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The simplest and cleanest ergonomics in the naked superbike catrgory
Ergonomics – The Yamaha MT-09 not only has an essence of a naked street-fighter but also of a supermoto. A straight bench for the rider and the pillion while having a proper handlebar giving an overall upright seating posture. Center-set footpegs are a lot more usable and a comfortable seat height of 815 mm makes it easy for shorter riders too. The rear seat has enough space for the pillion but the footpegs are too high compared to the rider. The pillion is not always comfortable as they have to cling to the rider because there’s nothing to hold on to. At first, the bench might feel slippery but the thin design near the tank helps to grab onto the bike from the thighs.
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The MT-09 would just lift without breaking a sweat, it got me scared
Performance – The mind-boggling 847cc Yamaha inline-3 cross-plane engine does the job here. Producing 115 BHP at 10,000 RPM and a clean 87.5 Nm at 8500 RPM, this motor has a very linear throttle response. Yamaha also claims it’s the lightest and the most compact powertrain in its class. At the heart lies the forged aluminium pistons running at a very high compression ration with a balancer shaft reducing all the possible vibrations. Along with a liquid-cooled oil cooler, the powertrain never radiates much heat. It does some only in stop-go traffic but it is bearable.
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Angular 120 degree crank setup makes it the most compact engine in the segment
Cross-plane engines eliminate so much noise for cleaner torque, they start sounding like V-twins
There are advantages and disadvantages of having a cross-plane engine. The advantage is that it provides the cleanest amount of torque and keeps the mill lively. However, the disadvantage is that it cancels the uneven firing which is called noise but it’s eargasm for us enthusiasts. Along with the mechanical bits, the electronic traction control and the riding modes do a very good job as per the rider’s requirements. There are 3 riding modes which I understood as – A to be aggressive and sharp; STD to be best for sports riding and B to be biased for milder riding with some on-off-road conditions.
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Fiddle with the traction control and lift the wheel with a blip of throttle
This triple is capable to hit the first ton in under 4 seconds and takes on the second ton under 12 seconds. Tops out close to 225 km/hr which is very fast for a motorcycle of this calibre. The 6-speed constant mesh with slipper assist handles the torque from the linear cross-plane engine so well, it never misses a gear and the shifts are crisp. The drivetrain is just as amazing as I imagined it to be, it even manages the NVH levels so very well that it feels that the engine is running on butter. The build quality is just rock solid.
