Yamaha updates the MT-09 but where's the XSR900 GP?

Yamaha showed off a revised 2024 MT-09, with a significant list of new features, in addition to the inevitable styling tweaks. The changes add more functionality and even though the price is going up by $800, it still achieves a strong performance-to-cost ratio. And yet I imagine wide swathes of U.S. readers looking and saying, "Yeah, that's nice, but what about the XSR900 GP?"

The XSR900 GP is the retro-styled bike with looks that trigger flashbacks to the Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson years, but built on that modern triple-cylinder platform. So far, at least, it is a Europe-only model. The new MT-09 and the XSR900 GP are miles apart stylistically, the dark side of Japan and the sunlit days of U.S. racers winning grand prix championships. If you like the looks of one, you almost certainly don't like the other.

Let's take a quick look.

MT-09, same brawn, more brains

On a Highside/Lowside podcast this summer, host Zack Courts made a case for considering the FZ-09 (as the MT-09 was originally labeled in the United States when it debuted) as one of the historically significant motorcycles you should know. I don't know if he convinced co-host Spurgeon Dunbar, and I was even more skeptical. But there's no denying that the 09 made a big splash with its combination of characterful high performance, naked-bike appearance, and accessible price.

For 2024, Yamaha left the heart and muscle of the FZ-09, the CP3 engine, mostly untouched, and focused on styling and features.

That original FZ-09 was the first example of Yamaha's "Dark Side of Japan" styling trend, which the company defines as "a bold, abstract new direction for Yamaha inspired by the unique urban motorcycle sub-culture found on the streets of Japan's largest cities." The 2024 version takes that aesthetic a step further, with sharper lines on the tank, a slightly lower handlebar, and a new LED headlight and taillight to make things look even slimmer.

Most of the changes have to do with electronics. The "cruise control is non-negotiable" faction of the Common Tread readership will be happy to hear the MT-09 now has it. The new quickshifter actually has two different modes to choose from, with different functionality. Riders now get two customizable ride modes, in addition to the three pre-set modes. The front brakes get a new Brembo radial master cylinder and a new back slip regulator is intended to prevent rear-wheel lockup under engine braking. Smartphone connectivity is now standard, through the larger, full-color, five-inch TFT display with four different themes.

And now some of you are saying, "Yeah, that's nice, but what about the XSR900 GP?"

Will Yamaha's retro come stateside?

Though the running gear is familiar, the bodywork and ergonomics make the XSR900 GP unique and quite different in appearance from the XSR900 that leads Yamaha's Sport Heritage line. You don't have to be old enough to remember the days of Rainey and Lawson to appreciate the XSR900 GP, but it helps. The livery is intended to remind you of the Yamaha grand prix bikes of the 1980s and early 1990s, part of the era when U.S. riders won 13 500 cc grand prix world championships in a 16-year span.

Considering those references, and the fact that Rainey makes a cameo appearance in the official video announcing the model in Europe, it may be surprising that so far Yamaha has confirmed that the XSR900 GP will be available in Europe and, later, in Japan, but no word yet on availability in the United States.

While some people are attracted to the dark side and others want their throwback feels, there's a smaller pro-Yamaha faction out there that stubbornly keeps lobbying for and hoping for a sport bike built around the CP3 engine. A YZF-R9, the way Yamaha made a YZF-R7 out of the MT-07. If we do get the R9, I wouldn't expect to see it before 2025. As for the XSR900 GP, you'd think it would be an obvious choice for the U.S. market, but we'll have to wait and see.