We’ll admit, we fell in love when we first rode the FZ-10, but we also couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed in the lack of a few small features we were hoping to see. And right when we accepted the fact that the so called “naked R1” wasn’t entirely what we had envisioned it to be, Yamaha took us by surprise with the release of an FZ-10 SP model.
The FZ-10 SP delivers exactly what we had felt was missing from the standard FZ in the first place: a quickshifter and the R1’s LCD dash. A quickshifter is probably considered a luxury item by most, but when the standard FZ is put toe-to-toe with its naked bike competition that have one of their one, it sticks out like a sore thumb from a performance standpoint. Complaining about a dash may also sound silly, but the Thin Film Transistor (TFT) display is something we have always loved about the R1 and were surprised we didn’t see passed onto the standard FZ. We’re happy it’s finally here.
The shocker — pun totally intended — of the FZ-10 SP is probably the Öhlins Electronic Racing suspension package it comes equipped with. While we may not have had this in mind for the FZ, having it couldn’t hurt as the system would be able to adapt to the wide variety of riding conditions the FZ could potentially see on a daily basis. The semi-active suspension system has proven itself on the R1M, and we can’t wait to see how it fares with street specific tuning.
Of course, there’s a catch with the FZ-10 SP. The bike was unveiled at Intermot as the MT-10 SP and there are no plans set in stone to bring it to the United States, but we hope to hear an official announcement soon.