ALL TORQUE

Naked thrills on new Yam

TODAY, for the first time in ages, the sun’s not shining, the sky is blanketed by high cloud and the temperature is only just nudging double figures.

I’d still rather be out there, rather than sat behind this computer screen, though.

The reason?

There’s an 18-plate Yamaha MT-10 parked up outside, the keys are in my pocket and I’m just itching to get out there and ride it. Don’t care where or why, I just want to be riding.

What’s an MT-10 you ask?

Firstly, it’s mental. My first go on it had me laughing out loud and cussing in equal measures. Honestly, it’s like sitting atop a rocket with handlebars and footrests.

Massive, instantaneous power and torque, short gearing and a very short wheelbase

(55in in old money) means it spends half its time trying to flip you over backwards like a cheese omelette.

It’s a simple recipe. A 1,000cc four-cylinder engine out of the firm’s flagship superbike R-1 with a slightly heavier crankshaft, a lower compression, different camshaft profiles and reshaped combustion chambers.

If you’re a power junkie, the MT-10’s engine mods sound like bad news. They’re not. Nothing but good news here. Torque is what the MT-10’s about and it delivers it in JCB buckets-full. Regardless of which of the three engine maps you choose, power is immediate and pretty vicious.

That cross-plane crank firing order helps too. The MT-10 grunts out of corners like a big, grip-sniffing V-twin and – assuming your passenger can hold on tight enough – the rush just gets harder in the mid-range as you pile on the revs.

There’s a fantastic sound-track to go with this mental acceleration as well. The exhaust and induction is perhaps a little too subdued (for my taste) but the sonics are gruff, off-beat and growly. More bass than treble, not unlike a V8 engine. The plusher

MT-10 SP comes as standard with an Akrapovic zorst system to liberate a few decibels.

The MT-10 is what’s known as a “naked”, in that it doesn’t wear a fairing. Also, instead of drop-down racer-style handlebars, the MT-10 rider gets a pair of conventional ones that means the riding position is more upright.

This obviously has its downside in terms of wind protection – the faster you go, the more your neck muscles are battered. I actually think this is a good thing.

It’s a licence saver, first and foremost. Any modern superbike will exceed 100mph in second gear – still with four more to go. And with three-figure speeds so easily and quickly bettered they’re not just fast but custodially fast (if you get caught).

The MT-10 accelerates like the best superbike (think sub 3 second 0-60, seven second

0-100) but the risk of police intervention is Yamaha MT-10 minimised because it’s just too physical to maintain high speeds because of the pummelling you get from the wind. Don’t think naked, think in-built-licence-savingaerodynamics.

For those riders not comfortable with a front wheel pawing the air at every opportunity, there’s an excellent three-stage traction control system with anti-wheelie at its most aggressive intervention setting. There’s also a Bosch ABS system as standard and a quickshifter for super-quick full-throttle, clutchless gear shifts.

While I’m absolutely sold on the engine and the overall riding experience I’m not so sure about the styling – there’s just too much gubbins on display that’s normally hidden by fairing panels. Jubilee clips, cables and wires are supposed to be hidden away.

But for the price, the MT-10 delivers in spades. Let’s face it, in car land, 11 grand buys you a what? A Dacia?

In bike land it serves up seven-figure supercar performance and the sort of adrenalin rush that triples your bpm. At 200kgs and

165bhp it has the power-to-weight ratio of a

£1million La Ferrari. That folks, is bang for your buck.