Yamaha T-7 USA MSRP and release date

[Cruizin]

As we await news on the T-7, I gotta say here and now that I doubt now that Yamaha will release this bike in the USA in 2017, and probably not even in 2018. I predict that the Yamaha T-7 or whatever it gets called, will be launched in Europe first in 2018, and then come to the USA in 2019. 

 

It is just flat plain easier and cheaper to launch a bike in Europe than it is to launch it in the United States. We tax the living heck out of foreign vehicles and our EPA is a political wall that is expensive to climb. So, Yamaha often launches bikes in Europe first to get that model profitable and then gears up for the USA model over time. Smart business angle, but it sucks for us Yanks here in the USA. 

 

I will keep my ears and sources open and report anything that I legally can right here in this thread. So be sure to follow this thread/save as a bookmark and keep your forum notifications on. 

[DewMan]

The bright side of you scenario is they'll get a year to work out any bugs in the bike before we get it.

[motorazr]

Yet another point for Yamaha is that any defect that might be considered a "safety issue" (which on a motorcycle is 90% or anything that could go wrong) can be handled at far, far less expense in Europe with only a small fraction of the number of units that would be sold in a North American release.  A slip-up in a new street model brought to the USA might easily result in a DOT safety recall costing millions of dollars.  There would have to be a compelling argument to catch huge profits within a time window to justify the financial risk of rolling out 10,000 new bikes in the USA. Otherwise, a manufacturer could just wait a year or two and match the profits then.  If there's not a rush, then there's not a rush.  Such a profit window could be a fad that dies before the product arrives or that a competitor will introduce a rival product that better appeals to the same target market making the delayed product DOA. Both are rare occurrences, DOT recalls are not.

[tavisb]

I'm cool with waiting a bit. We'll get to see how it turns out and what bugs need working out. Not going to get my hopes up. I doubt they'll get it light enough to make me have to have one. Plus, my KTM 950 has at least a  few years left in it :).