If we had to rank the best engines of the past decade, the Yamaha MT-09’s inline-triple would sit near the top. Its crossplane architecture delivers oodles of usable torque—and somehow manages to feel rowdy and manageable all at once.
Yamaha has slotted that motor into everything from the retro-flavoured XSR900 GP to the touring-ready Tracer 9. The one gap in Yamaha’s MT-09 lineup? An adventure bike.
Ever since Yamaha pulled the wraps off the Ténéré 700, we’ve been waiting for them to create a bigger version of it… a Ténéré 900, if you will. Just like the MT-07 engine’s tractable nature has made it ideal for adventure duty, the MT-09’s torquey donk has all the makings of a brilliant all-terrain ripper.…