2025-on Yamaha R9 review: real world supersport kicks! (2025)

It was only a matter of time before Yamaha turned its MT-09 into a sportsbike. Granted we’ve had to wait since 2013, but it’s been worth it. With the R6 and R1 now only sold as track-ready ‘Race’, or ‘GYTR’ models, the R9 is Yamaha’s sole big capacity, road-going supersports offering and it’s powered by the same 890cc three-cylinder engine you get in the MT-09 and makes 117bhp. That’s only 2bhp shy of Honda’s CBR600RR and a bhp more than the last-generation R6, before it was axed in 2021.

Riding the Yamaha R9 at the Sevilla Circuit during its world launch in March ’25, it mixes the friendly power delivery of an MT-09 with the sharp handling of a full-blown race rep and a riding position that isn’t too extreme. It’s fun, easy to ride, full of tech and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Yamaha have added dash of perkiness to the triple to suit its new track pretensions and although its power doesn’t hit as hard as the road-going R6 or R1 it replaces, there’s enough easy performance and grunt on tap to turn in fast laps, whether you’re a trackday lover, or Stefano Manzi on his way to the R9’s first World Supersport race win.

Its sweet-handling chassis makes cornering easy and while the new brakes are powerful and consistent they lack some feel. The R9 is far from cheap, but it’s fully loaded with toys, built to last and offers an accessible, real-world way to get your supersport kicks.

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Its engine might have started life in a naked roadster, but the R9’s new chassis is the real supersport deal. Like the best Yamaha track tools it’s balanced, neutral and goes exactly where you point it without having to think. It turns with the lightest touch on the bars, holds a line, carries big corner speed and the harder you push the more the R9 digs into the tarmac. Standard Bridgestone RS11 fast road/trackday tyres perform well during our test on a patchy dry/damp track.

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There’s plenty of room to move around the R9, even for a tall rider. It’s still a bum-up, hands-down supersport bike, but its splayed clip-ons are 8mm higher and 10mm further forward than an R6’s. The tank is short to help load the front in corners and with such a close reach to the bars, you’ll easily be able to prop an elbow on the tank to take the weight off your left wrist on a long road ride. Cruise control will let you shake-off your right wrist, too.

The narrow seat is 33mm further forward than an R6’s and 14mm lower, which makes it easy to grip the tank and get feet flat on the floor at a standstill. Footpegs are 14mm further forward, 25mm lower and two-way adjustable (15mm up/down). Yamaha set them in their high position during our test to maximise ground clearance, but with such a low seat it’s a tight squeeze for longer legs. We had planned to lower the pegs after our first two sessions, but the launch was cut short due to bad weather.

A Brembo master cylinder, Stylema calipers and steel braided hoses give you all the consistent stopping power you could ask for, lap after lap. But like Yamahas of old they lack the hiss and bite of the best braking set-ups out there. The braking electronics were disconnected for our test, so we weren’t able to see how soon the ABS intrudes during hard braking.

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Although Yamaha have left the MT-09 motor largely untouched, it’s immediately clear how much crisper and more business-like it makes its power. Acceleration doesn’t slam you in the stomach, like an axe-murdering 600cc four, but instead, the triple’s delivery is subtler with a meatier, more flexible midrange. It suits this new generation of slightly softer supersport machines, like the new Ducati Panigale V2, which we’ll come on to later.

Like the best Triumph sportsbikes, the R9 deftly mixes the grunt of a twin with the top end rush of an inline four, to create an engine that’s ready and willing wherever in the revs you poke it. The Yamaha is quicker than its power figure would suggest, too, simply because every ounce of its performance is so easy to extract and with 23.5lb-ft more torque than an R6 there’s more oomph off the corners.

Yamaha have lengthened the gearing to give the R9 a higher top speed, but its 10,500rpm rev limiter always comes up too soon, which takes a while to get used to. For best results you need to surf the R9’s midrange and not hang on to gears, but for serious trackday work you’d want to adjust the gearing to suit the circuit. The gearbox and quickshifter is smooth, but its road-focussed internal gear ratios are widely spaced.

As a road-going replacement for the R6 and R1, the R9 has big shoes to fill in the fun stakes. For the ultimate in brain-drilling, rib-digging supersport excitement, the R6 is still hard to beat and if having your arms pulled out of their sockets is your thing, look no further than the R1. The milder R9, with its muted rasp (it’s far fruitier with a race pipe fitted) might not dish out the same assault to the senses, but it’s friendlier and more flattering to ride.

