NEW Yamaha MT-09 SP (2021) | First ride

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Bike Social. I'm Michael Mann and you join me in an aircraft hangar here in deepest, darkest Suffolk. Why? Well, I'm getting to ride the 2021 Yamaha MT-09 SP. It's the SP edition of the heavily revised MT-09 for 2021. So in this video, I'm going to talk about all those revisions for the standard model plus the differences between that and then this, the SP, and then we'll take it for a spin. All right, stay with me. Well, ladies and gentlemen, here we are. I promise you a little walkthrough of what the new SP is all about, why it differs from the previous gen, which is 2018, and why the SP is different to the standard model, to the standard MT-09. Once upon a time, the SP stood for sport production, probably still does, but I reckon you could argue that it also means special parts or superpower, but the MT-09 SP has them all. So it's based on the incoming and heavily revised MT-09 for this model year, that's 2021, which it's, of course, it has to be Euro 5 compliant these days, which means that the MT-09, and then of course this, the SP has got a brand new engine. It's got an increase in capacity, and that's courtesy of a longer stroke, which has in turn meant more power, more torque, thankfully, but it's not the only new part because you've got a new chassis, suspension, headlights, bodywork, electronics, they've all had a bit of a renovation. And then the SP model gains cruise control, operational here on that left side bar, just there. It has to be over 30 miles an hour and in third gear or higher. It's got the Ohlins rear shock with its adjustability on the preload on that remote adjuster just there. It's got upgraded KYB forks, and it's got that DLC coating on the fork stanchions, which means that there's less friction there, which is not on the stocker. And then you've got the dedicated colours and graphics as well. So this is called Icon Performance. It's blue and black with a bit of grey, and it matches the R1M. So you can tell that it's the SP because it's the only one in the range, in the MT-09 range with that colour scheme. It's light, that short wheelbase. It's got a beautiful engine. I mean, really that CP3 engine has been such a revelation for Yamaha. They reintroduced the MT range, they reintroduced that three-cylinder engine, and they've never really looked back. It's been such a success. £10,202, and if you pay a two and a half grand deposit, you can probably pick it up for about £119 a month. That's right. So it's a bit of a redesign. They've taken a lot of the bodywork away. They've given it a new headlight, and they've given it these sort of swoopy Y-shape lights, date-on-running lights. It's got a new TFT dash, three and a half inch coloured dash. It's got a nice font. It's very legible. It's very easy to read. For me, it's a little bit small. I think I'd want a bigger than three and a half. Reasonably easy to use. I mean, the switch gear's a bit old hat, a bit old-fashioned these days. I think that'll soon look a bit dated. You've got your mode button on the top there, where your flasher would normally be, and then you can set the modes of that rocker switch there. You've got cruise control, your horn indicators, and there's a menu button on this side. See that, that little rocker switch? Like a wheel that clicks in as well. The bike has been increased from 113.4 to 117.4, so it's up by four brake horsepower, and that's at 10,000 rpm. Peak torque increases, so that's a 6% increase on the outgoing model, so you're up at 93 Nm, but peak torque is actually lower down the rev range, so it's 1,500 rpm lower, which gives you that awesome mid-range, that real sensational boom, so it springs out of the corners, just like the GT. It's essentially a 2018 SP, but better, a lot, lot better, thankfully. It's got that real thick spread of usable torque. You can potter about 30 miles an hour, third gear, through the villages, sub-4,000 rpm. All of a sudden, you get to that national speed limit sign, and you can absolutely gun it, and you rip that throttle back. It's a real sensation. It's a little bit tatty in places, look, with some of these wires, and you just feel as though, all right, it's supposed to be edgy, it's supposed to be sort of earthy, and that master of darkness, or whatever the Yamaha call it, but sometimes it's a bit, it's a bit scruffy in places. Still, it's a whole lot of bite for 10,000 quid. Electronic-wise, new six-axis IMU, that comes on the MT-09 and this, the SP, so that measures your pitch, your yaw, and your roll in two directions each, so that's your six-way, but it's the sort of brains of the operation, really, so that, it means that, you know, it looks after the traction control, wheelie control, I don't call it wheelie control, they call it lift, that's capital L-I-F, and then a small t, random. You've got slide control, you've got engine braking, all of which is manually settable, but it comes also with some preset modes too. 825mm seat, it's nice and narrow, but a big wide seat with that lift in the middle. The pegs are adjustable, you can rock them, you can see the two holes there, look, you