MT10 owners moving to the SP
Discussion
I ordered a Flouro one before seeing one in the metal pretty much as soon as they were announced at the end of 2015, and took delivery of my dealer's first one in, early June 2016.
Absolutely stonking bike IMO, let down only by the fairly budget rear shock which seemed to be devoid of pretty much any rebound damping on mine, and to a lesser extent, the brakes.
I did 8k miles over the year I had it, which included a jaunt around the highlands, 2.5k mile trip through the Alps, nortern Italy and back through Germany,, and track days at Almeria, Pembrey, and Brands before replacing it with an SP last summer.
I love the SP even more than my first one
The SP and standard MT-10 are obviously very very similar to ride, as paint / cosmetics aside its pretty much only the suspension, clocks and some of the electronics that are changed on the SP, but although the basic overall character of the bike is obviously the same, as its the same engine and overall dimensions etc, it quite surprised me how different theSP felt compared to my non-SP one ( I sold the first one privately so had t them both in the garage for a month or so )
First impressions for me engine-wise were that the SP felt a bit tamer and less urgent, simply down to the mapping on 2017 on bikes compared to the first ones, as it's is a lot more refined on the 2017 bikes - back-to-back, even in the sharpest / most extreme engine mode, the SP felt a bit tamer / more civilised than my old one did in STD- its still seriously fast and a brilliant wheelie monster but just not to the same totally smack-you-in-your-face degree from low revs as the 2016 one , and although initially I was perhaps slightly disappointed by that ,once I'd I've ridden the SP more, I wasn't - its undoubtedly a better bike for it , and probably faster, if that matters.
The suspension on the SP is a big improvement over the standard bike IMO, just feels so much much nicer on just about any settings, and you really can feel the difference with the adjustments- it also makes the whole bike feel a bit lighter to me too, which was weird
I love being able to just change setting through an electronic menu, and aside from the standard active maps, having the ability to store three other manual suspension maps and implement any of them in a couple of seconds by pushing a couple of buttons is great
What was quite telling for me was taking both to the same track (Pembrey)- admittedly a year apart, but in short, the SP was MUCH more enjoyable on the track, for me, anyway. I doubt that I pedaled it around faster than the previous one, but that's a reflection on has/never-been-me rather than the bike really.
The ( very) noticeable differences were the ground clearance issue that the previous (non-SP) had to an extent on the track, and its behavior coming onto the start/finish straight.
In fairness no MT-10 is a sportsbike really, there are undoubtedly many better track bikes and I cant see ground clearance ever being an issue on the road, but the pegs are relatively low and on a track, they are ultimately the limiting factor.
At Pembrey on my non-SP I had removed the little hero-blob sticks from the footrests as they were touching down everywhere, despite me having whacked the rear pre-load and most of the adjustments right up to try and gain some ride height. The old one was also dancing around a little bit under power over the bumps coming onto the main straight, and in fact, most times you are hard on the gas.
On the SP, however, I clicked on a suspension map I had pre-programmed in (unashamedly stolen from Michael Rutter's track test of the SP at Donington in PB), and I could pin it anywhere I wanted - it felt brilliant,
And crucially for me, it never touched down once even with the hero-blob extensions still in place, and from the look of the tyres it was getting over as far as I was on the last one- an advert for decent suspension if ever there was IMO.
I think a non-SP with a quality rear shock, and possibly some mods to the front too, ( I thought front was good with a little tweaking on my old one, rear shock definitely not so ), would be as good as an SP ( aprt from the looks
), as apart from the dash, and colour schemes, seat etc, that really is the sum total of differences between standard and SP Both models have the same basic electronics, which is quite a bit less sophisticated than the R1 and R1-M, but still pretty good IMO.
The only negative for on the SP for me was that they hadn't done anything about the brakes, so same wooden-ish feel, but that has been an easy fix - with Bendix or Brembo SC pads., and a year on I'm still smitten with mine , and there is honestly still no current bike on sale that I would prefer more.
