First Ride Review – 2025 Yamaha YZF-R9

Even though the 2025 Yamaha YZF-R9 is a completely new model, I found myself experiencing déjà vu multiple times throughout the launch: four years ago I was at the Yamaha R7 launch at a race track, sharing my thoughts about how it was what the sportbike world “needed” but probably not what sportbike riders “wanted.” There were lots of vocal critics about how it was down on power or less exciting than the R6 or R1, but those bikes don’t sell so…what’s the point? On the flip side, the R7 has been Yamaha’s best selling motorcycle in the US for the last twelve months (including dirt bikes), so I’d say they’re on to something.

With that said – I think the R7 is about to lose its “best selling” title because the new R9 takes everything to the next level and it’s a damn fine machine.

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First Ride Review – 2025 Yamaha YZF-R9
Photos by Joseph Agustin.

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What Does Supersport Mean?

To understand this bike, we have to start with how the world of “Supersport” motorcycles has dramatically changed over the last few years.

To me, that term always referred to 600cc inline-4s like the Yamaha R6, Honda CBR600, Suzuki GSX-R600, and Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R (or the RR in 2002+ because the single R became the “cheater” 636). Those bikes had street legal concessions but they were designed for the track and they were so much fun. The racer lifestyle that they inspired was also so cool that plenty of riders were willing to suffer through the horrible street ergonomics just to be part of the community, and that’s a powerful thing.

But as companies kept adding features to compete with each other, costs kept surging and they eventually priced out everyone but the most dedicated of trackday junkies/racers. That’s why we now hear about “Supersport Next Generation” from both FIM and MotoAmerica, which allows for bikes like the Ducati Panigale V2, Triumph Street Triple RS 765/Daytona Moto2 765, and MV Agusta F3 800 RR/Superveloce.

If you’re curious, here’s how MotoAmerica defines Supersport now (capped at 130 horsepower):
4-cylinder 4-stroke: Over 400cc up to 636cc
3-cylinder 4-stroke: Over 500cc up to 800cc
2-cylinder 4 stroke: Over 600cc up to 955cc

Of course, this includes the Yamaha R9 – which won the first race of the WSSP season at Philip Island.

So Supersport has changed, but my love for racing and fast track bikes has not. And even though the R9 was designed to be a street bike first, it clearly still has some racing chops. Presumably, that’s why Yamaha took me to Sonoma Raceway to see what’s new and what it’s capable of…

9 Changes for the R9

I did something similar for my R7 review, so this’ll be your déjà vu. Here are the changes that Yamaha made (compared to the MT-09) to make the R9 ready to tackle the track:

1. The R9 features an all-new aluminum Deltabox frame which is gravity cast (as opposed to controlled fill). It is 10% lighter than the unit on the MT-09 and it is also MUCH more rigid: 37% more rigid longitudinally, 18% more rigid torsionally, and 16% more rigid laterally.

The subframe and swingarm are from the MT-09, though the latter gets spool mounting bosses and an additional 16mm of axle adjustment range. Thanks to a 2 degree sharper caster angle, shorter trail, and shorter wheelbase, the R9 is able to achieve perfect 50/50 weight distribution front/rear.

2. The R9 has an all-new set of bodywork with winglets that help make this the most aerodynamic R-series bike that Yamaha has ever built (.307 drag coefficient). Yamaha states that the winglets provide downforce once you hit 150 kph (roughly 90 mph).

Color options include Team Yamaha Blue, Matte Raven Black, and Intensity White/Redline. There’s no difference in price between the liveries and I’ve got to say that the white/red (which pays homage to the 1998 R1) is by far my favorite of the three.

3. The R9 gets a serious bump in suspension. KYB (which Yamaha owns 33.4% of) clearly considers this model to be important as they showed up in force at the launch, with their Sales Strategy Assistant Manager and a Suspension Engineer from Japan as well as a Suspension Technician from their US office.

The 43mm forks feature what KYB calls Separate Damping Force (compression handled in the left fork, rebound in the right) and they are Kashima coated. Both the fork and the shock are adjustable for preload, rebound, and high/low speed compression. The shock also has something called a “swing valve” – while it’s already in use in the automotive world, KYB says this is the first time it’s been used in a production motorcycle.

It is a small valve added to both the rebound and compression circuits which is designed to provide more control in very low speed damping (specifically 0 to .1 m/s). This would come into play when you first get on the gas as the initial resistance against squat during acceleration. Or if you’re leaned over in a corner and and you hit a little bump, this will absorb more of the initial hit for you and help keep you on line.

4. Seeing as the R9 will be spending more time at the track, the ECU has been tweaked to allow more leeway in the traction control and slide control systems.

5. For improved cooling, the R9 gets the larger, curved radiator from the flagship Yamaha R1. It also gets a smaller rear sprocket (the ratio goes from 16/45 to 16/43) to push the top speed up.

6. The R9 gets a quick turn throttle – it now only takes 60 degrees of rotation to get to wide open throttle as opposed to 78.

7. Yamaha decided to go with the cast aluminum 5-spoke wheels from the R6 as opposed to the lighter “spinforged” wheels from the MT-09 as they say that the heavier wheels improved contact feel when leaned over and that they’re easier to maintain. OEM tires are Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22s, though Yamaha had us on the Battlax Racing Street RS11s for our track time.

8. Keeping everything in check is a 16mm Brembo radial front master cylinder pushing fluid through stainless steel front brake lines to Brembo Stylema monobloc front calipers which bite on 320mm discs.

9. Ergonomically, Yamaha wantd to set it up so that the riding position would be less aggressive than the R6/R1 but more aggressive than the R7. Compared to the R6, the R9 has handlebars that are 10.3 mm forward and 7.78 mm higher, a seat that’s 32.8 mm forward and 14.0 mm lower, and footpegs that are 13.5 mm forward and 24.7 mm lower. The seat is narrower and lower than what you’d get on a R6, which makes it easier for a rider to get their feet on the ground.

You still get proper sportbike clipons but there’s a bit more comfort and less of a knee bend seeing as most of the miles put on a R9 will likely be on the street. Still, we’re here to find out what it was like on the track!

Track Time

If you take anything from this review, Yamaha would probably want it to be one short sentence: “Accessible Supersport Performance”.

I heard some variation of the word “accessible” a hundred times during the launch so now you have to as well. The R9 is a street bike first – do not forget that. It’s designed to be approachable, easy to ride, and reasonably priced. But Yamaha still wants you to be able to take it to the track and thrill yourself every once in a while. Heck, the Project Leader for the R9 is none other than Kouji Tsuya – and he use to run Yamaha’s MotoGP team!

Yamaha’s been getting their money’s worth out of this 890cc triple seeing as it’s led to a variety of machines:

My MT-09 Review
My MT-09 SP Review
My XSR900 Review
My Tracer GT+ Review

In R9 duty, the 117-hp/67 lb-ft drivetrain is basically the same as what you get in the above, and the big thing to me is that this motor makes approximately 40% more peak torque than the R6 (plus it does so earlier in the revband). Of course, displacement is also up almost 50% so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but the extra torque is definitely nice when powering out of slow speed corners as it’s easier to ride when you don’t have to be near redline for peak power. That allows you to be in a higher gear and have more predictable throttle behavior, which is helpful when you’re getting chased down by friends that are faster than you…

I found the sweet spot of the engine to be between 6.5k-9k or so – below that feels a little flat but when you’re in the right revs this bike pulls strong. The final turn before the finish line is a slow first-gear corner, and in one of my early sessions I throttled out of it hard. My body position was a little lazy and set backwards so the front wheel came up but the natural power delivery made it easy to modulate and I just clicked through a couple of gears with the quickshifter while crossing the finish line. When I came around the next time, it appeared that some of the Yamaha and KYB reps were expecting me to do it again – and the power of the R9 made it easy to oblige.

The power is one of the things that makes the R9 so much fun. I made it a point to loft the front wheel nearly every time I came around the final corner…

If you end up pushing your limits in the quest for too much fun, the R9 has a very impressive electronics package centered around a six-axis IMU. Gerrad Capley is Yamaha’s Senior Street Motorcycle Communications Specialist and as he puts it, “the R9 is your friend all the way around the race track.” When you’re accelerating, you’ve got Launch Control, Lift Control, and Traction Control to assist. Braking into a corner? Engine Brake Management and the Back Slip Regulator will keep you in check. Going around the corner you’ve got Traction Control and Slide Control. And throughout the whole process you’ve got Yamaha’s excellent quickshifter and auto-blipper (which works in regular or GP shift).

There’s the requisite multiple ride modes with some custom options, and in the four track modes you can disable rear wheel ABS. You’re also able to connect your phone to show notifications or GPS navigation on the dash, though we obviously didn’t bother with that on the track. What I did find very interesting is a feature that can be connected through the Y-TRAC Rev phone app – it provides a virtual pit board so that someone can send you messages (# of laps to go, call someone into the pit, how far behind you are, etc) directly to your dash! Or if you show friendship through making fun of people, you can create custom messages to tell your buddy that he sucks.

