#Yamaha

New motorcycle model introductions follow a well-worn path: travel to the event location, eat nice meals, get briefed on the bike of the moment, ride a route designed to highlight the bike’s strengths, take photos/video, eat more good food, return home, and write up a review. After 27 years in this industry, I still get a cheap thrill about throwing a leg over a new motorcycle before it is available to the general public. However, what really gets me going is when I have a chance to log more than just the couple of hundred miles typically covered in an intro and spend some real time on the road with said bike.

It’s now August. Pecco Bagnaia leads a bevy of Ducati Desmos in the 2023 title chase; no surprise there. Brad Binder being the top non-Ducati challenger surprises me, but perhaps not you. All-time track records are, once again this season, getting clobbered. But the rate of attrition amongst the contestants is truly frightening.

Yamaha is recalling certain 2022 Ténéré 700 models because of a risk of the front brake calipers detaching. The recall affects 211 units in the U.S.

The year is 2001 and the off-road world is in a strange period. Four-strokes were starting to stake a foothold in the dirt scene, even in motocross, and as such, the manufacturers were trying to figure out how much to expand their product offerings. For riders who didn't care much for the jumps and whoops of the moto track and like to play more off-road, it was a hassle to adapt a motocross bike for the occasion. Hence, Yamaha jumped in with the 2001 WR426F. Here, we share our review from 22 years ago.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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: