I read Guido's piece on these machines as part of his 'Future Classics" section in MT a few years back. I was in the market for another bike for the shed and promptly went and got one from eBay. I also have a modern Triumph Tiger 1200 with all the bells and whistles and have owned more than a dozen other bikes over the journey; a HD Road King, a Victory Hammer S, a BMW R100R, a first generation V-Strom 1000, an XT660 with 100,000 kms on the clock, an 80s era Z1000, a DT175, an RD250LC and it's baby sister predecessor, the RD125. I've also owned a bike that was possibly the worst machine ever made - a lamentable 1979 XS750 triple. Of all of those bikes, the RD250LC stands out in my memories for its amazing (for an 18 yr old) powerband thrills and for allowing me to see the magic 160kmph on the speedo on a regular basis. The MT01 is my (now older and hopefully wiser) version of that bike. You cannot ride it without getting a shit-eating grin on your face, with it's lumpy torque-filled delivery and pretty decent handling. It is the perfect bike for sweeping curves and hills as it is a bit like driving a big old lazy V8 - you can leave it in 2nd or 3rd and torque surf up a hill. It is also deceptively quick off the lights, and has embarrassed more than a few boy racers in its time. The bloke I bought it off warned me that fuelling it up would take a bit longer than normal bikes, not because it is a difficult process but because of the fact that people would stop you and ask the inevitable 'what the bloody hell is that thing mate?' questions. And he was right.........I like to tell people that it is the Japanese answer to the Buell, except that it works as it should.
Thanks for uploading this. It's a fabulous bike, its main asset being it is fun as the man said. Not many people understand the bike, but those who own it (like me) are often ferociously faithful. Roughly the same straight line performance as my old GS1000S from 1981, but a far far better machine.
I read Guido's piece on these machines as part of his 'Future Classics" section in MT a few years back. I was in the market for another bike for the shed and promptly went and got one from eBay. I also have a modern Triumph Tiger 1200 with all the bells and whistles and have owned more than a dozen other bikes over the journey; a HD Road King, a Victory Hammer S, a BMW R100R, a first generation V-Strom 1000, an XT660 with 100,000 kms on the clock, an 80s era Z1000, a DT175, an RD250LC and it's baby sister predecessor, the RD125. I've also owned a bike that was possibly the worst machine ever made - a lamentable 1979 XS750 triple. Of all of those bikes, the RD250LC stands out in my memories for its amazing (for an 18 yr old) powerband thrills and for allowing me to see the magic 160kmph on the speedo on a regular basis. The MT01 is my (now older and hopefully wiser) version of that bike. You cannot ride it without getting a shit-eating grin on your face, with it's lumpy torque-filled delivery and pretty decent handling. It is the perfect bike for sweeping curves and hills as it is a bit like driving a big old lazy V8 - you can leave it in 2nd or 3rd and torque surf up a hill. It is also deceptively quick off the lights, and has embarrassed more than a few boy racers in its time. The bloke I bought it off warned me that fuelling it up would take a bit longer than normal bikes, not because it is a difficult process but because of the fact that people would stop you and ask the inevitable 'what the bloody hell is that thing mate?' questions. And he was right.........I like to tell people that it is the Japanese answer to the Buell, except that it works as it should.
Thanks for uploading this. It's a fabulous bike, its main asset being it is fun as the man said. Not many people understand the bike, but those who own it (like me) are often ferociously faithful. Roughly the same straight line performance as my old GS1000S from 1981, but a far far better machine.
Good job Guido... :-)
265 kilos.
I just found one for cheap ...as my 1st and only ... I could only buy one motorbike ...