ALL-NEW MT-09 HAS LANDED!
● Get set for a test ride to temptation as Yamaha dealers reopen their doors
● ‘Dealers are getting ready to welcome you’
With thrilling new bikes including Yamaha’s MT-09 landing, it’s even more frustrating that the pandemic has kept dealers’ doors firmly shut. Yes, you can click and collect or have your new bike delivered, but nothing quite beats the excitement and anticipation of walking into your local showroom and seeing the object of your desire sitting there waiting for you.
As restrictions start to lift, Yamaha dealers across the UK are planning their Covid-safe reopening region-by-region (don’t forget, the rules aren’t the same everywhere) to enable customers to indulge in the joy of selecting their next bike. With showrooms set to open soon, and test ride fleets ready and waiting, this could be the start of a summer like no other.
Pure naked fun
And few bikes deliver more fun for your cash than Yamaha’s £8999 MT-09 – which has been significantly revamped for 2021 with a new engine, new chassis, new styling and a range of electronic updates to ensure your ride is always as safe as it can be. There were never any real complaints about the old engine but now the MT-09’s throaty Euro5 triple grows from 847cc to 889cc thanks to a longer stroke. It has new pistons, conrods, cams, engine cases, clutch and gearbox with taller first and second ratios. Power is up from 113bhp to 117bhp (at 10,000rpm) and torque boosted from 64lb.ft @ 8500rpm to 67lb.ft@ 7000rpm. It’s suitably grunty and the new exhaust’s MotoGP-like shriek can be unsettling at first but adds to the MT’s character.
Stepping it up
A new cast aluminium frame and swingarm are designed for precise cornering. The more compact chassis is 2.3kg lighter than before with 50% more rigidity, while forged wheels shave almost another kilo for less gyro inertia.
Forks are shorter to place more weight over the front wheel and bars are higher. Weighing 189kg fully fuelled (4kg less than before), the MT is now easier to throw around and combined with its impressive Bridgestone S22 tyres, the bike has a front end that sticks even on dirty and damp roads. The MT-09 now has a six-axis IMU to provide traction, slide and wheelie control and cornering ABS, and also comes with a quickshifter and autoblipper as standard – producing a satisfyingly addictive crackle and pop through the gears. Yamaha claim the new 3.5in colour multifunction TFT dash is designed to produce ‘the least distraction possible’, while giving you all the relevant information you need. The MT-09 has now taken another bold step forward in the naked middleweight class that it helped to largely reinvent when it first stormed onto the scene back in 2013. The enjoyment and value (just £99 per month on PCP, see below) the new bike brings further helps to cement its place as one of the best bikes in its class. While it obviously doesn’t boast the endless power and aggression of the much more expensive supernakeds available, it’s also a far more usable everyday bike that’s as happy on the commute as it is on a weekend blast or trackday.