Motorcycle Cruiser

Yamaha Teases MT-01 V-Twin Motorcycle

Five years after is debut as a concept motorcycle at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show, the Yamaha MT-01 is slated for production, but only for the European market.

February 24, 2009

Yamaha's MT-01 sport cruiser (or is it a cruiser-powered sportbike?), first seen as a concept bike at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show is headed for production, according by a site that the company has set up to tease the bike. Yamaha calls the radical machine a "Torque Sports" motorcycle. It is powered by a hot-rodded version of the Road Star 1700 air-cooled, pushrod V-twin engine, which seems like an unlikely match for the exotic high-tech chassis design, which features a unique rear suspension with its single damper laid next to the engine, which allows the engine to be kept very low in the frame. Unfortunately the MT-01 will not be coming to North America.

So far, the engine is all that Yamaha's tease site refers to, if obliquely, ranting about "a motorcycle with its own soul beat, an engine that's so alive that every revolution is an event." However, if you are willing to give Yamaha your email address, it will alert you to updates about the production MT-01, which will apparently be provided regularly before the bike's roll-out on September 14.

Yamaha's site for the bike can be found here: www.mt-01.com

This was the motorcycle shown in concept form at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show. The production MT-01 seems likely to follow it fairly closely.

The rear suspension design is as much style as function, but it centralizes the mass and should offer good geometry.

Is it a cruiser or sportbike? The rear suspension arrangement gives a very clean rear end, which is dominated by the big mufflers tucked under the seat.