Smoother criminal
Uprated suspension Quickshifter and slipper clutch More aggressive styling
WHEN THE MT-09 appeared at the end of 2013, good things began to happen for Yamaha. The all-new machine, with its engaging three-cylinder engine and lightweight chassis, was an instant hit and was rapidly joined by the two-cylinder MT-07. Smaller MT-03 and MT-125 variants followed, with the range crowned in 2016 by the sportsbike-engined MT-10. By the end of that year MT models made up more than 40 per cent of Yamaha’s sales in Europe (and that’s without counting the half-faired Tracer variants).
Now Yamaha have revisited the original machine, to see if lessons learned from the other bikes can sharpen it up – and the quickest of glances shows that plenty of notes have been taken from the MT-10. The 2017 MT-09 has been substantially restyled, its minimal bodywork enlarged and a strip of daytime running LEDS fitted beneath new twin lights – actually a bank of four LED projectors, with two on each side (the central pair for dipped beam and all four for main).
Most significantly, the back end of the bike has been chopped off to produce a radically more aggressive look. The tail unit is 30mm shorter (though the pillion seat is actually a little larger), with a new 24-LED rear light and indicators tucked beneath it. The number plate, which used to stick out behind the seat, has now been moved to a combined hanger/mudguard that flies out from the swingarm to float behind the rear wheel – a bit like the Ducati Diavel.
I’m not a big fan of the grey-and-fluoro colour scheme, preferring the blue and the black options, but I love the style of the bike. It seems to have been tidied up, with fewer pipes and wires on display and a good level of finish all over, from the quality paint to the nicely laid-out controls and the new, more comprehensive clocks. It looks lighter than ever – though at 193kg fully fuelled, it’s actually 5kg heavier than the old bike. The seat has been restyled as well, raising it by 5mm to 820mm, which suits a tall guy like me – but it’s a narrow seat so even the shortest of the other riders here in Mallorca to test the bike can flat-foot it easily.
The heart of the bike is unchanged, its characterful 847cc triple punting out 113bhp with a highly usable spread of low-down torque. The ride-by-wire throttle offers three modes: a sporty A mode, a softened B mode, with an engaging STD mode between them. On the polished, dew-slick roads leading away from Palma, I start with B mode and the traction control in its highest state of readiness.
Even in B mode, there’s plenty of drive and speed builds smoothly, swiftly and predictably when the throttle’s opened