PICS: ALESSIO BARBANTI. JONATHAN GODIN
If I were in charge of Yamaha (now there’s a worrying thought), a naked R1 would have been the first thoroughbred out of the new MT stable. We love the entire range of these self proclaimed Dark Side machines because Yamaha has gone outon a limb, taken risks and put some serious thought into whatare some brilliantly fun bikes. But – and with no disrespect to the MT-09 – in announcing a brave new range we wanted to see a genuine flagship model, a standard bearer for the series, a bench mark for competitors to try to rival. In short, a proper shit-kicker that looks scary and hilarious in equal measure – which anything with the R1’s irrepressible crossplane crank engine in would undoubtedly be.
But the Yamaha Motor Company of late has become an astute business, after years of conservative folly, and with the MT-09 leading the charge to motorcycling sales’ Jerusalem you can’t deny that the business plan has been spot on. Dealers have been empty after selling all their allocated MTs in whatever guise – to the tune of 65,000 of them in Europe alone. We’re animpatient lot, however, and as such have been waiting for a naked R1 for over half a dozen years now since the litre powerplant was given its new funny firing order back in 2009. Well, now the wait is over, the MT-10 has arrived – kicking and screaming – but has it been created with a face only a mother could love?