On Throttle New Zealand

Ok, now this is something a bit different from the norm. Yamaha Motor NZ invited me to attend the local launch of the new MT-07 in Sydney, Australia. Unlike riders in Europe, Yamaha’s Australasian MT-07 comes with a learner approved badge for Kiwis but to prove it’s more than a beginner’s city bike, the Australasian launch took in some tough back country roads. Heading out of Sydney this week, the ride route included city roads, rush hour traffic on motorways and a tour through the nearby Royal National Park,  testing the capabilities of Yamaha’s most serious Learner Approved Motorcycle Scheme (LAMS) bike yet. MT stands for ‘monster torque’ with the MT-07 joining the MT-09 in the Yamaha range while the MT-03 is slowly put out to pasture. The MT-07 doesn’t disappoint in the power stakes with a class leading 57.6Nm of torque at 4000rpm thanks to a 655cc parallel twin. The engine is the same unit as found in the full power European model MT-07 but has had the bore reduced to brin

"Is your helmet sweaty?" he asked. Well now, this is an odd and quite private question for this early in the morning. Let me backtrack a bit here. I'm in our central Auckland photoshoot location with Driven's photographer shooting the newly learner legal Yamaha XJ6NL that I've been testing for the past week. Full size, leaner legal and more than enough power for any restricted class licence holder, the XJ6NL is quite a surprising package. The 2014 XJ6NL from Yamaha is a serious piece of kit, that you can't help but think only just manages to sneak it's way into the Learner Approved Motorcycle Scheme (or LAMS) by virtue of having a restricted throttle movement compared to its full power siblings. The throttle moves just 1cm from fully closed to fully open - being restricted at the throttle body for LAMS specification. The bike itself is identical to the fully faired FZ6R too, just minus the fairing and thus a little bit cheaper in the outset.