Yamaha MT-07 Tenere spied testing in Italy

Yamaha is developing a new adventure bike on its famous MT-07 platform. In fact, a prototype was spied testing in Italy. 

There have been rumours about a possible middle-weight adventure bike coming from Yamaha, but there was no real concrete information or images until now. The prototype that was being tested close to Yamaha’s test facility in Italy looks like an early one. But the fairing wears black clothes, making us believe that there’s a production ready body underneath it. The visor, which is non-adjustable looks ready too. However, the subframe has been left exposed and it looks like the Japanese manufacturer is still working on pannier options for this adventure motorcycle. 

The long travel suspension setup is new, so is the design of the swingarm. The spied bike sports 21-inch spoked wheel at the front and an 18-inch one at the rear. Tyres are for dual purpose but expect off-road tyres as an option after the launch. The brakes are from Brembo, which is quite interesting as Yamaha is known to use Nissin brakes for its big bikes. The ABS unit couldn’t be seen on this prototype, but it’ll eventually come to the production version to meet the Euro4 norm. 

The engine on the bike looks exactly like the one we see on the MT-07 naked. But in order to suit the nature of the adventure bike, Yamaha will retune the engine to develop more low and mid-range torque. The 689cc parallel-twin motor on the MT-07 produces 75bhp and 67Nm of peak torque. We’re expecting Yamaha to officially unveil this adventure bike early next year, followed by the global launch in 2018. If by then, the adventure bike segment in India is matured enough, we might see this new Yamaha making its way to the Indian market. 

Image source: MCN