Yamaha is stirring the pot in flat track racing by showing off its radical DT-07 flat tracker at the AIMExpo in Florida.
A championship-winning brand in during the heyday of flat track racing in the 1970s and ‘80s, Yamaha Motor Corporation appears to be serious about proliferating its brand image on the nation’s mile and half-mile dirt tracks again in 2016, as it unveiled a new flat track concept bike, the DT-07, at the AIMExpo in Orlando, Florida, today.
The radical, one-off creation was designed and built by long-time Yamaha collaborator Jeff Palhegyi Design in conjunction with Yamaha’s U.S. race shop, and it features a special race-tuned FZ-07 twin-cylinder engine with an exhaust system designed by Graves Motorsports.
Yamaha made copies of the FZ-07 available to flat track teams interested in building a Yamaha-powered machine in 2015, but there were few takers, primarily because of the teams’ limited budgets and the fact that flat track racing can be slow in adopting new technology—the sport is still largely dominated by a non-production V-twin engine design created in the early 1970s, although that is changing, thanks to the progress made by Kawasaki, Triumph and others. The DT-07 merely accelerates the imagination of what could be—and some would argue should be—another competitive, production-engine-based flat track machine.
Keith McCarty, Motorsports Racing Division Manager for Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A, says that the FZ’07’s “Crossplane Concept” parallel-twin engine develops outstanding low- to mid-range torque, which is ideal for flat track racing
“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 [California, Yamaha’s US headquarters], 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 that incorporates a swingarm with an adjustable pivot and link system and a fully adjustable Öhlins TTX36 shock out back and modified R6 conventional-style forks up front. The bike’s trick-looking wheels are by Propulsion Labs. However, one of the goals for the concept, according to Derek Brooks, Motorcycle Product Planning Manager for Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A., was to retain some of the FZ-07’s styling cues.
“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,” Brooks said. “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.”
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Yamaha DT-07 Dirt Tracker Concept Specifications
Designer: Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA, Racing Division/Jeff Palhegyi Design (JPD)
Engine: Yamaha FZ-07
Cylinder Head: Yamaha Racing, ported
Intake Stacks: Yamaha Racing
ECU: Programmable, Yamaha Racing customized by Zentec
Exhaust System: Graves Motorsports
Chassis: JPD Custom/Yamaha Racing
Swingarm: Adjustable pivot and link system
Body: JPD Custom one-piece design
Seat: Saddlemen
Airbox: Custome tuned with K&N filters
Triple Clamp: Durelle Racing Products, adjustable
Fork: Yamaha R6 with Durelle Racing Products fork kit and mods
Shock: Öhlins TTX36
Wheels: Propulsion Labs
Sprockets: Vortex
Handlebars: Vortex
Chain: DID
Brake Rotor: SK Racing
Tires: Dunlop
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