#Yamaha

When I first set out to modify Yamaha’s MT-10 SP, the mission was to prove what we say here at MO all the time: that simple mods can transform a motorcycle. All I did was change the brake pads and rotors, swap out the exhaust, and reflash the ECU. After that was said and done, this new and improved MT-10 really is a blast to ride – and it all happened for under $1000. I really didn’t need the rotors either, so that could have saved an extra couple hundred bucks.

Scam or steal? You decide.

Astute readers are probably wondering why Motorcycle.com is publishing a First Ride of a bike that’s not coming to the States this model year. Our reasoning is that, thanks to the sleuthing of Dennis Chung, we suspect the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+ will be coming to the U.S. in 2024. (Read about it here.) So, we thought our fellow MOrons might be as interested as we are in how well the new technology incorporated into the GT+ performs. We hope you enjoy this taste of what it has to offer. –EB

Last November, Yamaha Motor Europe revealed a new Tracer 9 GT+ at EICMA, a new version of its Triple-powered sport tourer equipped with a 7-inch TFT display, adaptive cruise control, and a radar-linked unified braking system.

Yamaha Motor USA, however, remained quiet about it, and we later learned the Tracer 9 GT+ was not coming to the States for 2023. In fact, even the less techy regular Tracer 9 was left out of Yamaha Motor USA’s returning model announcements.

The opinions expressed by Mr. Allen do not reflect the views of the editorial staff here at Motorcycle.com. In fact, we would be surprised if they reflect the views of anyone remotely familiar with the sport.

Grand prix motorcycle racing – MotoGP to aficionados – is a Eurocentric parlor game for the rich and not-so-famous. It involves undersized riders holding on for dear life to 1000cc bikes with astonishing power-to-weight ratios on road courses at venues on four continents, several of which are in countries one is not anxious to visit. It is almost impossible to find on American television. Riders receive trophies for finishing third. It is the little brother of F1. It is NASCAR’s mentally challenged foreign cousin.

However, for the few of you still reading, at its best, MotoGP is the best racing on the planet, a series of hair-raising encounters between riders and machines traveling at well over 100 mph in unbanked turns, separated by inches, with the difference between winning and not winning often measured in a few thousandths of a second. (By comparison, the autonomic blink of an eye takes around 100 milliseconds.)

It’s been about a month since we introduced Motorcycle.com’s 2022 Yamaha MT-10 SP semi-long-term project bike. In case you forgot the premise of this whole thing, Yamaha offered us the opportunity to hang on to an MT-10 SP for an extended period of time, and since I have a soft spot for the bike, I decided to give it some tasteful upgrades to address some key weaknesses while also unleashing some trapped potential. The point here is two-fold: first is to see what the bike could do with some simple upgrades. Second is to not break the bank while doing so because otherwise, you could easily go buy one of the European competitors that would probably still spank this MT, stock. 

In the past month I’ve installed the upgrades and even taken the trusty MT to the track and ridden it on the streets a little. Read on to get my take on each upgrade, ranging from ease of installation to real-world impressions.

Long-term test bikes aren’t something we normally do here at Motorcycle.com, but when Yamaha’s PR guy Gerrad Capley said I could take the MT-10 SP home after the press intro, it was an offer that was hard to resist. When I asked him how long I could have it, he basically shrugged his shoulders and winked. “Can I modify it?” I asked. “Only if you give it back to us in stock form,” he said. Just like that, I dashed away with an MT-10 SP for an indefinite amount of time. Nice.

If you bothered to read deep into the comments section of my 2022 Yamaha MT-10 SP First Ride review, you might have seen that I was going to do something like this. I suppose putting it in writing with its own post makes it official. The plan is to put some miles on it, obviously, but also to add some bang-for-the-buck modifications to really extract the most out of it without getting too crazy. I also don’t want to price this thing into the category of some of its European competitors, which in stock form would still be better than the MT anyway. And since the bike is predominantly going to be in my hands, it’s going to see a life filled with racetrack miles to go along with the miles spent on the freeway and canyons. But since the MT will be ridden in between other test bikes floating around here at MO, don’t expect to see mega miles or maintenance along the way. Although, if the bike does require any unplanned repairs, that’ll be noted in future installments. 

Allow me to say it before you do: this is cheating. I know. The Ducati Streetfighter V4 SP is bonkers. And while it technically meets our rules of being available for purchase by the time of posting, it also kinda doesn’t because each of these were spoken for within a week of its release. Sorry.

