MT-10 Review

Part 1
Got in the saddle of my trusty old (ish) FZ1 and at 1 degree celsius and headed north to pick up my new ride. Long story short, after roughly 250km I got there, with my ass in good shape after riding the comfy couch.
Yada, yada, yada, handshake, and I'm the slightly scared owner of a slightly nervous new bike. I fill it up near the dealer and head for the freeway. In with first gear, then second, then "floor" it. The front wheel heads for the sky in a very predictable way and stays there for I don't know, 15-20 seconds. And the thing just keeps pulling and revving. Seeing that I'm headed for the shoulder I let it down harshly and ave my nuts crushed against the tank. "Ow, my balls" from that movie where everyone's got stupid popped into my head ..

So I decided to take it easy for a while, and start with looking at a slightly less aggressive mode. In with STD. And cruise control. Touched the clutch, and it cuts so abruptly, that I recall "ow my balls" again. Maybe I should skip the narrative and get down to some bullets.
- I had to stop after 100km because my ass was hurting like a m******er. That thing is hard like a rock, and my ass bones happened to be exactly on a freaking edge of the seat. Because it has a hard edge. I had a burger and a coffee, and just by looking at it through the window, the pain went away
- I decided that I'll ride in STD mode which is the least harsh when opening and closing the throttle (it's pretty much perfect) and TC mode 1, which allows big wheelies. You can pull small wheelies with TC mode 2 also.
- I found myself riding it at half throttle in 6th and just pinning it for overtakings. The thing just pulls, you don't need to shift, and I liked it. Going up the revs it just pulls harder and harder , it felt like it's joing to rip my arms off. And it doesn't stop untill you hit the rev limiter. Not that I hit the rev limiter, I let go a bit before I hit top speed. It's an animal.
- Going so fast I realized that the wind deflector is doing a pretty good job. I felt super comfortable at 130-140, even 150 km/h for longer periods, so touring is an option even without a screen. even 160 is ok if you lean forward a bit. That was a nice surprise.
- At those speeds moving your arms becomes a problem, they get caught in the wind , you need to keep them close to the body. Not a problem.
- my hands hit the stupid mirrors several times when waving to other riders. Not sure what to do about that, bar end mirrors could be even more in the way. The OEM mirrors are quite bad, but you get an idea of what's happening behind you. If you don't rev it, because then everything is a blur. Let's face it, it's not a touring bike.
- The fuel gage is so stupid I can't believe it. The first half is one bar. So either its full or almost half empty. Strap that guy to the fence Yamaha, and let the other guys throw tomatoes at him.
- Also, going that fast , every crack in the pavement I hit sent a shock to my spine. The suspension probably is completely wrongly setup. Take a couple of clicks of the compression damping I guesss. Otherwise the ride is quite plush, nothing like the sportbike-like BMW S1000R. Which by the way is a weapon. I'm happy with that, I like a plushy ride. How can it be plushy and harsh at the same time ?
- On one overtaking I pulled a wheelie from 130km/h in third gear. Absolutely controllable and non-dramatic. This engine and chassis makes it so easy, I can't believe it.
- flicking it side to side is so easy, much like the S1000, or any other REAL sportbike. This thing is going to be a blast on the B-roads. No more being afraid I won't make that corner. This is going to carve a groove in that pavement.
- Fuel consumption. I couldn't get it to do less than 7.3 L/100km average. It's quite thirsty. This is probably completely unimportant for the guys in the states, or Venezuela. I'll just pay and smile, I think. I'll see it like I'm paying extra for the larger grin on my face.
- The clutch is really easy to pull, I'm really happy about that. I used to get a lot of pain in my wrist after half a day.
- It vibrates when accelerating but mostly then. Otherwise I didn't feel any numbness during 3,5 hours of riding it home.
- Forget about passengers. Passenger seat is minimal, and pegs are super high. And it's probably going to flip over as soon as you accelerate.
- I think I'll have to get a link pipe to hear that big bang a little bit better.
- The biggest problem is the seat
Those last two will set me back another 500 USD/EUR

- it's a really good road bike.
- is it the perfect bike for you? Well, if you like to ride it like you stole it, then I'd say yes. Are you a hooligan? Yes again. If not, I'd think again, or maybe change the gearing so it doesn't wheelie all the time.
U don't get why yamaha won't do a touring bike on this platform. Just a top fairing with proper mirrors and optional side fairing. Hell, give me a top fairing with mirrors as an option and I'd probably buy it
 
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Looking good javahaxxor. Thanks for your review.
That's two of our regular posters that I know of who have bought MT10's.
Thanks.. I'll probably do a video once I buy some more gopro mounts. Although videos don't really give you the idea of what it's like to ride it. It's much better than what you see on YouTube

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Seat aside, how's the build quality? Is it as good as a typical Yamaha? I know that when I checked out the FZ-09, I found myself a bit surprised at the poor fit & finish.
 
My 2011 FZ1-SA had a better fit and finish. Well, I'd say perfect fit and finish. Except for the fact that the paint started peeling off the mirror arms.

The mt-10 is more like a KTM. Yamaha seems to be cutting costs in certain areas. It's like a Streetfighter, built from whatever parts you could buy off ebay. The mirror arms are cheap steel tube bent and screwed to the handlebars with 6-edge nuts. Looks cheap on a bike like this. The shape of the mirror casing looks cool, but looking in the mirror you see the edges of the glass, looking like it's badly cut or chipped. Like a china knock off. I'm starting to think this bike has rolled over and someone bought some parts from aliexpress

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Next up, ignition lock. It's worse than the one on the fz1, I find myself wiggling the key both in and out. The parking step is too close to Lock so it's too easy to turn the key all the way and find yourself with a flat battery.

Speaking of flat battery, mine seems to be barely coping with turning over the engine.

The plastic stuff around the tank squeaks, much like an Aprilia Tuono v4.

The seat doesn't seem to be correctly fitted since it moves around and is not only rock hard, but also has some edges exactly where the ass bones are

The dash plastic seems to be easily scratched mine looks a bit dull already. Maybe I can buff it with some carnauba wax or Autosol
The tail section looks very good, quality materials and finish, even the plastic flips that will eventually break. Or some punk is going to be envious and break them. I'm not getting a tail tidy, this looks sleek enough for me

Turn signals look sleek and modern, all fairing plastic stuff has good quality.
The regular handlebar controls are what you would expect from Yamaha, except for the cruise control button that looks like lifted off a 990 SMT, ready to fall out of the hole. Some of the dash lamps look like cheap china shit as well poorly lit and designed. Fortunately what you see most of the time looks quite good, the LCD squares are nicely tilted and unevenly sized creating the impression of something well designed, unlike the ugly Ericsson 688 8-bit-wit-star-in-middle look on the Ducatis

Also the Turn signal switch is buried too deep among other controls and not what I got used to from the fz1. Smaller and tucked in. Probably ok with summer gloves

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I guess you have to sacrifice some build quality for a ripping race-bed motor & high end chassis like that. I hope it stands up to long term use & abuse!
 
That is my main concern with the mt10, personally I dont like the looks, but the whole bike just feels plastic and cheap, and apparently it is as well. It is like its made out of a block of recycled plastic.
The fz1 on the contrary feels like it is made out of a solid block of aluminium. Very high quality feel everywhere.

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That is my main concern with the mt10, personally I dont like the looks, but the whole bike just feels plastic and cheap, and apparently it is as well. It is like its made out of a block of recycled plastic.
The fz1 on the contrary feels like it is made out of a solid block of aluminium. Very high quality feel everywhere.

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It's not that bad, just a few small details. The fz1 is a dinosaur in comparison. A very nice dino, but still. I was starting to feel the limitations of the chassis when riding the tight bends,. It's 10 years of know-how difference between the two. The mt-10 is roughly 15kg lighter also, that weight save has to come from somewhere, and even if I like the solid quality feel of the fz1 more, the mt is just in another league, and the hooligan character suites me more. And I love the transformer look

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No smoke from mine. Mine is stock exhaust for now. Probably going with the Akrapovic 3/4 system but waiting to see what else comes out this year
 
No smoke from mine. Mine is stock exhaust for now. Probably going with the Akrapovic 3/4 system but waiting to see what else comes out this year
Ok, no smoke.. I'm on stock too, but it's 5 degrees Celsius outside, so that could be a factor.. It smells like a lot of unburned gasoline. There's a picture a page back

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