THE BRADLEY REPORT
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THE BRADLEY REPORT
NEWS
BRIEFS
Lin Jarvis , the head of Yamaha Racing , has confirmed that the company is working on a V4 to replace its ' crossplane ' inline four in MotoGP . The move is ahead of rule changes for the 2027 reason , but the new platform will likely hit the track a year earlier . In recent seasons , a once premier class dominant Yamaha has " had it handed to it " by competitors running V4 architecture . The potential for a street version hasn ' t been lost either , as it would allow Yamaha to meet Euro 5 emissions regulations and end the R1 sub-brand ' s track-only retirement .
According to reports in several Japanese newspapers , including the Japan Times , Yamaha Motor president Yoshihiro Hidaka and his daughter Hana were involved in what appears to have been a domestic incident at their home in Iwata , Shizuoka Prefecture , Japan . Hana is said to have called the Shizuoka prefectural police department to report that she had been beaten by her father . The police are reported to have visited their home , but no action was taken . Later that night , Hana allegedly slashed her father on the left arm with a kitchen knife . It was after this incident that police visited the home again and arrested Hana as an attempted murder suspect . Her father reportedly sustained a minor injury ( RideApart ).
An estimated 180,000 motorcyclists gathered at the Our Lady of Fatima shrine in central Portugal on September 22 for the ninth annual Pilgrimage of the Blessing of Helmets . Carlos Cabecinhas , the rector of the Sanctuary of Fatima , said the event has steadily increased in prominence - renowned for its conviviality as well as its shows of devotion . This year ' s turnout was the largest ever and started with the parade of a group of motorcyclists carrying Our Lady of Fatima ' s statue next to the Basilica of the Holy Trinity , followed by a Mass during which the bikers ' helmets were blessed .
Three-cylinder Yamaha , finally ! By Ben Purvis
From the moment Yamaha introduced the original MT-09 in 2014 powered by a charismatic three-cylinder engine , there ' s been a chorus of calls for a fullfaired sports bike version . The time has now come , and for 2025 the R9 Triple steps in as the company ' s lead offering in road-going sports bike terms . It ' s not simply a faired version of the MT-09 , either - the R9 might share the naked bike ' s three-cylinder engine , but it gains a purpose-made cast aluminium Deltabox chassis that ' s specifically designed for the sports bike . The company says that the torsional , lateral and longitudinal rigidity are tuned to the R9 ' s requirements , and the resulting chassis is its lightest yet on a sports bike , clocking in at just 9.7 kg . That helps keep the bike ' s overall weight down to an impressive 195 kg including fuel , just 2 kg more than the naked MT-09 . To that frame , Yamaha has bolted KYB front and rear suspension , and both the 43 mm fully upside-down forks and rear monoshock are fully adjustable for compression and rebound damping . Brembo provides the brakes in the form of Stylema four-pot radial calipers along with a matching master cylinder , and there ' s a six-axis inertial measurement unit to enable cornering ABS with modes including a track setting that disengages the antilock on the rear brake . The chassis might be new , but the engine is familiar . Despite changes to the electronics and gearing to suit the R9 , the 890 cc triple is mechanically identical to the MT-09 ' s , with an unchanged bore and stroke and the same 11.5:1 compression ratio . Peak power remains 119 PS / 87.5 kW at 10,000 rpm and max . torque is still 93
Nm at 7,000 rpm . Those figures might seem weak compared to the 200- horsepower-plus litre Superbikes seen elsewhere , but the R9 is really more of a replacement for the R6 and gives Yamaha a four-tier ' R ' range , starting with the learner-legal R125 , rising to the R3 , then the R7 and topping out at the R9 . The power , torque and weight , it ' s worth noting , are roughly on a par with the original Honda Fireblade , so it should be no slouch . That performance is governed by a
2025 R9
top-tier suite of electronics , including cornering traction control , slide control , wheelie control , engine braking control and launch control , along with an array of riding modes . These are made up of three standard settings - Sport , Street and Rain - plus two rider-configurable presets and four track settings . These can be picked from the 5 in colour TFT dash via new bar controls , or you can use the Yamaha MyRide smartphone app to tweak them even when you ' re away from the bike .
2025 R3
XX INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2024