The "mt-owners-club.org" Biography
The beginnings:
This website is a personal creation and sole effort, purposely put together for the owners of any of the Yamaha MT series of motorcycle. It all started
in 2006 when I purchased an MT-01 from Alan Duffus Motorcycles in Kirkcaldy, Fife. I wasn't intending to buy one, I had all my money saved for a Triumph Sprint ST1050 and it was looking good. Then I saw an advert for these machines in Motorcycle news and thought I'd give one a test ride, just to see what they were like - the bike seemed interesting and unlike anything I had seen before.
Arriving at the dealers the first thing I noticed about the bike was it's sheer size and presence. All test-ride paperwork done I nervously I pulled away from the dealers. The bike seemed to shrink as I went along and all the weight disappeared. The sound was amazing. The vibrations were dramatic too!
I put down the deposit that day.
Billy No-Mates:
Once I had taken ownership I tried to find some like-minded people with which to share my joy. Scouring the internet revealed nothing. It seemed I was alone in my choice of machine. Surely there must be someone else out there that has gone against the mainstream and ditched the sports bike clique in favour of something a bit more unique? Not a thing. The only websites I could find were those of Yamaha's making.
Bob the Builder:
If there wasn't a website already I was going to make one. "Build it and they will come" as a line from a movie quotes. So I did. I am not a designer or a webpage builder by trade, I learnt as I went along. My software of choice was MS Frontpage, it was cheap and allowed me to see what I was doing as I went along. I still use it now, although having been forgotten by Microsoft I have taken the bait and recently upgraded to Expression Web 3.
Still here:
Many years on and after a number of previous incarnations this website is now at version 3, or is it 4?. A professionally made template bought and customised by me, now located on a daily backed-up hosting service.
The forum has gone from strength to strength. There have been problems along the way, data has been hacked, lost or just plain screwed up, but we are still here. Today there are over a thousand members of the forum - testament to both Yamaha's vision and conviction in building the MT series.
Thanks:
Finally a word of thanks. To all the people that have donated sponsorship with the aim of keeping this site and forum alive. Nothing ever comes free nowadays and without these generous people I would not have been able to keep the site going for as long as I have. A truly dedicated and great bunch of people.
