Why the Yamaha MT-09 SP is worth every penny

Cycle World

For 2024, Yamaha revealed an all-new MT-09, perhaps the absolute sweet spot in its Hyper Naked lineup. But like its bigger sibling MT-10, on offer is an SP variant that comes standard with a nice list of enhancements aimed to give riders additional performance and features. The SP version of the MT-09 is a $1,700 increase over the base model, with a suggested retail price of $12,299. Our goal was to determine if the extra price of the SP model is worth stretching the budget.  Check out the story at https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-reviews/yamaha-mt-09-sp-first-ride/  Subscribe to Cycle World Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/cycleworld?sub_confirmation=1 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6CLI74xvMBFLDOC1tQaCOQ Read more from Cycle World: https://www.cycleworld.com/ Buy Cycle World Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/cycleworld

Transcript

00:00Hey we're down here in North Carolina in the Tennessee area and the reason we're

00:05down here is to ride Yamaha's new MT-09 SP and the question that we came here

00:10to really answer is is the MT-09 SP worth the extra money over the standard

00:16MT-09? Let's first talk about what makes this bike different than the standard

00:20MT-09. The MT-09 just was redone this year as well and had a bunch of upgrades

00:27to the engine, the transmissions updated, it had some electronics updates, it had a

00:31whole slew of things already done. But then with the SP they took another step

00:35so they added some very significant things that give this bike some unique

00:39features that that bike doesn't have. First of all let's talk about the

00:42suspension. So the suspension on the SP model comes with an Ohlins rear shock

00:47that's fully adjustable, has a remote preload adjuster, rebound and compression

00:52damping, so that's a big upgrade over the standard model right there. The fork is a

00:56KYB unit that's also fully adjustable, rebound compression damping and preload.

01:01So you take those two things into account right out of the gate it kind of

01:05makes up for what the price would be on this bike. But there's some other stuff.

01:08The bike already had a Brembo master cylinder but now they've added the

01:12Brembo Silema front calipers to this bike which is a huge upgrade on this

01:17bike. There's nothing wrong with the other brakes but these are a completely

01:20another step compared to those brakes so that's another big key feature. Then

01:24electronic features that that the bike has upgrades. It's got the keyless

01:28ignition which is really nice. It's got the fob now so you can do your ignition,

01:33you can unlock the the fuel cap, all of those things with the fob and then you

01:37can just keep it in your pocket and it's a real nice feature that the standard

01:42model doesn't have. So let's talk about the rider aid suite because there's a

01:45couple key features on the rider aid suite that are different than the

01:47standard MT-09. So one of the first things is that on the MT-09 SP you've

01:53got a basically a supermoto mode. You can turn the ABS off to the rear wheel.

01:57So that's one of the key things and the other thing is you've got an engine

02:01brake control which you didn't have on the MT-09 standard model. So those are

02:04two additional rider aids that didn't exist on the MT-09 and the price

02:09difference is only $1,700. The SP model is $12,299 so for the added

02:16suspension that you get and the key fob and the electric ride modes and then the

02:21Brembo Stylemas, it all adds up to a pretty good value compared to the

02:26standard model. I didn't get to ride the new bike earlier this year but as this

02:30bike is I was really impressed. So let's talk about some of the key features.

02:33Right away let's talk about the chassis because the biggest changes are there.

02:37The suspension was really really good. It's just tight and nice. The tail of the

02:41Dragon is just an endless flip-flop back and forth, slow speed corners and then at

02:47different times during the day we did some really high speed stuff and in all

02:50those situations the suspension was just excellent. It makes this bike so

02:54much fun. And then you've got the braking package. The Brembo Stylemas are really

02:59hard to argue against. They're just such a good package. The feel with the

03:03lever is awesome. The master cylinder that is paired with the Brembo brakes is

03:07a completely great setup. Nowhere today did I have any issues with the braking

03:12and I love the feel of them. I love the bite of them. Just a really good package.

03:16So the engine is the CP3 890 cc engine that's in the standard model but in this

03:22bike it's just the perfect middleweight size. You know it's somewhere in between

03:25the 1000 cc open class bikes and then the the smaller displacement bikes like

03:30the MT-07 and this combination of the torque and the power is just ideal in

03:36this package. Never today was there any point out in our ride where we were

03:40riding along and we're hauling butt on tail of the Dragon. We're on some really

03:45fast roads and never are you wanting for power. The engine is just really

03:49tractable. You can come out of the corners and you've got the torque. The

03:53quick shifter works great and you keep it on the boil and it just makes it a

03:57really fun riding experience. And so at no point did I ever wish I was riding

04:02something else today. I was super stoked with the power delivery and how this

04:06bike performs on the road. And so it's a really really nice package. So let's talk

04:11about the MT-09 SP's basic rider aid package because the menu options are

04:16really nice on this bike. You've actually got nine possible modes. You've got three

04:21fixed modes. You've got a street mode, a sport mode, and you've got a rain mode.

04:26And then you've got two custom modes and then you've got four track modes. Six of

04:31those modes are completely customizable so you can go in and set those up to

04:34your liking. You can toggle through them on your mode switch. You know if you're

04:37doing a quick road and you want to be in a sportier mode you can do that. If it

04:41starts raining you can switch on the fly and go over to a rain mode. So there's so

04:45many options in there that you can go in and change. It's got the typical stuff.

04:48It's got traction control. It's got slide control. It's got wheelie control. It's

04:52got engine brake control now on the SP. It's got all these options to really set

04:57up the bike to your preference. And now it's got a new switch pod on the left

05:01handlebar which is a huge upgrade from some of the older ones. And it's so easy

05:06to get into the menus either on the fly or just when you're stopped. It's very

05:10intuitive. You've just got a click wheel that is a directional click wheel and

05:14then you've got an easy in and out button. And I found that super easy to

05:18navigate. I hadn't worked on this bike before. You sit down and in two seconds

05:22you've figured it out and you can go through the menus and find all the

05:25settings that you want. So that's a super nice setup. So ultimately the question

05:29that we came out here to answer is, is this bike worth the extra $1,700

05:33over the base model? And I would say for sure it is. I think just the value you

05:37get from the suspension and the brakes alone and then the added ride modes

05:41makes this bike just a big upgrade over the standard one. I guess it depends on

05:45what you're gonna do with the bike. If you're really intending to ride it

05:47sporty, this bike is very sporty. You could take this bike to track days. You

05:52could take this on your favorite back road and you're not going to be wanting

05:55for anything in terms of performance. The engine size is great. I think the chassis

05:59is great and it just is an overall really fun package. Alright so that's it

06:03from our day here in North Carolina and Tennessee riding the Tail of the Dragon

06:06on the MT-09 SP. And I think we answered our question that we feel like this bike

06:12is definitely worth the upgrade in money and had a really great day. So if you

06:16like what you see, please remember to subscribe, like, and we want to hear your

06:20comments and let us know what you think. So thanks for watching.

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