Since its launch in 2014, the Yamaha MT-07 has been quite the crowd-pleaser in the naked middleweight class, thanks to its wonderfully tractable yet wickedly fun parallel-twin engine, sporty handling and affordable pricing. This year, the 2021 Yamaha MT-07 is set to receive a styling and ergonomic update, larger front brake discs and a few Euro 5 spurred tweaks to the peppy parallel-twin engine. Note that the MSRP is still an approachable $7,699, too ? a $100 increase above last year?s price tag.

The news of the 2021 Yamaha MT-07 comes shortly after the tuning-fork-brand announced a nearly complete overhaul to the popular Yamaha MT-09.

For the model year 2021, the 689cc liquid-cooled CP2 parallel-twin engine returns with some massaging, undoubtedly done to meet Euro 5 emissions standards. Mechanically, the engine is virtually identical to prior generations with its fun-loving 270-degree Crossplane Concept crankshaft design and 80mm bore and 68.6mm stroke. However, there are some notable upgrades.
New to the party is a redesigned air intake, partially brought on by the aesthetic refresh and a new 2-into-1-exhaust system. Going hand-in-hand with those changes are updates to the ECU specifications and fuel injection settings, which Yamaha says have improved low-rpm throttle response. Hopefully, the FI updates have cured the throttle abruptness that we have noticed on past MT-07 generations. Also, new exhaust valve seats are introduced. Lastly, the six-speed ge...