The Yamaha MT-07 Is As Good As Everyone Says It Is

The Yamaha MT-07 (née FZ-07) is a motorcycle destined to be canonized as one of The Great Standard Bikes of the 21st Century. At $7,599, it’s a massive overachiever. As a turnkey daily rider, a racebike project, a first bike, or a thirtieth bike, the MT-07 transcends its categorization. It’s not a budget bike; it’s a bargain bike.

When Yamaha released the FZ-07 in 2015, it became an instant hit, filling the budget commuter/racer niche left vacant after Suzuki turned its beloved SV650 into the milquetoast SVF650 Gladius. I mean, Gladius? It sounds a bit too, I don’t know… anatomical.

I can very well imagine a doctor scolding an afflicted patient: “I told you to stop taking such hot baths; they’re bad for your Gladius,” or “Your Gladius doesn’t come with a tool kit, which is why you need to get it inspected annually.”

Fortunately, Yamaha came to the rescue with the FZ-07. The Fuzz was the right bike for the right time. Its 270-degree, parallel-twin engine was rowdy and characterful; it handled well; it had modern styling; and at $6,990, it was the right price.

Since then, Suzuki has seen the error of its ways and re-released a proper SV650, Honda has joined the fray with the 2018 CB650F (though it looks curiously similar to the FZ, if you ask me), and Kawasaki released the Z650. In other words, the lightweight “hyper naked” class is really hot right now.

It’s so hot, in fact, that Yamaha says the FZ-07 is the highest-selling motorcycle in its entire lineup. Zack and Ari have been raving about this thing since day one, so when they asked me to attend the launch of the ’18 model in Marbella, Spain, I couldn’t wait to see what all the fuss was about.

Unfortunately, I got about three corners into the ride before the heavens opened. We’re talking can’t-see-10-feet-ahead-of-you, lose-the-front, “shoot-I-just-peed-a-little” levels of rain here. My wife, Leah, said it was actually warmer in Upstate New York than it was in the south of Spain. Just my luck. But I was still getting paid to ride a motorcycle, so things could be worse.

For 2018, Yamaha ditched the FZ moniker, giving it the MT name consistent with the nomenclature used in the rest of the world. MT, if you’re wondering, stands for “Master of Torque,” as though the bike received a graduate degree from some second-rate university that’ll pretty much let you study whatever you want as long as you give them money. Still, it’s way better than Gladius.

Yamaha also updated the bodywork from nose to tail. It takes a keen eye to notice the differences, but I find the lines simpler and more attractive. Plus, moving the tank cover forward 10mm makes the rider and passenger seats slightly roomier. The bars are narrower than on some naked bikes, which coupled with the slender tank, makes the whole package feel slightly shrunken.

That’s not necessarily a negative, considering testers as tall as 6-foot-3 didn’t feel cramped on the bike. In fact, I appreciated how diminutive the bike felt, especially when maneuvering at low speeds—something I’m not generally great at.

When building a bike to a price point, suspension is typically one of the most evident areas of cost-cutting. Finding the perfect balance between a comfy ride for the daily commute and a firm, adequately damped ride for carving the canyons on the weekends, further complicates matters.

In search of the sweet spot, Yamaha revised suspension spring rates and valving front and rear, and added rebound adjustability in the rear to go with the existing preload adjustability.

It’s a real shame the weather didn’t cooperate, but in my brief time on dry roads, I was duly impressed by the suspension’s level of composure. Yamaha did a great job of dialing in the settings to get the best out of these “budget” parts.

Hitting some pretty serious Spanish speed bumps (fascist speed control measures leftover from Franco’s regime, no doubt), the MT felt plush and controlled. Suspension on a bike this inexpensive isn’t supposed to be this good.

Like the suspension, the brakes performed better than expected, with plenty of power and feel to authoritatively slow down the 403-pound package. For 2018, the MT-07 is only available with ABS; it costs only $100 more than last year’s ABS-equipped bike. Great-handling chassis, comfy ergos, and thoroughly vetted suspension aside, the engine remains the MT’s party piece. It’s a laugh-inside-your-helmet kind of motor.

Torquey from off idle and with a strong midrange, it feels more powerful than the numbers suggest. This thing pulls. It sounds pretty good too, especially when revving it in the echoey alleys of old Spanish towns (hopefully it wasn’t siesta time). It’s a bit too quiet as standard, but Yamaha USA’s media relations manager accompanied us, riding a bike fitted with a throaty Akrapovič exhaust that made the MT-07 sound the way it was meant to be heard.

So there’s suggested mod #1. The MT-07 is a Universal Japanese Motorcycle in the best sense. It’s predictable and easy to ride, which makes it an ideal bike for an inexperienced rider, yet it’s viscerally engaging and competent enough to be a willing accomplice for even the most experienced rider.

Without a doubt, the MT-07 belongs in the motorcyclist’s canon of beloved machines. It’s the rare bike that can be at once a trackday weapon or an anonymous commuter that gets 58 mpg. It’s the obsessed-over parts-bin special and the neglected, barely maintained grocery-getter. It’s the beloved and the overlooked. All things to all people?

Maybe not, but that it’s capable of satisfying riders with such disparate priorities is testament to Yamaha’s brilliance. It follows in the tread marks of other overachieving commuters-gone-racing: the Yamaha RD400, the Honda CB400, the original Suzuki SV650. Like those machines, motorcyclists will be talking about the MT-07 for years to come. And if not talking, then certainly riding.