Jump to content
The MT-07 Forum

New Owner - First Ride and Review


kylerhsm

Recommended Posts

Hi all.

 

I've been lurking here a few weeks while deciding on my next bike. Have always been interested in the MT-07 and a great deal popped up so I nabbed it.

 

2016, 11,000km, with the Akra Carbon in the awesome blue. Here in Australia, 90% of MT-07's are a learner restricted model which is 660cc and 52hp and so all the colour options are for the learner version. I managed to find a HO version (high output) which is what the rest of the world have. The colour options here for the HO model are either blue... or.... that's it, just blue. Either way I absolutely love it and think I would have chosen the blue regardless.

 

My riding history.

I've been riding 8 years now and have owned about 30 different bikes. I usually have 3 at any one time. The commuter, the dirt bike, and the comfy one for me and the wife. My commuter for the last few months has been an R3. Awesome little bike, but suffers from savage on/off fuelling, grabby clutch and bouncy as hell suspension. Awesome gearbox and engine though and makes a fine noise for a small parallel twin. Perfect size for commuting and lane splitting but the fuelling and clutch detract from this slightly. Prior to that, I had an XSR900. Probably the best bike I've owned to date. But seeing it wasn't my dirt bike, and it definitely wasn't comfy for the wife, it was my commuter. And a commuter it is not. It suffered from the same on/off fuelling and was very tall (I'm 5'8) and very wide so not great for splitting. And it had mountains of power. It really felt at home in the hills where you could open it right up and with the Akra Titanium it sounded great (for a triple) but was definitely overkill for my 60km/h maximum commute. Good suspension, very slick gearbox aside from the heavy clunk into 1st, and beautiful power delivery. I had it flashed which solved the on/off injector cut issue which was just as bad as on the R3. I've also owned a Street Triple, a few SV650's, CB900 Hornets and about 10 bikes from the 80's.

 

The MT-07.

Having never ridden one, I had a few expectations. I knew what they sounded like, and that they could sound incredible with the right exhaust. I would have prefferred the Akra Titanium but was pretty happy to at least get one with the Carbon and not the standard exhaust. I expected it to have the same on/off fuelling as the XSR900 and R3. The dreaded injector cut, which means coasting downhill means you're either speeding up of savagely engine braking with no in between. I expected terrible suspension, huge torque, an uncomfy seat and nimble handing. I don't think a quick test ride is ever enough to really get an idea of how much you're going to like owning a bike or how liveable it's going to be so when I'm interested in a bike, I just buy one and then move it on when I'm done.

 

The bike looked like new, was owned by a young female who bought it brand new, and had a full service history and some huge chicken strips. I handed over the cash and threw it on the ute without a test ride (it was late at night after work and after being stuck in traffic I just wanted to get home). Anyway, I didn't sleep last night because I was excited about going to work/riding the bike. Starting it up, it has a beautiful idle sound with the Akra Carbon + baffle. Great seating position and feels perfect ergonomically. I like the narrow bars and was one of the reasons I thought it would make a good commuter, as I need to be able to lane split. Dropping it into first, there's the clunk. Same as the XSR900. The R3 has no clunk whatsoever for reference. Doesn't bother me too much as I know it's just the nature of certain bikes. Pulling out into the street I open up the throttle a bit to hear the pipe in action. Errrr, not too keen at all on the sound. The Carbon with baffle makes this air popping spitting noise like air is being passed through a hole that's too small or like the sound of a cheap muffler. More to come later. The gearbox is great. Much smoother than I expected, and easily shifts through the gears and drops into neutral at the lights. Very impressed. Accelerating up the first big hill, the thing pulls like a train from very low down. As torquey as I expected with plenty of thrust and nice tall gearing (compared to the R3, which has stupid short gearing). Very easy to break the speed limit on this bike. Reaching the first big downhill, I'm thinking to myself here we go, time to see just how bad the engine braking/injector cut on/off crap is on this bike, which is terrible on both the XSR900 and R3, and I expected to be even worse on the MT-07. I'd assumed I'd be needing a flash without question. Well I was wrong. This bike has nothing on the R3 or XSR900. The engine braking at cruising RPM is nothing unusual at all and I'm easily able to transition from closed throttle to open throttle without feeling the power suddenly cut in and launch me forwards. I mean, it's still nowhere near as smooth as my carbed CB750 Nighthawk but it is nowhere near as bad as I'd expected based on the other Yamaha's I've owned and what I'd read online. Definitely won't need a flash based on this only. I then took a detour into the hills to open it up a bit. At this point, I'm really not a fan of the exhaust at all. It sounds loud and nasty at anything over 1/2 throttle. Cruising rpm it sounds amazing, and same with light to moderate acceleration, but really opening it up it becomes obnoxious and totally loses its deep bass tone. Suspension wise, not as bad as I expected. It's noticably firmer than the R3 and pogos a lot less. I didn't push it too hard as where I am the hills are always crawling with police and the road in only 70km/h but taking the tight corners quickly, it's quite confidence inspiring. Unless I get into a lot more hard mountain riding, at this stage I don't see the stock suspension as being an issue. The gearbox and motor performed beautifully.

