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Best Tyres for the Yamaha MT09

Yamaha MT09 drivers have left 10 tyre reviews on Tyre Reviews, covering 17,805 miles of real world driving. Every tyre they rated is ranked below, so you can see what actually works on this car.

  • 10owner reviews
  • 17,805 milescovered on them
  • 7different tyres rated
  • 80%average tyre score
Most fitted size - 6 reviews 180/55 R17 To scale, mm
Ø 630 180 99 17" 99 All 180/55 R17 data →

The quick answer

The quick answer - Yamaha MT09
Season Owners' pick Owner rating Our category test
Summer Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22 7.6 71% from 3 reviews Best Summer Tyres

Highest weighted owner score from Yamaha MT09 drivers. Full rankings and the evidence behind them below.

The best rated tyres for the Yamaha MT09

Rated only by drivers of this car. Each tyre needs at least 3 reviews from the Yamaha MT09 to be ranked; the order weights a tyre's score by how many reviews back it, so one glowing review cannot top a table.

Summer tyres

The highest rated tyre in the Summer category for the Yamaha MT09 is the Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22 - 71% from 3 owner reviews across 6,500 miles.

Summer tyres ranked by Yamaha MT09 owner rating
# Tyre Owner rating Reviews Distance reviewed TR Score
1 Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22 71% 3 6,500 miles 7.6

Want test data as well as owner opinion? Best Summer Tyres →

TR Score is the tyre's overall Tyre Reviews rating out of 10, built from independent test results and every owner review of that tyre - not just the reviews from this car. The owner rating column is this car only.

The best rated tyres that fit the Yamaha MT09

The rankings above can only speak for tyres a Yamaha MT09 driver has already reviewed. These are the highest rated tyres we hold that are actually manufactured in the sizes these drivers run - 180/55 R17 - whether or not anyone here has fitted them yet. They are ranked on the TR Score, which is built from independent test results and every owner review of that tyre.

Summer tyres

Our highest rated tyre in the Summer category, in this car's sizes, is the Bridgestone Battlax BT 023, at 8.7 out of 10.

Highest rated Summer tyres made in Yamaha MT09 sizes
# Tyre TR Score Made in Yamaha MT09 reviews
1 Bridgestone Battlax BT 023 8.7 All your sizes 1

Want test data as well as owner opinion? Best Summer Tyres →

Fitment comes from each tyre's manufactured size list, and the sizes are the ones drivers reported when they reviewed. Check the size, load index and speed rating on your own doorplate before buying - a size a previous owner ran is not always the size your car left the factory on.

Every tyre reviewed on the Yamaha MT09

The complete record, including discontinued tyres and tyres with too few reviews to rank, ordered by the amount of evidence. A further 5 tyres have a single review each; they count toward the totals but are not listed.

All tyres reviewed by Yamaha MT09 drivers
Tyre Season Owner rating Reviews Distance reviewed
Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22 Summer 71% 3 6,500 miles
Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S23 Summer 76% 2 4,100 miles

Tyre sizes Yamaha MT09 drivers run

The sizes fitted in the reviews on this page. Each one links to the top rated tyres in that size, across every car.

What Yamaha MT09 drivers say

The most recent owner reviews from this car, in their own words.

71%
Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S23 180-55-17 Yamaha MT09 350 miles October 2, 2026

Very early on a set of Bridgestone S23s on an MT-09. 120/70ZR17 front, 180/55ZR17 rear. So far they've been pretty acceptable in the dry, a little terrifying in the wet. No issue with noise; they're quieter than the engine and wind. I don't have other moto tires to compare against. (When they wear out, I intend to replace them with Michelin Road 6s.)

74%
Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22 185-55-17 Yamaha MT09 3,000 miles March 16, 2026
The tire itself is fine, with great grip, easy side to side transition, great braking.
Handling in the wet is quite good, almost sport touring like.
The main problem is wear. On my first set, I managed 3050 miles out of the rear and on the second set, around 2800 miles, after paying a suspension specialist to dial in the settings.

In comparison to Pirelli Rosso IVs, I would place this ones as slower to turn in, but steadier at lean, with somewhat less squirm while transitioning from upright to lean. Braking is on par, acceleration grip might even be better on S22s then on Rosso IV.
80%
Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S23 180-55-17 Yamaha MT09 3,750 miles January 1, 2026
Great all round tyre, with very nice feedback front and rear, you really feel the road and what the tyre is doing as you are pushing it.
Grip levels really come up after just a couple of corners and never feels like its running out of grip, more like it gently encourages you to keep on exploring its capabilities.

