Yamaha makes an interesting lineup of naked bikes under the MT moniker. In the U.S., the MT-07, MT-09, and MT-10 used to go by the FZ name, and were subsequently changed to follow the naming convention used for the rest of the world in 2017. Now, for those of you not in the know, MT stands for Master of Torque.
Having a bike called the Master of Torque
would have you thinking that your machine would be a wheelie-popping,
tire-shredding, fire-breathing beast. Now while these can describe the likes of
the MT-07,09, and 10, the same can't be said for the smaller bikes in the
Yamaha MT range. It is, however, pretty cool that our European friends can
literally start their two-wheeled careers on a Master of Torque in the form of
the MT-125, and eventually work their way up to the big daddy MT-10.
Beginner riders looking to swing a leg
over a naked Yamaha will be delighted to know that Yamaha has updated two of
its entry-level naked bikes—the MT-25 and MT-03. Initially launched in the
Japanese market, these two bikes will soon make their way to markets all across
the globe. We can expect to see the Yamaha MT-25 make its way to the Southeast
Asian and European markets as a good entry-level, A2-compliant machine. The
MT-03 on the other hand, will likely ship to the U.S. sometime soon.
At a glance, it can be easy to mistake the
new entry-level naked bikes as the bigger, badder MT-09. This is because Yamaha
has given the new MT-25 and MT-03 a similar colorway as that of the new MT-09.
A matte dark grey metallic, as well as a sharp deep purplish blue metallic are
also available for the new bikes. As far as features go, the MT-25 continues to
be powered by a 249cc parallel-twin engine rated for 35 horsepower. The MT-03
gets a slightly bigger engine in the form of a 320cc parallel-twin rated for a
meatier 42 ponies. As far as pricing is concerned, the MT-25 has
been pegged at JPY 621,500, or the equivalent of US$ 5,691. The MT-03, on the
other hand, retails for JPY 654,500, or the sum of US$ 5,993.
