YAMAHA MT-07
WHEN YAMAHA CAME UP WITH THE MT-07’S OVERALL LAYOUT AND ARCHITECTURE, IT ABSOLUTELY NAILED IT.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” might as well be a saying invented for the Yamaha MT-07. To say it has been updated for 2021 really is asking a lot of the imagination.
Yes, there’s a new kitten-friendly exhaust, some bigger brake discs, wider handlebars, LED lights and a digital dashboard, but the “new” MT-07 still has the same chassis, same engine, same hilariously low price tag and – crucially – the same fun factor.
On paper the MT-07 really shouldn’t get a look-in. There are no rider aids apart from ABS, no rider modes, no bling suspension, no fancy brakes... it makes a modest 70bhp, and it’s not even that nice to look at compared to the other bikes on this test.
However, there is a massive “but” that comes with the MT-07. There is no getting away from the fact that it is a laugh to ride.
When Yamaha came up with the MT-07’s overall layout and architecture, it absolutely nailed it – so well that even though the suspension is on the soft side and could do with more damping, and the engine doesn’t have a dazzling rush of power at the top of its revs, it really doesn’t matter.
The MT-07 is possibly the perfect antidote to the current trend that more is better when it comes to motorcycle development. More power and more toys is not the MT-07 way. Some bikes impress by being brilliant pieces of engineering and design, and some by having reserves of performance so far beyond my reach that I can only be in awe. Some bikes impress by their genius or their ability to put a smile on my face regardless of my current mood. The MT-07 is one such bike. Its riding position is at the core of the MT-07’s playful character, along with the engine. It doesn’t make a massive amount of power but what it does is made in the best way possible – most of it all at once.
The result is a bike that can be thrown onto its side with knee and footpegs on the ground as though it’s the easiest thing in the world, and can be wheelied in third gear. In other words, it is impossible to not enjoy riding an MT-07.
There is very little to complain about and there isn’t anything that stands out for the wrong reasons that can’t be excused, because the bike has such a small price tag. It’s been built to a price but Yamaha has managed that – not by cutting corners but by leaving out things that frankly don’t belong on a sub-100bhp
motorcycle
It says a lot about the Yamaha that – admittedly, with the benefit of some local knowledge to my advantage – it was a doddle keeping up with Carl and the much more powerful and higher-spec Aprilia, and matching him wheelie for wheelie in all the right places. I’m not sure if that says more about the MT-07’s abilities when things get spirited on the road or the limitations of the Aprilia, but either way, from point A to point B, the plucky Yamaha had no problem holding its own against the pair of poseurs.
Rounding off the day with a few laps of the local go-kart track gave the MT-07 another chance to shine. The track is narrow with virtually no run-off but quick enough to be in second and third gear for most of the lap, and has a couple of places where the footpegs could get mashed into the Tarmac.
The punchy engine fired the Yamaha out of the slow corners instead of just pulling it out, making it squat and wheelie out of pretty much all of them and a lot of fun (there’s that word again). The ABS system was a bit keen in places, but not so much that I was having to brake much earlier than I wanted to avoid its intervention and subsequent trip to the tyre wall.
Special mention must go to the OE Michelin tyres. The Road 5 tyres are perfect for the bike; another example of Yamaha resisting the urge to either fit the MT-07 with fashionable, racy tyres that need to be screaming hot to work for the sake of image or, at the other end of the scale, cheap and nasty tyres that don’t grip in the dry, wet, hot or cold in the name of keeping the price of the bike down. Yamaha has fitted the bike with exactly the right tyres for it and its purpose in life.
The Michelins make a big contribution to the way the MT-07 handles, and they also work well when they’re cold – or, as we found when we went to the go-kart track, they warm up fast and have more than enough grip. The choice of OE tyre really
THE PUNCHY ENGINE FIRED THE YAMAHA OUT OF THE SLOW CORNERS INSTEAD OF JUST PULLING IT OUT.
sums up the MT-07 well and shines a light on Yamaha’s understanding that cheap doesn’t have to mean nasty.
The MT-07’s basic recipe of a punchy engine, short wheelbase, aggressive riding position, soft but matched suspension, decent components, very good tyres and not much else is as refreshing as it is effective.
When Yamaha announced it was updating the MT-07 I held my breath and hoped it wasn’t a reinvention, only to miss the mark.
I need not have worried. The MT-07 is still very much a bike that delivers on its brief to be fun, easy and versatile without being cheap and nasty.
It’s bloody brilliant, and apart from the fact that the Aprilia looks so damn good and that I look like a bear riding a mini-moto on the MT-07 – neither of which are Yamaha’s fault, I didn’t spend the day wishing I was on any of the other bikes in the test.