Does Yamaha Make Motorcycles With Three-Cylinder Engines?

You might know the Yamaha name from iconic sports bikes like the YZF-R1 or the R6, both screaming four-cylinder performance bikes that are focused on racetrack performance — and rightfully so. The high-revving nature of four-cylinder engines has been synonymous with sport bikes for decades, powering icons like the R1 and rivals like the Honda CBR1000RR, Suzuki GSX-1000R, and the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. On the street and the racetrack, four-cylinder engines are extremely popular, with big revs, big power, and smooth acceleration. But four-cylinder engines aren't the only powerplants that can perform on a high level, though.

Yamaha also makes several bikes with three-cylinder engines, and there are a few performance motorcycles in the mix that might change your preconceived notions about triples. Yamaha's three-cylinder models date all the way back to the 1970s and bikes like the XS750 and XS850. Today, the company continues to produce several motorcycles with three-cylinder engines, in varying styles. There's an adventure bike, two street-friendly naked machines, and a relatively new full-fairing bike that has some pretty impressive performance of its own.

Yamaha currently offers four three-cylinder bikes across four different categories, all of which use a variant of the same CP3 engine. The CP3 is a crossplane crankshaft 890cc DOHC inline three-cylinder engine used in Yamaha's Tracer 9, MT-09, XSR900, and the all-new R9. So it's versatile to say the least. The Tracer 9 is part of Yamaha's lineup of adventure bikes, offering lots of ground clearance and plenty of hardware for comfortable long-distance rides. The MT-09 (and its higher-performance version, the MT-09 SP) is a sport-naked bike with street fighter styling, while the XSR900 offers cafe racer looks to capture a bit of nostalgia. And finally, there's the R9, which launched in 2024. The R9 is priced well below the range-topping R1, and while it lacks the liter bike's track-dominating performance numbers, it's still seriously well-equipped with a lot of gear meant to satisfy the quickest of riders.

Yamaha doesn't list horsepower numbers for its bikes, but a few outlets have put CP3-powered motorcycles on a dyno with impressive results. Cycle World put a 2022 XSR900 on the dyno to coincide with the CP3's bump from 847cc to 890cc. The enlarged engine made 105.97 horsepower and 63.49 lb-ft of torque, which is more than adequate for its class. Assuming the numbers are similar for other CP3 bikes, it'd also be enough to make the MT-09, Tracer 9, and R9 all competitive in their own classes — even up against some four-cylinder rivals.