Back in April, I took the opportunity of basically all the dealershiips in town having "season openings" with test rides offered to try out a few bikes.
The first on the list was the Yamaha Tracer 900 GT:
It was also, just from the specs, my favourite for being my next bike eventually. The test ride did not disappoint. Due to the nature of the event, I could only ride it for 20 minutes or so, but that allowed me to get at least out of town.
I really liked it. It felt nimble (only about 220 kg) and had adequate power. And I can sit really well on it (I'd hope that I can get used to it being so high up, it was a bit annoying to get on). And it comes with heated grips and a cruise control. After the test ride, it still sits on the top of the short list for being my next bike. It lacks a cylinder compared to my CBF, and the roughness that comes with not being an inline-4 was noticeable. But I basically made my peace with that in general... light sports tourers with inline-4 engine simply aren't built anymore, it seems.
What prevented me from outright buying that model are several small things: Lack of space under the seat (for locks, first aid kit, luggage net - part of everyday practicality basically), and the simple fact that I don't want to spend a close-to-five-figure amount of money (well, it is €12k or so, but selling my old bike should give me a few thousand) for a bike that still requires an expensive, ugly and cumbersome GPS device mounted to the handlebar. Fucking integrate a screen serving as an Android Auto (and Apple CarPlay) screen already.
Next up (because the dealer was right around the corner), the Kawasaki Z1000SX:
I could have had that bike longer, provided I fueled it up at the end. But it's simple not built for riders as tall as me. Took it around the block and quickly returned to base. I'm sure it is a fun bike for people who can actually sit on it, but I can't.
On the way home, I made a small detour to BMW in the hope of getting to ride or at least look at the new R1250RS, but sadly, they only had a R1250R:
Because BMW is very well organized, they did the test rides in form of guided tours of about 45 minutes or so. The roads were nicely chosen. Unfortunately, being an official BMW dealer event, corners were taken slowly - I mean, speed limits were respected. So it was difficult to judge the handling of the bike.
Of the bikes I rode that day (or ever), this bike was easily the best. I'd be curious to ride the RS version as that is supposed to have a slightly different riding position because of different handlebars, and it has fairings. Knowing me, I'd probably end up having an RS with the R handlebar swapped on.
But that's theory, because BMW is simply too expensive. Yes, the bike is really good, but not enough to justify being 30% more expensive than the Japanese offerings, and that's before factoring in service costs.
My conclusion of the day: The Tracer is the favourite. BMW is better, has the distinct advantage of being not so tall, but that's about it. I still liked to ride to Yamaha more, even though it should have about 5 cm less suspension.