[8] The crossplane engine is based on the 2015 YZF-R1 but re-tuned to focus on low to mid-range torque.

It features a number of significant technical changes including newly designed intake, exhaust and fueling systems.

[4] It replaced the fourteen-year old FZ1 as the flagship bike in Yamaha's sport naked range.

[11] In October 2016, Yamaha released the MT-10 SP (for Europe only), which includes some upgrades such as Öhlins electronic racing suspension derived from the YZF-R1M, full-colour TFT LCD instrument panel, and an exclusive color scheme.

Shun Miyazawa said buyers are moving away from the supersport bikes, adding, "(Yamaha) aim to create an older and younger brother and cousins (to the MT-09) - maybe the same capacity, but a slightly different concept".