WORDS: Ben Wilkins
PHOTOS: Geoff Osborne
TRACER
900 GT
ake a moment to cast your ga e over
the bike that amaha built for me.
Well, not me specifically, but certainly
with me in mind – or somebody just like
me’. ou see, their market research will
probably have told them that while litre-
class sports bikes are technically ama ing
creations, they’re not the big sellers. In
fact, that market is now pretty small.
However, there are plenty of 30-50 year-
olds who still want a thrill. And that’s
where the Tracer GT comes in.
Part of the GT’s reason for existence
is to give me’ a bike that’ll fulfil several
roles. A bike to have a hoon on. A bike
to commute to work on. Pop to the
dairy. Head away for a weekend. All
wrapped into one. In the car world it’s
a GT, or Gran Tourismo. A fast, sporty
car, but with a boot for luggage. And in
this instance, amaha has nailed it. This
is most definitely a GT. So, according to
amaha’s marketeers, its latest creation
could have been built for me.
Going back a few steps, the GT isn’t a
completely new model, it’s the up-spec’d
version of the 900 Tracer that first came
to market in 2015. There’s a three-
cylinder 900cc motor with plenty of grunt
that also sports a playful, revvy nature.
In fact, it’s a stormer of an engine that
has plenty of grunt but also loves to be
revved hard. There’s a glorious wail to the
exhaust note that just hits the right aural
spot. Riders for decades have have long
Yamaha NZ is dropping the
Tracer from its range but
it’s replacement is plenty
capable, and something
of an everything machine.
enjoyed the sound that a triple makes –
take a read about other triples in the link.
So, built around this rather lovely
motor is a chassis that’s designed to
be a sports bike, commuter and tourer
all in one. We liked riding the original
Tracer and thought it was a complete
hoot, but it wasn’t perfect. amaha has
sought to remedy that with the GT. It’s
had the accessory catalogue thrown at it
heated grips, on-the-fly height adjustable
screen, traction control, cruise-control,
engine character modes, remote-preload
adjustment for the rear shock, centre-
stand, and a set of reasonably-si ed
panniers. The Aussie market will be
getting the GT as well as the base-model
Tracer. amaha NZ has put all of its eggs
in one basket and will just be importing
the GT. Having played with both bikes
on the launch in ueenstown I’d say
that’s the right call. For the asking price
of 19,999 plus OTR that’s a serious
amount of kit and leaves the bike wanting
for nothing on the accessory front. Well,
maybe a heated seat... but, you can
have one of those from the accessory
catalogue. What about a bigger screen
eah, there’s one of those too.
To demonstrate the GT’s all-round
prowess amaha chose to launch the
GT in ueenstown. Famed for it’s tight,
twisty, uppy, downy roads linked together
by huge straights, it did seem to be the
perfect backdrop.
KIWI RIDER 35