MT-07 Wheelie Good Fun!

Yamaha’s hysterical bargain middleweight naked.

- Jon Urry

Some bikes punch well above their perceived weight limit and deliver far more grins per pound spent than considerably more established machinery. One such example is the Triumph Street Triple, which stunned the world when it was originally unveiled and quite rightly went on to dominate the middleweight market due to its amazing triple motor and agile chassis. In 2014 Yamaha pulled off a similar trick, although in the case of their new budget parallel twin, it really was a bolt from the blue.

On paper the Yamaha MT-07 was, well, let’s be truthful here, what appeared to be a fairly run-of-the-mill parallel twin budget middleweight. After all, what did we have to compare it to? Yes, the Kawasaki ER-6n was a giggle, but it wasn’t exactly a game changer, while the Honda CB500 or NC700 range were worthy, but lacking any real zing. So when Yamaha announced an all-new 689cc water-cooled parallel twin for 2014 with a remarkably low price tag, the general assumption was that it would be a slightly uninspiring commuter that looked ok, but lacked any real flair.