Yamaha say the MT-10 is the undisputed king of their hyper naked range. But if you ask me, or anyone else that’s ever ridden one, they’ll tell you it’s the undisputed king of wheelies. It’s a bike that everyone can pull wheelies on. Even if you can’t really wheelie, you’ll be able to on one of these. Or you certainly could on the old MT-10. Because Yamaha have just announced that the current MT-10 is about to relinquish the throne and hand it down to a leaner, meaner, more powerful king.
But you needn’t worry. Because by the sounds of it, the R1 powered wheelie weapon won’t have lost any of it’s character. In fact if anything, it sounds like they might have given it a an extra dose of crazy sauce. And they’ve injected most of it into the engine.
The 998cc CP4 crossplane engine was already pretty bonkers. Now though, it’s got an extra 6bhp (164bhp), so it’s even bonkers-er. But really, it wasn’t the power that made the old MT-10 so incredible to ride, it was the torque. And the way it punched the thing forward and lifted the front wheel in the air, no matter how fast you were going, or how fast the engine was spinning. A truly marvellous bike to ride.
Crank
And now, for 2022, they’ve given the MT-10 an even bigger mid-range boost. It’s got a heavier crank and conrods (to give the motor a more meaty feel); as well as altering the fuel injection settings, intake and exhaust pipe.
Another benefit, according to Yamaha, of the new intake and exhaust, is the sound the new MT-10 makes. They’ve actually ‘tuned’ the bikes roar by using intake ducts of different sizes, and incorporated a few ‘acoustic amplifier grills’ on the fuel tank, so the rider can enjoy it.
The new titanium exhaust has been designed to make sure everyone hears you too, accentuating the bikes uneven firing order.
The new MT-10 has, it seems, been brought nearer to the level of the old MT-10 SP, as far as the electronics go. It comes with the R1 style TFT dash, and the 6-axis IMU, so you have lean sensitive traction control, anti-wheelie, etc. There is a quickshifter as standard, and variable speed limiter, which might come in handy; because a bike like the MT-10 is quite easy to get carried away on.
Marmite
There has been a few changes to the MT-10s styling and ergonomics, but as you can see from the pictures, it still looks like an MT-10. For some people that’ll be great, for others it won’t. I think the MT-10 looks ace, but I know it’s visuals can divide opinion. I’ll leave that one up to you to decide.
The new MT-10 comes on fully adjustable KYB suspension front and rear and Bridgestone Battlax S22 tyres. And you get a new Brembo master cylinder, too.
We’re still waiting to hear how much the new 2022 version will cost (it’ll be announced mid-January). If I had to have a stab in the dark, I’d say it’ll be somewhere around the £13k mark. Maybe a touch more. It’ll come in three colour options, Cyan Storm, Icon Blue and Tech Black and they’re expecting dealers to have them in February. Please form an orderly queue.
One Response
I’ll be keeping my re-flashed MT-10SP thanks very much. Good to see they’ve got rid of the infinite number of small plastic panels, hope they moved the ignition/clutch cable as it is a challenge just to get the key in/out of the current model.