The Yamaha YZF-R7 Gets Race-Prepped With The GYTR Kit

When Yamaha released the YZF-R7 earlier this year, the sportbike community had mixed feelings about the machine that was, on paper at least, supposed to be the successor to the YZF-R6. Clearly, with its underpinnings derived from the rather beginner-friendly MT-07, there was absolutely no chance that the YZF-R7 could hold a candle to the R6, when it came to performance, at least. 

That being said, with many people now having actually ridden the YZF-R7, and taken it to the track, it's clear to see what Yamaha was going for with this bike. Unlike the thoroughbred race bike that was the YZF-R6, the YZF-R7 was designed as a tractable, novice-friendly racing machine that could be ridden on the street. Of course, so as not to exclude those looking to turn the R7 into a dedicated track machine, Yamaha, through its GYTR, or Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing department, has released a full racing kit for this middleweight sportbike. The kit consists of bolt-on accessories designed to bring out the racer in this machine.

For starters, the YZF-R7 in GYTR trim gets revised suspension componentry—an item of complaint of most track-experienced riders. The soft and road-oriented stock suspension is replaced with fully adjustable hardware from Öhlins. Meanwhile, the rear monoshock is swapped out for an Öhlins unit, too. With the bike now capable of cornering harder than ever, the GYTR kit upgrades braking, too, with high-performance steel-braided brake lines. For maximum racing performance, as well as reduced weight, the GYTR kit incorporates a special edition Akrapovic exhaust system. Lastly, the bike receives ergonomic enhancements such as clip-ons and rearsets. 

The race-ready cherry atop this performance-oriented package consists of a full race fairing complete with a headlight delete. Apart from providing the full race aesthetic, the fiberglass-reinforced-plastic fairing significantly reduces weight and enhances the bike's aerodynamic properties by doing away with the front intake opening. At the moment, the GYTR kit is available on Yamaha Racing's official webpage as a bolt-on kit for the production version of the YZF-R7. However, it would certainly be nice if Yamaha could release the YZF-R7 in GYTR trim out of the factory, as some kind of racing homologation special. 

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