The midsize-plus naked bike category gets hotter thanks to the unveiling of the refreshed Yamaha MT-09. Engineers dedicated their efforts to enhancing the bike’s visual appeal, refining user interaction, and fine-tuning performance through a meticulous array of adjustments.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome to the official U.S. press introduction for Yamaha's 2024 MT-09.
00:07Yes! Here we are in Northern California and we have a good old-fashioned
00:13mechanical key. Thank You Yamaha Motor. Let's start this bad boy up. Now for 2024
00:20Yamaha Motors has done a number of really nice modifications to this vehicle.
00:26Let's start with the engine. The engine continues to be powered by Yamaha's
00:35tried-and-true 890 cc CP3 inline-3 engine. This engine features dual
00:43overhead camshafts and a 12 valve cylinder head. It pumps out 107 ponies to
00:51the business end of that 180 55 series Bridgestone Batlax S23 tire. The thing we
00:59really like about this bike is just its engine. This engine's a hoot. It has loads
01:05of charisma, a ton of torque, and is smooth as silk. When Yamaha reworked this
01:11engine configuration for the 2021 model year it really closed the gap
01:16between it and Triumph. It actually, in our opinion, this power plant is superior
01:23to what Triumph offers on its straight triple 765. It's smoother, it has more
01:30power, and it sounds cool. Now for 2021 Yamaha has added these really nice air
01:37intake, speaker-like air intake cutouts. What these things do is they allow the
01:44noise, the awesome melody from the air intake to come out into the cockpit. So
01:52it's really, really nice. It sounds totally awesome. Now inside the powertrain
01:58Yamaha has done some nice things to the transmission. Third through six gears are
02:04new and some of the other gears inside have changed. We never noticed the
02:09Yamaha's six-speed transmission had any problems before in the 2021 through 2023
02:15model, but it's cool to see Yamaha paying attention to the details. We have noticed
02:21that this transmission certainly meshes between third through sixth gear a lot
02:28better, especially at high RPM. Obviously, you can't notice that going to sixth gear,
02:32but third, fourth, you definitely feel that transmission shift through its shift
02:39better. Matching the improved six-speed transmission is an enhanced electronic
02:47quick shifter that allows for full throttle upshifts and downshifts without
02:55having to use the clutch. This electronic quick shifter also now works where you
03:01can downshift while you still have the throttle on. So the previous version
03:06didn't allow that. Now you can do that. That's a really handy feature. Of course,
03:11the auto-bit blip downshift function, basically it just enhances the stability
03:18as you're entering a turn. I love motorcycles that have that technology and
03:24it works really well on this MT-09, very slick and fast shifting. Power continues
03:31to be put back through a cable-actuated clutch. This clutch lever now has
03:37adjustment. Before it was fixed, now you can move the position of the clutch
03:41lever in or out just like you can on the forward brake lever.
03:49Now another big change for this bike is the ergonomics. Of course, the 890 cc
03:56engine continues to drink from a 3.7 gallon fuel tank. It's a little bit
04:01small in our opinion. A 4.5 gallon fuel tank would be better. We've
04:06averaged about 34 miles per gallon on this ride. So these CP3 generation
04:12engines are a little bit thirsty and paired with the small-ish fuel
04:17tank capacity, you're only going to get 110-115 miles per range out of this bike.
04:23Maybe 120. But we definitely would like to see a bigger fuel tank. If you
04:29really ride this bike at slow speeds or lug it in top gear, you'll get
04:35better fuel mileage obviously, but what's the point in that? These bikes
04:39are sport naked bikes. You want to be holding the throttle wide and having a
04:43good time. Now this fuel tank, it's a little bit wider up front but it's
04:48actually shorter in terms of height. These leg recesses have deeper cutouts
04:57too. There's more room for you to put your knees in and squeeze the bike. It's
05:01very comfortable. I really like the fuel tank shape and the ability to
05:05squeeze the bike with your knees for added stability when you're on the
05:09brakes. Now the position of the handlebars changed. The sweep is more
05:17rearward and the handlebar is now a little bit lower. The rise of the
05:23handlebars also changed a little bit. Basically they went from a more forward
05:28upright bar bend to something that's a little bit more swept back and low. It's
05:33not a radical change. You definitely can tell that it's different, but
05:38it's not radical in the fact that the handlebar has excessive rearward
05:43sweep. Generally when you have a sport type bike, manufacturers like to
05:49really put rearward sweep on the bike because that's kind of what a sport bike
05:52has. Obviously this is a handlebar, not clip-ons, but that is kind of what
05:57they're going after. It's just a more sporty handlebar position. It works
06:02well with this vehicle. I really like the upright forward position of the MT-09
06:09bar. I wouldn't say this is necessarily better, but it definitely works with this
06:14refined chassis concept. The rider foot pegs have also been repositioned. They
06:21are now tucked up a little bit higher and positioned more rearward. That
06:27normally puts strain on the rider's knees, but for some reason we're not
06:32really feeling that. This foot peg position works really well. I think a lot
06:36has to do with the position of the subframe. The subframe is now flatter.
