Retrospective review: Yamaha MT-01

Master of Torque? Is that what you were gonna say? That is correct, I guess. So… the MT-03? 24 foot-pounds. MT-07? 50. Oh, the MT-10, you ask? 82. Pretty respectable. But the real master is none of those bikes. It's another bike in that lineup that never came to America. At 111 shoulder-socket-poppin’ foot-pounds exists the MT-01. And yet here in America, the land of the V-twin, the torque-obsessed among us haven't had a chance to sample these wares from Yamaha.

Or, more accurately, you haven't. I have. My buddy Dennis, who owns Martin Motorsports (which at this point is 75 percent dealership and 25 percent museum) shot me a text hinting he had a new toy. The picture showed a big fat pair of mufflers shoved under a sorry excuse for a pillion pad.

"It’s not a B-King, is it?" I got ready to make my standard joke: That was a set of mufflers Suzuki sold that came with a free motorcycle.

"Good guess, but no. MT-01. You're welcome to ride it."

Ain't gotta tell me twice. So I saddled up on The Party Barge and headed over.

Meet the Yamaha MT-01

This motorcycle is a parts bin special. There's no two ways around it. Switchgear looks like it came off the ol' FZ6. Mirrors are off a Virago. Brakes look like they're from an R1. (In fairness, if you're getting parts bin brakes, those are the ones you want.) Engine is out of the Warrior. Turn signals are Euro-spec, but you know damn well if this bike wasn't a grey-market special it would be wearing those big orange punkins Yamaha was so enamored with during this time period.

We can’t even begin the review without talking about the mufflers. I saw 'em and thought a cheerleader was gonna pop out and demand a few letters. ("What's it spelllllllll?") These pipes, made by Akrapovič, make the B-King's look kind of understated. They're comically large.

And yet, visually, the bike does work, perhaps because it is comically large. This 2005 model has the deepest purple paint juxtaposed against a matte metallic blue used on the frame and swingarm. The effect is rather striking, though the purple is so deep it looks black most of the time. The bike is sort of a caricature of itself. Every time I stopped to sit and just look at the bike, something new jumped out.

The most obvious feature is the 1,670 cc V-twin, but it's stuffed into a frame with a wheelbase of 60 inches, which puts it closer to the Suzuki Bandit 1200 I recently wrote about than to potential V-twin power cruiser competitors such as the Harley-Davidson V-Rod or the Suzuki M109R. The MT-01 is heavy. (It weighs 584 pounds wet). It's tall. (That's 32.5 inches at the seat, but the wide tank makes it feel like a much bigger number. I think Yamaha includes a speculum in the toolkit.) The gauge is a pretty close match to a 1950 Chevy pickup speedo, though this one has a tach as the main focal point and some weird Communist way of tracking speed around the outside edge. (I presume this is because it was only sold in countries that are not The Greatest One In The World.)

Once I stopped looking and swung a leg over, I noticed the MT-01 has Sportster Syndrome; that is the footpegs are exactly where your calves land when you put your feet in a normal foot-down position. While the motorcycle does feature a true handlebar with pullback risers, I still felt I was really reaching for the grips, and due to the wide tank, it was hard to use my ab (not abs, I just have one, uh… big ab) to hold myself up. The riding position is not as weird as it is on something like a V-Rod, but the tank width and weird peg placement and reach for the handlebar mean it's not winning an ergonomics award at this late date.

You'll note as of now I've been focused on the oddities of this motorcycle, which are numerous but not unpleasant. I think most riders remain taken by the arresting looks of this motorcycle until a few miles have clicked off and they feel comfortable "givin' 'er the beans."

Why it's the Master

I inserted the weirdo red key and pressed the magic lightning button. What a letdown that was. Here is a motorcycle powered by a 1,670 cc V-twin with pistons the size of Folgers cans swinging around and a set of pipes with the red scorpion on them, and all I get is this little burble? Well, this bike must be a pussycat. Clutch in, click down, and see how it goes.

At this point, I goosed the throttle and the MT did what it was built to do: It huffed a great big gulp of air from that crazy tank-mounted air cleaner and delivered some fuel into the downdraft induction system like a mama bird feeding cheeping little ones. And that MT got up and boogied.

It won't make your eyes water. It doesn't caterwaul like a screamer getting on the cam, nor does it do that out-of-control chainsaw thing like a two-smoker coming on the pipe does. Instead, the bike sort of acquires speed at an alarming rate, but the engine sounds tame to the point of sleepiness. It's like a giant Rottweiler giving out a great big yawn. It's a totally different machine, but it reminds me of the first time I rode a Honda VTX1800. I couldn't believe how deceptively fast it was.

The motorcycle reminds me of an Impala with a 6BT powering the beast. It went blisteringly quick, but it made the wrong noises and my brain got confused. One of the more interesting parts of the throttle was closing it. Friend and colleague Bill Lindsay rode the MT-01 and put it best when he said, "The engine braking will turn your chickpeas to hummus." Maintenance throttle on the MT-01 is not optional.

Stopping is generally excellent, but I'll be honest, I didn't really work out the anchors too much. This bike is perfect for hustling at a three-quarter pace on a backroad. Pushing it harder requires a strong rider — strong skills and a strong back to muscle this fatty all over the road. Handling was wonderful. This bike is again wearing those Dunlop GPR300s I like so much and they stayed good and planted. The MT-01 doesn't easily go into a corner, but once you put it where you need it, it certainly stays in the corner. I did not have this bike long enough to play with the suspension, but the front fork had adjustable preload and tension, so I suspect I could have dialed it in a little better, but just zipping around it felt lovely. Not too soft and not too firm for this (very fat) rider. And for those of you who are shopping, know that in aught-nine, an SP version of this bike was offered which shipped with Öhlins 'spenders.

Who is the Yamaha MT-01 for?

That was really my only unanswered question at the end of my ride. I mean, presumably, it was for Australian people. But seriously, this bike is a conundrum. In 2005, Buell was still going strong, and nothing about this makes me want it more than a Buell. That same year, you could also get a Suzuki Bandit or a Kawasaki ZRX1200 if you wanted a muscle bike, and if you wanted a V-Rod, you could have one of those, too.

To me, this thing tries to prise the difference between a Buell and a V-Rod larger, which is a slice of the market I don't know is or ever was meaningful. This motorcycle, while fun and loaded with quirks (character?), isn't one I’d probably buy. They sold new for around twelve grand and I'd guess that's maybe what one would cost today, if you could find one stateside (you can't), so from a collectibility standpoint you won't lose money.

But it's almost too new and too competent; this thing deserves a proper review, not one of these softer retro pieces we do. The bike's flaws aren't lovable reminders of our humbler roots but unique design cues and quirks that feel like choices, not circumstances imposed by the realities of the time period.

The only thing that feels actually dated is the lack of ABS, an IMU with cornering traction control, cruise control, and all the other electronic doodads that sell a bike in 2022, but the absence of those things may be a selling point for some folks and bragging rights for others.

The MT-01 was not unpleasant and I'm glad I rode it since so few will have a chance, but I'll bring this bike up only when I meet someone who's a closet fan of this cult bike. Then we'll both laugh over which MT was really the undisputed Master of Torque.