can have them up and back, they call it a peg basket, and you can even move the handlebars, that's adjustable too. So far, I've only covered about 65 miles or so, and it's, actually, it's really, really comfortable, I'm impressed. There's a lot of, there's a lot of legroom, I mean, you want the pegs reasonably high, because it's a sporty bike, you know, you want to make sure that you, one of its, one of its key elements is that, how, how, how, the sort of prowess that it's got in the corners, but look at the difference between the pillion pegs and the rider pegs, it's just, I don't, it's not really designed for pillions, is it, this? It's, it's road manners are really impeccable, in fact, you know what, shall we go and have a look on the road, let's go and have a ride, come on. What I do know is that we have the SP on the road, I can see big sails ahead for Yamaha on this particular model, it handles beautifully, the chassis, this engine, the tyres, the suspension, the whole package, even the likes of the, like, the layout of the geometry, the, the steering head angle, for example, this wheelbase, all of it, all of that builds into the whole package of, of the ride, and it's a chilly old day. Average mpg 39.1, we'll have some of that. So, yeah, you can see this new three and a half inch dash, tft, little compromises have to be made, I guess, when you're selling a motorcycle that rides so beautifully, so, so well, as in it's such a rewarding ride, it's road manners are impeccable, and it's a belter, oh, it's good, it's so, so nice, it's really rewarding, you know, like, it's, it's one of those bikes that's going to make you feel happy, ah, don't care about commuting on it, don't care about big miles, because that's not what it's designed for, when you think about the type of person that's going to ride this, yeah, fine, you can easily chuck your backpack on 20, 30 miles into the city, whatever, but this thing's just built for the back roads, it's built for being a hooligan, it's built for exploring your talent on a motorcycle, or exploring what a motorcycle is supposed to do for you, supposed to give to you, but this fits into a category, I don't know, where, where, a KTM 890 Duke R, MV Agusta Brutale 800, CB1000R maybe, Kawasaki Z900 Performance, ah, Triumph Street Triple RS, what about that, I'm certainly glad there's cruise control on here, heated grips are an accessory, an official accessory, and I think that you would, I think it's definitely worth having them, if you lived in Britain, here we are in early April, and only four or five days ago it was 22 degrees, and today is six, I read the review of Kevin Raymond, who wrote for Bike Social, when the MT-09 launched, when they had to hold it in France, and we couldn't travel, Kev lives in France, anyway, he was talking about the seat not being particularly comfortable, this, on the SP version, it's got a different seat, they market it as a double-stitched seat, now I don't, I don't know whether that makes it any more comfortable, there must be comfort options in the official accessory range, or the unofficial accessory range, I can't see, I can't see 100, 120 miles on this bike being particularly comfortable, but again, we, we go back to what is it, what is it designed for, I'll tell you what it's so, so good at, turning, it has, at low speed, it has a rubbish turning circle, the lock-to-lock is, is poor, but you consider the amount of times that you're going to turn it lock-to-lock at low speed, versus the amount of time you're going to spend on it, in the twisties, out and out on those B roads, just exploring what it's all about, the capabilities of this bike, and for those who don't necessarily have experience of stunt riding, of wheelies and whatnot, you know, if you find yourself a private road or a runway, then trust in the electronics, trust in that lift control and the traction control, because you can just, you literally can dump the clutch and rip the throttle back, and it will, it will control you, you've got those modes as well, so let me try and work out, so you've got the mode button here, where your flasher would normally be, on the left-hand side, and that, you click that, and it flicks between D mode and TCS mode, here on the dash, so if you're in TCS mode, that's when you can start dialing it up and down, where you can't while you're on the go, D mode, you have to be off the throttle, to get it into two, off the throttle, three, four, and then you can get manual, oh yeah, TCS, okay, so your TCS is one or two, traction control, and then your D mode, which is your riding mode, you've got between one and four, and then you can set it to manual in the other options, which is down there, and that's usable through this menu button, this toggle switch on the right-hand side, and that's when you can start turning things off, if you really want to. So, so much of this bike is new, we've already talked about through those engine, chassis, suspension, electronics, even the look of the bike, the TFT display, and the suspension, so on the SP, you get the Ohlins rear shock, and then you get the slightly differently configured KYB forks, and they are adjustable too, in fact, you can go between high and low speed compression on each of the forks, and then you've got your preload remote adjuster on the rear shock as well, so you just click it, yeah, quick shifter up and down works absolutely really, one of the, one of the very, very good ones, I'm, I'm often quite sympathetic towards use of quick shifter between first and second, so I often do use that clutch, but they've even improved the assisting slipper clutch, just to make that gear change even better, the brake power is very good, they modulate very well, ABS of course, I think it's Nissan who make the canopies, I believe the master cylinder on the front is the same that's used on the YZF-R1, which of course also lends its IMU, ah, a lie actually, because this, the IMU on this is about, I think it's 50% lighter, so it's still the brains behind the operation, it still controls all those electronics, and it's using all those sensors all over the bike, with slide control, and engine brake control, and traction control, and lift control, which is essentially wheelie control, get that throttle ripped open, get over 5,000 rpm, and I think the, the best way to describe it, and I'm sure everybody use the same word, howl, it's a howl, it's a triple, it's a three cylinder howl, this riding position is very comfortable, you do feel quite in the bike, I don't think the tank's overly big, but what it is, it's spread out, it's got a really high top look, and then your knees are kind of tucked in under here, and that helps with how narrow the seat is, what don't I like about it, well, I'm not convinced on this three and a half inch screen, I mean it's easy to read, the font's very legible, I don't find it the most intuitive, and I think it could be bigger, and better, I also think that the finish in places could be a bit better, just the way that the little table ties, and it's all a bit flappy, and bent, and nasty in places, and I'm not convinced by this, this Yamaha switchgear, I don't, I don't think it's the nicest I've ever seen, especially for a £10,000 motorbike, it's a bit old-fashioned now, but the way the new headlights are all encased around that front area, I like the layout, I like the look, that is unique, if you saw this bike straight on, there's nothing else that looks like this, I think this screen as well, it looks like it's been plonked on, a little bit like, it reminds me of the Streetfighter V4, and I understand now why they took us to, on the press launch, this UK press launch, why they took us to that industrial unit, because of the kind of look and feel, it's dark, the Yamaha marketing people like the MT range to be very dark side of Japan they call it, and this absolute peach of an engine, and a chassis, and they've got some mega suspension on here now, they've got some brilliant tyres in these Bridgestone Battle Access 22s, it's a fantastic combination, and it means that this motorbike is, is just getting better with every generation, the road handling, it's poise, it's agility, ability, it turns quickly, it's very well balanced, oh and then you hear that, like Tony the Tiger, oh this is a motorbike that makes you feel good, that surge of power, this is lovely, you know sometimes we get a bit hung up on 170, 190, 190 brake horsepower, naked bikes, sports bikes, adventure bikes, yeah fine they get the headlines, but this is 117.4 brake horsepower, it's more, far more than anybody will ever need, but it's all about that torque, it's all about that mid-range punch, anywhere from three and a half, four thousand upwards, and then it really, it really sucks you, kind of, it grabs you in the stomach and twists, five and a half, six, there's even the rev counter goes from white to green, green for go, green for good, Yamaha can be hugely proud of their achievements with this, it might not be the easiest on the eye, but boy oh boy is it easy in the hand, you get yourself a ride on one of these and you will not regret it, it's exciting, invigorating, enthralling, it involves you, it makes you feel good, it's got some beautiful fueling, suspension's brilliant, the ride, it's manners on the road, it's road holding, tremendous, engine braking's pretty severe, but that's all part and parcel of which mode I'm in, I've chosen quite an aggressive mode, I think it suits the bike frankly, but you've got all those bits and pieces, there's adjustability with the handlebars, the foot pegs, the suspension, your modes, the rear shock, this has been an exhilarating ride, I'm really really pleased you've joined me, thank you so much for coming along, thanks for watching, please leave us a comment, leave us a question, if you've got anything you want to know then just let us know and we'll we'll ask the relevant people, thanks so much for coming, take it easy, see you soon, ride safe. Let's do this, shall I say howl again, that's a funny word to say, ra ra ra, such a lovely noise, then it could be argued that uh, oh do you know I don't know what I'm saying, just scrapple this whole section, it's rubbish, sexy pants, I noticed that before, you can see right through the frame, right through the engine, keep your sandwiches in there,