well I am lucky enough to have ''BOTH'' ..a 650 v strom & a 900 tracer [ the new GT model ] ..I love my v strom as I've said on this web site many times & for me its a keeper , however I think when comparing the two together they couldn't be further apart . in defence of the tracer , this is the second one I have had & none of them vibrated. the engine is simply brilliant. its an animal & gives an exciting ride every time I get on it . it is also very good on fuel & regularly get almost 70mpg just knocking about . this new GT model is a lot better than the older one , a lot more stable [ due to longer swing arm ] and a bit more comfortable due to different suspension and seat ..however ..its still not the most comfortable ride [ to me Yamaha always seem to put a poor shock on the rear ? ] and the v strom is a good deal better. will the tracer make a good long distance tourer ?..its very light , that is always a good thing on a tourer because of all the luggage you put on later but I'll let you know that next year .. the thing I notice most when jumping off the tracer onto the v strom is the brakes, the tracer ones are excellent were as the v strom is only OK , infact I've just sent for some EBC double H brake pads for it to see if they can improve things , but then again to me it shows how good the v strom is when that is the only thing I can fault the bike on