First Yamaha supersport in 8 years
R6 → R9: 8-year gap closed
The R6 was discontinued for European/UK sale in 2017 and stopped being made entirely in 2020 (US track-only). For 8 years Yamaha had no middleweight supersport. The R9 fills that gap — but it's a different bike. Bigger displacement, fewer cylinders, more torque, less peak power, more usable everyday.
Inline-four → inline-three
Different engine character
Old R6: 599cc inline-four, peak power at 14,500rpm, peaky. R9: 890cc inline-three (CP3), peak power at 11,000rpm, broader torque curve. The triple is sourced from the MT-09 platform — same crank inertia, same crossplane firing order. Sound is closer to a small V-twin than to the screamer four-cylinder.
Won the 2025 World Supersport Championship
First-year homologation success
WSS 2025 was the first season under the new sub-1000cc rules allowing twins, triples, and fours. The R9 won the championship in its first racing season (Tom Booth-Amos and Stefano Manzi). Triumph 765 was the only real challenger. Yamaha factory backing made the difference.
Service intervals doubled vs old R6
30,000km / 19,000 miles
Old R6: 6,000-mile service intervals (~10,000km). R9: 30,000km service intervals — same as the MT-09. Roughly half the maintenance cost over typical 30,000-mile ownership. The CP3 platform's service economy is one of its real-world ownership advantages.
£12,500 UK — class-competitive
Cheaper than CBR1000RR-R, dearer than CBR650R
R9 at £12,500 sits between Honda CBR650R (£8,499 — twin-cylinder middleweight) and Aprilia RS 660 (£10,200) at the bottom; below Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade (£17,995) and Ducati Panigale V2 (£15,400) at the top. It's the supersport class's only sub-£13k machine with a proper IMU package.
Y-AMT optional — automatic supersport
First R-series with auto
Y-AMT (Yamaha Automated Manual Transmission) is optional on the R9 — the first R-series bike to offer it. Same system as Tracer 9 GT+ / MT-09 Y-AMT. Adds £700-ish, removes clutch lever entirely. For commuting it's brilliant; for track days, manual remains the choice.
