The Motorcycle-Diaries WM70: Probably not the most comfortable travel bike

Motorcycle Diaries

“Excuse me… did you drive this bike all the way up/down here???” is probably one of the most heard questions during trips with our WM70. Norway, France, Spain, Italy or Sardegna… every time we took a riding break we got odd looks. Many motorcyclists were pretty surprised when our cafe racer popped up.

*The second question mostly is: what the h*** is this?*

Well, the MD WM70 is a unique build based on a 2003 Yamaha XJR1300SP. WM stands for WrenchMonkees, well-known Danish customizers, based in Copenhagen. It took them a while to design & build the bike, and when we first went to pick it up in 2015 at Wheels and Waves it was love at first sight, although we wondered how we would fold ourselves on this bike... Anyhow, between then and now we have covered more than 8000 km … Needless to say, we have grown to like the WM70. A lot.

Wrenchmonkees do it better.

When we asked Wrenchmonkees to build us a bike we told them that we were not looking for the next ‘travel bike’. We could easily have chosen for a big adventurer or a touring bike, but we really were looking for something completely different. We wanted to keep the spirit of the real ‘Diarios de Motocicleta’ and the 'style' of the bike Ernesto 'Che' Guevara & Alberto Granado drove through Argentinia... Ok we admit, they didn't use a café racer but also their bike was not the most appropriate for the purpose.

We knew that WrenchMonkees could do the job and build us a bike that would be pure of style, simple, and would be elegant and strong. After we had the pleasure of getting to know their Monkeefist we gave them a go. We found a mint-condition second-hand (2003) XJR1300SP (with carburettors), and shipped it – accompanied by stormy weather - to Denmark. We also dropped of some Yamaha R1 spare parts, just in case if.

Run, monkee, run!

Date: June 2015. Place: Wheels and Waves, Biarritz. Pictures of the WM70 already had made us very thrilled. We were really looking forward to picking up the bike. After Nicholas and Lars disembarked it from the van we were – to say the least – a little disappointed. The bike looked amazing, but it did not run properly. As it was only running on 3 cylinders we had to take apart the Mikuni Flat slides. A tiny piece of rope from the fuel line kept the bike from running smoothly. As soon as we had solved this small issue, the bike hummed beautifully. The twin Spark exhaust - with DB killers - sounded wonderful.

First run, easy now.

Our first ride took us from Pau to Biarritz. Heavy rains did not spoil the moment, but we immediately noticed that this bike would not be tamed just like that. Caution was due. Compared to the original, the riding experience was ‘different’ from what we expected. The stretched-out position of the upper body and the relatively high footpegs did not seem to allow comfortable traveling…

8000 km, 3 big travels and one year later, we can say that the WM70 will never become the most comfortable touring bike, but it sure is an enjoyable ride. One of greatest perks is the look on the face of other motorcyclists when we turn up somewhere, next to their fully loaded touring/adventure bikes. The WM70 truly stands out.

And another thing: we have learned how to ride this bike. Since the riding position is not comfortable you need to ride it relatively ‘fast’ to avoid painful wrists, but you cannot push its boundaries – and your neck - too much. Trips up to 250 to 300 km a day are perfect, especially when riding 10 days in a row.

And wherever there is a twisty road stretch the grin on our face gets bigger and bigger as the prime R1 fork and the twin Ohlins suspensions combined with the sticky Bridgestone’s S21 make it a great toy for fast sweeping corners. However, hairpins and tighter corners do not make the best habitat (poor wrists and on/off Mikuni Flat slides, anyone?).

All in all we love this bike. The looks, the finish, the simplicity of the concept, the color, the lines…

We had some minor issues (broken exhaust support, electrical problems) but nothing that our mechanic Bart Verlinden (MTS, Londerzeel) could not fix. Now we are looking to add some travel accessories for more comfy camera gear transport. And then we are ready for new adventures!

Oh yeah, to the question: “Did you drive that bike all the way up/down here?” we should answer “Yes and no.” We move the bike in a trailer to the start of our trips and ride it until the end. We love that bike, but there are limits to what our wrists can endure.

(pictures: Alessio Barbanti, Henny B Stern, Sebastien Nunes, Pierre Baelen, Peter-Jan willems