Yamaha boosted by MT-09 sales

YOU WOULDN'T think that October is a good month to sell motorcycles but Yamaha's MT-09 has been bucking the trend.

According to statistics released by the Motorcycle Industry Association, Yamaha's YBR125 tops the sales list for the 'Naked' category with 151 new bikes registered in October, however, 125cc motorcycle often obscure the real picture.

Yamaha's MT-09 ranks just below the YBR125 with 143 registered in October, showing that the £6,799 triple is hitting the mark with consumers.

The MT-09 leads the 651 - 1,000cc category on the MCIA chart, helping push Yamaha to second place in the 'Major Brands' sales chart, with 959 motorcycles registered in October. Honda lead the way with 1,126 motorcyles registered.

We spoke to Adam Kelley, Yamaha's General manager, Sales and Marketing, who said: "We're blown away by how popular the MT-09 is. We've made sure that every dealer has a demo bike so everyone can get a ride on one. The people who buy them are proving to be a real mix but if I had to pick a type, I'd say they're coming from sportsbikes, 600s and thousands, that are 4 or 5 years old."

The ABS model will be available in January 2014 and dealers are already taking deposits.