Fantastic under breaking, even in the oh crap moments coming into a corner a bit harder than you intended, it responds to the change in direction and then hugs the corners nicely.

I have got a very respectable 6000km out of the rear which is now completely smooth in the whole middle section and only a little bit of grooves are left on the outsides, lots of scuffing present in the last 500 km most likely from excessively hard riding in very twisty country roads of varied condition. (For those that know River Road from sackville to wiseman ferry , Putty Road and the trip to Middle Mangrove will understand what I mean)

It really loves to be pushed, and you can easily find yourself right down to the pegs gunning it many times faster than the posted speed and these tyres keep asking for more, and no signs of fade present. Even at speeds over 200 it feels nice and grippy on the roads.

In the wet it has ample grip when ridden sensibly, and when nice and warm it gives a clear indication as it approaches grip limits in corners before beginning to slide around a bit but is easily manageable with throttle adjustment.

I'm sure if it was ridden in a more ordinary manner it would last considerably longer than the 6000km I have achieved with it, but if you do like to really push it then I think that's a respectable mileage for some very hard riding.

Also of note, it's done about 200km of off-road riding and it was very comfortable and provided decent levels of precision and traction with sensible adjustments to throttle and brakes and felt comfortable enough to blast past adventure riders with more all terrain focused tyres without issue.
69%
Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22 180-55-17 Yamaha MT09 3,000 miles December 14, 2025
Used one front and two rears.
Downsides: Wear and edge grip when cold. Occasional unexpected loss of traction on white lines, in the dry.
Upsides: Very responsive, very good levels of grip. When warmed up, impressive braking distance. Sidewall flex is very consistent. When the temperature allows, can be pushed to the utmost edge.

