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The clutch is spot on, not grabby with positive incremental engagement feel, and the transmission shifts cleanly and crisply—no slop there, either. Likewise with bike’s balance and agility.

The Oh-Nine is a nimble, great handler that’s super responsive for this class of a bike. It’s relatively lightweight, too. Although I’m not arguing against the bigger displacement tourers, this 850cc is one heck of a lot of fun, and after spending a day on it, I’m not as anxious to jump on a bigger bike. Simply put, I didn’t miss the extra power.

Traction control (TC) is another relatively new feature that’s bound to become standard on medium- and larger-sized bikes. Combined with modern ABS to create different rider modes, there’s a definite feel of increased rider safety

The Oh-Nine has three traction control settings: Standard, A or B (it can also be turned off). When you start the bike, it always defaults back to Standard mode. Traction control will keep you upright in many conditions where only extreme skill would have saved the day.

Cruising over slick mud patches, or bits of loose gravel, the bike attempts to compensate rather than slide. I’d like to have several weeks of evaluation time to shake it out, and test the various modes, but the more I ride with TC-enabled bikes, the more confidence-inspiring they seem to be.

Yamaha has released the bike with a host of useful accessories, with a long list of more to come. Options like a taller windscreen, heated grips, engine guards and panniers will likely be at the top of most buyers’ lists. But there’s also a lowered seat and a custom touring seat to consider (all seats can be set to high and lower positions).

I’m generally not a fan of plastic panniers because they’re typically of very limited carrying capacity. But these aren’t bad, mostly due to the unusual exhaust system there’s none of the typical loss of space to accommodate a big-ass exhaust canister. The bike also comes with a 12 volt outlet to run electric clothing, phones, etc., and there’s even an additional port ready for adding a second (option).

The “Adventure” label has appeared on a variety of bikes over the past few years but adventure-tourers are generally set up for off-road as well as tarmac. The distinction is extremely relevant because when you give up the ability to ride off-road, the entire characteristics of the bike as well as the types of terrain you can access change.

This is neither a positive nor negative aspect, but a compromise based on the type of riding. Give up dirt for more rider comfort, handling and zippiness. Or, be dirt-ready but take on more tractor-like qualities. Not all long distance riders need or want to take their rides off-road—and that’s the domain of the FJ-09. MSRP: $10,500 (as tested $12,000) Yamaha FJ-09

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