I've been undergoing a moto-transformation, and have shifted my previous fleet (09 ST1300, 97 VTR1000F and 01 Silver Wing) in favour of something completely different, a 17 Yamaha MT-10SP. Something like that was probably inevitable as usual my riding mates have a Tuono V4 and Z-H2, so I have been actively shopping a for a month or so. The MT hooked me with its rangy ride position, incredible sounding engine and handling, and the SP version comes with semi-active Ohlins gold plus a TFT dash. I found a low-mileage bike locally that someone had thrown the Yamaha accesories catalog at, for a decent price, so I snapped it up. I fitted a small screen, heated grips (not quite needed yet but soon) and a set of Givi panniers, hey presto a sport-tourer! Saturday was my first decently long outing and I covered 520km in about 6 hours of constant riding, all of the roads were twisty, bumpy and what I consider fun, from my Auckland home down to the Kawhia Harbour and Waitomo. A blustery day but warm enough.
Looking down to the Kawhia Harbour in the distance.
Definitely not as easy to keep this clean as the 1300...so many nooks and crannys...
The MT acquitted itself well, remaining comfy throughout, loads of fun to throw around and occasionally scaring the bejeezus out of me when I opened the throttle...In spite of a reputation as a fuel-hog, the bike actually used less fuel than my 1300 would have done under the same conditions. Pushing home into a stiff headwind was less pleasant than the 1300 would have been, but overall I was delighted with the way the bike works.
Looking down to the Kawhia Harbour in the distance.
Definitely not as easy to keep this clean as the 1300...so many nooks and crannys...
The MT acquitted itself well, remaining comfy throughout, loads of fun to throw around and occasionally scaring the bejeezus out of me when I opened the throttle...In spite of a reputation as a fuel-hog, the bike actually used less fuel than my 1300 would have done under the same conditions. Pushing home into a stiff headwind was less pleasant than the 1300 would have been, but overall I was delighted with the way the bike works.
