This Yamaha 1670cc air-cooled Beast isn’t available in the U.S.

I always liked the look and idea of this bike from afar. The Yamaha MT01 is sold in Europe and Asia, but not in the U.S. It’s a 1670cc bike built with tons of torque. It’s not a sports bike and definitely not a tourer, but something about this bike always spoke to me. As we were walking towards the train station after dinner in downtown Prague, I came across the MT01 and knew instantly what it was. It’s really a beautiful bike. It would be a perfect commuter bike with lots of power and grunt for the streets of Chicago – as long as rush hour traffic wasn’t too bad. 

This Monster was barking!

There must be stringent motorcycle noise laws in Prague; and throughout Europe. During my visit I did not notice any excessively loud pipes until this Ducati blasted past me on one of my walks through Prague. In fact I only saw one Harley Davidson motorcycle during my entire stay in Prague and London. And even then, it was a rare, quiet Harley. Cruisers were just a rarity in the two cities I stayed in Europe. And they were all quiet, except for this Ducati bad boy.

In Prague, park at your own risk

The owner of this orange bike just missed having this dog piss on his baby. Perhaps the only peril of parking a motorcycle on the sidewalks of Prague…

In Prague, people seem to park their bikes just about everywhere but on the streets

In walking the streets of Prague, I noticed that people predominately park their motorcycles on the sidewalks. Is this just a blatant disregard for the law? Even the Police officers who rode on their slick Can-Am Spider Trike parked on sidewalks. Can you imagine this in the U.S.?

Prague is steeped in history and cobblestones

Whenever I travel to another city or country, I try to imagine what it might be like to explore on a motorcycle. One day, I imagine I’ll ride a bike through Europe or maybe through Asia. Along with this, I recognize the potential dangers of riding in a new place, with different driving laws, language, culture and even different driving directions than in the U.S. But the excitement of riding in a new place is always exhilarating and that’s what keeps us exploring. I was fortunate to spend a few days in Prague last month and I couldn’t get over how beautiful the city was. In addition to the centuries old buildings, many of the streets of downtown Prague were still cobblestone. Just amazing to look at and experience – unless you were on a bike.

Statistically, I read that there were more motorcycles per person in the Czech Republic than in the UK, but I saw far fewer bikes in Prague. Between the cobblestones, congestion of cars and the electric rail cars, I wondered what the stats for motorcycle accidents looked like in Prague. Even with Prague’s aggressive drivers, massive tourist population and cobblestoned roads, I think it would still be a blast riding through the streets of Prague – I could do without the rail cars however.