Yamaha MT-09 vs Triumph Street Triple 765 RS: Middleweight Naked War

The middleweight naked class is where most riders actually live, and no two bikes define its extremes better than these. The Yamaha MT-09 is the people’s champion — loud, torquey, keenly priced and gloriously unhinged. The Triumph Street Triple 765 RS is the connoisseur’s choice — sharper, more expensive and dripping with the kind of hardware you normally find on machines costing far more. Both use a three-cylinder engine, both weigh a shade under 200 kg, and both will humble far pricier metal on a good road.

Yet they feel like they were designed by people who would never agree on lunch, let alone motorcycles. One is a hooligan in a leather jacket; the other is a scalpel in a tailored suit. That is exactly why this fight is so instructive — it forces you to decide what kind of rider you really are before a single kilometre is covered.

Engine character

Yamaha’s 890cc CP3 triple is a masterclass in low-end thump. With 117 hp and a fat 93 Nm arriving early, it surges out of corners like a much bigger bike, all guttural bark and effortless roll-on. It feels naughty at every throttle opening, positively daring you to loft the front. Triumph’s 765cc unit, derived directly from the Moto2 spec engine, chases a different high: 128 hp at a lofty 12,000 rpm, a screaming top end and a crispness that rewards riders who love to rev right to the redline.

In the real world the Yamaha feels faster in the mid-range and lazier to ride, happy to lug from any gear on a lazy Sunday. The Triumph asks you to work the gearbox and wring it out, then repays you with a sweeter, more musical delivery and a top-end shriek that borders on addictive. The MT-09 is the more relaxing daily engine; the Street Triple is the more thrilling one when the road opens up.

Chassis and handling

Here the price gap shows itself. The Street Triple RS arrives with fully adjustable Showa forks, an Öhlins STX40 rear shock, Brembo Stylema calipers and sticky Pirelli rubber — a genuine track-ready specification straight from the crate. It steers with delicious precision and holds a line as if bolted to a rail. The MT-09 uses more modest KYB suspension that, while much improved on recent models, can feel busy and under-damped when you truly attack a bumpy back road at pace.