Take Yamaha’s best selling MT-07, add some touring extras and a fairing and what do you get?
The answer is the new Tracer 700, and for £6,436 RRP it’s an absolute bargain according to early reports!
With the larger Tracer 900 already proving a big hit with the more mature rider, this new bike is aimed at the under-40s market, with a special A2 restricted version available for the under-24s too.
It might well be price conscious but the new Tracer 700 looks anything but, as RiDE Magazine’s Simon Hargreaves found out when he tested one in The Dolomites in their September 2016 edition.
Manufacturers are often chastised for scrimping when it comes to OE tyres, putting price well ahead of performance even on some of their flagship models. This is far from the case with the new Yamaha, which uses Michelin’s acclaimed Pilot Road 4 sport touring rubber straight out of the factory – just one of many nice touches on a bike that really does provide amazing value.
“Michelin Pilot Road 4s are excellent tyres” says Simon. “Confident in the wet, good grip in the dry and on a 74bhp bike should have plenty of miles in them.”
The seat height is greater than that of the MT-07, but the bike is still just as easy to manage, as Simon found when negotiating a long line of amateur cyclists on an amateur race through the Italian side of the mountains.
With Yamaha working hard to overhaul Honda as the UK’s top selling motorcycle brand, bikes like the new MT-10 super naked and the bargain Tracer 700 could put them well on the path to doing so!
There’s also a plethora of own brand accessories to make the bike just right for your next long-distance touring adventure!
Pick up the latest edition of RiDE for the full review of the bike.
You can find out more about the Michelin Pilot Road 4 here.
