Yamaha discontinued the YZF-R6 last year because of the new Euro 5 compliance and sluggish sales.
According to the latest rumours, Yamaha is said to be working on a new middleweight fully-faired sports bike. The incoming “Yamaha YZF-R7” is rumoured to be based on the naked MT-07. Speaking of the bike, the new model is speculated to make use of MT-07’s CP2 engine, frame, suspension and braking components with a few obvious tweaks and updates.
Well, we think the idea of an MT-07 based R7 is actually a possibility. This is because the 689cc, inline, 2-cylinder engine from the MT-07 is reliable and already Euro 5 compliant, therefore Yamaha wouldn’t have to build an engine from the ground up.
In fact, this is a common practice among manufacturers. Taking Yamaha’s 700cc range as an example, the Yamaha Tracer 700, Tenere 700 and XSR 700 all share MT-07’s CP2 mill. However, in the case of the rumoured R7, Yamaha would probably have to tune MT-07’s engine to keep up with the current competition.
As for the chassis, the MT-07’s frame would need obvious modifications as well. The Tracer 700’s frame is based on MT-07’s frame, so we think Yamaha is pretty settled on this end too. According to sources, wheels, suspension and other running gears are likely to be carried forward from the MT-07, to help keep the budget under control.
So what do you think? Is an MT-07 based fully-faired sports bike a possibility?
Note: Details covered in this article are speculations based on rumours. *
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