by Andy Bisson
It has been a while since I’ve ridden one of the MT models and I think the last time happened to be the older version of the MT-10. I was keen to see what adjustments they had made. On first sight I think it looks awesome. It has a modern muscle bike look about it and the colour scheme is superb.
Well before I left, Danny went through the controls and the options available on the display. I had a day to ride this beast so therefore only skimmed the options available. It was like the controls of the star ship enterprise. If something could be altered and set, it was there, you have it all. It looked a little overwhelming but if you own one, you would have the time to make the adjustments and set the bike just for you. I can only imagine how awesome this would be for a track session.
The SP also comes with Öhlins suspension, braided steel brake lines, a 3-piece belly cowl and a stitched seat. With these added to an already stunning bike, they take it to the next level.
It has a 4.2-inch colour TFT dash which controls it all. With the implementation of a 6-axis IMU you get slide control, cornering ABS and traction control, anti-wheelie, engine braking control, cruise control and four power modes.
It comes with a quick shifter as standard and this was excellent. It’s a real fun, muscular machine that is so easy to ride and overflowing with character.
It was a lot softer around town than I was expecting and I didn’t find it snatchy. It was gentle and friendly if you kept the revs down and it manoeuvred well in traffic. As I headed away from town it came alive. The low-down grunt is superb between 4000 – 8000rpm.
As we were heading through waterworks valley, the Öhlins semi-active suspension came into its own, smoothing out the uneven and in need of repair road surface, gliding over the bumps, leaving you to believe that you were in fact riding on decent road conditions. When we did hit a nasty stretch of the road, it remained balanced and composed and continued to power through with no twitchy moments for me as the rider.
I had a play through the modes and was surprised how smooth the throttle control was in B-Mode which is where most of my demo ride sat. I found A-mode too aggressive for the road especially with the limits we have in play but again, I can only imagine what this beast of a bike has to deliver in A-Mode on a track.
So, all in all, I was well impressed with this beast. I think it’s stunning to look at, really comfortable to ride, both in urban and rural conditions and such an easy ride for the power that it seems desperate to throw out. I am not a track rider but with the number of controllable aids and features, coupled with the power, this must be a top contender to track. If you do get one of these and do a track day, I would be really interested to hear your views.
