When talking about sport tourers, a few common names will pop up. They are usually either premium European brands or a couple of Japanese brands. By and large, though, the traditional sport tourer is dying out. It is being replaced by a different kind of sport tourer: the crossover. Traditional sport tourers remain only in premium form, except when it comes to the Japanese. And among the Japanese, Yamaha is not the name that comes to mind because it doesn't have the flashiest sport tourers or the most headline-grabbing ones. The Current Yamaha Sport-Tourer Range Is Rather Small YamahaWe say so because Yamaha has just a few touring motorcycles in its range today. This isn't a generic statement, but more to do with the US market. After all, Team Blue sells the Tracer 7 as well in the European and British markets. Here, the official site shows two models. One of them is a classic: the FJR1300ES. This is a premium sport tourer in the old mold with a large-displacement inline four-cylinder engine that generates a lot of torque and a smooth shaft drive.YamahaThe "ES" in the name stands for electronic suspension. But the catch is that this is a MY24 bike. So whether you can buy it depends on the underlying stock in your nearest dealership. That leaves only one modern-day sport-tourer on sale by the brand. And it quietly outperforms expectations. The Yamaha Tracer 9 Is The Yamaha Sport-Tourer That Quietly Outperforms Expectations YamahaWe're talking about the Yamaha Tracer 9. Yamaha has developed this from the base of the MT-09, which is a motorcycle that, even a decade on, we appreciate and enjoy. So, not only is it a mature platform with good cost of ownership and great reliability, but it is also massive fun. The Tracer 9 builds on that and offers almost all-day comfort without giving up that reliability and fun. And that is why the Tracer 9 is the Yamaha sport tourer that quietly outperforms expectations. A Sub-$13,000 MSRP Makes This Slightly Premium YamahaThe Tracer 9 is a touch expensive at $12,599. This price is largely justified because it was pretty much the only one in its segment, and at that price, with a six-axis IMU and standard saddlebags. This is also the middle version of the Tracer 9. So it doesn't get features like the Y-AMT automatic gearbox, the Unified Braking System, the radar, or the semi-active suspension. At the same time, everything else from the top variant is present here, be it the array of creature comforts or an extremely sophisticated electronic safety aid package. The Inline Three-Cylinder Engine Is A Gem Yamaha MotorsportsThe CP3 crossplane inline three-cylinder engine is one of the greats, regardless of its segment. It does not have any sort of extra technology like the variable valve timing we are now used to seeing; this is just a good, old-fashioned torquey engine that also has a very decent power output. And 10 years on, we still love it to bits. Produces Over 110 HP YamahaThis engine displaces 890cc and has a compression ratio of 11.5:1. It generates 117 horsepower at 10,000 RPM and 68.6 pound-feet of torque at 7,000 RPM. It chooses to keep things simple with a six-speed manual transmission with an assist and slipper clutch, and chain drive to the rear wheel. The two-way quickshifter is an optional extra. There is also an option for a Y-AMT automatic gearbox in other markets, but that variant is not on sale in the US. The Chassis Is As Playful As The Engine Yamaha MotorsportsThe Tracer 9 has what Yamaha calls a diamond frame, but what we know as a twin-spar frame. It is mated to a pair of 41 mm inverted KYB front forks and a monoshock at the rear. Preload and rebound damping can be adjusted at both ends. There are 5.1 inches of travel available at the front and 5.2 inches at the rear. Electronic control from the top-end variant sold overseas is missing here. Moving on, the brakes consist of 298 mm discs with radially mounted four-piston fixed calipers at the front and a 267 mm disc with a single-piston caliper at the rear. These are mounted on 17-inch alloy rims at both ends with radial tubeless tarmac-biased tires. Weighs Just Over 480 LBs Midsize bikes are getting smaller with each passing generation, but that is not the case with the Tracer 9; this can carry two people in relative comfort. It is 85.6 inches long, 35.4 inches wide, and has a wheelbase of 59.1 inches. That should make it quite nimble. The seat height is quite high at 33.3 inches, and the ground clearance is 5.3 inches. It has a relatively large fuel tank that can hold five gallons of gas, and it has a wet weight of 483 pounds. Great Feature Set Even With The Base Model Yamaha MotorsportsThe Tracer 9 has plenty to like feature-wise. The cockpit has a big 7-inch TFT instrument cluster, a windscreen with manual adjustment (four different levels), an all-LED matrix headlamp, and a storage box for the latest phone with a USB charging port in it. This is topped with a very complete electronics suite with a by-wire throttle and a six-axis IMU. There are five ride modes that include two rider-customizable ones. The parameters that can be adjusted are the cornering traction control, cornering ABS, anti-wheelie, rear-lift mitigation, back-slip regulator, and slide control. The Tracer 9 also has Yamaha’s unique ‘brake control’ setting that changes the amount of ABS intervention in a straight line as well. A Word About The Top-Spec Tracer 9’s Features Yamaha MotorsportsWhat really feels premium is the Tracer 9 top-spec variant, not available here. It has features that any full-size premium sport tourer would be proud of, like semi-active suspension, adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection, and a unified braking system. Yamaha did sell this top-spec variant in the US market until 2024, but the pricing would have made it compete directly with the very premium sport tourers mentioned before. Therefore, it now occupies a space below them and offers itself as an option at the premium end of the middleweight segment. The Tracer 9 Has No Shortage Of Rivals BMWThe middleweight sport tourer segment, and specifically the crossover segment, is a very interesting place today. There are premium options like the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce. It has features like a single-sided swingarm, a counterrotating crankshaft for the engine, and a semi-automatic gearbox. Of course, you have to pay as much for a full-size tourer for it. The BMW F 900 XR is another premium motorcycle that is ostensibly a competitor to the Tracer 9, especially with its brilliant base price. But like the Tracer 9, it needs upgrades like the quickshifter to be on par with the other models in this segment. As always, BMW makes you buy optional packages, not just single items, which drives the price up considerably.HondaThe Honda NT1100 DCT recently got a refresh, and Honda has now added a six-axis IMU to it. So, for a base price that is lower than the Tracer 9, you will get the legendary Africa Twin engine in the same state of tune and the six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox as well. Oh, and this is a motorcycle which is slightly larger than the others, so if you are going to carry a pillion along often, this might be the best option here. The big catch is the lack of saddlebags, which cost you over $800 extra. TriumphLastly, from all the Tigers on sale today, the one that matches up best with the Tracer 9 is the Tiger Sport 800. It is priced almost identically to the Yamaha, but unlike the Yamaha, it gets a two-way quickshifter as standard. The suspension has similar specs but is provided by Showa, and the rear shock has remote hydraulic preload adjustment. It also has the traditional firing order rather than the crossplane-type new-age firing order from the larger Tigers.Source: Yamaha Motorsports