went to one a couple of years back held in the old ASB bank premises in Great North Road at the Surrey Crescent Shopping precinct and it was tight ! Damn hard to get it right , but this time the ‘ Dark Side of Japan ’ logo and motto really had weight and dimension , screened up on the rear wall 30 feet high with a great video presentation in keeping with the harder-edged aggressive marketing stance . It had a fantastic ‘ motorcycling garage ’ feel . As some wag put it “... from user to Yakuza ”. greater ease and flickability in traffic and the tight stuff . It now boasts a double seat , albeit a bit narrower , which again leads one to feel an easy nudgeable tip in , corner to corner , but may sacrifice a little in longer ride comfort . There ’ s a rear linkage upgrade too , but that will need a highly experienced MT-09 rider to tell any difference . Adjustable Brembos add to the quality , and the control case and dialups are mounted artfully in the frame . A third generation quickshifter allows

MORE AGGRESSIVE And the new bikes are certainly more aggressive in appearance . With harder edges , lower , wider tanks , and lowered bars and better seating position they look quite menacing . DRL ’ s and headlight shapes are the first things I noticed with two small square lenses giving a distinctly arachnoid appearance front on . The focus was firmly on the three new models of MT- 09 ; the ‘ base ’ model , the MT-09SP , and the new and as yet unridden , and somewhat out-there , MT-09 Y-AMT . Look , feel , style , and finish for the Yamaha marque has always been at the very top of the range , and these are no different . They have been sharpened up with more aggressive angles and hard lines . Bars have been dropped by about 34mm and this will result in tighter steering and

KIWI RIDER 105