Rennie Scaysbrook | June 13, 2024
Few bikes on the market will make you laugh like a Yamaha MT-09. It’s concocted under a relatively simple recipe of lightweight, punchy horsepower, and reasonable enough suspension, the resulting product being a hooligan motorcycle par excellence.
Yamaha hasn’t gone full revolution with the new MT-09, but it’s a significant difference to the 2023 model.
Photography Ray Gauger and Joseph Agustin
It’s quite hard to believe the MT-09 has been around for a decade. The first modern three-cylinder engine platform Yamaha has produced, the MT-09 marked an enormous departure in terms of corporate identity to what Yamaha had cultivated up to that point. The “Dark Side of Japan” marketing campaign that partnered with the bike was a stroke of genius, immediately shifting Yamaha from the kind of brand your piano teacher would ride to one not out of place with the Yakuza.
Over the proceeding years, the MT slowly grew up, with a thorough overhaul coming in 2021. Fast forward three years, and although the 2024 edition isn’t as big a change as what we saw back then, it’s still plenty different enough, especially in the parts you’ll notice the most.
The revised riding position, thanks to the new bar, tank, and seat, makes for a sportier ride.
There wasn’t a lot wrong with the 2023 MT in terms of overall hardware, and thus, the 890cc inline three-cylinder motor remains unchanged, but it is mated to a heavily revised gearbox that runs six drive dogs instead of five, enabling smoother, faster gearshifts via the up and down Yamaha quickshifter. That’s all you’ll notice about the gearbox itself because the ratios themselves haven’t changed, it’s just that you get into the next one faster than before.
Matched to renamed riding modes of Street, Sport, Rain and two Custom modes, you can make the 117 hp MT as violent or as docile as you like. The three-cylinder is one of Yamaha’s great engines, with stupid amounts of performance that make that sub-120 horsepower number feel substantially higher thanks to the motor’s ability to rip up the rev range quickly.
Long days in the saddle are not too much of a hassle, but the seat pad gets pretty hard after an hour on board.
As always, the emissions regulators have taken a bite out of the MT’s engine performance, but it’s not as severe a drop as you might see in a four-cylinder supernaked. Between 3000-5000 rpm, the performance of the ’09’s triple starts to dip, but it surges back by 6000 rpm—something I’ve noted repeatedly with modern bikes. It’s the reality we face if we want high performance while also adhering to emissions standards. Switching the MT to Sport mode alleviates this performance dip somewhat, but in Rain mode, you’ll encounter a significant flat spot for those 2000 rpm.
Peak torque comes in at 68 lb-ft at 7000 rpm, and the new fuel tank now features audio outlets from the new two-piece air intake that allows the rider to really hear the three-cylinder’s intake roar at full song and, trust me, it’s one of the best sounds in production motorcycling today. This idea was ripped straight from the MT-10’s tank cut-outs, the mesh inserts looking decidedly industrial and giving the front of the MT a real mean edge to it.
The main chassis is largely unchanged but there’s thicker engine mounts, and slightly thinner brackets for the headstock that mounts to the frame. The seat height remains unchanged at 825mm, but the rider triangle of seat, peg and handlebar position have all come in for a major overhaul.
The seat is flatter and now doesn’t require any tools to take off.
The fuel tank’s shape has changed substantially and is 30mm lower and 60mm wider than in 2023. The new tank shape means the handlebar has been repositioned 34.4mm lower and 1.5mm closer to the rider—that last part not noticeable, at least by me—but when combined with the reshaped tank the ride position feels dramatically different.
The tank’s trailing edges have been reduced by 15mm, and the leading edges of the seat have been narrowed by 12mm in total, resulting in a much smaller junction point where the seat meets the tank, giving an overall narrower fit. With your weight now more angled towards the front of the bike, it feels lower than it actually is, providing the added benefit of more mass on the front tire, aiding braking and mid-corner stability.
The new gas tank shape is dramatically different from last year’s MT-09.
From the front, the new MT showcases one of its biggest changes. The face is completely redesigned, featuring a two-function LED headlamp with a new cover, creating a more symmetrical look compared to the funky stacked headlight of 2023. This is a significant improvement over the old design, which had two LEDs flanking a single light in the center, in my humble opinion.
At the rear, the new two-piece seat sits on a new subframe, and all you need to remove both front and rear pads is the key—no more random Allen keys to get the rider seat off. Unfortunately, Yamaha did not see fit to fit the disappearing/hinging rear passenger pegs off the XSR900 that will turn your MT into a single-seater with one of the various aftermarket single seat cowls, but beggars can’t be choosers, apparently.
