In a distant nebula beyond the galaxies lies a planet with no speed limit, populated by warlike machine beings that drive like executioners.
How Yamaha figured out what their bikes look like is a mystery.
One thing is certain: you now have something like this in your program.
The new MT-10 doesn't wear the mask of compassion, but that of a coldly programmed robot on an interstellar mission.
You can think what you want of this design.
In any case, it is bold, radical, unique.
It will provoke and polarize.
Walter Will
“Technology and Engine” editorial team
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What has been written up to this point has not been freshly thought up.
That was literally in the newspaper six years ago.
When we got to know the then new Yamaha MT-10 on the first test drives in spring 2016, these sentences went through our heads.
Today it can be said that this is still the case, nothing has changed.
The design of the MT-10 from 2016 was so pointed that it shows no signs of age.
It still works - science fiction without an expiry date.
The plan of the Japanese at the time was to really dare something to draw attention to themselves through extreme styling.
The motto was to attract attention at all costs, to stand out from the competition in the hotly contested class of undisguised sports motorcycles with a displacement of around one liter.
Did the plan work?
partly, partly.
If we interpret the statements of those responsible correctly, the sales figures were not bad, but also no cause for celebration.
In Germany, they mostly hovered around 500 pieces, with a peak of 904 in 2017. The weakest year was 2021 with 138 copies.
It is easy to predict that the values will move up again.
Because the MT-10 is now available for 15,000 euros plus 400 euros additional costs, freshly revised.
We experience the return of the Jedi riders.
The design, especially of the mask in front of the handlebars, continues to be galactic, perhaps a touch less jagged and aggressive than before.
But especially in the colors black and blue, the Yamaha still seems quite humorless.
Comparatively friendly and poppy, it comes across in the "Cyan Storm" finish.
Wheels and other accents in turquoise and traces of red - that's eye-catching and original.
The new nose and the LED position lights, which look like eyebrows, are striking on the face.
The machine is still believed to be capable of lasering a hole in the bodywork of the vehicle in front with its headlights.
Some unnecessary plastic bezels disappeared.
Yamaha has reworked the 998 cc in-line four-cylinder, based on that of the super sports car R1, in order to further trim the originally pointed, rev-hungry nature in the direction of punch in the middle of the rev range and driving pleasure under civilian conditions.
More flywheel mass, steel instead of titanium connecting rods, modifications to the injection system, intake and exhaust tract were among the means of choice.
The power increased from 160 to 166 hp at 11,500 rpm, the maximum torque is given as 112 Nm at 9,000 rpm.
The engine feels even more powerful
The engine remained true to itself with its character-defining, irregular firing order and its robust growl, but it now feels more powerful, that is our impression after the first 200-kilometer lap.
Even more intense than before is the impression of an extraordinarily direct, yet gentle engine response to driver commands.
Elements of telepathy between the gas hand and the crankshaft seem to play a role here.
The sporty, but comfortable, slightly different seating position contributes to the thrilling, but by no means rabid, experience.
This also applies to the noise behavior.
The MT-10 moves unobtrusively and with 94 dB stationary noise "Tyrol-compliant" through town and country.
Unobtrusively, only very discreetly, the nasty lurks in the background.
So that the driver still has a listening experience, the developers have created two barred openings on the top of the tank through which a rather horrible rumbling, caused by the air box, penetrates under load.
Analogue sound engineering, so to speak, intended to spare outsiders.
In addition, Yamaha claims to have reduced the fuel consumption of the motorcycle.
The old MT-10 drank terribly, seven, more like eight liters per 100 kilometers was the norm, as you can hear.
The new standard value is still considerable at 6.35 liters, but not quite as hair-raising.
For most of the other changes, Yamaha conforms to the class standard: 4.2-inch color screen in the cockpit, smartphone connectivity, shift assistant, six-axis sensor box, leaning traction control, wheelie, drift and engine brake assistance are offered.
The range of driving modes is greater, and they can also be configured individually to a large extent.
In addition to a standard cruise control, there is also a speed limiter, which can quickly pay off in the case of such a potent vehicle.
The fact that the indicators always have to be deactivated manually due to the lack of an automatic system and that the driving mode can only be changed when stationary is no longer the current state of affairs, but can be overcome.
But who screwed up the assembly of the horn?
The ugly thing hangs crooked and crooked below the carefully formed interstellar robot mask and disturbs the view.
Unforgivable.
It was probably not clear to those responsible that the MT-10 is actually from another planet.