 

Overall.

I really really like this bike after the first ride. Generally, it just feels right and brings a lot to the table in terms of what I look for in a fun commuter. Low down power, light and flickable, great sound (although only at lower throttle) and a comfortable position. I am in no way brand loyal (except to Honda) and I am definitely not one of those people who buys a bike and then feels the need to defend it and say how awesome it is. But I can honestly say that so far I am very impressed. I'm sure once I've had a few weeks to live with it my opinion might change (for better or worse) once I get to know the bike, but at this stage I'm super happy and definitely not regretting the purchase. Now just to work out what to do about that exhaust...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, kylerhsm said:

The engine braking at cruising RPM is nothing unusual at all ... I mean, it's still nowhere near as smooth as my carbed CB750 Nighthawk but it is nowhere near as bad as I'd expected based on the other Yamaha's I've owned and what I'd read online. 

 

Overall.

I really really like this bike after the first ride. . I am in no way brand loyal (except to Honda)

Were we separated at birth? :D  Everything you said, I agree completely! Welcome to the forum, and congrats on the new bike!

 

I generally dislike modern, computer laden bikes. But one test ride on the 07 and I was sold. I really think there's something special about these bikes and I think that many years from now they will be talked about fondly. Yamaha nailed it with these bikes. 

 

I have an Arrow exhaust on my 07 and I'm extremely happy with it. It doesn't do the puffy noise you mention ( I know exactly what you're talking about) when the baffle is in, and it doesn't go all rattly/raspy with the baffle out. Though i will admit it's incredibly loud with the baffle out. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, shinyribs said:

Were we separated at birth? :D  Everything you said, I agree completely! Welcome to the forum, and congrats on the new bike!

 

It doesn't do the puffy noise you mention ( I know exactly what you're talking about) when the baffle is in, and it doesn't go all rattly/raspy with the baffle out. Though i will admit it's incredibly loud with the baffle out. 

That's it. The puffy noise! It was hard to find the right word to describe it. I hate it haha. I've posted in the exhaust section to get some opinions on whether there's a way to reduce it, but it might be that I just try a different muffler on the Akra header. Other than that, the bikes kind of just feels right. And this is after 1/2 an hour of riding. I just can't wait to get to know it better and become more accustomed to it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am in a small minority with this opinion, but I like the standard exhaust.....  This bike is not perfect, but as a package it sure is a gem. Several on here have said that after only a few minutes of a test ride, they were back to buy it. 

Just do it! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Where in Aus are you?

Can't agree about the Akra Carbon though. I love the sound of mine. Horses for courses I guess.

Go forth and modify my son...go forth and modify...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Global Moderator

Welcome @kylerhsm
glad to hear that you're a new convert to the mt
as for your exh issue, are there any exh leaks, mine sounded a bit puffy when i changed out the exh to my yoshi only to realize i put the old gaskets back instead of the new ones i bought and it was causing a slight "phsss" noise on top of the exhaust pulse coming out the muffler

ATGATT... ATTATT, two acronyms I live by.
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.