Adventure touring and sport touring range of motorcycles have gained fast popularity worldwide. Apart from street nakeds, two-wheeler enthusiasts are now considering capable touring motorcycles across all engine capacities worldwide. Now, reports are doing the rounds that Yamaha might be working on a MT-15 Tracer model. Based on the MT-15 street naked motorcycle, the MT-15 Tracer will have slightly more body work, better suspension travel for and other elements to make it look like a sport tourer.
To become a capable touring machine, the Yamaha MT-15 Tracer will come with features like tall front windscreen, long travel suspension for a cushioned ride, higher ground clearance resulting in higher seat height, knuckle guards, saddle bag / pannier mounts and may be dual-purpose tyres. But all this is mere speculation at the moment as Yamaha has made no official announcement. This will not be a proper off-road motorcycle to rival the likes of say the Hero MotoCorp Xpulse 200 if we are relating it to the Indian market, but will be more of a road-biased long distance mile muncher.
Yamaha already has the MT-09 Tracer as an example which you can look at. This will give you a reference to what the ‘Tracer’ brand means in the Yamaha portfolio.
Currently, the Yamaha MT-15 in India comes powered by a 155cc, liquid-cooled, single-cylinder, 4-stroke petrol motor with Variable Valve Actuation. This motor produces 19.3 PS of power and 14.7 Nm of torque which is also shared with the Yamaha YZF-R15 V3.0. The MT-15 gets a slipper-assist clutch for the 6-speed gearbox. If the MT-15 Tracer turns into reality, it will probably get different gear ratios for a better high speed performance.
Compared to Indonesian market, the Yamaha MT-15 in India gets a budget friendly rear swing arm and telescopic forks instead of the USD forks. Even for the MT-15 Tracer, expect similar treatment for the Indian market for budget reasons.
