The Yamaha R9 is hands down the coolest sportbike to come out in years. Yeah, I’m biased, I’ll admit that upfront, but tell me another manufacturer that’s done what Yamaha just did. Instead of watering down a middleweight with budget components or an uninspiring engine, they went all in and built a proper supersport with one of the best motors in the game.
That’s right, the R9 gets the CP3 engine. If you’ve read my review of my own XSR900, you know how much I love this thing. It’s got punchy low-end torque, a wild midrange, and a top-end scream that makes inline-fours sound boring. And the sound? Pure magic. That offbeat triple-cylinder bark is one of the best noises you’ll ever hear from a motorcycle, and it deserves to be heard properly.
Which brings me to my next point. Leaving the stock exhaust on this bike would be a crime. The R9 was built to be ridden hard, and it needs an exhaust that does it justice. That’s where Akrapovič comes in. They just dropped two new full systems for this bike, plus a stainless steel link pipe for track use. And all of them look and sound incredible.
