2021 Yamaha MT-09 SP Review

The MT-09 has always been a bit nasty, but a close to full redesign has brought a little more civility to Yamaha’s little brat.

Photography by Kit Palmer

Pinning the throttle on Yamaha’s 2021 MT-09 SP is a far more exciting experience than it was in previous years. The three-cylinder motor’s capacity has jumped from 847cc to 890cc, giving not just more power but a fuller torque curve, and the feel at the twist grip is of a bike that’s been on the juice and does CrossFit.

From 4000 rpm all the way to 10,000 rpm, the bigger, stronger motor pulls like a 16-year-old browsing on the family computer incognito. You’re dancing on the shift lever, throwing gears via the sweet-action up-and-down quickshifter as 70, 80, 90 mph rush past on the new 3.5-inch TFT dash.

The speed is mated to a gloriously loud roar from the stumpy exhaust that exits near your right heel, proving that although Yamaha’s original Dark Side of Japan machine has grown up somewhat, it’s still a punk rocker at heart.

As you may have already seen, this is the MT-09 SP, and this is the first year the SP has made it to the U.S. The SP originally came out in 2018 for every market except North America (this is far from the first time this has happened with Yamaha), and the bike arrives with fully adjustable KYB forks and an Ӧhlins shock, the former of which comes with high- and low-speed compression damping, which is pretty good kit for a bike of this category. The remainder of the bike remains essentially the same as the base SP, with identical engine and chassis specs. Oh, the SP also gets cruise control—a vital feature I absolutely love.

The 2021 edition marks the biggest change in the MT-09’s SP lineup since the machine debuted in 2013. Yamaha made an immediate impact with that first model and breathed new life into the midsize naked-bike sector, which is arguably now one of the toughest to get sales in the market.

Yamaha’s up against the Kawasaki Z900 ABS, Triumph 765 Street Triple, Ducati Monster, KTM 890 Duke and Duke R, MV Agusta Brutale 800, and probably a few others I can’t think of right now. Each one of these bikes is executed extremely well, each offering different performance capabilities largely based on price, so Yamaha needed to come packing fire for the 2021 MT-09 SP to be a sales success.

The Japanese have done the first part right, pricing the SP at $10,999 MSRP. That’s a $1600 premium over the base model, but with the upgraded suspension fitted, it represents a decent value add.

One area I’ve always struggled with the MT in previous years has been a somewhat vague front-end feel, which is annoyingly still there on the SP—just reduced. Just looking at the bike from a distance you can see it’s relatively high in the front and lower in the rear, which doesn’t translate well into lower-speed stability when you’re not heaving on the brakes and causing the front to dive and load up.

This is an issue that gets better the faster you go, mainly because the higher speeds and thus braking loads help the front end track better through the corner than if you just relied on tire grip alone.

The KYB front end mitigates this issue to a degree, but the high front/low back characteristic of the MT-09 remains in SP form. This is despite the new frame, which Yamaha claims offers a 50 percent increase in lateral rigidity for better straight-line stability. It’s a feature of the chassis and ride position architecture, whereby the higher tank and handlebar setup over some of the SP’s class rivals contribute to the problem.

That being said, the SP does have exceptional cornering agility, which has always been one of the MT-09’s trademarks. Snappy side-to-side direction changes are a piece of cake on the SP, and once you learn to trust the feeling coming from the front and know that 99 percent of the time the Bridgestone S22 rubber is going to stick, you’ll be fine.

The chassis is basically the same as what’s on the Tracer 9 GT that we tested here, including the new swingarm that pivots on the inside of the frame rather than the outside, as it has since 2013. The result is better side-of-the-tire feel, allowing you to wind in the enhanced torque of the new 890cc motor with more confidence and make that rear Bridgestone bite into the tarmac.

The SP feels skinny when you sit on it, although the clutch tends to stick out so far that my leg would hit it when standing at the traffic lights. The ride position is thankfully adjustable, with the handlebars and footpegs adjustable in two different positions. The handlebar clamps can be rotated 10mm forward, and the footpeg mounts can be raised 14mm higher as well as 4mm rearward. The wide bars give plenty of leverage and you’re never put in an uncomfortable stance on the SP and the plank seat remains decently comfortable after an hour on board.

The 2021 SP gets the full whack of electronics in the six-axis IMU, three-level lean-angle-sensitive traction, lift and slide control, and Yamaha’s Brake Control system that modulates pressure on the front and rear brakes under emergency-braking situations. The feel at the lever is a little odd, especially given the ABS can pump in quickly when the brakes are applied with a decent amount of force. The addition of Brake Control is another middleman between your braking fingers and the force that reaches the caliper, but there’s a new master-cylinder fitted so braking power is never in question.

The MT-09 SP is a very worthy addition to the Yamaha lineup but I still feel there’s something missing from the slow-speed stability offered by the chassis. This is something probably incurable because it’s a basic characteristic of the motorcycle. If the SP came with Ӧhlins on the front, that could well change things but then you’re starting to encroach on the MT-10’s territory.

The MT-09 has never been snappier, but little touches like cruise control and the Ӧhlins shock give the bike a touch of civility. Still, the MT-09 SP is still a brat at heart, and that’s a large part of its allure. CN

2021 Yamaha MT-09 SP Specifications

 

Click here to read the 2021 Yamaha MT-09 SP Review in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.

 

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