It has more minerals than an R7, doesn’t need to be thrashed like an R6 and less brutal than an R1. What the R9 lacks in drama it makes up for in its ability to cover ground quickly and easily on the track and road alike. Smooth, foolproof electronic rider aids keep the R9 on the straight and narrow, too.

Yamaha’s triple also has the power to win races, as demonstrated in the R9’s first World Supersport outing last month. Italian, Stefano Manzi, stood on top of the podium at the opening round at Phillip Island, beating a hoard of old-generation Ducati Panigale V2s, faired Triumph Street Triple 765s and MV Agusta F3 800s. He was a second off his R6 lap time from the previous Australian round, but different track conditions and series balancing rules make it hard to draw a like-for-like comparison. Needless to say, the R9 has huge potential.

TECH SPOTLIGHT - More than just an MT-09 in a frock

Yamaha have been developing the R9 for the past three-to-four years. It’s powered by their 117bhp, 890cc liquid-cooled, 12v, inline three-cylinder engine, virtually untouched from the MT-09 engine, bar a few tweaks. The power delivery and throttle response are more direct thanks to revised ignition timing and mapping and longer gearing (from 16/45 to 16/43) boosts top speed by 15%.

Most of their work has gone into the chassis to make the R9 a razor-sharp track tool. Its dedicated new frame is 10% lighter than the MT-09’s (weighing 9.7kg) and it’s more rigid longitudinally (up 37%), torsionally (18%) and laterally (16%), but it still has flex for rider feel and comfort. The steering angle is 2° steeper than the MT-09’s (and the R6’s) with 9% more front-bias and perfect 50/50 front-to-rear balance. It tips the scales at 195kg, fuelled and ready to go (179kg dry).

New KYB forks have separate rebound and compression (low and high speed) damping in each leg, like a race bike’s and the rear shock is fully adjustable with a handy remote preload knob. Brembo Stylemas, first seen on the 2018 Ducati Panigale V4, take care of braking duties and brake lines are braided steel, rather than rubber.

A dizzying array of adjustable IMU-controlled electronic rider aids come as standard, including three factory rider modes (Sport, Street, Rain), two customisable and four track modes with varying levels of traction, slide, engine braking, launch and wheelie control, engine power, ABS (including disabling the rear) and quickshifter settings. It even has cruise control and a speed limiter.

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Build quality and attention to detail are top notch and the R9 brims with MotoGP styling cues, from its YZF M1-a-like snout, to its tank gills and tail slots. MCN’s online owners’ reviews gush over the Yamaha’s MT-09 engine and the R7 gets an unprecedented five-out-of-five stars for reliability, which bodes well for the R9. It comes with a three-year warranty, too.

We were due to ride the R9 at Jerez, but due to heavy flooding the day before, the launch was shipped an hour up the road to the Sevilla Circuit. Coincidentally, this is where we rode the R9’s closest rival, Ducati’s new 118bhp, 890cc Panigale V2, a month before.

It’s perhaps unfair to compare the two new generation supersport machines. Under warm sunny skies the top-spec, semi-active Öhlins-clad Ducati was fitted with racing slicks and benefited from days of set up by test riders to get the suspension and electronics just ‘so’. For our test on the R9, Yamaha had minimal set-up time and it’s on standard road tyres. Cold, damp conditions are more akin to a March trackday in the UK.

It’s no surprise the Ducati felt racier with firmer suspension, more grip and stronger brakes. Its V-twin motor had a stronger, more urgent feel, was longer revving and its closer gearbox ratios were more suited to track work. The Yamaha feels like a soft road bike by comparison, but easier to ride, a bit less serious, more fun and a handy £4745 cheaper than the V2 S (and £2745 less than the base V2). But there would be very little to separate the two in outright lap times if you tweaked the R9’s suspension, changed the gearing, fitted sticker tyres and turned up the sunshine.

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The R9 is fully loaded with adjustable KYB suspension, Brembo Stylema calipers, adjustable footpegs, LEDs, cruise control, a USB-C outlet, an app-based datalogger/lap timer and a raft of superbike-spec electronics. For the first time on a road bike, the R9’s 5in colour TFT dash has a ‘Virtual Pit Board’ function that displays dashboard messages sent via the Yamaha app.

Wings come into effect above 93mph. They reduce front wheel lift by 6-7% in a straight line and up to 10% in corners. Bodywork creates less drag than the R6. Performance, protection, cosmetic and touring accessories are available and there’s a full range of GYTR performance goodies for trackday riders and racers.

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