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Review: 2025 Yamaha YZF-R9

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2025 Yamaha YZF-R9

Putting the Fun Back Into Supersport The press briefing for the 2025 Yamaha YZF-R9 included constant reminders from the company brass that the newest R-model motorcycle is as much, if not more so, a high-performance street bike as it is a thoroughbred racer. It’s a conflicting sentiment, considering our

2025 Yamaha YZF-R9 Breaks Cover

2025 Yamaha YZF-R9 Breaks Cover

Utilizing the CP3 engine revealed at the Cologne motorcycle show in 2012 as a new three-cylinder engine, the YZF-R9 is more than a decade in the making. Sandwiched between its supersport brethren, the YZF-R1 ($18,999) and the YZF-R7 ($9,199), the fully-faired YZF-R9 fills the price and performance gap

RoadRUNNER's Favorite Motorcycles of 2024

A Year in Review

RoadRUNNER's Favorite Motorcycles of 2024

How many different types of motorcycles did you ride in 2024? Did your stable grow or shrink? What was your favorite bike of the year? Motorcycles are more than just vehicles for getting from point A to point B. They take us to places in style while also serving as

2024 Yamaha MT-09 SP: The True Master of Torque

Motorcycle Review

2024 Yamaha MT-09 SP: The True Master of Torque

It has been 10 years since Yamaha introduced the MT model line, and I first tested one in 2016 before the U.S. designation changed from FZ to the current one. I took the new 2024 MT-09 SP to the same roads on the Tennessee-North Carolina border, and it provided

2024 Yamaha MT-09

2024 Yamaha MT-09

The new fourth-generation 2024 Yamaha MT-09’s character is flat out a mirror of its rider. Are you reserved and domesticated? So is the MT-09. Are you feral and excitable? Well, so is the MT-09. Simply put, don’t fear it and don’t underestimate it. This hyper naked middleweight,

Review: 2024 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2024 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+

The sport-touring category is alive and well—but motorcycles don’t look like your dad’s Honda ST1300 anymore. The bikes in this segment have evolved, with more focus on sportiness and technology alongside a healthy dose of aggressive styling. If you’re a street rider who goes on trips,

2024 Yamaha Ténéré 700—Still Performing

2024 Yamaha Ténéré 700—Still Performing

For 2024, the Yamaha Ténéré 700 boasts a few upgrades for a nominal price increase of $300, from $10,499 to $10,799. Among the new features are a color TFT display, ABS that is switchable to the rear wheel or both wheels, an updated handlebar switch, and LED indicators.

Review: 2023 Yamaha XSR700

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2023 Yamaha XSR700

Curiosity, and maybe the feeling of perceived threat, compelled me to open the ChatGPT website. In the prompt field, I typed, “Write a 1,300-word first-person review of the 2023 Yamaha XSR700.” Within seconds, the artificial intelligence created a wordy compliment befitting the North Korean state news agency’s description

Yamaha Reveals the 2024 Model Range | RoadRUNNER Motorcycle Touring & Travel

Yamaha Reveals the 2024 Model Range

Yamaha recently announced its plans for its 2024 lineup. Fans of Japanese bikes will get to enjoy a whole new flagship sport tourer and an updated Ténéré 700. The highlight of the announcement is the 2024 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+. This brand-spanking-new sport touring machine features an impressive suite of

A Year in Review: Top Motorcycles of 2022 | RoadRUNNER Motorcycle Touring & Travel

A Year in Review

Top Motorcycles of 2022

From German baggers to Italian electric touring bikes, this year has been an interesting blend of new technologies. The stalwarts of our industry are refining models loved around the world while giving us a glimpse of battery and hydrogen-powered engines of the not-so-distant future. Traveling on two wheels is still

Yamaha Introduces New Y-Connect on Select 2023 Models | RoadRUNNER Motorcycle Touring & Travel

Yamaha Introduces New Y-Connect on Select 2023 Models

With connectivity becoming an evermore ubiquitous and essential aspect of modern life, motorcycle riders have increasingly begun to opt for the same connectivity with their motorcycling experience. To this end, Yamaha has announced its exclusive Yamaha Motorcycle Connect (Y-Connect), which provides smartphone connectivity while riding. The Y-Connect will make its

Motorcycle Review: 2022 Yamaha MT-10 | RoadRUNNER Magazine

Review: 2022 Yamaha MT-10

Getting Randy with Torque In the popular mind, southern California is the home of the motorcycle industry. Sure, there’s BMW Motorrad headquartered in New Jersey, Triumph in Atlanta, and the American brands up by the lakes, but most other OEMs all called southern California home. Without a doubt, the

