I wanna know: Is Toyota USA ever going to give me . . .

[Vanderkitten]

As cool looking as the MT-03 is, it's a total dog. The 660 single from Yamaha revs slow, puts out about 42HP and 38bft of torque (not a monster at all). It's a motor that can trace it's direct lineage back to the 80's, with a bigger bore and slightly longer stroke and 5-valve head.

The problem with this package (the MZ Baghira uses this exact Yamaha motor) is the weight of the bike compared the power. The MT-03 will not make it to the states because there is just not a big market for bikes that can only hit 105, which translates to it's freeway performance at 80 being buzzy without mazzive counterbalancing which makes the engine rev slower.

The best bike in the upright/fun/supermoto class right now would be the Ducati Hypermotard. Yes it's expensive, but it's fast, fairly nimble, has a solid motor with double the HP and torque and is very narrow and weighs about 380lbs. The suspension package is pretty dialed in on the "S" model as well. (the suspension on the MT-03 is pretty low-rent in the forks department).

The MT-03 sounds great on paper and looks cool, but a thumper is just not popular these days in the states.

ME:


Ruben Xaus: