Few platforms have proved to be as versatile as the Yamaha CP2 parallel twin; it now covers every conceivable base with the addition of the R7 sportbike.

After starting life as a naked bike in the form of the MT-07, it soon became a retro racer, then a tourer, a mid-size adventure bike and now a sportbike. Other manufacturers have tried to follow their example, but none have matched this crossplane twin lump in terms of versatility, with all their machines getting compromised in at least one model. Yamaha’s “secret sauce” is its wide torque band, overall horsepower doesn’t always match rivals, but the torque is always there.

Their commitment to this platform saves a lot of money on research and development, which is good for them and great for consumers too, and now we have a true blue budget sportbike.

10 Versatile Parallel Twin

2022 Yamaha XSR700 engine close-up view
via: YamahaMotorSports

Power is more or less identical to the MT-07 at 72 horses, this is a testament to how much faith they have in the lump. The only thing they changed is the gearing, dropping a tooth at the rear sprocket, so the top end goes up a little closer to 130 mph.

2022-Yamaha-YZF-R7-review-statics-engine-exhaust
Rider Magazine

Yamaha has truly achieved the unthinkable with this CP2 engine over the last few years, and it somehow keeps delivering, even in sportbike guise it is still able to impress.

9 Sportbike Ergonomics

2022-Yamaha-YZF-R7-First-Look-supersport-track-sport-motorcycle-26
Ultimate Motorcycling

When the bike was announced, most of us thought it would be another softly-spoken Ninja 650, or a comfy CBR650R, but the rider triangle is far closer to that of the R6.

Yamaha R7
Via yamahamotorsports.com

It forces you forward but not so much that it makes commuting too much of a chore (like the R6), but it will feel a lot more sporty than any of the other budget conscious middleweight sportbikes.

Related: A Detailed Look Back At The Original Yamaha YZF-R7

8 Tall Seat Height

Yamaha YZF-R7
Via yamahamotorsports.com

With the tweaked ergonomics, the seat height increases to almost 33 inches, which is pretty tall for most people and something that might make shorter, or newer riders think twice.

A rider on a 2022 Yamaha YZF-R7.
Via: Yamaha

Fortunately for those who are vertically challenged, we expect the aftermarket lowering kits made for the MT will fit and shouldn’t compromise the sporty ride and handling.

Yamaha MT-07 parked outside
Via visordown.com

Yamaha had given the opposition quite a head start, in all honesty they could have launched this bike alongside the MT (above), but they wanted to do more market research first…

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Topspeed

What Yamaha have on their side is pricing, the R7 comes in under pretty much all their direct rivals who offer similar spec machinery.

Related: Here's Why We Love The Aprilia RS 660

6 Racing Roots

Yamaha-R7-2
Via webbikeworld.com

The original YZF-R7 (pictured) was a fire breathing track monster, it was a homologation special too, so only 500 were ever made.

yamaha r7
via wallpaper access

So as much as the name might make sense if you look at their current model lineup, anyone familiar with the old bike might be disappointed in the new version, which makes around half the horsepower the old R7 was making back in the late 90s.

5 Typical Yamaha Flair

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MCS

In recent times, Yamaha has adopted the “Revs Your Heart” slogan. For the most part, that is obviously just marketing jargon, but we have to acknowledge that their bikes are usually performance minded.

2021-Yamaha-YZF-R7
Via: iamabiker.com

The R7 exhibits that typical flair in both appearance and performance, it is not necessarily the most powerful or the fastest, but it is fun and will certainly get your heart racing.

Related: Yamaha R7 Vs Kawasaki Ninja 650: Which Is The Better Middleweight Sportbike

4 Budget Track Bike

2021-Yamaha-R7
Via: www.acbiker.online

If you are after a track-ready bike for under the $10,000 mark, you will likely need to be looking to the used market.

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Via: s1.paultan.org

It is pretty clear that this is the market Yamaha have expertly targeted, which gives us a viable new alternative to a used R6 that may or may not have crashed on track, and may or may not have been maintained well.

3 Limited Chassis

Yamaha-YZF-R7-1
Yamaha

To keep this project on budget, which clearly wasn’t very high, engineers would have had to work around many issues and just sort of accept others, the frame is one of those they simply had to accept, it has more bend and flex than most of the opposition.

yamaha r7 track2
Robb Report

Adding more power would have been nice, but ultimately that would have revealed its true weakness, as it honestly feels as though the frame can't handle much more power on track.

Related: Here's What Makes The Yamaha R7 GYTR So Awesome

2 Proven Mechanicals

yamaha-r7
Yamaha

All Yamaha did was add some better bits here and there to turn this into a pretty capable sportbike, the highlight of those better bits has to be the fully adjustable suspension.

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Asphalt & Rubber

The suspension has always been the one thing holding the MT back, so by resolving that the bike is able to maximize its potential.

1 Sportbike For The Street

yamaha r7 black
iMotorbike

The marketing might suggest otherwise, but this is truly a sportbike for the street, although capable of doing the odd track day, so is just about any bike.

2022-Yamaha-YZF-R7-Black-First-Look-supersport-track-sport-motorcycle
Via: Ultimatemotorcycling.com

It is a more comfortable (yet not necessarily "comfortable"), usable sportbike and almost the polar opposite of the old R6 which is a cut above everyone on track but shockingly impractical.