New XT700Z?
 

Hi guys,

I recently read that the current XTZ 660 is to be discontinued soon and most likely will be replacd by new Z based on the MT07 similarly to the MT03 in the past.
Have you heard anything? Because if so that will be really nice product.

Thanks

I hope things do take that route. Because I think some of the problem here in Oz is the fact that a lot of the marketing is focused on the bike as LAMS approved ( learner legal ) hence the 660cc and a bit strangled . Now I don't know many people willing to part with around $15000 just to get a full licence then chop it in for a go faster GSXR or something similar. When you can pick up a CB500 for nearly half the price & is bit more user friendly to start off on. They are also going to have the likes of Triumph to contend with as they are bringing some of their 675 models down to 660 for learners too.
So I'd say the market for these bikes is more with people who already have their full licence, so something not plastered with L plates when you walk in the show room & built to run like it should would be much more appealing to most.

+ I had a Mt-07 as a loan bike while mine was in for a service & it has a sweet little motor.

Heard the same in South Africa. No more XT660Z's available at our local Yamaha dealer. Waiting for the new models.

There's no doubt the proposed new model Tenere would be nice. And maybe made in Japan.

But in this age of instant power, there's room for big singles, imo. I know it shows my age, but I basically started off on British big singles. Over the years have always returned to single pot bikes, in spite of the fact that they have relatively narrow usable rev ranges.

BSAs, Matchless, Yamahas, Hondas and Huskys have all had a home with me at one time or another. Multis are nice, but for me a big single does it all provided it proves reliable.

Here in Oz draconian speed limits rigidly enforced discourage fast bikes (not that we shouldn't own them anyway!), but regardless of that I'm happy enough with what I've got. I look around every now and then, but can't think of anything I want to replace my bike with, including a multi-cylinder adventure bike.

Which doesn't mean that Yamaha shouldn't build a middleweight multi. Good on them.

One positive thing I will be able re-flash the MT07 for all the bolt on mods, I am already doing MT/FZ09's + Tracer/FJ09's, I have been doing them for a while now.

This is what the FZ07 mapping looks like in the OEM ECU:

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...psrlmprt6r.jpg

I can see that's where yamah are goin with the tenere possibly but after loads of hmming and haaaing over the tenere, after a 2 up, 1 week trip around Scotland I'm sticking with it a bit longer. I've always like big singles as they give me a good bit of fun but at low mph however they do struggle with the standard high speed mile munching, vibration, lack of power issue.

A mt 07 motored tenere would solve a lot of this but would it still have the same soul and character as the 660 motor? I don't think so

The imminent introduction of an MT-07 based XT is nothing to do with marketing, what people want/desire, or for that matter what Yamaha want to do. Their hand has been forced by the bureaucrats in Brussels. In its current state, the XT660 motor will not pass the new Euro 4 emissions regulations which come into force on 1st January 2017. Europe is by far its biggest market and it would be simply too expensive for Yamaha to make the engine compliant. That's not to say the 660 in some form or other won't continue to be built/sold in developing markets with lower (or no) emissions regs. I fancy India as a possible home for future production. The coffin lid hasn't been nailed down just yet!

Any new XT700/XT-07 will undoubtedly be a nice bike and worthy of the name, but won't really be a true/direct replacement for the 660 as it fits into sector of the market, the same niche as the Tiger 800 and GS 800. Hopefully the trump card it will have on those two is that, although giving away 100cc, it will be considerably cheaper - just like the MT-07 is.

Looking on the bright side, with current XT range very likely being the last ever Yamaha big singles, they'll soon become classics, demand will increase and the value of our bikes will start to climb...

Is it possible that it does have a lot to to do with marketing etc? Because it seems to me that if people didn't want an XT700, and if marketing research didn't warrant a production go-ahead order, then there's no way Yamaha would be building this bike.

It also makes business sense if the same basic 700 engine can be used to afford economy of scale. And I wonder if the current XT sales are where Yamaha want them to be? If not, the factory will simply move on to where they think the money is.

Just my thoughts for what they're worth.

I don't doubt this to be the case, but where does it leave AJP and their PR7 bike which is said to be using the XT660 engine and due for launch this year?

I suspect Yamaha are encoraged enough by sales of their MT range to have the confidence to use the platform as widely as possible. If they make the bike light enough, off road friendly enough and at the right price, I'll be very interested in one. But all too often, you get excited, then the bike that actually does come out is too heavy or too road focussed. But I think they have a great opportunity here to steal a big share of the market.