Yamaha India big bike plans delayed but still on

For more than a couple of years, we’ve reported that Yamaha plans to launch a number of big bikes in India from its two- and three-cylinder families. We even got to ride the new-gen MT-09 in Japan last year, but it still hasn’t launched in India. We now have an explanation for the delays.

1. Yamaha to launch 700cc and 900cc big bikes in India
2. Will come in as CBU imports
3. Bikes like R7, MT07, MT09 on the cards but no Tenere 700

Yamaha India working on bringing big bikes 

All bikes sold in India must be E20-compliant by October 2025

In a recent interaction with Yamaha India’s new MD and chairman, Itaru Otani, we learned that Yamaha has not cancelled its plans to launch select big bikes in India. The company told us that the delays have occurred because of the new E20 regulations, which state that all bikes must be compliant with E20 petrol by October 2025. As these regulations are not yet widespread in global markets, Yamaha’s big bike line-up is currently not E20-compliant.

However, Yamaha says it already has the technology in place and that it’s simply a matter of time before these bikes are ready for our market. We’ve also been told that the bikes are currently in the homologation process, which means the launch hopefully isn’t too far away.

While the exact list of bikes that will launch in India is still unclear, they will be from the 07 and 09 families. This includes the likes of the Yamaha MT-07, R7, MT-09 and the new Yamaha R9. A Yamaha Tenere 700 India launch doesn’t seem very likely, as the company has previously expressed concerns regarding its seat height.

The Yamaha R7 and MT-07 use the company’s revered 689cc parallel twin engine, while the MT-09 and R9 use an 890cc three-cylinder engine that produces 119hp.