to escape the L-platers.

Words: Boris Mihailovic

Specs – 2017 Yamaha MT-07 Tracer

ENGINE
Type: DOHC, four-valve parallel-twin
Capacity: 655cc
Bore x stroke: 78.0mm x 68.6mm
Compression Ratio: 11.0:1
Induction: EFI
Cooling: Liquid 
Starting: Electric
Max Power: 38.3kW (52.1hp) at 8000rpm (claimed)
Max Torque: 57.5Nm at 4000rpm (claimed)
Exhaust: 2-into-1 stainless w/factory silencer

TRANSMISSION
Gearbox: Six-speed
Final drive: Chain
Clutch: Wet, multi-plate
 
CHASSIS
Frame: Tubular steel, diamond-type, engine as a stressed member
Front Suspension: 41mm non-adjustable telescopic fork w/130mm travel
Rear Suspension: Monoshock, preload adjustable, w/142mm travel
Front/Rear Wheel: 10-spoke cast aluminium 17-inch Fr / Rr
Front/Rear Tyre: Michelin Pilot Road 120/70 R17 Fr / 180/55 R17 Rr
Front Brake: Dual 282mm discs w/four-piston calipers & ABS
Rear Brake: Single 245mm disc w/two-piston caliper & ABS

DIMENSIONS
L x W x H: 2138mm x 806mm x 1270mm
Wheelbase: 1450mm
Rake: 24.8 degrees
Trail: 90mm
Seat height: 835mm
Ground Clearance: 140mm
Weight: 196kg (wet, claimed)
Fuel Capacity: 17 litres

COLOURS 
Radical Red, Tech Black or Yamaha Blue

PRICE
$12,299 (plus on-roads)
24 month/unlimited kilometres warranty

yamaha-motor.com.au