Doesn't mean I won't be buying any more bikes, as I will, but this one is a keeper, it is simply just brilliant in just about every way for me, including looks -it has quite possibly the nicest colour wheels ever fitted to any motorcycle, and has a cool dash that flashes up the Transformers logo when you turn it on and off
Absolutely stonking bike IMO, let down only by the fairly budget rear shock which seemed to be devoid of pretty much any rebound damping on mine, and to a lesser extent, the brakes.
I did 8k miles over the year I had it, which included a jaunt around the highlands, 2.5k mile trip through the Alps, nortern Italy and back through Germany,, and track days at Almeria, Pembrey, and Brands before replacing it with an SP last summer.
I love the SP even more than my first one
The SP and standard MT-10 are obviously very very similar to ride, as paint / cosmetics aside its pretty much only the suspension, clocks and some of the electronics that are changed on the SP, but although the basic overall character of the bike is obviously the same, as its the same engine and overall dimensions etc, it quite surprised me how different theSP felt compared to my non-SP one ( I sold the first one privately so had t them both in the garage for a month or so )
First impressions for me engine-wise were that the SP felt a bit tamer and less urgent, simply down to the mapping on 2017 on bikes compared to the first ones, as it's is a lot more refined on the 2017 bikes - back-to-back, even in the sharpest / most extreme engine mode, the SP felt a bit tamer / more civilised than my old one did in STD- its still seriously fast and a brilliant wheelie monster but just not to the same totally smack-you-in-your-face degree from low revs as the 2016 one , and although initially I was perhaps slightly disappointed by that ,once I'd I've ridden the SP more, I wasn't - its undoubtedly a better bike for it , and probably faster, if that matters.
The suspension on the SP is a big improvement over the standard bike IMO, just feels so much much nicer on just about any settings, and you really can feel the difference with the adjustments- it also makes the whole bike feel a bit lighter to me too, which was weird
I love being able to just change setting through an electronic menu, and aside from the standard active maps, having the ability to store three other manual suspension maps and implement any of them in a couple of seconds by pushing a couple of buttons is great
What was quite telling for me was taking both to the same track (Pembrey)- admittedly a year apart, but in short, the SP was MUCH more enjoyable on the track, for me, anyway. I doubt that I pedaled it around faster than the previous one, but that's a reflection on has/never-been-me rather than the bike really.
The ( very) noticeable differences were the ground clearance issue that the previous (non-SP) had to an extent on the track, and its behavior coming onto the start/finish straight.
In fairness no MT-10 is a sportsbike really, there are undoubtedly many better track bikes and I cant see ground clearance ever being an issue on the road, but the pegs are relatively low and on a track, they are ultimately the limiting factor.
At Pembrey on my non-SP I had removed the little hero-blob sticks from the footrests as they were touching down everywhere, despite me having whacked the rear pre-load and most of the adjustments right up to try and gain some ride height. The old one was also dancing around a little bit under power over the bumps coming onto the main straight, and in fact, most times you are hard on the gas.
On the SP, however, I clicked on a suspension map I had pre-programmed in (unashamedly stolen from Michael Rutter's track test of the SP at Donington in PB), and I could pin it anywhere I wanted - it felt brilliant,
And crucially for me, it never touched down once even with the hero-blob extensions still in place, and from the look of the tyres it was getting over as far as I was on the last one- an advert for decent suspension if ever there was IMO.
I think a non-SP with a quality rear shock, and possibly some mods to the front too, ( I thought front was good with a little tweaking on my old one, rear shock definitely not so ), would be as good as an SP ( aprt from the looks
), as apart from the dash, and colour schemes, seat etc, that really is the sum total of differences between standard and SP Both models have the same basic electronics, which is quite a bit less sophisticated than the R1 and R1-M, but still pretty good IMO.The only negative for on the SP for me was that they hadn't done anything about the brakes, so same wooden-ish feel, but that has been an easy fix - with Bendix or Brembo SC pads., and a year on I'm still smitten with mine , and there is honestly still no current bike on sale that I would prefer more.