The same app also logs riding data so you can keep track of lap/sector times and see 26 different data signals like throttle position, slide control intervention, g-sensors, speed, etc. It’s very trick and I should be able to show you a video of it in action in the next few days.

I’m not skilled enough to slide the rear wheel on pavement, but the R9 was so easy to ride that I actually got the Slide Control System to interfere a few times when coming out of the tight final corner before I’d do a wheelie. It was an exhilirating feeling and while I wouldn’t go out of my way to replicate it without the electronic safeguards I was blown away by how natural it felt to let the rear step out and then have a computer bring it back in.

The KYB suspension also gets top marks from me, particularly the front end. Sonoma was recently repaved but there’s lots of bumpy sections (especially in braking zones and in some sweepers) that the R9 simply soaked up. I never noticed excessive brake dive, even when I was hauling the bike down from 100+ mph to about 20 mph for the last corner that I keep referring to. In fact, I barely noticed the suspension at all – and that’s a good thing when I’m looking for flaws. My day with the R9 was a rare instance of me not asking for any changes to the suspension setup during a test.

I was quite pleased with the ergonomics overall. If this was a dedicated track bike for me I’d probably raise the pegs as I occasionally had clearance issues with my toe sliders but I think the designers found a good balance between the aggressiveness you want on track with clipons and the space to stretch out a little bit for the street. Normally I’m exhausted after a track day on a liter bike but the riding position and slight weight savings (a R9 weighs 430 pounds wet, compare that to the 448 pound R1) meant I wasn’t as tired so I could be safer and more consistent throughout the day.

My only real complaint would be the performance of the front brakes. On paper the Brembo master cylinder, steel lines, and Brembo Stylema calipers sounded great but once I learned the track and picked up some speed I found myself frequently wanting more braking strength. I suspect a pad upgrade would likely allay my concern.

Gone Racing

Though the R9 was designed as street bike first, Yamaha is definitely going racing with it. I already mentioned its success in World Supersport but you’ll be able to see this bike in MotoAmerica as well – your first chance to see them will be April 4-6 at Barber.

Three teams will be competing on the R9:
Strack Racing (Mathew Scholtz, Blake Davis)
Altus Motorsports (Jake Lewis, Jaret Nassaney)
BPR Racing (Teagg Hobbs, Josh Hayes)

I have to take a moment to shout out Josh Hayes here as he’s an amazing ambassador for Yamaha. He was at the launch to help in a variety of ways, and each time I see him I’m constantly impressed with his attitude. He’s so humble that you’d never guess he’s the winningest man in MotoAmerica/AMA and he’s incredibly supportive. Josh has some great stories that he’s willing to share and he’s going to keep adding to them with BPR Racing next year, I’ll be following along and I hope you do, too!

This doesn’t have much to do with the R9 but I think this video is great if you’ve never been to Sonoma Raceway and want to see what it’s like (or if you’ve been a bunch of times and want to shave some time off your laps) – here’s a little tour that Josh gave us in the morning before we hit the track:

Conclusion

If you started reading this review thinking that this isn’t a replacement for a R1 or a R6, then…you were right! Yamaha agrees and they’re not pretending otherwise. This is a bike built for a reality where no one is buying 600cc I4 supersports anymore. That’s not an exciting thing to say, but the R9 is a very logical answer to a problem that is pervading all of motorcycling – these things that we love are getting too expensive to keep future generations in the sport if we don’t want to lose them to E-Bikes or something similar.

With the introduction of the R9, Yamaha’s current Supersport line up is now comprised of the:
YZF-R1M: $27,699
YZF-R1: $18,999
YZF-R9: $12,499
YZF-R7: $9,199
YZF-R3: $5,499

The new bike obviously slots right in the middle but it represents the continuation of Yamaha’s sportbike attitude shift that they started with the R7. They believe that the way to get more people riding is to emphasize accessibility in terms of pricing and performance, and whether or not you agree with them you can at least appreciate the reasoning. Within that framework, I think the R9 is a fantastic motorcycle – the hefty torque, comprehensive electronics package, and impressive suspension make it easy to ride at your limit.

I started this review by noting that the R7 is Yamaha USA’s best selling motorcycle. Well, the R9 is a natural step up – it’s everything I liked about the R7 but with a better frame, better suspension, better brakes, and 40 more horsepower! All of that comes at a $3,300 price premium but I’d say it’s well worth it.

Check out the 2025 Yamaha YZF-R9!

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