RIDE REVIEW I 2021 YAMAHA MT-09 SP
P76
As you may have already
seen, this is the MT-09 SP,
and this is the first year the SP
has made it to the U.S. The
SP originally came out in 2018
for every market except North
America (this is far from the first
time this has happened with Ya-
maha), and the bike arrives with
fully adjustable KYB forks and
an Ohlins shock, the former
of which comes with high- and
low-speed compression damp-
ing, which is pretty good kit
for a bike of this category. The
remainder of the bike remains
essentially the same as the
base SP, with identical engine
and chassis specs. Oh, the SP
also gets cruise control—a vital
feature I absolutely love.
The 2021 edition marks the
biggest change in the MT-09's
SP lineup since the machine
debuted in 2013. Yamaha made
an immediate impact with that
first model and breathed new
life into the midsize naked bike
sector, which is arguably now
one of the toughest to get sales
in the market.
Yamaha's up against the
Kawasaki Z900 ABS, Triumph
765 Street Triple, Ducati
Monster, KTM 890 Duke and
Duke R, MV Agusta Brutale
800, and probably a few others
I can't think of right now. Each
one of these bikes is executed
extremely well, each offering
different performance capabili-
ties largely based on price, so
Yamaha needed to come pack-
ing fire for the 2021 MT-09 SP
(Left) The motor is
the same as what
you'll get on the base
model and offers a
substantial increase
in performance over
last year's MT. (Below
right) The SP has been
available everywhere
else for the last three
years, so it's about
time we got it in the
States. (Below) The
new dash is one half
of what you'll get on
the Tracer but is easy
enough to use, if a
little sterile.
