2017 Yamaha T7 Concept 649 cc adventure bike teased

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. In Malaysia, the 2017 Yamaha MT-07 retails at RM36,795, and we would assume the 2017 Yamaha T7 Concept, when it enters production, will be priced somewhat similarly as the “entry-level” into Yamaha’s bigger displacement bikes.

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.

What do you think? Do we deserve a machine like this from Yamaha? Perhaps Hong Leong Yamaha Malaysia will heed the readers’ call and bring this middle-weight adventure bike in to go against the likes of the Honda CBR500X and Benelli TRK502. So, leave a comment with your thoughts and opinions below.

Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.