Performance Bikes — March 2018

34 PERFORMANCEBIKES.CO.UK | MARCH 2018

ICANRECOMMEND

two things. One:

Portugal. Two:

Yamaha’s new

MT-09SP. I can do this

because I’ve just had a very nice shower,

in a very nice hotel, in a very nice part

of Portugal having ridden on some very

nice roads, on a very, very nice new

motorcycle. (What is this? Fucking

Whicker’s World? – CN.)

I’m on the launch of Yamaha’s new SP

version of the increasingly popular

MT-09 in the Algarve – somewhere

Yamaha could really show off the

benefits of the work done to make the

SP version that bit more special, more

desirable than the already great base

model MT-09. And it’s worked. It’s all

those things and it’s not the sun having

gottomybaldhead,either...

Yamaha have done similar before, of

course. They’ve already applied their SP

strategy to both the R1 and the MT-10,

and it makes sense to do this to what is

already a very capable mid-sized

roadster which is selling well and gets

great reviews with very few buts. And

because those buts are so few, that’s all

Yamaha have addressed, and it’s a relief

to learn the main reason so many riders

fall for the MT-09 in the first place – the

engine – is unchanged. The 847cc

(MT-847 just doesn’t sound right, does

it?) crossplane triple is so torque-rich

that you’ll forget it’s not a litre-bike

when the front comes up in third over

the smallest of crests. It’s not

intimidating like a big twin can be and

doesn’t need to be revved like a inline

2018 YAMAHA MT-09SPMARK WHITE

2018

NE W BIK ES

TESTED

HITS FROM THE BOING

SUSPENSE

THRILLER

Grown-up suspension and styling embellishments

transform the already excellent MT-09 into a bike

that’s guaranteed to raise your front end...

Öhlins rear shock brings a ‘special’ feel SP details abound without being shouty