A perfect combination of lively performance, sweet handling and competitive price is necessary for a low-budget fun bike. Yamaha have hit the nail on the head with the new MT-03. We rode it in Spain
EVEN WHEN glimpsed from the seat of a fast-moving MT-03 in the nearby hills, Benidorm’s mass of concrete skyscrapers is a depressing sight. Evidence of what happens when the Spanish coast’s perfect combination of sand, sea and sun is sacrificed in a scramble to provide low-budget pleasure with minimal thought for design.
Thankfully, Yamaha’s search for low- budget fun has been much better thought out. When you’re designing an entry-level motorbike, the perfect combination is lively performance, sweet handling and a competitive price. Up here on the twisty, smooth-surfaced roads of southern Spain the MT-03 is working well enough to suggest that the first two, at least, have been comprehensively nailed.
This was not exactly a suprise, given that the MT-03 is closely related to the YZF-R3 sportster that has earned plenty of praise and sales since its launch last year. It’s not often that a naked bike can truly be described as a sports machine with its fairing removed, but that’s almost literally the case with Yamaha’s duo although, inevitably, in this age of platform engineering, they were designed together and released independently for marketing reasons.
There’s absolutely no change in the 321-cc, parallel-twin engine, which is shared with the R3 even down to its fuel- injection system and exhaust. The DOHC, eight-valve unit has offset cylinders, over-square dimensions of 68 x 44.1 millimetres, and a balancer shaft to control the vibration as it revs to its 13,500- RPM limit, passing the power peak of 42 PS at 10,750 revs on the way.
Bu hikaye Bike India dergisinin September 2016 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Bike India dergisinin September 2016 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Tussle for Supremacy
Having watched the racing action from afar during the first two rounds of the Honda Idemitsu Talent Cup (HITC), we got a chance to take a closer look at the proceedings in round three. Here is how the weekend zoomed past
Multiple Winners
The third round of the TVS One-make Championship saw the emergence of multiple winners as the favourites struggled to do the double-race win
The Title Fight Becomes More Intense
The weekend at Mandalika turned out to be a spectacular display where the title contenders, Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia, locked horns while Marc Márquez's and Enea Bastianini's chances at the title diminished
Andrea lannone is a WSBK Winner
Nicolo Bulega, Andrea Iannone, and Alvaro Bautista headlined the weekend for their respective Ducati teams as they blew past the competition on their Ducati Panigale V4 R motorcycles
Italian Domination
The weekend at Cremona saw the Italian, Danilo Petrucci, dominate his home race astride his Ducati
Bastianini Shines in Final-lap Thriller
Just like the previous race at Misano, this one also served up a thriller but for very different reasons. Here is how it unfolded
No Dearth of Drama
Marc Márquez had to wait for 1,043 days for his 60th MotoGP race victory, but his 61st race win only took another seven days
Kolli Hills on an NX 500
We rode from Bengaluru to Kolli Hills astride a Honda NX500 and it was a memorable ride for many reasons
For the Easy Life
Triumph India believe there is a market for a friendlier version of the Speed 400. Here is what you should know about that version, called the Speed T4
The Star Reborn
We finally got our hands on the new BSA Gold Star 650 and took it for a long spin. Here is our first impression