Some will love the new face; others will hate it. We think the stacked light design is pretty cool.
You feel decidedly more a part of the MT rather than just perched on it like before. The ride is a tad firmer up front thanks to the slightly heavier front spring, and Yamaha has changed the rear linkage to one with a flatter curve for a smoother rear suspension action as you go through the shock’s stroke.
The suspension action doesn’t feel vastly removed from the 2023 MT but it’s the ride position that makes all the difference. Putting the rider’s weight a little forward from center, the MT is a less tiring proposition for a full day in the saddle and even begins to show its chops as a touring bike when you throw on the accessory bags.
One of the benefits of the revised front end/handlebar arrangement is the steering gets 3.3° more steering sweep, so tighter turns are now a little easier especially for those who will use the MT as a commuter. Low-speed maneuverability has never been an issue for what is essentially a massive supermoto with a three-cylinder motor bolted to it, but one will never argue with being given something they never knew they wanted until it was there.
Yamaha’s dash can do a heck of a lot of things. Bluetooth and riding maps is just the start.
Yamaha also fitted a new Brembo master-cylinder that has a much nicer and more direct feel at the lever than the old 2023 edition. This is an easy area for manufacturers to save money, and thankfully, Yamaha hasn’t skimped on giving you good braking performance. Another factor here is Yamaha’s use of good OEM tires! Again, many manufacturers put low-rent tires on their bikes because they know you’ll replace them anyway. The 2024 MT-09 comes with Bridgestone’s excellent Hypersport S23 as standard, a set of hoops we tested in South Africa last year and came away raving about.
It would be silly of me not to mention the frankly stupid array of electronics on the MT-09, which deserves an entirely separate feature.
In addition to the five modes—Rain, Street, Sport, and two Custom options—there’s a new five-inch dash with various display choices, including a funky rev counter modeled after a Yamaha piano. The MT’s dash features turn-by-turn navigation available through the Garmin StreetCross app, but to receive message notifications and calls and listen to music, you need to pair your headset to the bike via the separate Yamaha Y-Connect app. You can also use the app to adjust the bike’s settings and send them to the ECU without having to touch the switchblock.
As far as an inexpensive weekend scratcher goes, the MT-09 takes some beating.
The usual six-axis IMU, traction control, wheelie control, and slide control are all present, but new for this year is the Back Slip Regulator. This feature reduces the amount of reverse torque that hits the rear wheel in low grip situations, acting like an accessory to the slipper clutch. I didn’t get a chance to fully test this system, as my days of deliberately pushing ABS performance in tricky conditions are thankfully behind me, but it’s reassuring to know it’s there.
In terms of performance, the MT-09 is now very much knocking on the door of 1000cc four-cylinder supernakeds. You must ask yourself if you need more than what the ’09 can offer.
No doubt, the ego says you need a 200-horsepower V4 monster naked bike, but in reality, almost everyone will be better off with 120 horsepower and a nimble, playful chassis like that adorned to the MT-09. While not a massive change in terms of hardware, the ’24 edition is a vast improvement over the ’23 in the areas it matters—comfort and handling—while leaving the parts that don’t need messing with well and truly alone.CN
2024 Yamaha MT-09 Specifications
| MSRP |
$10,599 |
| Engine |
Inline three-cylinder, 240° firing order |
| Valvetrain |
12-valve, DOHC |
| Displacement |
890cc |
| Bore x stroke |
78 x 62.1mm |
| Compression ratio |
11.5:1 |
| Cooling System |
Liquid |
| Max power |
117hp at 10,000 rpm |
| Max Torque |
68 lb-ft at 7000 rpm |
| Fuel system |
Electronic fuel injection system YCC-T with ride-by-wire system |
| Exhaust |
3-2-1 |
| Transmission |
Six-speed |
| Chassis |
Cast aluminum twin-spar |
| Front suspension |
41mm fork, fully adjustable; 5.1 inches of travel |
| Rear suspension |
Monoshock, preload and rebound damping adjustable; 4.6 inches of travel |
| Front brake |
Dual four-piston monobloc calipers, 298mm discs, ABS |
| Rear brake |
Single-piston caliper, 245mm disc, ABS |
| Front tire |
120/70 ZR17 in. Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S23 |
| Rear tire |
180/55 ZR17 in. Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S23 |
| Rake |
24.7° |
| Trail |
4.3 in. |
| Wheelbase |
56.3 in. |
| Seat height |
32.5 in. |
| Fuel capacity |
3.7 gal. |
| Weight (wet, claimed) |
425 lbs. |
VIDEO | 2024 Yamaha MT-09 First Ride Review
