The new Yamaha MT09 motorbike | Yamaha motorcycle review

Yamaha’s latest MT09 is in SA and we got to take it for a good long spin…

At the moment, manufacturing focus is firmly on naked motorcycles. Yamaha’s MT09 has always been more fun than a barrel of frogs, so we were keen to see how their latest rendition of the bike behaves.

Pics by Black Rock studio.

Collecting the bike from Linex, Sandton saw a 70 KM Commute through the city streets and freeways to base. From there we took a lekker run out to Bidon Bistro in the Cradle to swap notes and ride this little screamer through some twisties. Then it was the evening commute back to base where the bike was used for a week as a day to day runabout. Here’s what we think:

What a lekker, tiny, fast, exciting bike to ride.

The end.

Go and ride one for yourself.

Ok so we know that that won’t cut the mustard so here goes.

Over the years, Yamaha has made subtle changes to the MT09. The two most obvious updates for this specific bike is the new headlight cluster – which we really enjoy and those bright turquoise wheels, which took time to grow on us, but in the end, they were universally accepted and we all decided that we enjoy the funky attitude.

But that’s just the start of it, the other changes are less obvious. That beautiful 890cc CP3 triple cylinder motor, the chassis, swingarm and subframe remain largely unchanged. But the riding experience of the latest MT-09 changes a bit thanks to a slightly more aggressive rider triangle and suspension settings.

The ergonomics are just a tad more aggressive, without being too superbikey. The bars are just slightly lower and pull back a bit more than the previous model and the footpegs have been raised just a smidgeon. You still sit upright, but it’s a more natural bike to lean into the corners.

We see that the front suspension sports stiffer springs – and out back, they have softened up the suspension a bit. We had no complaints about handling, or even the bikes feel on some of SA’s dodgy roads. It’s got a kind of neutral feel for road riding, which is what you want. Sports riders are able to stiffen things up, because – it’s all adjustable.Yamaha has fitted their own brake system to the bike, which is very good – but one update we noticed is the addition of a Brembo front master cylinder.

The MT-09 comes packed with some serious electronics. It’s got all the bells and whistles like the six-axis IMU powering all the riding aids: lean angle sensitive traction control, ABS, wheelie control, a motor slip regulator to aid on downshifts and a suite of rider modes. All of this is fed through a new, 5″ TFT dash with connectivity as standard. Yamaha has also fitted a really slick up/down quickshifter and cruise control and self-cancelling LED indicators.

If we look back at the features we’ve done on this bike’s predecessors, the words “hooligan”, “motard” and “”wheel in the air” always came up. This one is, perhaps, a bit more civilised, but in a good way. And the belle of the ball is that triple cylinder engine. With 87 Nm of torque on tap it pulls from the bottom of the rev range. So smooth, with lotsa torque on tap. Chug along at 120 in top gear and open her up, she pulls to 200 kph in a few heartbeats. And then there’s the noise… It feels as if you are riding in a bubble with a beautiful sonorous roar. There’s no need for an aftermarket pipe, it just sounds right!

It’s gone from being a stunter – to a bike that is happy plodding along at road legal speeds or opening the throttle wide to stretch that grin. Carving a track or carving the long sweeping turns in the Cradle. It’s far more superbikey than before, with a quicker, more precise feel to it.

And nothing has been taken away – it’s still enormous fun to ride…

Séan Says

Bliksem! I do like a naked bike with an op ‘n wakker triple motor and wicked chassis and suspension and the new MT-09 ticks all of those boxes…. and more. The new styling seems to have polarised people a bit, but if you enjoy ‘The Avengers’ like I do, it will remind of Iron Man’s helmet or even War Machines helmet.

And this has actually got that war machine feel about it. Pushing it out of the workshop it felt tiny and very light…. compared to my 2m, 115 kg mass, a little bit concerning, but I had ridden all the previous iterations so I knew I would be able to slot myself onto it fairly easily. The other very noticeable change is the two part seat, with a bump stop so the rider has better control…. theoretically.

Dropping onto the seat, the MT-09 feels familiar but somehow different, riding down the road the handlebars feel slightly lower and the footpegs ever so slightly further back, making it all feel a bit more sporty, not aggressive, more rider enjoyment focused. To add to that enjoyment, Yamaha has come up with a neat little trick, there are two little vents on the tank that look like speaker grills. And, essentially that is what they are, with such a sweet sounding triple pot engine you really do want to enjoy it when it is on song. So, said vents/speakers actually channel up engine and induction noise to the rider without being obnoxious to the general public – Clever! What that does is tickle your Hooligan nerve in a way that is very lekker in a naughty way, like when you better half does that thing with their mouth that you like so much…. and says, “Sorry Honey, I was wrong and you were right.”

Still in the cockpit, I really like the new 5 inch full colour and animation TFT display. It’s great to see these updates. I played with the Rider Modes a little bit, but ‘Wasabi’ mode is the one you really want to go for, it just brings all the flavour out in this machine. As I climbed on the freeway I rolled on a bit too enthusiastically and the front wheel clawed at the sky surprisingly quickly considering I was still partially cranked over to the right and aiming between the traffic on said freeway.

Settling down for my journey I locked in the cruise control at the posted speed limit and checked through some of the other functions on the dash, it has full Bluetooth connectivity for your phone, point by point navigation and….. Oh Bugger all of that – wind on the gas and listen to that beautiful motor sing to you through those speaker vents as you tuck down and focus on flicking the bike left and right as opportunities present themselves.

Sadly, my ride was over way too soon as I reached World Of Yamaha/Linex Sandton in record time. Unfortunately I did not get the saddle time I had hoped for as Glenn had hogged the bike and I really only got to ride it from our office back to Yamaha, but it did leave me aching for more time in this saddle. It is fast, it is nimble, it is gorgeous and it is that bike that makes you look back more than once or twice as you walk away from it…