New Tracer 9 GT on the Radar

[advrider]

World War II pilots must have been stoked when radar was introduced. But I don’t know how you feel about the increasing use of collision avoidance radar on motorcycles. It is clearly here to stay. Does that mean it is a good idea?

To a certain extent that depends on the manufacturers who are fitting radar units to their bikes. EE|Times (eetimes.com) warns that too much radar is not going to be a good thing because “radar signals interfere with each other”. This is bad news, especially there is no sign that manufacturers are getting together to minimize the problem.

But, depending on your preferences, there may be good news for adventure riders – read on.

“Radar has become an essential sensing modality complementing CMOS imaging cameras. Radar works in all weather conditions and enables a range of automated driving features, including automatic emergency Bbrakes (AEB). But radars can be foiled or faulty if they end up, like Ghostbusters’ particle accelerators, crossing each other’s streams.

“While this is not yet a phenomenon publicly cautioned by carmakers or commonly perceived by drivers, automotive radars, operating in congested environments, will face significant interference.”

That’s just a little warning in case you were pouring champagne on the news Yamaha will probably equip the Tracer 9 GT with a radar system for a 2023 facelift.

For the 2023 model year, Yamaha is making few changes to its top tourer, the Tracer 9 GT, either visually or technically. But what has changed is a major addition: Yamaha is supposedly bringing radar technology to lower capacity bikes. So far, distance cruise control and blind spot warning were reserved for top end machinery, but MOTORRAD magazine caught a radar-equipped Tracer out on the road.

The bike looks like a current model Tracer 9 GT, but if you look more closely, you will see a small black box between the flanges of the front fairing. The current bike has a space in front of the lower triple clamp instead. The unpainted, flat surface makes it fairly clear that this is a radar unit, presumably for an adaptive cruise control. We expect, just like the top models from KTM, Ducati and BMW, that this means that you will be able to set the distance to the vehicle in front that you want. The system will then maintain that distance by controlling the torque and with automatic braking until just before standstill. The only difference is that the Yamaha unit has a cover.

The MOTORRAD photos show a somewhat bulkier-looking panel around the rear light, which might suggest a rear-facing radar unit. This is unlikely, however, because the panniers are in the way. So it looks like the Tracer 9 GT is only getting front-facing radar.

And this is where it gets especially interesting for adventure riders. It is thought likely that Yamaha will offer an adventure version of the Tracer 9 to replace the Super Tenere. Will that be the first Japanese adventure bike with radar? Should it be? Is radar really the future, given the potential for interference? Let us know what you think.

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