I'm English, currently living in Cambodia. I'm in the market for a new bike and have found the one and only MT03 in the country. It's been crash damaged, I found the original dealer and am happy that the original damage was repaired properly. So I'm seriously considering grabbing this machine.
Now I've never ridden one and a test ride here is out of the question. So I'm looking for opinions from anyone who's had one before.
My situation, like Cambodia itself, is complicated. I have two bikes, a BMW G650x in bits. I like it but it's pig ugly and needs a lot of work to get on the road. I've seriously considered just putting the effort in and getting her back on her legs.
I've also got a Suzuki SV1000. I like it, but I'm not in love with it. It's too heavy. Cambodia is a mess, it's potholed, the traffic is insane and the SV just doesn't make for a nice bike to ride here. I was shopping around and found the MT03 and it seems ideal. I can even swap out the wheels and shocks and make it a better scrambler with the BMW parts.
What's bothering me is that it makes a lot less power than the BMW and is really heavy. It's only 10kg lighter than my SV which I'm having a hard time of getting my head around. My SV is also modded and has easily lost 10kgs off the exhaust.
I think I could just about handle the drop in power but losing that much and ending up with that weight is probably too much to deal with.
I previously had an XR400 and with some moderate tuning and judicious gearing, that would keep pace with the SV right up to 50mph, which is basically all you can do here anyway as the driving is a horrible, terrible joke. I originally thought I could do the same trick with the MT but I'm seriously doubting that now. Am I wrong?
So, can anyone give me some advice? I can't talk to anyone here, there's probably literally only one of these things in the country so nobody knows anything about them. I already know I can get parts, that's no problem.
Is the MT03 actually worth having? Can I just swap the exhausts and expect it to work? The BMW has a clever computer, I can change anything and it just automatically adapts without re-mapping. I can't map here, there isn't a single rolling road in the country and no dynojet dealers.
I like fast but the SV isn't the kind of fast I can use here. I also dropped it once, I hit a sand bank riding it offroad (offroad riding is a fact of life here) and I was hoping the lighter MT would be a bit more capable as a scrambler, but the weight is a big worry for me.
I had a Pegaso with the 660 engine. I like it but it was a bit gutless. My brother had a Tenere and many xt660s over the years and we used them for all sorts. I found the Tenere very weak and really top heavy.
In Thailand I swapped bike with a RTW biker, he rode my Beemer and I rode his Tenere for a bit. We were both impressed, he'd ridden GXs before and found them dull, same as me with the Ten but we'd both tuned our bikes. I found his Ten really lively and way nicer than my brothers. I was fairly taken with it.
I need a very light bike, it needs to be quick enough to make me smile and it needs to cope with some horrible roads, occasionally no roads at all.
So, anyone with a bit of experience that feels like clueing me in would be a great help. I think the MT is a fantastic looking machine and I'd love to get it but if it can't do what I want it to do then I'd like to get over my obsession with it.
It's meant to weigh 174.5kg, is that really right? That just doesn't sound right to me at all, it's a tiny bike.

Thanks very much in advance.