Well after the longest couple of weeks I can remember I finally collected my brand spanking new XTR yesterday morning.

I added a sump guard, hand protectors with spoilers and a luggage rack from the Yamaha catalogue which I think enhance the look of the bike.

I rode from the dealer to work which was about 20 miles mainly on twisty A & B roads and I found the bike to be very nimble and light to handle through the bends and in traffic and the view over the top of everyone else is brilliant.

The brakes were smooth and not grabby, there is a fair bit of fork dive under heavy braking but it was less than the KMX 125 I used to have a few years ago.

The ride feels suberb as the suspension soaks up the bumps and potholes and as long as you dont want to throw it into corners at high speed and expect to escape unscathed then cornering is as good as I expected, the Metzeler Tourance tyres seem to perform well on the road.

The seat feels a bit hard but I expect that will soften up as time goes on.

The engine is pretty smooth for a big single and felt like I was on little more than fast idle most of the time. There were a few vibes but they did'nt bother me. Cant really comment on performance yet as I am running it in carefully and have not exceeded 60mph yet but so far making good progress and keeping with the flow of traffic seems effortless. The gearchange is very precise and easy and I expect the slight notchyness to settle down as the mileage increases.

I tried to provoke the fuelling glitch which seems to have dogged many an XT by going round roundabouts in a low gear with light throttle and I did'nt notice anything so fingers crossed!!

Overall I am really pleased with the bike, it is everything I expected it to be and exactly the bike I have been looking for. Cant wait to do some exploring on it.......