After a series of photos released during the 2016
EICMA show, Yamaha Europe has taken the covers off the 2017 Yamaha T7 Concept,
an adventure bike said to be carrying a two-cylinder power plant taken from the
Yamaha MT-07. The photos were shot during a first look exclusive by Italian
online journal dueroute.it.
As successor to the legendary Yamaha XT600, the T7
concept has big shoes to fill, and its styling follows Yamaha 450 Dakar
off-road racers closely, with tall front end and narrow seat. The humped
aluminium fuel tank is also in keeping with adventure bike styling, and we
would hazard a guess at tank capacity being in the order of 17- or 18-litres,
or so.
The parallel-twin, liquid-cooled 270-degree
Crossplane, 649 cc engine from the MT-07 is very much in evidence, and the T7
concept is likely to put out similar power figures – 73.7 hp at 9,000 rpm and
68 Nm of torque at 6,500 rpm. However, it can be safely assumed that for the
“adventure” nature of the T7, the torque figure will take a bump with a
corresponding decrease in peak horsepower.
Spoked wheels and knobby tyres are installed, in
keeping with the bike’s design style, with generous ground clearance provided
by the taller KYB suspension. A massive skid plate is obvious, as is
carbon-fibre bodywork, although it is not known if these items will make it to
the final production model of the T7.
Up front a four-LED projector headlight array is
covered by a tall windscreen, and an Akrapovic exhaust is fitted. Again, it is
not known if these prototype items will be what the Yamaha customer will get,
but it certainly looks the part.
Adventure bikes are popular as a motorcycle design
style, and many riders like the tall, upright seating position which gives a
commanding view of traffic, as well as the ability to add luggage, increasing
the functionality of the bike.
From the example of the Yamaha T7 Concept adventure
bike shown in the photos, it certainly looks to be a late-stage prototype, or
perhaps even a pre-production model, judging from the level of fit and finish,
and will probably be on public display at this years’s EICMA show.