Hot on the heels of the stellar FZ-09 comes its smaller displacement counterpart, the FZ-07. Priced at $6990, the new twin-cylinder FZ is set to hit dealer showroom floors this July as a 2015 model. Already available in foreign markets (our Canadian correspondent, Costa Mouzouris, reviewed the FZ-07 here) we’ve been awaiting word from Yamaha of US-bound FZ-07s with bated breath.

EICMA 2013: 2014 Yamaha MT-07 And MT-09 Street Rally

Narrowly defeated last year by the Triumph Street Triple R in our Four-Thirds Shootout, the FZ-09’s combination of performance and affordable price make it a crowd favorite and the FZ-07 should manage an equivalent affect. At $6990 the new 689cc FZ, with a claimed 74 horsepower and 50 ft-lbs of torque, bests comparable bikes from Honda (CBR650F: $8499) and Suzuki (SFV650: $8149) by more than $1k.

First Impressions – Video

Yamaha is billing the FZ-07 as a motorcycle newer or intermediate riders should find enticing. Like the FZ-09, the FZ-07 is meant to associate with its supersport cousin R1, via its “Crossplane Concept,” 270-degree crank, liquid-cooled, DOHC, 8-valve, parallel-Twin. Besides price and displacement, the FZ-07 differs from the FZ-09 by way of it being a parallel-Twin, whereas the FZ-09 is an inline Triple, and by way of its high tensile steel frame, compared the FZ-09’s aluminum one.

Other highlights of the 2015 FZ-07 include: