Lightweight entertainment

Based on Yamaha’s lauded R3 sportsbike, the MT-03 offers a more street-oriented ride in a light and nimble package…

Even when glimpsed from the seat of a high-revving MT-03 in the nearby hills, Benidorm’s mass of concrete skyscrapers is an ugly sight, evidence of what happens when the Spanish coast’s once beautiful combination of sand, sea and sunshine is sacrificed to provide low-budget fun with little regard for quality or design.

Thankfully, Yamaha’s aim for inexpensive thrills with the MT-03 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.

That’s not exactly a surprise, given that the MT-03 is closely related to the fully-faired YZF-R3 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 practically 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 to the 321cc 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 44.1mm, and a balancer shaft to control the vibes as it revs to its 13,500rpm limit, passing the power peak of 41bhp at 10,750rpm along the way.

The chassis is identical too and based on a tubular steel frame that uses the engine as a stressed member. Front forks are non-adjustable KYBs, while the long steel swingarm works a near vertical, preload-adjustable KTB shock. Wheels, brakes and tyres are also unchanged, meaning the MT-03 wears Michelin Pilot Sport rubber on its 17in cast wheels, each of which holds a single brake disc.

Where the MT differs, apart from the fly-screen instead of the R-bike’s fairing, is in its new top yoke, whose bar risers hold the one-piece handlebar that replaces the sports bike’s clip-ons. This gives a slightly more upright riding position than the R3’s, with grips set 4cm higher and wider, and 2cm nearer the rider. Even so, at 6ft 4in, the naked twin felt quite sporty as I set off with my feet on its fairly high and rearset footrests. The MT-03 is very light, just a kilo down on the R3, at 168kg with fuel.

It immediately felt very manageable, helped by a slim seat, which at 780mm is low enough to let most riders get both feet on the ground. The light-action clutch also helped the Yamaha deal effortlessly with the traffic, though the handlebar was close enough to tangle with my knees when making full use of the generous steering lock.

That light weight also contributed to the MT’s straight-line performance, which was good enough to make it fun to ride, although there are a few rival A2-legal bikes whose larger-capacity, slightly more powerful engines get closer to the class’s 47bhp limit. Yamaha’s engine wasn’t purpose-built for the A2, but it was designed to be produced in both 321 and 249cc, the latter (which has a smaller bore) to power an otherwise identical model for the Asian and South American markets, where most will be sold.

Not that I was worrying about that as I held the throttle open and flicked through the sweet-shifting six-speed box to keep the motor spinning. The little twin didn’t object to low revs, pulling cleanly from as low as 3000rpm in a way that will help the bike feel utterly unthreatening to novice riders. But making use of its performance meant keeping the small instrument panel’s tacho bar flicking towards the red zone, and plenty of left-foot work with the sweet-shifting six-speed box, ideally to keep the revs above about 7000rpm.

That wasn’t remotely a problem as we followed the CV-70 that wound south through the hills from Benifato, where the need to rev the Yam to get the best from it just added to the slightly manic sense of fun. In many ways this light, quick and entertaining small-bore Yamaha felt like a modern version of the RD250LC that captivated so many learners back in the early Eighties, albeit without the screaming two-stroke exhaust note or midrange power surge. The four-stroke’s response strengthened more gradually as it revved harder, with no big step in the output, and a fairly muted rumble from the stubby silencer.

Respectably comfortable

On one relatively short straight the Yam just reached an indicated ton, with slightly more to come. It would cruise at 70mph or a bit more without trouble, though you wouldn’t want to do so for very long. The R3 would provide more protection but on a warm day in southern Spain the naked twin was comfortable, emitting minimal vibration, however hard it was revved. Its seat is thin and there’s not a huge amount of room for a pillion, who does at least get solid hand-holds rather than the sports model’s simple strap.

Given the similarity between the two bikes it’s no surprise that the MT-03’s chassis performance was pretty much identical to that of the R3, which was fine because the faired bike set a high standard with its blend of light weight and simple but effective cycle parts. Perhaps the naked twin’s slightly wider bars gave an even more agile feel as it carved through the hairpins of the hills north of Benidorm, where the lightest of touches was enough to have it taking a new line.

Equally impressively, the Yam steered with a very neutral feel, and stayed reassuringly stable, even at pretty enthusiastic cornering speeds. Its suspension was compliant enough to give a fairly smooth ride, and even to negotiate village speed humps without too much discomfort. Both ends occasionally felt slightly soft and vague when the pace picked up in the hills, but the Yam was taut and responsive enough to make it plenty of fun.

The rest of its chassis was well up to standard too. There’s nothing remotely fancy about the brake specification of single 280mm disc and twin-pot caliper, and for hard stopping the MT required a fairly firm squeeze of the lever. But for this class of bike the available stopping power was probably about right. And novice riders, especially, are likely to appreciate the ABS system, which cut in slightly earlier than the best set-ups but added a level of safety that would be especially welcome in the wet.

Talking of low-friction road surfaces, Michelin’s Pilot Sport tyres also did a very respectable job, although a couple of riders reported slides on roads that in places were dusty and more slippery than they looked. Inevitably, the rubber is pretty slim, with a 110 up front and a 140 at the rear, which contributed to the bike’s manoeuvrability. Yet they gripped well enough, even on a few occasions when the bike was cranked over far enough to get a boot-toe or footrest feeler scraping.

Despite its ground clearance enhancing, highish pegs, the Yamaha also managed to avoid seeming particularly cramped, even though I’ve got long legs. It did enough to suggest that it would make a useful bike for everyday use, at least for most riders. The mirrors give a pretty good view, and the compact digital instrument console is informative and easy to use, although the info can’t be toggled from the bars.

The display includes a fuel gauge and a consumption reading that showed the twin averaging over 55mpg despite reasonably hard use; impressively economical, and sufficient for a range of over 150 miles from the 14-litre tank. The Indonesian-produced MT’s build quality seemed perfectly acceptable, too, although a few savings have been made with features including non-adjustable levers, and simple stickers for the graphics.

Even so, after a very entertaining afternoon’s ride, the MT’s simple specification seemed fine, especially when my thoughts returned to that entry-level motorcycle’s holy grail, the combination of engine performance, handling and competitive price. At £4499, it’s £300 cheaper than the YZF-R3, with which it shares so many components, and only £400 more expensive than the humble 15bhp, A1-compliant MT-125 single, from which a fair number of potential buyers are likely to graduate.

More to the point, Yamaha’s naked A2-class contender exactly matches the price of KTM’s 390 Duke single, its closest rival, and it undercuts Honda’s freshly revamped CB500F by a useful £600.

The MT-03 seems good value whichever way you look at it. It’s far from the two-wheeled equivalent of a cut-price package holiday in a Benidorm tower block – it’s a neatly styled, sweet-running, fine-handling, respectably versatile machine that looks set to continue the success of Yamaha’s MT family – and to deliver its brand of simple naked performance to a new generation of riders.