2020 Yamaha MT-03 Magical Riding Experience

Our 2020 Yamaha MT-03

Smaller, lighter, nimble, good ergonomics, upright seating position, R3 pedigree motor & click 6 speed  sequential transmission with a solid 520 chain connected to the rear axel. Think 40 hp & 20 fl-lb of torque able to hit 112 mph in 4th gear & a little buzzy cruising at 60-75 MPH in 6th gear on the freeway, its a real pleasure between 30-50 mph in 4th gear // & sings a exhaust note song from 4K RPM onward when you get into the throttle while accelerating on freeway onramps // This a short store about my magical riding experience on the MT-03 recently & an editorial commentary about riding & more :) Cheers 

I had a spiritual experience riding our 2020 midnight black Yamaha MT-03 the other day. There was a sun break between rainy weather events on a cool autumn October day so I buzzed over to my cousin Scott's house & gave my only print copy of Lays of Rome by Thomas Babington Macauly to Nicholas, Scott's son the actor who lives in California. The wording in the 1842 English poetry adapted from ancient Roman works something nothing short of wondrous & wonderful & bewilderingly beautiful in both tone & tenor & lyrical composition, some of the most beautiful writings that has ever crossed my eyes. I could sense the rain clouds approaching after discussion the book with Nick Nack, & it was the end of my weekend so I was back onto the MT-03 for a magical ride home. 

It was during this ride home that my limbic system really connected with the roadway & the bike, man & machine becoming one as though the Yamaha became an extension of my body. Here in these ephemeral moments the ideas of shifting & gear ratios & NVH & traffic anticipation & prediction fades into automatic modes of super hero intelligence as I was granted a brief glimpse of the "magical Persian carpet" experience where the journey experience transcends the ride itself & the start or destinations & becomes a pure experiential wonderland & sensory joy so intense & beautiful that few other events in life can really compare. 

Almost as though time was standing still, or slowed significantly, the engines vibrations & exhaust note through my helmet & ear plugs into my ears & brain forms a synergy of feedback control between my eyes & hands & feet, the left hand clutch control & left foot shifting & right hand & right food controlling the front & rear break respectively, all of that out of mind, automated into muscle memory, where the sun warmed autumn humid air & light midday traffic enables a legal speed fantasy ride where the stresses of traffic & hum bum about everything else in life melted away enabling me to fully appreciate the ride, nothing about how fast, more about the direct feeling of torque & acceleration & deceleration & leaning in corners & shifting back & forth in my lane making S turns between the fog line & lane division lines. 

Its not about loving the machine since you cannot genuinely love something that cannot love you back, in another way of saying that you can sincerely hug your money, its more about the experience of riding a motorcycle. I wear ear plugs to block out wind pressure to prevent hearing damage & on this particular bike never modified the exhaust other that to wrap the header with black ceramic heat wrap to help the 3 way catalytic converter heat up faster & to prevent heat soaking of the front radiator during low speed in city rides in heavy traffic or at parking lot speeds for nimble riding skill development & balance control practice that helps you to better control the bike when you our riding at higher speeds or in stop & go traffic congestion or busy parking lots near cities or large urban areas where such occluded lanes are a common phenomenon. 

The MT-03's clicky manual transmission also works with the dash display to show you what gear your in, including N or neutral some half click between 2nd & 1st that can be accessed either by half clicking precisely down from 2nd gear or up click out of first gear with a soft half click half way into neutral- a nice bright green LED also illuminates when you get the transmission into neutral - this dance of accessing neutral with your left food requires a little practice since its delicate procedure requires some fitness or precise foot control. The "Clicky" sorta like a mechanical keyboard, where the shifting between gears produces a satisfying click feels thats tactile & audible & visual on the dash display - you get sensory hit when you shift & its make a solid delineated click into each gear, which is super reassuring if you a new rider & pure bliss if you a seasoned rider like me. Of all the bikes I have ever ridden, this one has the best shifting action. 

The 321 CC 19.2 cu-in parallel twin cylinder engine translates the fuel combustion energy to the wheels & tires via forged aluminum pistons & carbonized rods in a 180 deg offset configurations with better thermal efficiency & lower mass & reduced vibration, a engine on its 6th generation of optimizations by Yamaha engineers who relentlessly optimized the power plant for the Yamaha R3 race bike. It sounds like, feels like, & vibrates like a turbocharged Lotus Elise when you roll onto the throttle while accelerating to freeway speeds on onramps for example. I am reminded of special higher performance cars from video games like Gran Turismo & Forza, in terms of the exhaust sounds. 

No doubt Yamaha did some cleaver acoustical tuning in the air box & exhaust given their extensive knowledge of musical instrument design & manufacture & the reason they partner with Toyota so often & in special exceptional vehicles like the Lexus LFA // my most favorite car ever made // its the ultimate Toyota for a motorsports enthusiast & priced accordingly. Sadly or happily I would never pay that much for a car, even if I had billions of dollars. Paying that much to go A to B seems foolish to me regardless of budget. Sure we all only have a finite time alive, but wants to overpay to sit in traffic congestion? 

Borrowing wise words of rider giants who came before me, its must more fun to ride a small lower power bike fast than it is to ride a large powerful bike slow. This same concept made riding our performance tuned DIY by yours truly 2019 Honda Grom SF a 4sp blast of fun from the past that just could not cut it on the highway, but was loads of fun & a hoot around town.