Review: 2022 Yamaha XSR900

Motorcycle Review

Review: 2022 Yamaha XSR900

The first small turn of the throttle as the XSR900 warmed up served as an enticing preview of what the new Yamaha had in store beneath its retro-styled aesthetics. The high-performance CP3 cross-plane triple-cylinder configuration of its engine possesses an enthralling sound and a quick-revving demeanor. Once underway, the bike’

2021 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT—Motorcycle Review

Review: 2021 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT

> Hwy 2 connects what Los Angeles used to be with what it is today, cutting a confused line through dozens of disparate neighborhoods as it climbs from the Santa Monica coast to the high desert, past seven-figure homes and the glowing edges of the Sunset Strip. On the way,

Yamaha Ténéré 700 vs KTM 990 Adventure

Comparison: Yamaha Ténéré 700 vs KTM 990 Adventure

> There are varying approaches to designing a motorcycle, and naturally, there are people that prefer each approach. Some prefer sport bikes, while others prefer cruisers, but regardless of the flavor, it’s becoming common to see motorcycles equipped with more and more technology. Many are equipped with a slew

2021 Yamaha Ténéré 700 Motorcycle Review

Review: 2021 Yamaha Ténéré 700

New Standard for Adventure Research and development for a new motorcycle takes several years. OEMs usually give us a few months’, maybe even a year’s heads-up about a new model. Yamaha went against the grain and announced the Ténéré 700, or T7, four years ago, right around the same

Review: 2020 Yamaha MT-03

Review: 2020 Yamaha MT-03

Revving for Your Youth > Our senior readers (ahem—no offense) will recall the thrills Yamaha delivered in small displacement motorcycles through the late ’70s and into the ’80s. Lightweight twins were quickly tweaked, raced, and became a key part of our culture. In fact, the new 2020 Yamaha MT-03

2020 Yamaha MT-03

2020 Yamaha MT-03

Yamaha has released a stylish new naked sports motorcycle to appeal to junior riders. The MT-03 takes the bones of the YZF-R3 sportbike and repackages them into this sassy new model. Its aggressive, mass-forward appearance gives the MT-03 a leg up over some of its mundane-looking competition. A centrally located

2019 Yamaha Niken GT Motorcycle Review

Review: 2019 Yamaha Niken GT

Two Swords > Few motorcycles elicit such strong emotional responses from riders and nonriders alike. Whether it’s interest, confusion, anger, or excitement, I was on the receiving end of the whole range while testing the Yamaha Niken GT over a two-day period on the wet roads of California’s

2019 Yamaha Tracer 900 GT: Triple-Powered Sport-Tourer

Review: 2019 Yamaha Tracer 900 GT

Triple-Powered Sport-Tourer > Ahead of me, a runaway train of 2019 Yamaha Tracer 900 GTs barrels up the winding road. I’m wringing out second gear in between connecting corners to keep up, the screech of the bike’s inline triple reaching its highest register. Wind River Road is ideal

Review: 2018 Yamaha Star Venture vs. 2018 Honda Gold Wing

Review: 2018 Yamaha Star Venture vs. 2018 Honda Gold Wing

> Transcontinental touring has become a significant category in motorcycling, so named to describe the many two-wheeled wanderers out there who lean toward long-haul, high-mileage outings. To accommodate this free-spirited mindset, Honda and Yamaha have steadily refined the machines in their respective luxury stables, producing two motorcycles which, though designed

Review: 2018 Star Venture

Review: 2018 Star Venture

Tradition Meets the Future > 2018 will be remembered as the year Yamaha unveiled a new range of luxury touring in the form of the Star Venture. The bike is a deliberate cross between tradition and modernity with an alluring mix of big bore V-twin character augmented with the latest

Review: 2018 Yamaha Star Eluder

Review: 2018 Yamaha Star Eluder

Eluding Convention > Elude: to evade or escape from, as by daring, cleverness, or skill. The allure of escape has always been synonymous with motorcycles. The appointed destination of any trip often holds less importance than the act of traveling the roads between points A and B. A motorcycle will

2017 Yamaha FZ-10 Motorcycle Review

Review: 2017 Yamaha FZ-10

Activate Your Fazer > Yamaha’s FZ1 has had a good run since 2001, but it has been replaced by the FZ-10 this year. Still, with a YZF-R1-based engine at the center, the most notable change is a visual one. This doesn’t look like your dad’s FZ1. Welcome

Review: 2016 Yamaha XSR900

Review: 2016 Yamaha XSR900

> With its latest XSR900 model, Yamaha has spawned an exciting sibling from the FZ-09, one with a neo-retro look that’ll make you nostalgic for the ‘70s. Two Wheels, Three Cylinders, High Fives! The reason for the XSR900’s styling is to appeal to young—and young at heart—