Is the 2025 MT-07 Update Good Enough?

November 01, 2024

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SQUID 🦑 📰 🏍

The Yamaha engineers were too busy developing an automatic transmission, they forgot this engine is still missing 100 cc.

  1. The MT-07, while being a revered platform that offers a fun, playful, and affordable riding experience, was starting to look a bit long in the tooth. It had received a handful of updates since its initial debut that helped do away with some of the cheap or chintzy feeling it was known for. Yet, in the wake of all the new competition in the class, it was really in need of a serious overhaul, particularly in regards to the chassis. For 2025, Yamaha practically reworked this bike from the ground up. The frame is more rigid, it has a new USD fork, the swing arm and rear shock have been tweaked, and it uses new lighter wheels, which all suggest a substantial improvement to the bikes handling. The new MT-07 also got a pretty significant tech package. Part of the charm of the MT-07 used to be its simple analog feel, it’s cable throttle allowed for a direct connection between the rider and the peppy CP2 engine. For 2025, the bike now uses a FBW throttle which allows for multiple ride modes and traction control. While this tech helps the MT-07 stay relevant amongst its competitors, is it really all that necessary when the engine remains unchanged, making just 74 HP? Maybe most notably, the bike is now offered with Yamaha’s Y-AMT automatic transmission, which also features cruise control. The new MT-07 got a pretty significant update, but does all the new tech detract from the spirit of the bike that made it so special to begin with?

  2. Harley Davidsons financial reports look bleak. Revenue from motorcycle sales is down a whopping 40% from the previous year. Which any layperson can recognize as being not good. LiveWire, HD’s electric step-child, is continuing to hemorrhage cash, losing $2.27 million dollars in Q3 alone. HD leadership blames high interest rates and general economic uncertainty for their position, but I think the answer is obvious. People don’t want to buy $25K garage ornaments anymore.

  3. KTM is in a tough spot too. Having made a series of lay-offs and undergone corporate restructuring to save costs. Amidst issues of reliability, costly service, and overseas productions, the Pierer Mobility group stock price is down something like 75% since 2022. Despite this, they still can’t seem to get their priorities straight. Indicative of this, they released info on the new 1390 Super Adventure S Evo ahead of the updated 390. Instead of just licensing their engine designs to CFMoto, their partnership should include some business advice as well.

  4. As companies that prioritize high-end, expensive motorcycles struggle, the segment of smaller, affordable bikes is booming. Royal Enfield just launched their Bear 650, which looks remarkably similar to the Triumph’s Scrambler 400. While this bike isn’t offering anything particularly remarkable, using their trusty air cooled twin as the engine platform, it is at least relevant to the current landscape, and offers a far more competitive package than the painfully underpowered Scram 411.

IT CAME FROM DISCORD 👹 👻 🧟

The intellectual summit.

Busa content and laundry content collide.

Caught redhanded! Discord user @B.Goods8 incriminated himself by posting a photo that depicts washing motorcycles at the DIY car wash. Moments later they were determined to be totaled.

Electronics: Fried. Engine: Hydro-locked. Everyone knows you can only safely wash a motorcycle using specialized microfiber towels and a $50 motorcycle detailing kit.

BIG BRAIN SYMPOSIUM 👨‍🔬 🧠 🔬

TFW YOU MUST POST A RIDICULOUS COMMENT ON A VIDEO WHERE I READ RIDICULOUS COMMENTS