| April 19, 2021
The bike that started the Dark Side of Japan slogan gets a ground-up redesign for 2021.
New suspension and lighter wheels make for a far more enjoyable canyon crusher.
By Chris Cantle
Yamaha claims the MT-09 is 90 percent new for 2021. We’ll go a step further and say that the third generation MT-09 is finally 100 percent dialed. Since its introduction in 2014, Yamaha’s triple has been a value benchmark, but one with a fair share of rough edges.
Yamaha listened to riders who loved the powerplant but thought the bike was just a little too raw for prime time. To tame their triple, the company has cast up a brand-new aluminum frame, re-engineered the swingarm, and revised the already terrific engine to produce more torque, all while adding top-notch electronic rider aids.
So how does this new, polished MT-09 fare against seven years of expectations and a slew of new and fantastic machines from Italy and England, as well as challengers from its own motherland? We shook down the 2021 Yamaha MT-09 in the Santa Monica mountains to find out.
There’s still a hint of teenage angst in the design but the MT-09 is a far better bike in 2021 than it was when it debuted in 2014.
All Ate Up With Motor
Did we mention that the MT-09 boasts one of the great engines in motorcycling? It’s the defining feature of the bike, and makes a ride through tight, rocky canyons and every tunnel an exercise in volume control as much as it is a test of your riding skill. Induction racket is sublime—almost comically good. You can play the MT-09 like an instrument.
Displacement is up a nudge, from 847cc to 890cc. Other significant changes include a new cylinder head with improved cooling, a new intake, and new intake and exhaust camshafts. Yamaha claims a number of accomplishments from its changes. The most important update is the least compelling for a rider, which is Euro 5 emissions compliance. Even after clearing that humongous regulatory hurdle, Yamaha claims the 2021 MT-09 managed a six percent increase in torque. Frankly, it all goes unnoticed. The bike doesn’t feel more or less powerful. The CP3 engine still thrills when you let it rip. But then, it’s never really been the mill that’s held back the MT-09.
Despite Euro5’s best efforts, Yamaha’s coaxed a little more torque out of the now 890cc triple.
Early iterations of the then FZ-09 were equipped with innovative ride-by-wire throttle control that played poorly with even the most subtle of right wrists. Steady evolution cured those teething issues, and the outgoing MT-09 has perfectly decent fueling. It’s the 2021 model, however, that finally delivers on the promise of throttle-by-wire.
Right-hand feel is spot-on for smooth street riding in the second of two ride modes. Switching to mode one makes the power snap on a little harder at full whack. Not too complex. Just the kind of differentiation you want in an everyday bike. Better still, all the expected rider aides are comfortably and invisibly inserted between the brilliant powerplant and the user. Think R1 here and you’ll get the drift: Wheelie-limiting launch control, razor sharp gearchanges from an up/down quickshifter, and all of the benefits of a six-axis IMU, including cornering ABS. Basically, the technology that batted around the early FZ-09 has now been fully cooked.
Joining those electronic updates are a bushel of mechanical changes. Back-to-back rides with the outgoing MT-09 might give away taller transmission ratios in first and second gears. Sensitive ears might pick up on a new airbox with three intake ducts. Everyone should take note of the lovely and entirely rethought exhaust design. Especially as a great many of them are destined for dusty corners of garages or the closest scrap heap. This is an MT-09, after all.
“The headlight looks like a stealth fighter’s jockstrap,” Cantle drops the quote of the year.
New and improved
Solid as the engine updates may be, it wasn’t the powertrain that needed fiddling. The outgoing MT-09 always felt a little vague and unsettled in hard cornering, or on bad tarmac. Livable? For a bike on a commuting diet, sure. But nobody shelling out $10k for a new naked sport bike wants to start looking up suspension shops after their first ride in the canyons.
The best and biggest changes to the 2021 MT-09 come in the handling department, and they address the old bike’s flaws with gusto. Yamaha claims its new die-cast aluminum frame is 50 percent stiffer. The steering-head pipe is more than an inch lower, and the fork is shorter in turn. Suspension travel is reduced by 0.3 inches front and rear. Springs in the adjustable KYB-built suspension are perceptibly stiffer.
Lighter wheels and a redesigned swingarm cut down on unsprung weight. Indicating the scope of the MT-09’s redesign, that new swingarm is mounted to the inside of the frame, rather than the outside, as on the outgoing 2020 bike. They’re big, positive changes that make themselves known just as soon as the urban environment starts to recede in your mirrors.
The MT-09 comes fitted standard with Bridgestone’s excellent S22 rubber. A small but important point in the newfound handling prowess.
Still a little cheap around the edges?
While the bargain-bin feel of the old FZ-09 has been almost entirely relegated to the past, a few nods to cheapness will catch your eye. Exposed and taped-up bits of wiring still protrude from the headlamp. The rear brake pedal is stamped and chintzy. Up front, sharp eyes will notice standard brake lines instead of fancy steel braided ones.
Lighter wheels give the MT-09 a touch more speed when changing direction.
The color dash display is—fine. Maybe a little frozen in time, and not in a cool Triumph kind of way. While the electronic menus are reasonably easy to navigate, there’s not much charm in click-clicking through page after page of acronym soup-named rider aids. On the bright side, the ’21 MT-09 will keep all your electronic setup preferences the next time you start the bike up, so you shouldn’t need to dive in often. Ultimately, grousing about the small display, or the fit and finish, seems counterproductive. Engineering on a budget is the story of the MT-09. That it can accomplish so much polish on a shoestring is—and always has been—pretty remarkable.
Switchgear is typically uninspired.
All the hair. Much less hair-raising
Don’t get us wrong, it’s still the same delightfully knobbish hooligan bike. The styling still shouts of teenage ambition and is still polarizing. Especially the headlight, which looks like a stealth fighter’s jockstrap. It still wheelies like a bandit. It’s still a bike defined by a rude, potent and compelling engine. But all that churlish attitude fades when the roads get twisty. Because as soon as you’re behind the bars the 2021 MT-09 is genuinely good.
This engine. The way it comes on with a big snort of induction noise and torque, all across the powerband. The throaty snap of it reverberating against the tarmac and canyon walls. It’s addictive. And more important, the chassis lives up to the promise of the MT-09’s powerplant, so it’s also manageable. Easing off the brake and whacking open the throttle with a corner exit in your crosshairs is no longer a roll of the dice to see whether you induce a little wobble. Transitions happen as quick as your body can manage, the upright handlebar providing great elbows-up leverage.
The revamped dash isn’t anything to write home about but does the job fine.
Another key player in the MT-09’s newfound pace is likely to be unsung: 2021 sees a shift to excellent Bridgestone Battleax S22 tires. Combined with lighter wheels and subtly improved brakes, the result is a machine that’s more composed than its styling would let on.
It’s a good feeling, not being tripped up by tight and technical roads, or by ruts and leaves pushed into the pavement by spring rain. The MT-09 doesn’t ask for any special accommodation, it just lets you get after it at your pace. Given the bike’s proven comfort and prowess as a commuter, it’s an even more tempting argument in favor of this all-rounder.
Downtown LA might not be such a pain in the butt if you’re on the MT. But then, it is Downtown we’re talking about here.
At $9399, it’s $400 more than the outgoing model cost at the dealer last year, and $1500 more pricey than the original FZ-09 that won over the cheapskates of the riding world back in 2014. Let’s put it this way: How much would you spend to get your suspension dialed? Or to shave eight pounds off a bike’s curb weight? Or to upgrade your front brakes to a radial-pull master cylinder? Or trim a pound and a half from your wheels? Or add a quickshifter? Those four hundred bucks quickly seem like a bargain. And being a bargain is kind of the MT-09’s thing.CN
2021 Yamaha MT-09 Specifications
| MSRP: |
$9,399 |
| Engine: |
4-stroke, inline 3 cylinder |
| Valvetrain: |
DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder |
| Displacement: |
890cc |
| Bore x Stroke: |
78 x 62.1mm |
| Compression Ratio: |
11.5:1 |
| Fuel System: |
Multipoint sequential electronic fuel injection |
| Cooling System: |
Liquid |
| Exhaust: |
3-1 |
| Clutch: |
Wet, multi-plate |
| Transmission: |
6-speed |
| Frame: |
Die-cast aluminum |
| Front Suspension: |
41mm fork, USD, fully adjustable |
| Rear Suspension: |
Single shock, spring preload, rebound damping adj. |
| Front Wheel: |
17 x 3.5 in. |
| Rear Wheel: |
17 x 5.5 in. |
| Front Tire: |
120/70 ZR17 |
| Rear Tire: |
180/55 ZR17 |
| Front Brake: |
Twin 298mm floating discs, 4-piston radial-mount calipers, Cornering ABS |
| Rear Brake: |
Single 245mm disc, 2-piston sliding caliper, Cornering ABS |
| Rake: |
25° |
| Trail: |
4.3 in. |
| Seat Height: |
32.5 in. |
| Wheelbase: |
56.3 in. |
| Weight (dry, claimed): |
417 lbs. |
| Fuel Capacity: |
3.7 gal. |
| Colors: |
Storm Fluro, Matte Raven Black, Team Yamaha Blue |
