I recently purchased a very original 2016 Yamaha MT10 from good old Alf England in the Midlands (perhaps the best bike dealer in the world). This bike had been looked after and serviced really well over the years and although she had almost 50k kilometres on the clock really looks like a 2 year old bike.
The owner had made very few modifications indeed, even the exhaust system is the factory part. I have just fitted a small Puig screen to keep some of the wind blast off the rider but otherwise she had just a full service plus a new set of Michelin tyres before I picked her up from the shop at the end of 2023.
I had not really had the chance to use her until last week I needed to travel to Viterbo to visit my son, a trip of about 360 kms each way. I did not need to carry much so I just strapped a small bag to the rear seat and headed north. I chose to take a non motorway route as I had no real hurry or deadline so I took my time and enjoyed the scenery and the bike.
WHAT a wonderful riding experience, to say the least. The MT10 is certainly not a touring bike as she is based on the Yamaha R1 sports bike and uses a less powerful version of the same amazing crossplane engine, in the R1 this is good for over 200 horsepower and in the MT10 she produces about 160. And the fuel tank is only about 15 litres so I saw 200 kilometres from a full tank down to reserve whereas a tourer like the Yamaha FJR1300 carries 25 litres so can go far further on a full tank. I have owned an FJR and for covering long distances nothing comes close BUT they are big, heavy bikes.
When I rode the MT10 I forgot about such details as the sheer pleasure and the performance of this bike is amazing. The suspension is set up for fast riding and corners so is fairly harsh for normal roads, the engine is so powerful that when you ride slowly in traffic the water temperature runs very high but as soon as you can open this bike up a little then happy days!!!
Stunning bike thanks Yamaha and Martin!!
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