06:42The subframe is flatter, which allowed Yamaha Motor to fit a flatter seat. I
06:49think that flatter seat reduces the amount of bending that your
06:56knee has to have. It's just a real comfortable riding position. It doesn't
07:01feel necessarily that much more canted rearward. Obviously the 2021 through 2023
07:09model had a little bit more of a forward cant, but it's just a nice subtle change.
07:15Complementing that flat seat is the addition of a new shock linkage. On
07:23this MT-09, the shock works through a linkage that connects the swingarm and
07:29the frame. So unlike the MT-07 that has a direct mount shock, this one works
07:34through a linkage with a new curve that's set just to give the bike a
07:37little bit more balanced handling profile. Other subtle tweaks Yamaha has
07:44done in the handling department are the engine mounts and this bracket that runs
07:50across the steering head. They've tuned that for optimum rigidity. As usual, this
07:57motorcycle is employed with a 41 millimeter KYB fork and we have a damp
08:11rebound and spring preload adjustable shock. So the fork offers compression and
08:18rebound damping. You do need to use a screwdriver for that. There's also spring
08:22preload and you can make dampening adjustments at the back too with
08:28screwdriver. The ride quality of this bike is fairly good. It rides over the bumps
08:34real nice. It soaks up the rough stuff, but still has favorable handling
08:40qualities when you're giving her the business. This motorcycle with a full
08:44tank gas weighs in at 425 pounds, which is relatively lightweight for a naked
08:53bike. There are some bikes out there that are lighter, but I wouldn't say
08:57that this bike feels heavy at all. Lifting off the kickstand it doesn't
09:01feel heavy and certainly with the 17 inch wheels in motion this thing is a
09:05very lively handling motorcycle. Now because of the slight modifications that
09:13Yamaha did to the riding position, i.e. having the rider be a little bit more
09:17weight forward on this vehicle, they did change the fork spring. So the fork
09:23spring is a little bit stiffer on this 2024 model and of course the valving
09:28stacks have been modified to control that fork movement. So real favorable
09:34ride quality. Again we weigh 210 pounds, 6 foot tall, fit on this bike good. It's
09:40riding really well. It's not too stiff, it's not too soft. Now keeping tabs on
09:45everything is this really slick 5 inch color TFT which replaces the teensy
09:52weensy three and a half inch display on the predecessor. I love this display. It's
09:58nice and bright. It's easy to read. This overhauled switch gear is a tremendous
10:04improvement. Thank You Yamaha. The switch gear is nice and chunky. It's easy to use
10:11with gloves. The menu navigation is super slick and you can change all of the
10:17vehicle settings very easily. Yamaha has now adopted adopted global
10:23riding modes just like many of the other manufacturers. You can have these global
10:28riding modes based on the conditions you're riding. You can also customize the
10:36electronic settings. So as usual Yamaha offers combined engine power and
10:42throttle response as a setting. They call it power. Then they have traction control.
10:47Then they have slide control and they have lift control which is wheelie
10:52control. You can also adjust whether you want engine brake whether it be on or
10:59off. Basically all that does is it feeds fuel into the throttle after you let off
11:04the throttle just to have a little bit more freewheeling effect going into a
11:09corner. That's how that works. It's really easy to do.
11:16The throttle response on this bike is nice and direct. It's a little bit sharp
11:22feeling. I was trying to do wheelies earlier today and I almost kind of looped
11:27her out a little bit. So I'm like oh god that's a little bit too sharp for me but
11:31it's probably just because I haven't been doing wheelies in a while. Of course you can
11:36adjust that throttle response setting globally within the power setting. One is
11:42the most power most aggressive throttle response. Four is the least right now.
11:46We're riding in power mode two inside this custom menu. In addition to the
11:54super slick TFT now we have cruise control. Yes! Standard cruise control.
