Everything started when the MT-01 was first unveiled as a concept model at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1999. It was a time when the performance of supersport bikes like the YZF-R1 had captivated riders, but Yamaha had envisioned a naked bike that would offer a different kind of value.
It painted a picture of what a naked motorcycle could be when unencumbered by the ever-tempting focus on speed and specs, and instead emphasizing the Kodo (“Soul Beat”) of the engine, a torquey ride, and great handling, all packaged in a meticulously sculpted design. The concept for this new machine was “MT = Mega Torque,” with this hypernaked powered by a big air-cooled twin. Along with this, another communicative element built into the MT-01 was highlighting its conceptual origins in Japan. Each of the Japanese “Big Four” have their own distinctive qualities as motorcycle manufacturers, but when products from each marque are lined up side by side in showrooms overseas, they inevitably start to seem similar. To counteract this, Yamaha sought to create a more individualistic “Iwata, Japan” identity.
When the MT-01 concept model was revealed to the world at the Tokyo Motor Show, flush with Japanese flair throughout, it made headlines in the motorcycling press, but Yamaha was in fact already running development tests with it in its mission to create a new kind of riding experience. To begin with, a naked fitted with an air-cooled 1,700cc cruiser engine was simply unheard of and some at Yamaha wondered if such a motorcycle was even feasible. However, the development team put together a prototype using the Warrior 1700’s engine mounted in an XJR1300 frame and began running it on the test track.
Initial in-house evaluations were that the combo had definite potential. From that point, it was a matter of bringing Yamaha’s latest technologies to bear—like a CF aluminum die-cast frame—and thereby step into uncharted territory in a bid to create a next-generation naked sportbike. This machine would allow the rider to enjoy the thunderous Kodo beat of the exhaust note while slicing through twisty roads, with the machine’s mega-torquey ride drawing them in completely. Yamaha’s target and work thereafter was to produce this completely unprecedented hypernaked.
At the root of the MT-01 was Yamaha’s unique Jin-Ki Kanno development philosophy of producing performance in tune with rider perceptions. Is the bike fun for the rider or not? Is the nature of that fun something no one has ever experienced before? Every functioning mechanical part of the bike as well as its form and design revolved around such questions.
One area of focus was the exhaust note. Except when at a stop and idling, the sound produced by the exhaust is destined to drift away behind the bike. In Yamaha’s view, the exhaust note and Kodo stand separately from conventional metrics of performance; they are part of what defines a motorcycle and are a measure of performance in their own right. This is why the MT-01 featured underseat mufflers with the exits located as close to the rider as possible, but the work did not begin and end with only the exhaust pipes. Research into the frame’s rigidity characteristics and the swingarm design was done to build in a tangible feeling of being propelled ever farther forward by the torque produced by the two pistons displacing over 800cc each.
The bike’s design was also a culmination of sketch after sketch and a decided refusal to refer to other models for inspiration, but for one exception: the 1,200cc Vmax. Yamaha’s iconic V4 power cruiser was more akin to riding on top of an engine with wheels, and that produced a unique sense of unity between the rider and machine. The Vmax was designed around its powerplant, and accordingly, it was left exposed to the eye. The intent was to visually express the flow in which the engine works to produce power, going from the intake to combustion and exhaust. The MT-01 adopted a similar approach. To create the feeling of riding directly atop a mega-twin engine, the team elected to eliminate all decorative elements from the exterior design—just like the Vmax did. If the Vmax is a symbol of Yamaha’s originality, then the MT-01, which was crafted under the same concept, also speaks to Yamaha’s originality but on the canvas of a naked sportbike.