MT stands for ‘Masters of Torque’ and the 2005 MT-01 was a motorcycle the world was not ready for.
Back then, race replica style sports bikes were still all the rage. Yamaha tried to do something radically different and created the MT-01, a roadster with the chassis spec of a sports bike and a motor (quite literally) taken from a cruiser.
The bike buying public just couldn’t get their heads around it. The air-cooled 1670cc motor was shared with the XV1700 cruiser. It made less than 90bhp, but pumped out over 150Nm of torque. Yamaha had tried the formula before, with the ill-fated Bulldog of 2002, but the MT-01 was even more powerful and higher-specced.
Initially shown as a concept at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show, the very similar looking production machine arrived five years later following some strong initial feedback. Interestingly, Yamaha’s US subsidiary elected not to even take the MT-01. They suggested there was no demand for such a bike in their market. With hindsight, many other regional bosses probably wish they’d said the same!
The MT’s £9k price tag meant it cost pretty much the same as the range-topping R1 superbike, and it was always going to be a tough sell – even with Yamaha’s marketing department putting its full force behind the MT.
Our bike buying public never did buy into the concept of ‘Kodo’ – an idea of the bike having a pulse that would resonate with the rider’s mind and body. Yamaha was probably a good decade ahead of the curve in concluding that motorcycles were more about the feeling than the outright horsepower for most people, but back then they were mostly ridiculed by those who still thought horsepower was king.
It was interesting, to say the least. Only Buell really had anything like it, and they were hardly flying out of showrooms. Despite its good spec (for example, the forks and brakes came from the R1) and lovely finish, 2005’s bike buying public couldn’t understand why you’d buy something so soft and slow, with an agricultural pushrod engine and the weight of a cruiser.
It wasn’t even the hefty price. Discounts and promotions couldn’t help shift the MT-01 in serious numbers. An SP version, with Ohlins suspension, came in 2009 and there were tuning kits with Akrapovic exhausts to release a little more power and even more soul. It fell out of the range in 2012, with rumours even suggesting that some unsold bikes were sent to the crusher. Yamaha persevered with the MT concept, even though the (original) MT-03 of 2006 (with a 660cc single cylinder engine taken from the XT) was another relative failure.
They got it so right with the formula in the end though. In 2014 the MT-07 and MT-09 came along with brand new engines designed specifically for the job. They proved smash sales hits which are the cornerstone of the company’s range over a decade on.
Today’s Yamaha MT range covers all capacity bases and includes the best-selling MT-125, MT-03, MT-07, MT-09 and MT-10. The original MT-01 might have been a bit of a disaster, but its children have all gone on to have hugely successful careers.
Specs:
Engine: 1670cc, air-cooled, OHV, V-twin
Power: 90bhp @ 4750rpm
Torque: 150Nm @ 3750rpm
Seat height: 825mm
Weight: 240kg (dry)
Photo credit: By Nitot - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25130398
