A few days ago, Yamaha confirmed that it will only be concentrating on premium motorcycles above the 150cc segment in India
There have been some interesting developments from Yamaha in the past few weeks on both regional and international levels. In India, the Japanese bikemaker has registered the trademark FZ-X which will be a retro-style motorcycle based on the FZ series. In foreign markets, the company launched the entry-level XSR 125 in Europe.
It also revealed the upcoming mid-displacement sports bike R7 in its final production-spec form which will replace the outgoing R6 from its global portfolio. In the latest development, the Japanese bike manufacturer has filed a trademark for the name ‘Tracer’ in India.
Tracer 700 & Tracer 900
The Tracer nameplate is used by Yamaha for its mid-displacement sports tourer range and is available in 900cc and 700cc configurations. Given the surge in popularity of adventure and sports tourers in recent years, Yamaha might be planning of bringing one such machine to India even though a local patent does not guarantee a product’s launch. The flagship Tracer 900 is even retailed in select few international markets such as Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
Both Tracer 700 and Tracer 900 share the same design and underpinnings and are essentially road-biased tourers. Like typically tourer motorcycles, Tracer comes with a tall stance, a semi-faired body with a large windscreen, handguards, split seats, an MT-15-like fuel tank, contrast coloured rims, a raised tail section with split grab rails and twin exhaust pipes. It is also expected to ride on alloy wheels shod by dual-purpose tyres.
First Probability
The first most likely probability is that Yamaha brings the flagship Tracer 900 to our shores as a fully imported CBU product. This motorcycle would be powered by an 847cc liquid-cooled, inline three-cylinder engine that pumps out 113.45 bhp at 10000 rpm and a peak torque of 87.5 Nm at 8500 rpm. This unit is mated to a 6-speed gearbox.
The tourer comes equipped with features such as a TFT instrument cluster, all LED lights, a slipper clutch, cruise control, an adjustable windscreen and three-step traction control. If launched in India, this iteration of Tracer would compete against the likes of Ducati Multistrada 950 S and Triumph Tiger 850 Sport/900.
Second Probability
The other possibility is Yamaha introduce a sub-400cc entry-level tourer and brand it as Tracer. In this case, the 250cc motor from FZ25 and MT-25 would be an ideal choice for a powertrain.
This motor is capable of generating an output of 20.5 bhp at 8,000rpm and 20.1 Nm of peak torque at 6,000rpm. This unit is paired with a 5-speed gearbox. If this version gets a nod, it will lock its horns with other entry-level adventure tourers such as Royal Enfield Himalayan, KTM 250 Adventure, 390 Adventure, BMW 310 GS and Hero Xpulse 200.
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