12:00Really easy to use. Now we can ride without our hands. This is awesome. I love
12:06cruise control. I'm so happy. This bike's only heated grips away from perfection
12:12in the creature comfort department but you can always get that as an OE
12:18accessory. Now this bike continues to roll on 17-inch aluminum rims with
12:27triple disc hydraulic brakes. We've got four piston radio mount calipers up
12:34front and a single piston caliper out back. During the last update the 2021 MT-09
12:43was fitted with a larger diameter rear brake rotor and that really helps. I'm a
12:48big rear brake guy. I love the rear brake and it's just nice having that more
12:53surface area on that back brake. This thing has a really responsive
12:58back brake which I'd really like. The front brakes also benefit from a Brembo
13:05radio mount master cylinder that really does a good job of pushing hydraulic
13:12fluid through the circuit and giving you a really nice feel and stopping power at
13:16the lever. Brakes on this bike feel nice and just responsive and that little bit
13:23of extra spring rate in the fork you could really get on those brakes and in
13:28the front end stays it stays balanced doesn't pitch aggressively when you're
13:33using the front brake. I really like that. Of course we have fixed always on ABS
13:40fixed always on ABS that reduces the or mitigates fully the ability to lock up
13:47the front or rear wheel if you use too much brake application for the surface
13:55so that's nice but wish I wish we could disable ABS so we could do endos and
14:02brake slides but that's the way it is in the modern world. It is cool that you
14:09can manually disable track control if you want it's really easy to do at a
14:13stop with just a few swipes of the button and you can do wheelies and other
14:18things to your heart's content. This electronics package is obviously based
14:23on Yamaha's then cutting-edge IMU powered electronics fitted on the
14:292015 YZF-R1. It works really good it allows you to ride comfortably within
14:36your comfort window or performance envelope and if you go beyond that the
14:41electronics just help keep everything from going too zany in terms of rear
14:47wheel slip. So really nice electronics packages yeah it's kind of old now but
14:53the fact of the matter is it works really good and having an IMU chip the
14:59same chip that's in a modern smartphone it just gives this vehicle positional
15:04awareness on the road in terms of pitch yaw and roll and with that kind of data
15:11the vehicle is able to curtail power based on where the vehicle is in
15:18relation to the road works really well. One more thing we wanted to mention is
15:22the maintenance intervals on this vehicle. Now obviously Yamaha stands
15:26behind this product with a one-year warranty and these things are made
15:29Japanese tough but in terms of maintenance intervals this motorcycle
15:34goes 4,000 miles between oil changes. So 4,000 miles between oil changes it
15:41holds right over 3 quarts of oil and Yamaha Motor wants you to swap
15:46the engine oil filter the cartridge style oil filter every other oil change.
15:52So 8,000 mile engine oil filter replacement intervals. The valve
16:01inspection interval this is really crazy folks so Yamaha wants to inspect each of
16:06the 12 valves at 26,600 mile increment. Isn't that crazy 26,600 miles valve
16:16inspection intervals that's just amazing. Without a doubt this engine has one of
16:21the longest valve inspection cycles out of any vehicle we've ever tested which
16:27is really awesome. Of course you're also gonna have to swap the air filter air
16:33filters I think right around 15,000 miles if I can remember correctly and
16:39spark plugs are oddly enough every 8,000 miles but in our
16:48in our experience spark plugs generally go a lot longer than that but still
16:54Yamaha says you should change them every 8,000 miles. Well folks that's a quick
16:59rundown of Yamaha's 2024 MT-Zero naked bike $10,600 for this vehicle it comes
17:08with a one-year manufacturer's warranty and it is built in Japan. This is a
17:14really nice bike it's really neat to see Yamaha evolving the pedigree of its
17:21middleweight naked bike. You have to remember this bike is 10 years old now
17:25it debuted for the 2014 model year as the FZ-09. I think around 2018 they
17:33changed the model name to MT Masters of Torque to better fit in its global naked
17:39bike structure. 10 years of MT-Zero 9 and these bikes are absolutely awesome
17:45they've come really far in a short amount of time. They're a lot more
17:49premium they used to be this nice bold and beautiful 5-inch color TFT this nice
17:55chunky switchgear. The ability to pair your telephone your smartphone with the
18:02vehicle via Yamaha's Y-Connect app so you download the Y-Connect app
18:07you pair the vehicle and you can monitor various settings when you're away from
18:13the bike. You could also with downloading the Garmin Streets app both apps are
18:19free you download the Garmin Streets app and now you can get turn-by-turn
18:23navigation on the display face just like you can with BMW motorized vehicles with
18:31this ride connected app. Really slick it's neat to see Yamaha pushing the
18:37technology envelope and giving us US riders tools to make our motorcycling
18:43life better I really like that. Overall there's really not a whole lot not to
18:50like about the MT-Zero 9. It looks way cooler it's even more comfortable and
18:55sporty it's got a more high-quality pedigree with the fitment of this nice
19:00switchgear and the instrument display and for $10,600 it really represents good
19:07value in the class. If I was shopping for a middleweight naked bike I would
19:11absolutely have this MT-Zero 9 on the shopping list it's definitely worth the couple
19:19hundred dollar bump versus the 2023 version you get a lot more vehicle for
19:24your money. Well as always folks that was our official review of Yamaha's 2024 MT-Zero 9
19:32make sure to surf on over to our website to read our official review log on to
19:38Instagram at Adam Waheed and at Motorcycle Online Handles you'll see
19:44tons of easy to consume and fun video content on this vehicle. Give this video
19:52thumbs up if you liked it thumbs it down if you didn't because we'd love to hear
19:56from the naysayers and we'll see you in the next episode thanks for riding with
19:59us