YAMAHA may be about to unleash a new sports bike as rumours from within Japan point to a possible partially faired machine based on the MT-09 naked motorcycle.
The bike, shown in the rendering above, is rumoured to be taking on the FZ moniker, something we’ve not seen in the UK since the part faired sports bikes of the 80s and 90s. It relies heavily on the MT-09 chassis and engine, although features a retro-inspired bodywork very in keeping with current trends.
The bike would join the like of the Suzuki Katana, Honda CB650R, Kawasaki Z900 RS, and the firm’s own XSR900 in the popular mid-weight retro sector.
As the bike shown would only need minor tweaks over the existing MT-09, the chances of the machine making it to production are quite strong. The only real stumbling block is whether or not Yamaha can be convinced that there is a place in the market for a machine of this type. From following threads and reading the comments over on the Visordown YouTube channel, a sporty faired machine with around 115bhp and that lovely CP3 engine, it seems that many people would like to see a machine like this make it to production.
The Yamaha MT-09 that the retro machine could be based upon
While we have to stress, the image above is a rendering from the well-respected Japanese motorcycle magazine Young Machine, they are known for being eerily accurate when it comes to predicting manufacturer’s incoming models. The team at YM is widely thought to be fed the inside line on new models from staff within the factory. While the final look of the machine may differ from the image above, it’s a fairly safe bet that a bike along those lines is being worked on in one way or another.
