The Yamaha R9 is one of the longest and most mysterious two-wheeled spy stories of recent years. After the exit of the “medium” R6, effectively replaced by the R7, and the announcement of the definitive retirement of the R1, the price list of the House of the three tuning forks sees a chasm forming in the “sports” category of large displacement. It therefore seems unlikely that this situation could become the norm. A market downturn has certainly affected the segment, but a certain interest in road sports seems to have returned, especially if more comfortable and a little less extreme for everyday roads.
It should also be considered that the new Yamaha R9 could likely take part in the Supersport championship, since the regulations allow – from 2021 – the 600 four-cylinder bikes to be flanked by larger displacements (with different engine divisions, as is the case with the three-cylinder crossplane derived from the MT-09).
There are now less than two months to go until Eicma 2024, and it could be the opportunity to find out if Yamaha has actually decided to fill this gap, or if the long-awaited R9 – whose name was registered in 2021 – will be destined to be waited on like any Godot…
It was way back in 2017…
Seven years ago, for the German magazine Motorrad, the designer Kardesign created a render that, with remarkable predictive ability, combined the R6/R1 aesthetics with the MT-09 engine:
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In 2021, however, comes the twist: the name “YZF R9” is registered by Yamaha for Western markets, thus opening up a first glimmer of possibilities. Kar Lee then got to work on his sketch again, which in 2022 thus finds a low exhaust and a rear section borrowed from its sister R7. There are also “racing” details such as fork bottoms combined with Brambo radial calipers:
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From 2017 to today, Kardesign has indulged in renewing its proposal, as it shows itself in the video sequence that we propose below:
Who knows if in Iwata they have been inspired in the meantime, this would be the right time…
