The natural evolution of everything today is specialization. You see this everywhere: in software, in education, in the kind of jobs available, and in two-wheelers. Motorcycles today are hyper-specialized and are capable of doing whatever you want from them, no matter how outlandish. Of course, you do need the budget for it, but the specialization is a real thing.
That is not to say that there aren’t motorcycles that are Swiss Army Knives. They tend to turn compromise into an art form, and you don’t particularly miss out on anything because most riders do not use 100 percent of the capability of the motorcycle. And if you desire just one motorcycle for everything, they make a lot of sense.
The Sports Bike Segment Echoes The Larger Trends
The sports bike segment follows the same trends. There are the specialists, and then there are the all-rounders. The ratio changes from segment to segment; you wouldn’t expect a specialist at the affordable low-displacement end of the spectrum, and neither would you expect an all-rounder among the premium liter-class sports bikes. That is what makes the middleweight segment so interesting. It has all sorts of products, from ones that can be used daily to others that are old-school, arse-over-elbow track tools.
The Old-School Competitor
The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R is everything good about a ‘90s/2000s supersport motorcycle. It has the pedigree, the performance, and the tech that make it a great track tool. However, you do have to pay an outsized premium for it, and it won’t be usable on a daily basis because of how aggressive it is. If you’re willing to give up comfort for excitement, there is no better choice in the segment – and you’ll make your chiropractor happy!
The New-Age Daily Riders
Manufacturers have realized that most consumers do not take their middleweight supersport motorcycle to the track. They just want the look of a supersport motorcycle, but the comfort of something that can be driven daily, just like the modern SUV. The segment sports examples like the Kawasaki Ninja 650 and the Honda CBR650R E-Clutch. The Honda, in particular, with its semi-automatic gearbox, is the epitome of comfort in the middle-weight super-sport segment.
The In-Betweeners
There are still some great all-rounders in the middleweight sports bike segment. There is probably no better example of this than the Aprilia RS 660. Aprilia has worked hard to make it as light as possible while giving the engine over 100 horsepower from a parallel-twin engine. This gives it a great power-to-weight ratio and thus, performance. Its adjustability is also unparalleled, with features like an adjustable swingarm pivot point.
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The Yamaha YZF-R7 Is The Sports Bike That Can Do It All And Still Be Easy To Live With
Somewhere in the middle of all these choices lies the Yamaha YZF-R7. It is based on the MT-07 naked bike, and it carries a lot of the lessons applied to Yamaha 700 cc models, including its adventure motorcycle. Those lessons include light weight, a fun chassis, good cycle parts, and affordability both in purchase price and ownership costs. This makes the YZF-R7 the sports bike that can do it all and still be easy to live with.
Balanced Pricing For A Balanced Motorcycle
Yamaha has set the price of the R7 at $9,399, which puts it smack in the middle of the segment. It might not have the best dollar-to-horsepower ratio, but the YZF-R7 is also a very light motorcycle. And it gets just enough electronics to make it usable while not going overboard and driving the price up. We also like the fact that it is available in different colorways, some of which are sober, and some of which are loud. It is also available in the lovely 70th Anniversary Edition colorway for a slight premium at $9,699.
CP2 Engine Has Real-World Performance
The CP2 engine follows the same formula that has made all the other crossplane Yamaha engines such a success: a broad spread of torque coupled with a decently high horsepower figure. In the case of the CP2, it is a 270-degree parallel-twin that displaces 689 cc and has a compression ratio of 11.5:1. In European spec, it generates 72 horsepower at 8,750 RPM and 50.2 pound-feet at 6,500 RPM. That might seem like a very small horsepower figure for this segment.
However, the Yamaha has most of its torque available from 2,000 RPM onward. So this is a far more usable motorcycle for most riders, not just on the street but also on the track. It is packaged with a six-speed manual gearbox that has an assist-and-slipper clutch and a two-way quickshifter thanks to the addition of a by-wire throttle. There is also a semi-automatic gearbox available in other markets, but it isn’t offered here.
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Recent Chassis Revisions Improve Handling
The original YZF-R7 uses the exact same frame as the MT-07 naked bike, which is a steel diamond frame that uses the engine as a stressed member. Yamaha has made a few significant changes to it for this model year, though. It has stiffened it up some for better handling and added an adjustment for the front forks. The result is said to be a much more engaging and livable sports bike.
Elsewhere, the 41 mm KYB inverted fork is fully adjustable (preload, rebound, and compression), and the link-type rear shock has preload and rebound damping adjustment. There is 4.7 inches of travel available at the front and 4.8 inches at the rear. There are twin 298 mm discs for the front brakes, paired with radial four-piston fixed calipers and a Brembo master cylinder. And at the rear, there is a 245 mm disc. The wheels are 10-spoke aluminum-alloy wheels and are shod with tubeless radial tires.
This Is A Light, Compact Bike
The YZF-R7 is a compact sports bike that hangs its hat on its lightweight. This is reflected in its dimensions; it is 81.5 inches long and 28.5 inches wide, with a wheelbase of 54.9 inches. The seat height is surprisingly low for a sports bike at 32.7 inches. But the ground clearance is par for the course at 5.3 inches. The fuel tank holds 3.7 gallons, which should be enough considering the claimed fuel economy of 59 MPG. But the true hero figure here is the wet weight of 417 pounds.
Updated Feature Set Brings It Up To Date
The YZF-R7 used to be a simple sports bike whose USP was the power-to-weight ratio only. But a recent update has given it a set of features that make it a much better all-around bike. It has a five-inch TFT display with Bluetooth and navigation, and the foot pegs have been taken from the YZF-R1. They ostensibly offer better grip, especially while cornering. The turn signals also have lane-change indicators and are self-canceling.
Moving on, a six-axis IMU is standard now, and this has led to a whole host of features being added to the YZF-R7. They include three power delivery modes, four levels of cornering traction control, four levels of slide control system, four levels of wheelie control ( all three of these include an ‘off’ mode), a cornering brake control system which is different from the cornering ABS system, two levels of engine brake management, a back-slip regulator, and even a launch control system. The ABS itself is switchable and can be turned off at the rear wheel. Cruise control and a speed limiter round things off.
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The YZF-R7 Ticks Almost All The Boxes Now
Whoever said you can’t have everything without compromise hasn’t taken a very good look at the R7. The only place where it seems to lack on the spec sheet is in the peak horsepower figure, but that is a conscious choice made by Yamaha to give it better reliability and more usable performance in the real world, where most people ride most of the time. You could have more, but you would also have to pay more or compromise in other aspects of the product. And that is why, especially with the recent updates, the Yamaha YZF-R7 is the sportbike that can do it all and still be easy to live with.
Source: Yamaha Motorsports