WORD FROM THE TOP...

In a bid to grasp the rationale behind the MT’s evolution, we sat down for a beer with Yamaha’s product planner, James McCombe.

Have you done enough for the new MT to be competitive?

The whole sector has changed radically in the last few years. There are now plenty of hypernakeds with in excess of 170-200bhp, but a big horsepower figure was never a key objective for this bike; the question was how we could make this the most fun possible to ride on the road. Although we increased the power up to 165bhp, that was not a specific objective. The aim was to keep the character and the fun, and maintain the value factor as well. We could have slotted in an R1 engine but that would have meant the cost of the bike rising considerably. As already mentioned, there are much more powerful bikes in this sector, and there are some that aren’t so different. The great thing about this sector is there are many different ways to butter your bread.

Is the MT-09 now stepping on the MT-10’s toes? That’s a good question. We’ve evolved the MT-09 heavily and I’ll admit that after riding the latest version for the first time, I did question who’s now going to be the customer for the MT-10. But when you ride them back-to-back, the engine performance is on another level, and the chassis feel and performance is something else. The bottom line is there’s still a significant step between the two models – and we see the target audience being different, too. The MT-10 is there for those really experienced riders who want big performance and no compromise.

Who and what shaped the new MT-10? Well, firstly, legislation meant we had to get stuck in and change the motor to make the bike Euro5, and while we were at it we realised there was plenty of scope to make the motor better. One of the biggest complaints we had about the previous generation bike was its efficiency; it was too thirsty, so we saw a big opportunity to get address this area, while improving the fuelling performance at the same time. Typically, it’s very difficult to get more power and fuel economy but we managed both. Other key changes were influenced by what we were seeing in the market, prompting us to freshen up the look of the bike and give it a muchneeded rework of the electronics. Rider aids are super important nowadays to allow any calibre of rider to get the most of the bike. It was obvious that there was some frustration from customers that we weren’t facilitating the same level of tech as rivals on the market, so we addressed that issue head-on.

Should you have gone further?

Of course, it’s super easy to go down the list of offerings from our engineers, adding lightweight items and go-go items, especially on the electronic side, but it might not have been for the best. It’s not that we were building the MT to a cost, but more so that we were crafting a bike to a target price that we know our customers want. Adding loads of other functions might not have translated to more sales; we want to keep the model accessible. It’s difficult to believe we’d have had the same degree of success if we’d loaded the MT-10 up and cranked the price accordingly. The MT has always been a value proposition, right from the outset with the MT-07 and MT-09. What people got were great riding machines at great value, and that ethos carries through to today and is the main focus of what an MT is. We know there are many people out there who want the most characterful riding experience they can get and that’s their primary point that they’re looking for on a bike – anything else is additional. Whether they want to pay for that, that’s up to them, so we offer the SP for the bling, but as for the standard models in the MT range, the key focus is value.