Yamaha reveals DT-07 flat track concept

Along with displaying most of its 2016 model lineup for the first time in public, Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A., unveiled a radical new flat track concept bike at the AIMExpo in Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center.

Codenamed the “DT-07,” the bike is a one-off creation designed and built by Jeff Palhegyi Design in conjunction with Yamaha’ s U.S. race shop. The DT-07 features a special race-tuned FZ-07 twin-cylinder engine with an exhaust system created by Graves Motorsports.

“When the FZ-07 was first introduced, we knew that the bike’s ‘Crossplane Concept’ parallel-twin engine had outstanding low- to mid-range torque, which is ideal for flat track racing,” said Keith McCarty, Motorsports Racing Division manager for Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. “Babe Demay’ s FZ-07 flat track creation has already shown huge potential this season, with Dominic Colindres winning his heat race and also finishing fourth at the most recent AMA Pro Flat Track event. Here in Cypress, we’ve been doing some exploration of our own, and the DT-07 Concept is the result. The FZ-07 is a great bike and also a great platform for customization. We wanted to see what we could do with the bike as a flat tracker, and we’re very pleased with the results.”

With its one-piece bodywork resplendent in 60th-Anniversary race livery, the DT-07 features a purpose-built frame, swingarm with an adjustable pivot and link system, modified R6 conventional-style forks, an Ohlins rear shock, wheels by Propulsion Labs, and of course, the FZ-07’ s compact, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, twin-cylinder engine is the focal point of the machine.

“One of our specific goals with the DT-07 was to retain some of the FZ-07’ s styling cues,” said Derek Brooks, Motorcycle Product Planning manager for Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A., added. “I worked with Jeff (Palhegyi) on the design of the bike, and we literally used the FZ-07’ s fuel tank cover as the basis for the body mold on the DT-07 Concept. The entire bike was essentially built from scratch, and it is Yamaha’ s interpretation of what a dirt tracker designed from the ground up in 2015 should look like.”