So, yes, the Streetfighter’s a bit of a joker in the deck, but hey – it meets our rules and it’s one hell of a motorcycle. Then again, it better be. I’ve written about the 1103cc V4 more times than I can count, but it seems like no amount of writing about it can express how bloody quick this thing is. With 200-ish horses (depending on how you have it configured) it’s anything but slow, and the top-shelf Öhlins suspension does a masterful job of damping all the vibes. But the icing on the cake is the inclusion of carbon fiber wheels.

In theory, we all know the benefits of reducing the amount of rotating mass underneath you, but to actually experience it in person can be a shock to the senses. Every aspect of performance – acceleration, braking, handling – is just that Nth degree better. I know this because I was fortunate enough to ride a standard Streetfighter V4S alongside the SP. It leaps out of corners with more thrust, flicks from side to side with more ease, and scrubs off speed with more purpose. And that’s before we get into how well integrated all the electronic systems enhance the riding experience. But I think you get the point. All in all, it’s everything you expect a nearly $40,000 motorcycle to be.

Maybe this is cheating. Maybe it’s not. But we couldn’t not give the Ducati Streetfighter V4 SP some love.

Frankly the first modern-era Triumph to wear the legendary Speed Twin moniker was a tad disappointing when it rolled down the skids for 2020. All was forgiven, though, when Triumph made it all right with the 2022 version. The weedy suspension components of the first bike (which, in fairness, may have been more period-correct) gave way to a new, 43mm inverted Marzocchi fork brandishing radial-mount Brembo M50 monobloc calipers squeezing bigger, 320mm discs. A pair of “higher-spec” shocks brought up the rear. New lightweight 12-spoke cast wheels rolled onto the scene, shod with Metzeler RR Racetec rubber.

2022 Triumph Speed Twin Review

In making the bike cleaner for Euro 5, Triumph threw in a few more horsepower – 91 in total, on the Rottweiler Performance Dynojet, and 74.5 lb-ft of torque – via a bump in compression, a lightened crank, a new camshaft… That’s plenteous power for a “retro,” and all of it safely deployed via three ride modes: rain, road, and sport. Add all the new stuff up, continue on with the classic comfortable upright ergonomics, and suddenly you’re riding a retro that’s packing surprisingly modern, well-developed curvy-backroad sporting chops. At the same time, for just getting from A to B, you can feel free to think of the Speed Twin as an upscale Standard motorcycle, with beautiful suspension, comfortable seating for two (or one and a nice milk crate). Pile on the miles; Triumph’s proud of having designed the new 1200cc 270-degree Twin with longer service intervals.

Let the record show that, despite my best efforts, Yamaha’s MT-10 was not included in either the street or track portions of our mega seven-way open-class naked bike shootouts last year. I fought for its inclusion but was ultimately denied by the Bossman who wrote it off by saying our field was big enough and it wasn’t going to win anyway. That and we also knew a new one was already on the way.

This just in from Yamaha Europe, whether this applies Stateside remains to be seen:

The apex of motorcycle announcement season is here! EICMA, the world’s largest motorcycle show, happens this week in Milan, Italy! While most of the excitement will take place on Tuesday, November 8th, the show itself goes on from the 8th-13th, with the public being allowed in the facility for the last days. Every year the Italian Trade Agency invites editors and distributors from around the world to attend the show so, for 2022, Ryan Adams will be reporting live from the Fiera Milano exhibition grounds, giving Motorcycle.com access to information and photos that sites dependent on press releases can only dream of.

For 2023, Yamaha has gone crazy with the new Tracer 9 GT+ and thrown every bit of technology it could think of at the bike. Now sitting atop Yamaha’s sport-touring mountain as the flagship for the brand – taking the place of the dearly departed FJR1300, which has been out of production for a few years – the Tracer 9 GT+, with its multitude of electronic rider aids, will help make the sport-touring experience as stress-free as possible.

The new Tracer 9 GT+ integrates “cutting edge” electronics, says Yamaha, with the two big headliners being Adaptive Cruise Control and the radar-linked Unified Brake System – both of which utilize millimeter wave radar technology as well as an IMU.

This just in from Yamaha Europe, whether this applies Stateside remains to be seen:

For 2023, Yamaha has updated the Niken in just about every area of the bike. The high points include the engine, TFT functionality, and suspension. Since the company considers the Niken to be “one of Yamaha’s most sophisticated Sport Tourers,” the emphasis on improving the quality of the rider’s experience should come as no surprise.

Yamaha Motor Europe announced updates to the Ténéré 700, giving the middleweight ADV bike a TFT display, smartphone connectivity, a new ABS mode and other small updates. As of this writing, the 2023 Ténéré 700 has not been announced for the U.S., though we expect to receive official news soon. The Ténéré 700 Rally Edition variant offered in Europe (pictured below with the Heritage White livery) also received the same updates, but we don’t expect that it will be offered on these shores.