Maybe better for something with less torque.
89%
Metzeler SPORTEC M7 RR 180-55-17- Yamaha MT09 July 28, 2024
M7RR are the best pair new as a set tires i have ever had the experience to use. Simply amazing! Im an old school rider and the tech jump from the yesteryear of bias ply to raidials is unquestionably the biggest advance in motorcycles i have seen in my liftime. I am on my 5th set and second bike using these tires originally a 03 Yzf R1 and now a 2018 MT-09! I have zero complaints and have even hit a 2x4 lumber at full lean knee down carving hard when this scrap wood came into view and I was completely convinced that my great day riding was coming to a very soon end. I would like to say that i let up and accepted of my fate but the truth is I did absolutely nothing except completely except my fate and what was very soon to come but to my most unbelievable suprize the M7RR couldn't have ran over that piece of scrap lumber any better had the motorcycle been standing straight up and down in a straight line! Now maybe had i done something like let up it may have been a very different senerio i truely dont know, my suspect is that it wouldnt have seen to matter much as these tires are clearly going to see to out perform of anything you can see to dishing out to them. I am a hard rider not the best at anything mind you but i am rough on shit and my bikes, sleds, cars, and trucks are no exceptions as I try to save that for the ladies! I at this point probably would have and have been meaning to see how much better the M9RR's could possibly see to be! I havent had the opportunity to be able to find them as a set at of the times ive been purchasing new tires and at the moment im not finding M7RR's or the M9RR's in a matching set i can get front or rear of either or the other I may indeed see to be chased off of metzeler this round in favor of being able to run a set that were designed to be used with one another from another brand. The sheer engineering advancement ive myself been witness too by these great tires has me 100% willing to do as the engineers say replace them together at the same time irregardless of wear to one or the other and use them as the sets they were intended to be and so far i certainly can not complain! I did try swapping out 2 rears to salvage the life of a front and while it didnt see to hand me my demise. I never did have the same level of pretty much the entire second rear tires life just in every aspect of tires it just wasnt the same i didnt recieve of the same feed back from them they were not as confidence inspireing the bike in the second half of the front tires life didnt repel of slight tracking of the tire groves in the roads much like bias ply truck tires do at least not like the life of a new matched set do! I have a few places that I ride where you can really evaluate a set of tires as to how they react to the road or if they are truely top notch and performing as they should in the life of a new set for the full life of the back tire will see to experience zero tracking due to the the shape of the road as the tires are completely responsive to rider inputs and see to go only when and where you tell of them to completely eliminating of the surface determining where your path of travel will see to be and that is what ive learned about the difference between a matched pair for the life of pair vs mix and match and to be honest there is just so many variables by simply comitting to ride a motorcycle on public roads much less at the demanding levels that ive been known to put of my bikes under is that little bit gonna be make or brake of it for me? Or am I not a capable enough of a rider to see and easily compensate for such a minor difference in performance? Well it does cost more and im a pretty evaluationaly logicail guy sometimes to a bit of the extreme. The way i see it is that i love to ride and with the likes of the M7RR If i walk up to my bike after work on a cold wet morning or a smoking hot mid summer day that ive been pushing the hell out of them. The bottom line is I'd rather pay for what ever i may to have the peace of mind to know that the tires are going to be up to the task of allowing the bike to do whatever and whenever i may see to demand of from it at any given time! I will see to pay whatever they may see to ask if the tires continue to deliver on that level of a performance standard. Ive seen my riding improve due to possibly just miles aboard and my abilities to demand of the bike unknowly increase to more and more like finding myself walking the rear around into corners and able to ask of all one can stronger and stronger out of the exits of turns! Not to mention my tendancies to place of the entire demand of both of the tires indavidually for extended distances far more often than i probably should. Thus far i have found of not a single thing that i would see to complain about M7RR's when used as they are designed to be. Great job Metzeler Elephants like me will certainly not soon forget of the tires that you saw to provided of me. Thank you, many smiles never enough miles earned!!! Cheers,
William B. Rodman VI
Ride On...
69%
Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22 170-70-17- Yamaha MT09 500 miles April 10, 2023
S22 OEM mt09sp is a fab tire for fast sport riders but boy do they wear fast, I have owned bike 3 years and went through 2 rears and one front in 5000 miles the center flat spots real fast on the rear with noticeable wear after 500 miles and the front shows good tred but road camber flat spots on tire makes it a bit disappointing as you would expect the tire to wear more even another issue is wet grip they never felt capable in damp or consent rain conditions I think due to tread pattern, they can't clear water fast enough, for that point I'm not putting these back on the bike as better harder wearing black hoops out there now
96%
Michelin Power GP 180-55-17- Yamaha MT09 200 miles June 18, 2020
I had the Power RS's on my 2013 Yamaha MT 09, and they were outstanding compared with the previous 2 makes I had tried before. Now they are on my 2018 MT 09. These Power GP's are a least a step up from the power RS's if not more. I ran them in on two ride outs, and they had amazing grip from the get go. Halfway into the first ride, they were so sure footed that I actually forgot that I was running them in. I didn't go at silly speeds about 50/70 ish, with no sharp acceleration and no hard braking. Now they are giving me so much confidence (especially the front end feel ) that I am just relaxing into the ride and enjoying it more.. Now they are run in, they track corners with you head direction. IE, as you turn your head to look through the bend for the exit the bike follows your where you are looking. Also on a long slow ish bend I tried tightening and opening my line with counter steer, and the bike just went with my inputs no more no less. To finish up the score of 8 for the wet grip, is from my experience with the RS's. As I havn't got caught out in the rain yet with the GP's. I hope this helps you to give them a try. I honestly think these are the best tyres I have ever ridden on. I have been riding on and off since the 1963, with Drum Brakes and Cross Ply Tyres Stan
90%
Bridgestone Battlax BT 023 225-45-17- Yamaha MT09 4,000 miles July 30, 2019
Got them on my MT-09 and i love the tyres and i would definitely buy them over the Michelin Road 5 as for me they seem much better than the Michelin Road 5.
73%
Bridgestone S20 180-55-17- Yamaha MT09 3,000 miles April 27, 2015
Very very similar to BT016. Not worth the extra money. No fault to be found in grip wet or dry and they are all the tyre you could ask for except.... Started going square around 2000 miles and by 3000 miles they are now on the wear bars.

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Every rating on this page was submitted by a driver through the review form on this site, naming the car, the tyre, the size and the distance covered. Reviews are checked by hand before publication, and the page rebuilds automatically as new ones arrive.

About the TR Score

The Tyre Reviews Score rates each tyre out of 10 using independent test results and the full body of owner reviews, so you can check a car-specific ranking against the wider evidence.

Who does the testing

Every test published as a Tyre Reviews test is run by Jonathan Benson, who has been testing tyres independently since 2007.

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