Yamaha R9.

Mookie is a high school math teacher that loves the kids and stays working in the more difficult school districts, because he knows he reaches the kids and can make a difference. He is also a great dancer, music coordinator/DJ/wedding planner. The guy is pretty cool.

We met him in 07-08 timeframe when we were all running minis. Our first year racing Ty rode pocket bikes so we weren’t in any of the same classes until towards the middle of that first year when I bought Ty a NSR50 to race as well. Tyler was 11 when we started and there were lots of classes and good racers at SCMiniGp.

Mookie ran NSR, 65, 85 and later 150’s, etc. He ran all the classes and so did our boys as they were coming up.

2nd year racing I bought Joe Roberts KX65 flat racket/ motard and surprisingly still have that, because I kept it for me to play with. Joe upgraded to a metrakit with a KX65 engine in it, which was the hot setup.

During that 2nd year I still remember the 6 or 24 hour endurance race on NSR’s. Tyler and Jason Aguilar were teammates and Tyler passes Mookie on the straight. They were looking at each other and Ty started waving to Mookie. I think it was have the first time he passed Mookie (because all the kids were soooo much lighter). Bob Aguilar and I were watching it and everyone was cracking up.

The second or 3rd year Ty was racing a lot of classes and one of the goals at the beginning of the year was to collect as many championships in different classes as possible.

The stock NSR 50 class championship was filled with 10-15 NSR’s. Tyler won the first two rounds of the year. He was talking to Mookie about how it messed up his timing to go back and forth between the 65 and 85 with 17 inch wheels and the NSR 12’s.

After the second weekend Ty and Mookie came to talk about Tyler dropping out of the class.

All the boys looked up to Mookie, he was their coach. Tyler wanted him to help convince me that the NSR championship didn’t matter.

All of that is to say Mookie haa character and Really guided a bunch of the young racers out here in s cal., and yes Ty dropped out of the championship.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA53hsVRwnD/?igsh=MWFvamxvNWNnenNxcg==

 

Sounds like shit

 

$12,499

https://www.motorcycle.com/bikes/new-model-preview/2025-yamaha-r9-first-look-44609422

 

MT-09 56.3in wheelbase, 24.7deg rake, 4.3in trail
R9 55.9in wheelbase, 22.35deg rake, 3.7in trail
R6 54.1in wheelbase, 24deg rake, 3.8in trail

I'll have to do some photochop sleuthing to see if they pushed the motor forward to run a longer swingarm, or if it's the MT-09's with more angle...

 

MT09 swingarm

https://www.cyclenews.com/2024/10/article/2025-yamaha-yzf-r9-first-look-and-specs/

 

I'll give them props for developing what appears to be an all-new frame, even if the swingarm is the same as the MT-09.

I'm just not really sure who this bike is for.

 

R1 Forks and Brembos (It says model specific but they look identical)
R6 Wheels
MT09 Swingarm

 

This is the flagship for everyone living in a country where the R1 is now track only, no?

Also FWIW I don't think most street riders will notice where they might have cheaped out (swingarm) and instead focus on the Brembos, autoblipper, and rider aids which is all anyone seems to care about nowadays. The 'window sticker' list is plenty full, so to speak.

Be ready in a few years to see this in the Next Gen SBK replacement class, when leaders are finally gone for good.

 

What are the primary faults with the swingarm design?

 

From the motorcycle.com link above "
Torque

126 lb-ft. at 7,000 rpm"

??

 

It doesn’t look like a R6/R1 swingarm.

I joke, but the shape of the MT-09 arm is very reminiscent of old or cheap box swingarms so it’s immediately assumed to be too flexible and trash. Depending how they designed it, that doesn’t have to be the case but it is generally easier to to get a stiffer arm with a larger cross section or more complex shape.

 

Obviously for the very track focused people this isn't going to be a new R6 type bike. But in the current 'sport-ish' bike landscape, this is going to be about as good as it gets regarding track work. I think it looks great and am excited to see the general direction being taken.

 

Buy that one. Bad editing on their part, they have torque and HP mixed up.

 

Might be jumping the gun but has anyone tried to fit an r6 swingarm to an mt09? If it is garbage that could be a bandaid.

 

Shock and mounts are in completely different locations

 

Does EVERYTHING have to be in slow motion? Just show us the fucking bike.

 

It looks like a dirt bike swingarm