2022 Yamaha MT-10 First Ride Review | Ultimate Motorcycling

Hey what's up this is Nick with Ultimate Motorcycling and today I just got done riding the brand new 2022 Yamaha MT-10. Now you guys are familiar with the MT-10 it is one of Yamaha's favorite sons and it is their big hyper naked within that lineup which also includes the MT-03, the MT-07, the MT-09, the MT-09 SP, and this is the big daddy of the bunch we'll say. Now a lot of what is in the MT-10 comes from the venerable YZF-R1 Superbike so a lot of this is familiar to you guys and the thing that is important with the 2022 model in particular is that we're dealing with a handful of refinements to this machine that make it a just a little bit easier ride with additional electronics, smoother fueling, a little bit more comfort, and just overall refined fit and finish. Now it's not a whole from the ground up revision but it's something that's you know I think really come across quite well at an MSRP of $13,999 so you get a lot of bang for the buck. Now we are going to get into this first ride review and I want you guys to stick around. Now the first thing I want to talk about is of course that beautiful 998cc CP4 engine and as you guys know it is a cross-plane crank that's what gives it that beautiful sound. Now some of the new things to the 2022 model specifically is the fact that it now uses a uneven length intake system and new for this year these air scoops are actually active so like on prior models those were just sort of there for aesthetic purposes. Now the air comes into the airbox through here and you have these grills that really allow you to get that that nice intake howl and really enjoy the motor and honestly that's probably one of my favorite things about the MT-10 is just hearing that motor when you whack the throttle on just such a visceral and energetic sound that comes to this. I absolutely love that cross-plane intake howl and exhaust note as well. Now one of the other big changes this year is related to Euro 5 compliance so we're talking about emissions and the new exhaust system goes from two catalyzers up to four. Now that does add a little bit of weight but it's distributed super low it's actually at the lowest point of the bike so realistically that isn't something that I would knock or say that I could actually differentiate you know compared to the previous model. Kind of the last engine related change and this is more actually you know gear ratios they've actually gone to a slightly longer final drive gear ratio they've used a one tooth smaller rear sprocket. Now that's done a couple things one it's alleviated some of the fuel economy concerns about this motorcycle going back to the previous iteration that had a something like 30 mile mpg out of its 4.5 gallon fuel tank now Yamaha is claiming that it's bumped up to 36 mpg so that's definitely improvement and in our case that's something that we could we could uh you know lean on uh in the future. Now getting into the actual engine feel what I love about this this motor is the fact that it is a very exciting motor but it's not too overly powerful Yamaha North America doesn't cite performance numbers exactly but if you go on the internet you can go ahead and find numbers from Europe that are probably in that 160 range in terms of horsepower and about 82 something foot pounds of torque. Realistically this motor is more than ample for the street it has plenty of attack loads of mid-range and really in that you know just like they say from that 4k to 8k range that's when you're going to get the most out of this engine that's when it really just has a lot of get up and go and that's that's something that I really appreciate about this. The MT-10 rolls on the same YZFR1 derived frame and swing arm as before leaning on athletic superbike geometry numbers to make it a willing dance partner on the winding Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway but the MT-10 gives up in terms of agility against more racetrack oriented super naked motorcycles it more than makes up for with stability and confidence while cornering on the new sticky Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22 tires providing excellent grip whether it's damp or dry. Meanwhile the fully adjustable KYB suspension keeps everything balanced and comfortable whether you're ripping around the canyons or in urban environments. Another big change for the year is its entire electronics package now we have six axis IMU informing cornering ABS lean angle detecting traction control etc etc those are R1 derived electronics and it's essentially the same package that you'd find on the R1 superbike you know realistically you have everything that you get there so cornering ABS like I mentioned before track control, slide control, engine braking modes, wheelie control which they call lift then you also get four different ride modes that are all customizable so it's more important to understand that you have variable ride modes one through four one being the most aggressive and the big thing for the MT-10 compared to previous generations is just how good the fueling is these days so that's something that they've really improved upon and I think that that's a huge step forward for the bike overall so not only do you get the safety and rider aids but you also have a really smooth throttle whether you're in the most aggressive mode 1 or bumping down to level 2, 3 etc etc. Wrapping up the electronics you know traction control and things like that it's kind of tough to test on the street unless we're at a racetrack scenario so realistically I didn't experience any difficulties with TC and I was glad to have it in some of these kind of sort of slippery wet sections that we did encounter when we were out exploring the roads around Asheville North Carolina. You know the focus here for me is really the fact that you have those aids they're unintrusive and as you level them up go into the more aggressive settings that yeah they will step in as you predict but really it's that throttle that stands out for me in terms of riding experience. There are a few new electronic features of note here too. The lovely new up-down quickshifter works sweetly especially when on the gas and the revised three-level wheelie control does allow the front to come up enough for a passable wheelie Wednesday post on Instagram in the lowest settings. It can also be disabled for full hooliganism but the most interesting new feature is the speed limiter that acts like a pit lane limiter for the road. You can hold the throttle wide open and it will never accelerate beyond the pre-determined speed. With the advent of speed cameras in several major markets many consumers wanted a limiter to ensure that they don't travel too fast through speed traps. Now moving on to some of the other benefits that we're seeing with the 2022 model we also have a slightly updated riding position. Now if you compare this to the previous bike pretty much the same thing but they are using a slightly stiffer foam and it's also about 10 mil higher. Now they did that to actually just give it a little bit more support for the old derriere and that's really going to translate when you're you know just riding longer distances and things like that and when you're riding the MT-10 that's something that I think does separate it from the great you know super naked herd. Some of the other bikes in the class definitely are a little bit more aggressive this has a more neutral riding position but you can still get your elbows out as you can see in the video and you know we did a full full day riding no worse for wear and uh you know as a street bike I think this is pretty spot on in that regard. As we can see the styling is updated on the 2022 MT-10 model starting with a newly designed LED headlight and ending with a shortened subframe. All in all designers are going for a trimmer fitter MT-10 appearance and I think they've achieved that and they've also maintained that bold color palette that is a hallmark of the MT-10 model. Now one of the styling changes does extend to the rider with a marginally slimmer 4.5 gallon fuel tank shroud making the inline four cylinder powered motorcycle feel slightly narrower and at 5 foot 10 inches I have no issues getting my boots on the deck. You know kind of one of the last things I want to touch on is the updated Brembo master cylinder here it is an improvement over the previous generation we're still using the same braking setup more or less you have the Advix four piston calipers three hundred twenty millimeter rotors etc etc and you do have that cornering ABS like I mentioned before two different modes of which now talking about the new master cylinder in particular brake feel I would say is good however I would like a little bit more attack a little bit more bite for my personal interest. Now I understand that Yamaha is positioning this as a street motorcycle primarily now with its performance it could definitely go and rip a track day that's not really its focus it's a very well-rounded bike in that regard loves to ride on the street you can definitely slap some bags on it commute to it kind of do whatever you want so there is a lot of versatility aimed in that street segment in my opinion. Now when we recap the 2022 Yamaha MT-10 you're getting a lot of bike for the money which comes in at thirteen thousand nine hundred ninety nine dollars the styling's been redone you're getting electronic aids you get more engine howl out of that beautiful CP4 engine it's nice and comfortable handles incredibly well you can flip flop this thing around through any of the twisties and have just a ripping fun time and of course you also have that adjustable suspension. Now that is a lot of bike especially for a street bike and that's something that I enjoyed quite a bit today so that's going to wrap it up here and if you guys have any questions about the 2022 Yamaha MT-10 go ahead and drop them down below we'll get you some answers and the last thing I want you guys to go ahead and be safe out there now take care.