YAMAHA R7 THE MOST PRACTICAL FUN YOU'LL HAVE!

We ride the new Yamaha R7 in Australia to see if it lives up to the venerable R-lineage of Yamaha.

- SUNDEEP GAJJAR

started my motorcycling journey in 2001 with a single-cylinder 180cc motorcycle that made a healthy 15 horsepower. In 2017, I went around Australia on a near-270 bhp Ninja H2. And today, I have these two motorcycles here; that very Ninja H2 and the new Yamaha R7. This has made me think about a very important question. Both of these motorcycles are poles apart in some regards and quite similar in others but regardless, where does this need for power end? How much power do you really need?

The differences between these bikes are quite obvious; engine, power, design purpose, and so on. The similarities lie in the emotion both of these motorcycles evoke- that of riding a motorcycle and feeling the wind in your face. Another similarity is how polarizing they both have been. The Ninja H2 drove people nuts. A motorcycle with a supercharger was outrageous. But that was exactly what the Ninja H2 was going for; the absolute limit!

Coming to the Yamaha R7, it was the same deal. With its design language that is in line with other R-machines, people thought that they’d get their hands on an inline-4 that’d scream to 15,000 rpm- just like the R6 did. Instead, they got a motorcycle powered by the same engine as the MT-07. A crossplane inline-twin engine that makes 72 bhp. People were baffled and they let it show on the internet. So many comments, so many opinions and whatnot. Here I am, having ridden both of these motorcycles, thinking about what the hoopla is all about.