As the time nears to send back Nick’s long-term Yamaha Tracer 900 GT, he has his buddy Mark Schellinger race it to put it to the ultimate test.
One significant reason I love roadracing: It provides measurement. A stopwatch and finishing positions determine value, as opposed to a dyno chart, parts budget, or who can flap their lips the loudest.
The measurement brings us to one of my favorite sayings: “Blah, blah, blah… Let’s go racing.”
And that’s what we did for this final installment of the Yamaha Tracer 900 GT Cycle World long-term bike. Mark Schellinger made his roadracing comeback after 15 years of retirement from a career that features two Motorcycle Roadracing Association (MRA) number one plates and Daytona CCS podiums. During his 15 years unracing, he ran the MRA’s new-rider program and taught with me at Freddie Spencer’s school and now at the Champ school. When he’s not on bikes, he’s flying around the world teaching anti-terrorist driving to elite military personnel. Mark is 59 years old. He has a mini dirt track in his backyard. He’s our kind of guy.
The Tracer 900 GT ends its stay in Colorado with 7,254 miles on the clock. My initial question was, “Can this Tracer GT be a do-it-all motorcycle on the level of my impressive 2006 Yamaha FZ1?” The bike has answered that question across the sandstorms of western Texas, in the canyons of the Rocky Mountains, down the dragstrip, and now on the road course of Pueblo Motorsports Park. “Yes.” It does it all very well if you are looking for a sport-touring machine with an emphasis on sport.
Bottom line: The Tracer GT doesn’t do anything weird. It brakes well, accelerates with verve, and corners fine. It won’t wheelie like our school Tracers do at sea level (could be the 122 extra teeth Nick added…), but it was a joy to ride, I really enjoyed it.
It launched well despite the Bonneville gearing. I revved it to 5,000 rpm and fed the lever out pretty quickly. You’ll see from the video it wasn’t the quickest drag racer in the field, but we worked our way forward from there.
The Pueblo track offers a good balance of handling and horsepower, and this Tracer does too. Kudos to Ivan’s for the ECU tuning; initial throttle is significantly smoother and it comes off the corner strong.
This bike takes inputs from the rider and gives proper feedback, and that’s the best situation. It has a sporty feel but adds the ability to go for miles. Win-win!
We did have to remove the centerstand and the footpegs are too low for the track. But that’s it for the complaint department. I had a gas and encourage anyone, on any streetbike, to explore the MRA SuperStreet class if you are race-curious.
-Mark Schellinger
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13 сен 2024
