YAMAHA MT-09
This month i have mostly been… “Picking and choosing from a wealth of quality metal….”
It’s not been a massive mileage month for the MT-09 this issue. The chaps descending on Portugal to bring you SBOTY 2014 meant leaving all the staff bike keys in the office. This gave me more opportunities for a better ride than Hugh Heffner at the Playboy Mansion. I got through them like a serial adulterer, the weather and circumstances actually meant I covered a good 1,500 miles this month – but only a quarter of these were spent on the MT.
But they were good, very good in fact, and the new parts from Yamaha’s catalogue have improved the ride for sure. The Gilles tooled levers add quality to the control, with pinpoint adjustment to suit your style. Likewise, the rearsets are superb, but need adjusting for my liking – at present these are a little too far back. They aid an aggressive seating position, but mean you need to throw your leg forward when at a stop. When in jeans you run the risk of ‘hooking up’ which could cause an embarrassing slip as all the bike’s attitude and aggression
The Akra’ cackles and pops as fuel ignites in the short can...”
disappears as you flail on the floor underneath it at a set of traffic lights... Thankfully, they can be easily and fully adjusted and I will get this right ready for next month, I promise.
The real bad boy mod, however, has to be the Akrapovic system. I had complained at the lack of grunt from the OE exhaust, which I can comprehensively state is no longer a problem! With the baffle in it grumbles and gurgles with an impatience to perform (that mirrors the throttle action). With the baffle out, well, sweet Jesus, you need earplugs and flame retardant boots. People don’t hang around on zebra crossings, heads turn on every pavement and the Akra’ crackles and pops as fuel ignites in the short can with a dramatic, flaming effect. So this is the Darkside of Japan, then...
As I headed to the dyno at JHS the conditions were against me getting a fair reading against the OE pipe, with a hot 27-degrees and 31 per cent humidity, giving 6 degrees more heat and 13 per cent less humidity than the original run. Thus the power was expected to be down, not that you would have noticed. At 7,000rpm we had lost 3bhp at this midpoint against the original, though at 10,500rpm we were up at 107bhp, a gain of three. With the baffle out the midrange had returned to 79bhp, topping out at a very healthy 109bhp.
Suffice to say that the baffle has stayed out, which was handy as the holding screw is in an utter arse of a place to get too, thus I am enjoying the noise. Captain James at JHS reckons there is more power to find with a slightly longer pipe, conical from a 60mm inlet to a 50mm outlet, which would dampen the noise, but enhance the overall power.
Next up is the suspension, Öhlins has sent through a shock at a very reasonable £499 (plus VAT). So with this and the Andreani internals, and more Yamaha stock on its way, there is much to do. I must try and get some miles in too!