Yamaha MT-07 700 2015 — Specifications

What drove Yamaha to trade the well-mannered XJ6 and its purring four-cylinder for a punchy twin dressed in an urban manga look? The answer is five letters long: MT-07. Launched in 2014, the Yamaha MT-07 700 reshuffled the deck in the mid-size roadster segment, where the Kawasaki ER-6 had been quietly reigning and where the Suzuki SV 650 had once planted its flag. The price of a 2015 Yamaha MT-07 700 comes in at 5,999 euros, a rock-bottom figure that hurts the competition. Yamaha is no longer playing the bland consensus card: the Iwata manufacturer wants character, texture, and personality.

Beneath that angular, compact bodywork beats a 689 cc inline twin christened CP2. The 270-degree crankshaft phasing, inherited from the cross-plane philosophy developed on the YZF-R1 and MT-09, gives it a deliberate irregularity in combustion. The result is felt from the very first twist of the throttle: the Yamaha MT-07 700 produces 75 horsepower at 9,000 rpm, and more importantly, 67.7 Nm of torque available from just 6,500 rpm. Standard figures for the class, but it's the way they're delivered that changes everything. The engine snarls, pushes in waves, reminding you that you're riding a living machine rather than a sanitized turbine. Forged pistons, four valves per cylinder, and a six-speed gearbox round out a carefully engineered package. The Yamaha MT-07 700's average fuel consumption remains modest thanks to the optimization work carried out by the engineers — no small point given the humble 14-liter tank.

The chassis plays the card of intelligent minimalism. The diamond-type steel tube frame uses the engine as a stressed member, a solution that increases rigidity while reducing weight. The asymmetric swingarm, bolted directly to the engine cases, adds a touch of refinement rarely seen at this price point. The wet weight of the Yamaha MT-07 700 tops out at just 179 kg. Twenty-six kilos lighter than the XJ6 it replaces. On the scales, it's a genuine featherweight compared to its rivals, and you feel it in every change of direction. The 41 mm telescopic fork and mono-shock each offer 130 mm of travel, an honest compromise between urban comfort and sporty handling. The braking setup does better than the bare minimum: two 282 mm discs gripped by four-piston calipers up front is serious hardware for a machine of this size. The 180/55-17 rear tire comes as a surprise — a spec usually reserved for sportbikes like the R6. A choice driven more by aesthetics than necessity, but one that reinforces the machine's visual presence.

The seat, perched at 805 mm, remains accessible to most rider builds. The Yamaha MT-07 700 casts a wide net: from the freshly licensed A2 rider to the seasoned motorcyclist looking for a lightweight machine for daily road duties. It wins over beginners with its easy handling and seduces experienced riders with its playful temperament. In the city, its featherlight weight and agility make it a formidable tool. On back roads, the CP2's generous torque lets you power out without downshifting. Only the highway, with a top speed of 190 km/h and virtually no fairing to speak of, reminds you of the naked roadster format's limitations.

Yamaha hit hard with this MT-07. The price-to-performance-to-fun ratio crushes what the segment had to offer in 2015. The Japanese competition took a blow, and rightly so: it's hard to compete when a machine this well-bred comes in under the 6,000-euro mark. The recipe is simple — an endearing twin, a lightweight chassis, a bold look — and it works. No technical revolution, just the right ingredients assembled with precision.