Doesn't mean I won't be buying any more bikes, as I will, but this one is a keeper, it is simply just brilliant in just about every way for me, including looks -it has quite possibly the nicest colour wheels ever fitted to any motorcycle, and has a cool dash that flashes up the Transformers logo when you turn it on and off
Thanks for comments and in particular V2ono.
I've just sold my Tracer and I'm looking to get the 10 which to be fair is what I should have bought in the first place - I flipped a coin and the Tracer won. Wasn't really sure if the 10 would be good enough compared to the SP. My questions have been answered. Now to start looking for one
I've just sold my Tracer and I'm looking to get the 10 which to be fair is what I should have bought in the first place - I flipped a coin and the Tracer won. Wasn't really sure if the 10 would be good enough compared to the SP. My questions have been answered. Now to start looking for one
Nath911t said:
Thanks for comments and in particular V2ono.
I've just sold my Tracer and I'm looking to get the 10 which to be fair is what I should have bought in the first place - I flipped a coin and the Tracer won. Wasn't really sure if the 10 would be good enough compared to the SP. My questions have been answered. Now to start looking for one
I’ve got a standard MT and have found it excellent, Did you go for the tracer as you were doing more touring and wanted luggage?I've just sold my Tracer and I'm looking to get the 10 which to be fair is what I should have bought in the first place - I flipped a coin and the Tracer won. Wasn't really sure if the 10 would be good enough compared to the SP. My questions have been answered. Now to start looking for one
No, I wasn't sure which one to go for so flipped and coin. I like them both but the Tracer was something I fell out of love with quite quickly. The build quality is shocking. Yes, it's a budget bike and it really showed. I had an 08 Fz1s prior to that and was bolted together and stood up to much more all round. The triple engine was the best part of it but sadly the rest of it was pretty much naff IMO.
I've just been to view an MT10. It has a decent exhaust system, screen, heated grips and a few other things. Still has warranty and full service history with recent new tyres - BT023 - can't win them all. Liked it, paid for it and it gets delivered on Monday
I've just been to view an MT10. It has a decent exhaust system, screen, heated grips and a few other things. Still has warranty and full service history with recent new tyres - BT023 - can't win them all. Liked it, paid for it and it gets delivered on Monday
Nath911t said:
No, I wasn't sure which one to go for so flipped and coin. I like them both but the Tracer was something I fell out of love with quite quickly. The build quality is shocking. Yes, it's a budget bike and it really showed. I had an 08 Fz1s prior to that and was bolted together and stood up to much more all round. The triple engine was the best part of it but sadly the rest of it was pretty much naff IMO.
I've just been to view an MT10. It has a decent exhaust system, screen, heated grips and a few other things. Still has warranty and full service history with recent new tyres - BT023 - can't win them all. Liked it, paid for it and it gets delivered on Monday
Good work!, Tis a great bike, also comfy for all day riding and brilliant to tour on(fuel aside)
Comfort seat is lovely and comfy, but I’ve had a couple wear through at the front corners which is common, easy fix if you have a staple gun
I've just been to view an MT10. It has a decent exhaust system, screen, heated grips and a few other things. Still has warranty and full service history with recent new tyres - BT023 - can't win them all. Liked it, paid for it and it gets delivered on Monday
Good work!, Tis a great bike, also comfy for all day riding and brilliant to tour on(fuel aside)
Comfort seat is lovely and comfy, but I’ve had a couple wear through at the front corners which is common, easy fix if you have a staple gun
Andybow said:
Ho Lee Kau said:
Ain't it easier and cheaper just to have a top-of-the-line analogue suspension components installed on MT10, instead of losing thousands on trade-in and then thousands again on the SP?
You’re right it will be cheaper but then you won’t have a new SPHo Lee Kau said:
you said you modded your bike and like SP for the suspension, so I interpreted it as you want new suspension, but you actually want the entire package that is SP. Ain't it the same bike as MT10 just having electronic suspension?
Mines a 2016 model, I’ve done the suspension, full system had it remapped, just interested what people’s thoughts on the SP, dash is more integrated on the sp, you can change suspension on the fly etc etcGassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff