#fz-07

If you’ve read my 2017 Suzuki SV650 First Ride Review, you’ll know how I feel about the new SV. I’m a big fan of the new bike and feel that it’s recaptured the magic of the original SV. With its charismatic and refined 645cc V-Twin, I was instantly drawn to its fun-loving character, and now that Suzuki has wised up and given the bike an attractive – and competitive – $6,999 price tag, it’s clear Suzuki is answering the challenge thrown down from its crosstown rival, Yamaha, and the $6,990 FZ-07.

A few months ago during the Shoei X-Fourteen introduction at Chuckwalla Raceway, I was given the chance to spin some laps aboard a Graves Motorsports Yamaha FZ-07, FZ-09, and YZF-R3. The two FZs were equipped with a variety of performance upgrades available from the Graves Motorsports catalog while the R3 was one of the Graves Racing Services’ race-prepped bikes.

Yamaha announced a new sport-tourer based on its MT-07/FZ-07 platform for the European market. Dubbed the Tracer 700 in Europe, we expect to see it arrive in North America as the FJ-07.

What we’re seeing here is a middleweight Ténéré based on the FZ-07 parallel-Twin engine. The obvious giveaway being the sexy little S-bend of the header pipes betraying its family origins, here shielded by an aluminum bash plate. Launching a mid-size ADV bike fills a hole in Yamaha’s current model lineup and should offer stout competition for the likes of Suzuki’s V-Strom 650XT, Triumph’s Tiger 800s and BMW’s F800GS.

Bang for the buck. That’s what it comes down to when you talk about value. Whether it’s refrigerators or motorcycles, getting a good value boils down to receiving more than expected for an item’s price tag. Of course, it doesn’t hurt when that price tag is a mere $6990, as is the case with the Yamaha FZ-07, Motorcycle.com’s returning champion in the Value category.

Yamaha has released images and a video of its new retro-styled production model, the XSR700. The XSR is a variation of the FZ-07 platform, a retro roadster slightly reminiscent of Ducati’s successful Scrambler. As of this writing, the XSR700 has only been announced by Yamaha Motor Europe, but we expect it will also be sold in North America; we’ll provide an update when we hear back from Yamaha Motor U.S.A.

When Yamaha announced today that the 2016 FZ-07 and FZ-09 would be in dealerships beginning in September, another tidbit was dropped. Collectively, the two models account for two of the top-four-selling motorcycles the company produces. The fact that the FZ-07 has been on sale for less than 12 months makes its placement at number four even more impressive. Yamaha’s PR reps said they expect it to move up the ranks as time goes on.

It’s easy for us to get carried away in the spirit of the MOment, no matter what kind of motorcycles we’re testing here at the MO. Manufacturers are constantly showering us with the latest greatest machines: $30,000 six-cylinder sport tourers? We love them. $15,000 retro nakeds? Fantastic! Cruisers? Fresh surprises every year, including the new Indian Scout.

The evolution of motorcycles continues its relentless pace in 2014, with new offerings in every segment that advance the state of the art. The list of nominations for our prestigious Motorcycle of the Year award stretched across many categories and a diverse range of prices. After much debate among our editors, we’ve whittled down the best of the best to determine which two motorcycles are most deserving of our honors. And the winners are…

By Troy Siahaan

By Kevin Duke

A weird thing happened to me during the U.S. launch of Yamaha’s latest motorcycle, the FZ-07. As we were rolling through the backroads of Bainbridge Island, just off the coast of Seattle, it hit me. “I think I like this bike more than the FZ-09.” Before the ride, I was expecting a middleweight sporty bike, with performance comparable to the Suzuki SFV650 or Kawasaki Ninja 650. I figured, after riding the FZ-09 and loving its fun-per-dollar quotient, there was no way the 09’s little brother, with one less cylinder and less displacement, could be nearly as fun.

The west coast of Canada probably offers the country’s best motorcycling. The scenery is magnificent, with cascading mountains along the coastline of British Columbia plunging sharply to meet the Pacific, all the way from Alaska to Washington State.