Yamaha R9 Top Speed: How Fast Is The Motorcycle?

For years, Yamaha's YZF family of performance motorcycles has stood among the best when it comes to high-end performance. Whether you're an expert rider eager to set records on a race track, or an everyday rider looking to get into some speedy bikes, these sport bikes have got you covered. The company announced that a new addition would be joining the YZF family in 2025, and that time has finally come. The Yamaha YZF R9 is now available for fans to try out, which means people are eager to find out what it can do. 

Falling squarely between the R7 and the all-mighty YZF-R1, the R9 comes with a 890cc liquid-cooled inline three cylinder engine that produces 117 horsepower and 69 lb-ft of torque, which Yamaha has paired with a six-speed manual transmission. These numbers make the R9 a capable street bike that can take a few turns on a race track without breaking much of a sweat. 

While Yamaha hasn't officially released the bike's top speed, some riders, like Tareq and Gixxer brah on YouTube, have already recorded initial top speeds exceeding 150 miles per hour. Let's take a closer look at the bike and what it has to offer.

From the outset, the R9 presents itself as a genuine sportbike that not only embodies the aggressive look and feel for which the YZFs are known for, but also offers a level of comfort typically found in most everyday bikes used for exploring cities, taking trips around the countryside, and commuting to and from work. 

Several features have enabled the motorcycle to achieve this feat, from its seating position, which is less aggressive than what you would find in the R1, but still angled enough to give it that track feel, to its cruise control, which can afford you some downtime after testing the bike's limits.

As an agile bike built for speed, the R9 features Yamaha's advanced Deltabox gravity-cast aluminum frame, one of the lightest frames the company has ever made. The bike also has Brembo Stylema brake calipers, a Brembo radial master cylinder, and 320-millimeter dual front discs, in case you need to make a very quick stop. As for that 890cc engine, it is the same CP3 engine that appears in the 2024 Yamaha MT-09. Its bore and stroke measure 78.0 millimeters and 62.1 millimeters, respectively, with a compression ratio of 11.5:1. 

However, in the R9, it features a few unique changes, such as a different ECU tune and optimized gear ratios, designed to enhance the bike's performance in various situations. At the time of this writing, the Yamaha YZF R9 has a starting MSRP of $12,499, plus a $625 destination charge.