Many thanks to Stew at TSS for the ride this morning, and the following review is my payment for his never-ending optimism that one day I'll buy a bike from him.
“Hahahahahaa!! Woohoo!! Heeheeeheehe.”
“Look at me, look at me.... wheeeee. Fnar, fnar, bwaaahahahahahaaaaa.”
I think Stew gave me the key to get me out of the parking area at the front of TSS because I was scaring REAL customers off.
The rev counter looks like it was nicked from a diesel 4WD. 5.5K rpm redline? Most bikes I've ridden haven't really woken up at 5.5k rpm. I had a race bike who's idle was 5k rpm for goodness sake. Looking the bike over while it was doing it's warm up jig I was struck by how everything had a sheen of quality. The frame and swing arm castings are almost organic in form, and the engine was detailed in a way that only cruiser engines seem to merit. It was difficult to spot control cables and wiring harnesses, giving the MT a “controlled by telekinesis” look.
What a nice comfy seat. Despite low footpegs, a slightly more aggressive lean to the bars than my Z750 give the MT a sporting feel, much more so than other muscle bikes/sports cruisers like a Buell XBS, or HD Street Rod that I've ridden. Chugging out of the TSS park was an experience in itself, what with the superb V-Twin soundtrack, and the lively throb transmitted through the chassis to the rider it was difficult to not laugh out loud and immediately go for the big wheely. But not out in front of TSS. Stew's a bit bigger than me.
I had 30 minutes to get a feel for the “beast”. Stew had taken the MT down to Hokitika for the Wild Foods festival so it was well run in. I think Yamaha have hit the nail on the head by emphasising its Cruiser nature in the brochures and road tests I've seen. It is just as happy thudding down a main road as cruising on the motorway, or swinging through sweepers. Hitting the twistys needs a bit of brain engaged though, because even though you've heard the term “lowdown stomp” before, it's all relative until you stick a 1700cc engine in a chassis with some justified pretensions to sporting capability. Revving the cat food tins it calls pistons out to maximum rpm results in dropping engine revs into the fattest part of the torque curve when the next gear is engaged, causing you to lunge forward like an enraged rhino. Best bet is to stick it in third and ride it like a twist and go. This will cover 30km/hr to 120km/hr without complaining, and leave you wondering how any engine that sounds like a Toll Holdings locomotive could possibly make you grin wide enough to split the corners of your mouth.
Flicking through a series of tight bends requires some commitment, and the faith that something that looks like it should be a handful on mountain roads can be hustled with vim and vigour. You can certainly feel the chassis working to do its thing when flicking from side to side, and I would have liked to have had the time to play with the damping settings, as it felt like the front and rear weren't working quite in sync with each other. Front to rear weight transition and vice versa is also an issue, requiring the planning skills to keep everything settled on the way into and through a corner, but this just encourages a riding style that works well in 90% of fast road riding.
By the time I got back to the shop my face-splitting grin was enormous, unlike my completely numb nether regions. Yamaha need to market a padded cricket box, embossed with the MT-01 logo which would serve the dual purpose of protecting the man-veges and creating the appearance of being suitably endowed to be able to stake a claim to MT-01 ownership.
Would I like to own one? Absolutely positively. Would it be my only form of two-wheeled transport? I may be married but I'm not entirely emasculated – yet. As a cruiser with the ability to play in the hills it is a winner, but I couldn't own it as my only motorcycle. Unless I learn to enjoy the aggressive crotch massage of course.
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