To buy or not to buy

Nick Lilley, Friday, 23 October 2026

Earlier in the year, like an inattentive matador, I found myself on the horns of a dilemma. My trusty “stealth green” Tracer 9 had celebrated its fourth birthday and topped 35,000 miles. Was it time for a change? By the beginning of October, it clicked over to 40,000. My wife would have said I spent the intervening 5,000 miles in indecisive procrastination, whereas I fool myself into regarding it as time well spent in methodical research.

One crucial factor during this period was having the use of a naked loan bike from Andy. This forcefully reminded me that the raw experience my younger self would have thrived upon was definitely not suitable for my aged frame, which craves as much protection from the elements as possible.

I viewed Hondas, Triumphs, Suzukis, and Kawasakis, but none of them set my soul on fire. The look of sheer horror on salesmen’s faces when I quietly dropped “40,000 miles” into the conversation was something with which I was to become all too familiar.

I really liked the Chinese-built KTM 790 Adventure, which came with all the goodies found on a more expensive bike and was on special offer. The thought of its parts bearing the CE mark for “China Export” rather than “Conformité Européenne” didn’t bother me. However, I was put off by rumours of unreliability, the sheer audacity of such a radical departure from my norm, and a rather hard seat.

The Tracer 7 GT felt familiar, my muscle memory allowing me to feel at home straight away, and the “comfort” seat was welcome. However, having signed most of the paperwork, a sudden 25% drop in the part-exchange offer had me instantly picking up my helmet and walking out with a nasty taste in my mouth.

Time passed, and by chance, I noticed Yamaha were running a £1,500 off promotion. Definitely worth a gander. I was tempted and eventually seduced by the Tracer 9 GT Y-AMT which, with all its aids, will hopefully prolong my biking career. The auto-gearbox option appealed to my increasingly deteriorating body, which each morning awakens to a new, debilitating ache or strain. The matrix headlights hopefully spelt an end to plunging into the dark unknown on twisties at night—and indeed they do. Night riding is akin to sitting in the beam of the Eddystone Light.

This is my third Tracer in a row, which undoubtedly appears boring to many, but I am an incredibly boring person—apprehensive of change and cautious by nature—so it suits me perfectly. Importantly, it will enable me to overtake almost anything (my raison d'être) but, even more importantly, keep up with Roger.

So far, my only disappointment is the indicator “self-cancelling” function. Yamaha list so many qualifications (get-out clauses) for them not cancelling as to render any reliance upon them dangerous. They are at best a backup which may work if the rider forgets to cancel manually. It’s all in the software, so hopefully, Yamaha may issue a recall with a reprogramming update in the future.

I do like the versatile gearbox. The two auto modes can be overridden manually with a flick of the left index finger on the paddle. This is invaluable when, being somewhat timid, I want to change down earlier than the Y-AMT when approaching a decidedly sharp bend.

I may critique more of the bike's functions and handling after a few thousand miles once I have settled into it. In the meantime, my only real anxiety is that I think the gearbox and headlights are possibly cleverer than I am.