I took an MT01 for ride today, as per my recent ride on an FZ1 Fazer 1000 I thought one or two of the bikers on here might be interested in the experience.
www.yamaha-motor.co.uk/products/motorcycles/torque...p
To put it in perspective Yamaha market this bike as a big torquey V twin in a totally contemporary chassis. And that is exactly what it is, the chassis is state-of-the-art aluminum alloy with upside down front forks, dual 320mm floating discs clamped by radial calipers, fully adjustable monoshock rear suspension and bespoke Akrapovic under the seat exhausts. On the other hand the engine would be at home in a WW1 aircraft, a 1670cc rather under square air cooled V-twin with pushrod operated valves albeit with four valves per cylinder, the redline starts at a car like, almost diesel like, 5500 rpm and it pushes out a modest (in superbike terms) 90 bhp.
However it is not about power, it is about torque, you can troll along at 1500 rpm in 5th, about 40mph and open the throttle and it sounds like some is firing an Oerlikon twin cannon behind you, you can feel each power stroke, ?dom?, ?dom?, ?dom?, the rate of acceleration increasing as the revs rise and the sound becoming more like a Browning M2 on auto. It produces an immense, for a motorcycle, 150nm torque peaking at 3750 rpm, highish in this low revving engine?s range though the torque curve is very flat so it is probably producing 90% of that at less than 2000 rpm. One result of a large engine in a bike is huge engine braking, useful for rolling on/off the throttle over-takes though I reckon it would be easy to lock the back wheel by going down one gear to many on a wet, greasy road.
Although in car terms probably nothing would stay with it to 100 mph or more, and safe overtaking is just a flick of the wrist, through the gears it feels a little flat compared to four cylinder 1000cc plus bikes simply because the power drops of as it nears the 5500 rpm red line, just where a four cylinder bike would be really getting going.
Very easy to ride, stable, corners on rails, comforable, superb detailing and beautifully finished though really not my kind of bike, rather too many vibes compared to a multi cylinder bike and although full of character I would probably not choose one, on the other hand living with one would not exactly be a hardship!
Regards.
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You're after a job as a journo ;-))) look out Kenny Pryde.
Nice report.
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Thanks, I have written a few press releases in my time albeit not on the subject of bikes. Re Kenny Pryde, i'm more into BIKE than SuperBike, a bit of a laugh though not smutty so as to worry about the kids reading it.
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">Although in car terms probably nothing would stay with it to 100 mph or more<"
Ha! Usual rot from a biker ;-)
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Ha! Usual rot from a biker ;-)
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Might be rot though it is true rot : - ) (not sure 'rot' is allowed BTW)
I wondered why this bike was so loud and yet road legal, the Akrapovics are fitted by Yamaha so std fit, the dealer tells me that they removed the baffles!! It apprently adds 10bhp, I would have been annoyed if I had got nicked !
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Ha! Usual rot from a biker ;-)
Is this a wind-up?
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Nice review. It took me a while to make up my mind on the styling, but I do rather like it now.
I personally like having a few revs to play with when the road opens out, but having grunt like that from so low down must make it a scream to ride.
Would love to have a go on one.
Cheers
DP
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IIRC you are Somerset, Morses in W-S-M have a demo, take it for a run!
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I'm in Hampshire, but I think Infinity in Farnborough have one. Might take a mosey over at the weekend.
Cheers
DP
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I bought an FZR600 from Infinity in Farborough when it was Motorcycle City.
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