VOLUME 57 ISSUE 12 MARCH 24, 2020 P49
Again, this won't be such an
issue if you're around 5'10" or
under, but taller riders may find
this MT characteristic a bit of a
deal-breaker.
Around the mean streets of
Austin, the MT is a happy little mo-
torbike with a mean face thanks
to all LED lighting and a rather
jazzy Ice Fluo paint scheme. It's
a head-turner, and it was nice to
have a bunch of kids in a Jeep
pull up alongside myself and
Yamaha USA's Street Motorcycle
Sr. Communications Specialist
Marcus DeMichele to ask, "what
those dope bikes were."
Austin doesn't have what I
would call overly smooth streets,
but the MT handled the crap
surfaces rather well. The suspen-
sion is soft but still compliant,
especially given at 185 pounds I'm
probably too heavy for who this
bike is intended.
I am not a fan of the two-piston
Akebono brakes. They simply
don't have the power for my liking,
although what is there comes
on very smoothly so you won't
experience that all-or-nothing
braking performance you can get
on larger capacity machines.
Given the chassis is the same
with only a modified fork, it's no
surprise the little MT loves to be
thrown into corners. You can ride
this bike surprisingly hard in the
twisties, and although the front
suspension is quite soft, you can
still bury the front under brakes
and be quite aggressive in your
riding, if you so wish.
But this is more an everyday
street bike than a backroad
scratcher, and as a commuter,
the MT will prove a very capable
motorcycle indeed. My only wish
was it had just a little more punch
from the 321cc motor. A certain
Japanese manufacturer who
starts with "K" really hit the nail on
the head with their 400cc parallel-
twin, a motor that provides the
near-perfect level of acceleration
for this class.
As an inner-city
commuter bike, the
MT-03 will be a hit.
