What a crime it would’ve been to let Yamaha’s CP3 engine — a gloriously torquey triple that powers the Iwata manufacturer’s MT-09 hooligan machine — go through life without ever being unleashed in a proper sportsbike chassis, for it’s one of the best road bike engines ever to be lashed into a motorcycle frame. Fortunately, someone at Yamaha saw the same injustice and decided to make it happen. The result is the 2025 Yamaha YZF-R9 — a bike that lands squarely in the sweet spot between the accessible and incredibly popular R7, and the track-focused R6 and R1. According to Yamaha, the R9 isn’t just a naked bike with fancy clothes, nor is it a detuned race replica — it’s a proper supersport, purpose-built for exactly that role. At the Australian launch on the tight and twisty South Circuit at Sydney Motorsport Park, I got a chance to see if Yamaha was telling fibs — hint: they weren’t, and they aren’t.
Visually, the R9 carries proper supersport intent, and its fairings aren’t just there to hide the machinery beneath. Yamaha claims it’s their most aerodynamic supersport yet, with winglets moulded — rather than bolted — into the front fairing, offering seven percent more downforce in a straight line and around ten percent more while cornering. Compared to what, exactly? Yamaha doesn’t say. An R9 sans winglets, perhaps. It’s an aggressive-looking machine without straying into cartoonish territory. The R9 is available in blue, of course, a white-and-red ensemble, and — mean and menacing black.
As alluded to above, the heart and soul of the R9 is its 890cc CP3 triple, and it’s the star of the show. The triple-pot donk has been plucked straight from the MT-09, but Yamaha has tweaked elements for supersport duties. The gearbox has revised ratios to better suit the R9’s sportier intentions, as has the fuelling. It still retains that deep, usable midrange torque that makes the MT-09 such a joy to ride, but with a sharper edge and a little more urgency up top. Power and torque figures remain unchanged from the MT, with 87.5 kW of peak power realised at 10,000 rpm and 93 Nm of torque at 7,000 rpm. Banging through the wider-ratio six-speed box is silky smooth thanks to Yamaha’s third-generation quickshifter.
The frame, although similar in appearance to the MTs, is an all-new design that’s stiffer than the playful MT-09 but less rigid than the scalpel-like R6 or R1, creating a balance that aims—quite successfully, I might add—to offer a measure of both track composure and road compliance. The whole package weighs in at a claimed 195 kg wet, fuelled and ready to rock and roll, with the chassis itself—tipping the scales at just 9.7 kg—the lightest ever for a Yamaha supersport. The swingarm comes straight from the MT-09, but everything else has been purpose-built to support the R9’s dual mission as a competent track weapon and a road-friendly daily ride. KYB handles the suspension at both ends, with full adjustability front and rear. Remote rear preload adjustment makes setup nice and easy.
Stopping power is handled by Brembo Stylema calipers up front biting into a pair of 320mm rotors and importantly, Yamaha has given the R9 braided stainless brake lines as standard—a rare treat at this price point from a Japanese manufacturer.
Electronics play a big role in the R9’s well-rounded nature. The six-axis IMU feeds into a comprehensive suite of rider aids—cornering ABS, lean-sensitive traction control, slide control, wheelie control, engine brake management, and more. All of these systems are configurable through the 5-inch TFT dash, which is one of the best in the business right now. It's bright, clear, and easy to navigate, with different themes to suit your taste. The dash also hosts a lap timer, either manually triggered or GPS-based using the Garmin feature built in. And yes, you can preload a map point, and it will automatically trip a lap when you cross it. Fancy.
But wait, there’s more. The TFT also lets you upload images from your phone, so you can have your dogs, better halves, or granny’s smiling face staring at you as you roll. You can receive messages via Yamaha’s Y-Connect app, track your rides with the Y-Track system, and you even get Garmin navigation baked into the dash at no extra cost—no monthly subscriptions required. Cruise control comes standard thanks to ride-by-wire throttle, and while it’s not exactly something you need on track, your wrists will thank on long-hauls. For now, suffice it to say Yamaha has taken a very modern, very connected approach to this bike without drowning the rider in gimmicks or complexity.
And so to the riding. From the first few laps, it’s clear the R9 is a different beast to its inline four siblings. It’s not as hard-edged and demanding as the R1 or R6 but is infiately more at home on the track than the MT-09. The riding position is sporty without being extreme—less wristy than the R6 or R1, but still aggressive enough to keep your weight over the front when you’re tipping in or trail-braking.
The 890cc triple engine shoehorned into a sports chassis was everything I hoped it would be, and it’s what makes the R9 more than just another soulless supersport machine — it’s got character, and a fiery yet unintimidating disposition. There’s solid bottom-end punch and a voluminous midrange. That midrange is where it’s at, and if you’re coming from a bike with a big top end, you might find yourself bouncing off the rev limiter until you adjust to relying on that fat, grunty middle rather than chasing sky-high revs. It’s especially rewarding for riders who want to go fast without having to work like hell for it. You can short-shift it and surf the torque curve all day long.
What this means in lay terms is that for regular riders — that is, riders like you and me who aren’t fronting up for a round of the Australian Superbike Championship — it’s simply easier to ride, and ride fast. It’s got firepower, but backed up by the bike’s electronics package, the linear power delivery simply offers uncomplicated and predictable good times. You’d have to be doing something terribly wrong to launch yourself over the bars in a massive highside.
And the soundtrack that we all expect from a triple? Well, the standard pipe dulls the symphony down — it just doesn’t let the triple sing. One of the test bikes at the launch was fitted with the GYTR Akrapovič system, and it was bloody magnificent. If you love the snarling, glorious soundtrack that a triple can belt out, do yourself a favour and pick up a pipe — it’d be a crime not to.
The chassis strikes a fine balance between stability and agility. Direction changes are swift without being nervous, and there’s good feedback from the front end. It’s not as precise as the R1 or R6, but even when really pushing through SMSP’s tighter corners, the bike never felt flustered. Overall, it’s a very neutral handling machine — it has no odd traits, no surprises on tip-in, or shocks when trail braking into a corner. It’s well predictable in every way. That, as they say, inspires you to push a little harder, brake a little deeper, yet that forgiving and predictable nature doesn’t punish you for every mistake like some seriously track-focused rides can. Compared to the R6 and R1, it’s easier to ride, less intimidating, and less fatiguing. I’d bet solid money that most riders would crack out a faster lap time on the R9 than on its inline-four stablemates.
The Brembo brakes are the kind of kit you’ll find on some litre-class superbikes, and they deliver solid stopping power. But despite the big discs, trick calipers, and braided lines, they just don’t have the aggressive bite or sheer might of a superbike setup, and the feel at the lever isn’t especially compelling. That’s not to say it won’t pull you up in a hurry — it absolutely will — and I’m not suggesting the braking package isn’t good. I just found myself wanting a little more bite, power, and feedback. This lack of pizzazz could, I suspect, come down to the pad material. I’ve ridden plenty of Stylema-equipped bikes, so I know how good they can be.
The cornering ABS, on the other hand, is beautifully subtle in its application. And although the ABS light on the dash was in full disco mode at times, there were no ill effects from the system — no run-on, no odd behaviour, and no brake lock-ups either.
The R9 is sharp, fast, and capable on the racetrack, but it doesn’t beat you up in the process. It’s not narrowly track-focused like the R6 or R1, and I reckon it’s going to make a seriously good sportsbike for the road. Does that mean if you’re into regular trackdays, you should steer clear and throw your money at an inline-four? Well, I’m sure Stefano Manzi — who took the win at the opening round of the World Supersport Championship on the R9’s debut, and currently leads the series — would disagree. And that’s the genius of what Yamaha has done with the R9: it hits that sweet spot — easy to ride, hard to fault, and bloody good fun — yet there’s enough R pedigree baked in to make it a formidable, if not world-beating, track tool.
I’ll be spending more time with the R9 over the coming weeks once Yamaha hands over a test unit for road duties, and that’s where we’ll get to see how this bike performs in the real world — commutes, twisty roads, weekend escapes, and maybe even some long-distance hauls. But for now, based purely on track performance, Yamaha’s new supersport is an absolute ripper.
Check out Pete's hot lap below.