2024 YAMAHA MT-09 REVIEW – “WE NEED TO STOP GIGGLING…”

IMAGES BY MATT McINTYRE

When Yamaha’s MT-09 first appeared in 2014, it was universally hailed as a game-changer. Yamaha had built its first all-new bike since…well, ages, really, and it was an in-line triple, which led some of us older blokes to remember the DOHC XS750 and then the XS850 from back when Jesus walked the earth.

Apart from the in-line triple engine, the MT-09 had very little else to do with that old shaft-drive dinosaur. And everything to do with being insanely fun to ride. It was used as a stunt bike by Dave McKenna, lunatics turbocharged them, young riders flocked to them, and even older riders were drawn to the MT-09 thanks to its immense rideability, its wondrous engine, and it build-quality. It was a Yamaha, after all. There’s every chance your kids would inherit it.

But there were complaints its suspension was underdone, and if you were pushing on – and you really couldn’t help but push on with an engine like that – you could feel the rear-end whimpering a little. The front was not as bad, but it too could have used some…well, bolstering. Still, the whole package was a great price, and it sold amazingly well, as it was right and proper.

Yamaha then launched a few variants of the MT-09, most notably the Tracer, and the XSR. Same engine and running gear (with some slight variations), but the former was angled more for touring and the latter aimed at…hipsters, I guess. The XSR didn’t do well, because hipsters had been misidentified as a market, and it took Yamaha until 2024 to address the XSR in a massive way, and produce what is probably one of its best-ever motorcycles – the XSR GP, which is the subject of a different and forthcoming review.

The MT-09 has continued to sell well, and has undergone constant improvement, and for 2024, Yamaha has injected some serious upgrades into a bike there was not much wrong with in 2023.

The engine is the same, because there’s no need to fix what is already legendary. But the gearbox copped a big change. The change has resulted in faster and smoother hooliganism as you saw through the gears for maximum happiness.

It now has five renamed engine modes – Sport, Street, Rain, Mental, and Guilty Your Honour – and yes, those last two are the programmable ones. You can happily leave it in Sport if you can’t be arsed playing with it, but if you wanna get into one night, you can truly tailor the MT-09 to your inner crazy.

There might only be 117 horsies and 93Nm of torque at 7000rpm, but the way the MT-09 goes about its 193kg-wet business kinda makes you wonder if bikes with more bang are more about bragging rights than outright performance for most riders. I’m not sure there’s a more eager partner in Motor Traffic Act offenses than the MT-09.

Aesthetically and ergonomically, there’s also been some sexifying. The petrol tank is 60mm wider, the top of the tank is 30mm lower, and the back of it has been narrowed a touch. Yamaha has also grafted some two-piece acoustic amplifier grills into the new tank, which are perforated openings on the airbox cover that directly funnel the induction sound to the rider, (ala MT-10) for faster rider-arousal.

To go with the tank’s changes, the front of the seat has been narrowed 12mm, the handlebars dropped 34mm lower, and moved a touch closer to the rider. The new MT-09 has also scored newly-designed footpegs sitting 30.6mm farther back compared to the previous model, and which have been raised 9.5mm. And the footpeg height can be adjusted to two different positions.

The result is that you sit canted a little more forward (which is good, as the seat-height remains a comforting 825mm), and more “in” a bike that feels narrower. Quite an excellent result, and some thought has clearly gone into this.

Even giving the handlebars an extra 3-and-a-bit-degrees of turn to make the bike more manoeuvrable at walking pace, a new two-piece seat (both can be removed with your ignition key rather than an Allen key), and a new Brembo master cylinder for much better feel, are very welcome and real-world improvements.

The MT-09’s “face” also underwent an overhaul, and it looks a great deal more aggressively sentient than it did before. You get two angled LED running lights, and a single cyclops LED above them, recessed into a “mask” I imagine terrifying robots will be wearing when they finally come to end the Time Of Man. While we wait for that, I can tell you these small-sized lights do a pretty good job at night.

There’s also one of the coolest dashes I’ve seen in ages. It’s an all-new five-inch array which offers you several displays to pick from, and sets it all off with a tacho readout Yamaha certainly borrowed from its musical division. The variable “spike” you see running across the dash and counting your revs, is very cool.

If you’re old, this is certainly all the amusement you will need. But if you’re young and you want tech, get the Garmin StreetCross app, then get the Yamaha Y-Connect app, and you’ll get turn-by-turn navigation, as well as being able to listen to music, get messages, receive calls, and change the settings on your bike without actually touching your bike. If that doesn’t impress the smart young things that smell like strawberries, brother, nothing will.

As usual, the MT-09 is armed with all the anti-idiot electronics any self-respecting violator demands – slide control, wheelie control, traction control – and for this year, Yamaha has added a Back Slip Regulator. I looked this up, and it’s a thing that works when the surface is greasy and offers less grip than you’d like – though you will love the superb Bridgestone Hypersport S23 hoops that come as standard – by reducing the evil of reverse-torque and assisting the slipper clutch in its sterling duties.

The end result is even more hilarious to ride than it ever was. And it is always big and immensely sinful fun. Aaron and I chased each other up and down the Putty Road like the criminals we aspire to always be. Aaron’s a bit quicker than me, so he will invariably go to jail first.

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I also let my mate, Tom, ride it. He normally belts around on a Fireblade, so I figured he needed some reality injected into his world.

Then, as all riders who have gotten away with doing things society frowns upon, we adjourned to the pub to discuss our terrible behaviour…

Me: “So, do we like it, hate it, wanna touch ourselves? What’s the call on the new MT-09?”

Tom: “Mate, that was mad fun! I had no idea it would be that good in corners. Before I rode it, I thought I’d be missing the Fireblade’s bang, but that wasn’t a thing at all. What a great bike. I’m actually very surprised. It’s not what I expected. It’s comfortable, so agile, great brakes…and just so easy to push hard on.”

Aaron: “Guess you don’t need 200hp to be fast or mad. You just need a motorcycle which allows you to get the most out of it. That’s what the MT-09 does. It’s unique, and the way this whole package comes together, from the suspension, the frame and geometry, to the ergos, and the engine. It just works. I struggle to think of another bike I have had this much fun on. That’s what makes it a stroke of manufacturing genius. It’s a pleasure to ride in almost any setting. There’s no compromise in performance or comfort, whether in traffic or on the back roads.”

See? It’s not just me. The crazy young bastards like it too.

The MT-09 was always a beaut bit of kit. It is now better. Markedly better. Yamaha has improved the bits that needed improving and left the bits that were already on-point, alone. The three of us giggling like idiots is testament to that…

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