Yamaha tease MT-09 flat-tracker

Yamaha have released a new teaser film that introduces a Roland Sands built MT-09 flat-tracker, complete with yellow speed-block paintjob, tyre-shredding rolling burnouts, plenty of aggression, and ‘King’ Kenny Roberts making a menacing cameo.

Billed as Chapter 2 in the firm’s Faster Sons Yard Build series, the firm says it has “taken inspiration again from our unrivalled heritage, we went looking for more speed, more power and more fun.” The result is certainly the most attractive take yet on the MT-09 platform, taking all the taught skills of the cast frame, blending them with the sharp and aggressive 847cc inline triple, and adding an enormous dose of heritage branding. 

The first Faster Sons creation came from Shinya Kimura, and evolved into the XSR700, a new retro roadster underpinned by the rolling chassis of the CP2-engined MT-07. There’s no real doubt that the same game of tyre smoke and mirrors is being played out here, with the Sands creation acting as the aperitif to a full production version to be launched imminently in Milan, at the EICMA show.