Yamaha MT-09 Standard And Y-AMT Review

Yamaha’s big bikes have had a strange relationship with the Indian market. After all, this Japanese manufacturer was the first company to officially import big bikes to India back in 2007 with the R1, MT-01 and a couple of others. After that Yamaha’s big bikes in India took a back seat till 2016, when the MT-09 was launched. After having the first and second-gen MT-09 on sale in India for a few years, it was silently discontinued, and the next time we got a chance to get our hands on one was now, when we flew to Japan and rode the 2024 model and its variants around the Sodegaura Forest Raceway outside Tokyo.

2024 Yamaha MT-09: What’s new?

Compared to the MT-09s we rode in India back in the day, this 2024 model is almost like a brand new motorcycle. The 847cc inline-triple motor has been upsized to 888cc, and has seen a very modest bump in performance figures to 119PS and 93Nm (although this happened with the 3rd gen bike - one which we never got to experience). This 2024 bike also gets a new CF (controlled filled) die-cast aluminium frame that sheds 1.9kg over the previous bike. It also gets Yamaha’s new spin-forged wheels, which use a unique forging method for the outer rim after the wheel has been cast. This allows the wheel to be stronger, yet lighter, reducing unsprung mass.

The riders’ triangle has been revised too, with the bars a little bit lower than before, combined with slightly more rear set foot pegs, which make for a slightly more aggressive riding position, but doesn’t really compromise on comfort. The tank is larger (at least externally), but only has a 14-litre capacity, which makes the bike feel bigger when you’re astride, and allows for a better interface with your knees while riding.

You also get improved brakes with twin 298mm discs at the front with a Brembo radial master cylinder, revised KYB suspension on the standard bike, while the SP variant gets fully adjustable suspension with an Ohlins rear shock with remote preload adjustability.  And all variants ride on Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S23 tires. 

There are also a whole bunch of IMU-based electronic rider aids such as lean sensitive traction control, front wheel lift control, lean sensitive ABS, customisable riding modes and an up-and-down quick shifter (standard on both the base and SP variants). There are other electronic goodies on offer as well such as cruise control, and all variants also get a new customisable 5-inch full colour TFT screen with smartphone connectivity. 

Of course, there’s the new design for 2024, which does look quite neat from most angles and still has a distinct MT feel about it. But if I’m being honest, the revised bikini fairing with its single bi-functional LED projector headlight look a bit odd. Here, I personally feel that the second gen bike with its split LED headlights looked much better.

The big update for 2024 though is the new Y-AMT (Yamaha - Automated Manual Transmission) variant which uses actuators for both the clutch and shifter to change gears automatically (or manually if you use the rocker switch on the left handlebar). But more on this when we speak about the riding experience.

2024 Yamaha MT-09 Riding Impressions

I had only ridden the first gen MT-09 in India very briefly quite some time back, and I have distinct memories of the engine being absolutely manic, and scary with its power delivery at times. But right on the first lap of the Sedogaura Forest Raceway on this new bike, it became clear that this MT-09 is a very different beast. The power delivery is extremely linear, but thanks to this motor’s strong mid-range and short gearing, the bike pulls hard pretty much in any gear. Around some of the corners of this track, I tried carrying one gear higher than was required, and I never felt that I was missing out on corner exit speeds. The bi-directional quickshifter works wonderfully as well, never missing a beat, whether shifting up or down.

In fact, I would even go as far as saying that on a winding mountain road, or a tighter race track, this MT-09 would leave even the Triumph Street Triple RS for dead. The only place the Triumph would be at an advantage would be on a larger track, where its more ferocious top-end performance would come into play. Still, at the end of the small main straight of the Sedogaura track, I saw the speedo easily climb over 170kmph.

But the most exciting aspect of this MT-09 was the way it handled. Even though it weighs 193kg (wet weight), this MT has the agility of a bike that’s 20kg lighter. While switching directions, it actually has the same ease of something like the new KTM 390 Duke, and that’s high praise indeed. A lot of this also comes down to the new spin-forged alloy wheels which makes the front-end feel really nimble. And the bike feels quite planted once leaned over as well. The suspension itself isn’t really “track focused” so you will feel a little softness when going through a set of switchbacks. But in my opinion, this should make this MT-09 absolutely sublime.

Braking was confidence inspiring as well, as the Brembo radial master cylinder providing clear feedback as to how much traction the front tyre was able to generate. Again, these are not super-sharp “track-spec” brakes. But they were more than up to the job of dropping the anchors from 170kmph into the narrow first corner of the track (made even narrower by some cones for an additional pit lane).

As for how the new MT-09 rides and handles bad roads is something we’ll need to check once we ride the bike in India. But at least on first impressions, I think this MT-09 will be a perfect fit for India.

For those who want a little more in terms of suspension and brakes, Yamaha does offer the SP variant, but that’s something I was unable to sample on this track.

2024 Yamaha MT-09 Y-AMT Riding Impressions

The automated manual transmission is of course the big change for 2024. Now this bike is identical to the standard MT-09 in every way except for the lack of the traditional clutch lever and toe shifter. Instead, on the left handlebar, you get a rocker switch which can be operated with your thumb (to shift down) and index finger (to shift up), or you can just use your index finger to flick the up-shift paddle forwards or backwards. Or you can just stick the bike in D or D+ modes which takes care of shifting for you automatically. Oh and this system adds an additional 2.8kg to the bike’s kerb weight.

Starting out slow, I found that in D mode, the up shifts were slightly jerky, but once you start going a bit faster, both up and down shifts feel almost seamless. What I wasn’t a big fan of, however, was the shift logic. In D mode, the bike is too eager to shift up and stays in much higher gears than you would want, especially on a tight race track like we were on. Changing to D+ mode lets the bike rev each gear much higher and it even downshift quicker when you go on the brakes. The system is far from perfect though, as in one of the longer corners where I preferred to carry 3rd gear, the bike would shift up to 4th. Not a huge concern given how much mid-range grunt the MT-09 has. But on one occasion, through the same corner, it shifted all the way up to 6th. 

Of course, you can just switch to manual mode and change gears with the rocker switch. This makes the experience significantly better and I felt absolutely in control through most of the corners. The only time this system let me down a bit was when I tried braking deep into turn one from 170kmph, slamming the AMT ‘box from 5th to 2nd gear. Here it didn’t shift down quickly enough, forcing me to get much harder on the brakes and missing my braking point altogether. Starting my braking early did alleviate this problem completely, but basically if you want to ride hard on a race track, the Y-AMT is not the version you want. On the roads, it could be a completely different story, but we’ll reserve that judgment for when we ride the bike in India.

2024 Yamaha MT-09 standard & Y-AMT - Final Thoughts:

Although we spent a fairly short amount of time riding the new MT-09, there’s no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best middleweight nakeds for India. Yamaha has said that they’ll be bringing the MT-09 to the country by the end of 2024, but whether they get the standard bike, the SP, the Y-AMT or a combination of the three remains to be seen. Honestly, I’d be happy if they get just the standard bike as well, as long as Yamaha India is able to price it right. But this is something that Yamaha might struggle with. To know why exactly, you can check out our opinion piece about the Tenere 700’s India launch HERE. 

To set context, Triumph’s Street Triple 765 RS range starts at Rs 10.17 lakh for the R and goes up to Rs 12.07 lakh for the RS (both prices ex-showroom). If Yamaha can slot the standard MT-09 right in the middle of this, it would be absolutely perfect pricing. But considering that the MT-09 will be coming as a CBU from Japan, Yamaha India will really need to figure out how they can keep prices down. But we really hope they’re able to pull a rabbit out of the hat this time, because the MT-09 is a really special bike indeed, and deserves a lot of love.