All Tests – MT-09 Tracer Test: Yamaha traces to success! – Technical update MT-09 Tracer 2015

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Test MT-09 Tracer: Yamaha traces to success !

All Tests - MT-09 Tracer Test: Yamaha traces to success! - Technical update MT-09 Tracer 2015

In 1991, Yamaha set foot in the dish with TDM, a multi-genre and multitasking motorcycle. 23 years later, the MT-09 Tracer reinterprets this popular recipe by adding two irresistible ingredients: a 3-legged and tasty equipment. Test.

Technical update MT-09 Tracer 2015

Engine

Taken as from the "standard" MT-09, the Tracer’s inline three-cylinder 847 cc therefore displays the same dimensions (78 mm x 59.1 mm), the same compression ratio (11.5 to 1) and identical power and torque values ​​(115 hp and 87.5 Nm in Full).

As this "CP3" engine is unanimous thanks to its availability, its torque and its length, Yamaha did not consider it useful to modify it other than through three specific driving modes. Modifications intended to soften the power distribution on the Tracer, in line with its new road capabilities.

Said injection is still based on 12-hole injectors mounted directly on the cylinder head, an interesting solution in terms of space saving and spraying efficiency. By the way, Yamaha took the opportunity to refine the frankly perfectible behavior of its injection via new maps.

Good news : "these updates of the injection also integrate the MT-09 2015 and are accessible free of charge in dealerships to all owners of MT-09 of previous generation, reveals Vincent Thommeret, CEO of Yamaha Motor France.

As on the roadster, the Tracer has intake ducts of different lengths (102.88 mm, 82.8 mm and 122.8 mm) in order to improve engine filling at medium and high speeds. This difference in length is also the cause of the sound, "grumpy" at will when the air-gasoline mixture is sucked into each of the 3-cylinders..

Cylinders also offset by 5 mm from the center of the crankshaft so as to be able to better position the connecting rod to reduce the stresses on the piston. In this way, internal friction is reduced to the benefit of efficiency, consumption and mechanical longevity. Engine timing is set at 120 ° (i.e. 0 °, 240 ° and 480 ° ignition intervals), so the pistons are never in neutral at the same time.

Identical to that adopted by Triumph on its 3-cylinders, this setting offers several advantages including that of cyclic regularity, a good operating range and a pleasant smoothness of operation. To perfect its qualities, Yamaha has installed a balancing arm in charge of filtering parasitic vibrations..

The exhaust system of this light engine (10 kg less than the 4-leg of the FZ8!) Rests on its side on a 3-in-1 manifold connected to a short side silencer inside which are installed three expansion chambers. This low and close arrangement of the engine is excellent for mass centralization.

Finally, the service interval is set at 1000 km for the traditional "break-in oil change", then "every 10,000 km", reveals Yamaha Motor France.

Cycle part

Again, Yamaha did not look for noon to two o’clock and renewed almost identically on the Tracer the die-cast perimeter aluminum frame discovered on the MT-09. This chassis consists of two parts bolted together at the level of the steering column and the axis of the swing arm..

This solution offers excellent rigidity as well as appreciable compactness and weight gain, since it is again 10 kg less compared to the frame of the FZ8! Announced at 210 kg all full, the MT-09 Tracer however weighs some 22 kg additional compared to the MT-09 (19 kg in ABS version).

An increase that can be explained by the transplant of a semi fairing, the increase in the volume of the tank (from 14 to 18 liters) and the additional equipment (central, handguards, windshield, adjustable saddle and handlebars, 12 V socket …). But given their usefulness, we easily forgive them this impact on the scale, no ?!

Another reason for explaining these few extra pounds: the rear loop has been lengthened by 13.6 cm and reinforced in order to increase the space allocated to the passenger and luggage. The geometry of the frame is identical to that of the roadster, with a fairly short wheelbase of 1440 mm, a caster angle of 25 ° and a caster of 103 mm. Values ​​located in the sporting range, at the origin of the agile and playful behavior of the motorcycle but also of its sometimes sharp reactions…

Damping is provided at the rear by a mono-shock absorber adjustable in preload and rebound installed horizontally, an interesting position because the spring and the rods are in this way less exposed to projections. And then it’s original in terms of the look, so it will make the curious speak as they say !

The spring and hydraulic adjustments are slightly hardened on the Tracer at the front as well as at the rear, to adapt to its greater mass and its weight distribution carried on the front (51% on the front, 49 % on the back). Too bad, on the other hand, that Yamaha has not integrated a remote preload adjustment wheel at the rear, so practical as a duo…

Up front, the Tracer inherits the same inverted 41mm fork present on the MT-09, adjustable in preload and rebound. It offers a significant travel of 137 mm (130 mm at the rear). Braking level, the MT-09 is adorned at the front of two floating discs of 298 mm bitten by radial calipers with 4 pistons, and at the rear of a 245 mm disc and single piston caliper.

This device is not coupled but receives the support of a lightweight ABS (3 kg) installed as standard (option on the MT-09). The ten-spoke rims are aluminum – like the new height-adjustable tapered handlebars, triple trees, footpegs and lower controls – and get unconvincing Dunlop Sportmax D222 in 120/70/17 and 180/55 / 17.

Electronics, piloting aids

In addition to the ABS mentioned above, the MT-09 Tracer receives three different injection maps, selectable from the right stalk. These three modes offer a more or lively response to acceleration depending on whether you select the map "A" (the sportiest), "standard" (the most pleasant in everyday life) and "B" (useful in the wet) . The passage from one to the other can be done while driving, gas cut.

Note that this device intervenes only on the way in which the power is delivered and not on its value: the 115 ch in Full are present whatever the engaged mode. Strongly criticized for the lack of progressiveness and the jerks generated by the injection on the MT-09 (especially in the A mode, the sportiest), Yamaha corrects the situation on the Tracer thanks to new injection parameters.

From now on, the opening of the throttle butterflies is less chaotic: "it is much more progressive, even if the response to the accelerator remains sharp because it is a motorcycle of character", judge for MNC Alexandre Kowalski, from Yamaha Motor France, which judges the considerable progress compared to the MT-09, whose behavior he also estimated could be improved in our dossier on electronics.

Finally, the Tracer is fitted as standard with the "TCS" (Traction Control System) anti-skid system, a device introduced by Yamaha first on the Super Tenere in 2010, then on the R1 2012 and on the FJR1300 the following year. . Disconnectable when stationary from the dashboard, this traction control is continuously informed about the speed of rotation of the wheels by the toothed crowns of the ABS.

As soon as it detects a difference between the front and the rear, the ECU (the electronic brain of the system) crosses this information with that collected by the electronic accelerator (gear engaged, engine speed, degree of throttle opening , in particular) and adapts its action accordingly.

In the event of a brief loss of traction, it will order, for example, a slight closing of the gas flaps via the ride-by-wire in order to regulate the power and thus restore grip to the rear wheel. If the slip is more marked, the TCS will then intervene on the ignition advance to reinforce the power restriction, intervention more sensitive to the handlebars.

Finally, if this is not enough or the situation turns to the extreme, the device will opt for an ignition cut-off, in this case generating an unpleasant chatter from the motorcycle and a jerky sound reminiscent of a hoarse machine gun. Its entry into service is signaled by the flashing of an orange "TCS" light on the bottom of the dashboard similar to that of the latest generation of Super Tenere..

Simple but effective, this system does not include gyroscopes capable of indicating the inclination of the motorcycle and its sensitivity cannot be adjusted by the user. In use, thanks to its sufficiently high intervention threshold and its reactivity, no frustration is felt..

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