yamaha mt03

[mister-t]

first of all i have not had many years of experience of riding bikes,infact past my test last october so please excuse any incorrect technical terms that i may use in this write up

my last bike was kawasaki zr750 which for a first big bike was fine,but i was looking for something a little lighter and more nimble

so i part exchanged my bike for a 2008 mt03,the first thing you notice is the weird look of the bike,some what short in length but tall in height and the weird shock absorber positioning,sitting on the bike you notice how upright your sitting position is and how far forward you are and how wide the handlebars are,now this bike has a 660cc single cylnder engine same engine has the tenere 660.the bike is very surgey especially in the lower gears,but this is down to yamaha fitting an 02 sensor which makes the bike run lean to comply with the european emmision law or something,but it has the benefit of every time your change down a gear the exhausts gives out a very loud popping noise on the over run.which i tend to like,my previous bike would comfortable do 30 or 40 mph in fourth,this bike wont,it seems like the chain is going to rattle itself to bits(to high gear for low speed),but i have cured the surging and rattling by fitting an o2 mod which makes the bike run far more smoothly,the ride itself is great for twistys,due to the wide handlebars i actually throw this bike into them with no second thoughts,being a naked bike avoid motorways except for the smallest of journeys,but a and b roads this bike comes into its element,now the the seat,this must be the worst seat ever,after half an hour my bum is numb,but passenger seat is comfy so my other half tells me.even though the bike aint a tourer it will carry 2 people no problem the single cylinder engine just pulls and pulls. no fuel gauge but there is a low fuel warning light,which tends to come on at about 80 miles even though you can do 130+ miles to a full tank.

pros

great fun bike,easy to manouvere,made for twisty roads and has you smiling while riding it,brakes seem solid and build quality in my oppinion is good

cons

the bike is to complicated,having to lift rear wheel to adjust suspension and measuring distance betweem front and back of spring,checking oil level seems to be a bit hit and miss,having to remove fuel tank to get at battery

would i buy another,as much fun as the bike is to ride the is answer is no

[MrBlonde71]

I have an MT-03, only had it for about 3 months.

What is the o2 mod you are talking about? can you give me a link?

[mister-t]

sent yo a pm

[Comfortablynumb]

I was hoping to pick one of these up when I get my a2 done. Would you reccomend it to learn on? Would it need restricting?

[MrBlonde71]

I don't know if it would need restricting for an A2 license, It only has 46bhp and I have a full license so never needed to find out.

As for riding when learning i think it would be fine, it has good brakes and handles well in my opinion.