1999 YAMAHA YZF-R7 OW02
ORIGINS
Last of its breed, first of a new generation
BLAKE CONNER
Before there was the Yamaha YZF-R7, the parallel-twin-powered bike released a few years ago, there was the “real” R7, which was officially known as the YZF-R7 OW02. The latter inline-four-powered superbike couldn’t be further from its modern namesake. The OW02 was designed for a totally different purpose and was born in an era that has long faded away.
During the late ’80s and through the ’90s, motorcycle manufacturers racing in World Superbike, AMA Superbike, British Superbike, and other production-based series homologated special bikes to meet the “production rules.” In other words, if specific trick parts, high-tech materials, or unique chassis geometries were wanted on the racebikes, they had to be baked into the production bikes that were the basis for the Superbikes first.
The result was the era of the Honda RC30 and RC45, Yamaha OWOl, Ducati 888 SP4S, Suzuki GSX-R750 LE, and then the YZF-R7 OW02, a mouth-watering time for fans of race machinery. In theory, you could walk down to the dealer and ride off on any of them. But only in theory.
All of the bikes were rare, but it could be argued that the R7 was uniquely so, with only 500 bikes produced between 1999 and 2000, and only 50 of those imported to the US in 1999. At the time, if you weren’t Yamaha itself, you had to have a racing resume to get one of the remaining units not allocated for the factory AMA Superbike team. It would’ve set you back $32,000, too, which was a huge amount of money for a sportbike in 1999. It was also one of the last Japanese homologation specials. Don Canet, Cycle World’s road test editor at the time, was the lucky guy who flew to Spain in ’99 to test the bike at the Circuit de Jerez.
An interesting fact about the bike was that it was sold in a low-horsepower configuration; 106 hp to be exact. “As sold, the engine is detuned to adhere to Germany’s maximum power restriction,” Canet reported at the time. “Yamaha elected to keep things cheap and simple by applying that 106 bhp state of tune—that’s 14 less than the claim for stateside R6s [of the same year]—to all R7s currently being built. This fact only underscores the machine’s primary intent for roadrace conversion. R7s won’t remain stock for very long.”
The inline-four engine shared the YZF-R1 ’s same basic layout. Canet explained, “...the R7’s 749cc engine uses a compact vertically stacked, three-axis transmission and a one piece cylinder/crankcase. Its 72 x 46mm short-stroke dimensions and low reciprocating mass make for a snappy, rev-happy motor.” Forged-aluminum pistons with nickel-coated crowns and Ti connecting rods delivered an 11.4:1 compression ratio. The five-valves-per cylinder head had CNC-machined combustion chambers and intake ports. Full race-spec cams actuated Ti valves. The fuel-injection system had two injectors per cylinder, one below the throttle valve and a shower injector above the velocity stack. If you wanted the full power the engine was capable of, you needed the race-kit wiring harness, that when plugged into the ECU unlocked the magic.
“Ripping through the close-ratio gearbox on either of Jerez’s straights was a festival of sound and fury. ”
Bikes at that Jerez test had been uncorked, but Japanese engineers weren’t willing to give up the details. “My seat-of-the-pants impression would suggest in the neighborhood of 145 horses at the rear wheel,” Canet said. “Put another way: Wheelspin off a fourth-gear corner? No problem. Power wheelies? How many gears do you want to carry it?”
Canet added: “Other engine-related mods on the bike I rode at Jerez included a kit head gasket (one of five available thicknesses) used to adjust squish area and raise compression; race-spec surface-discharge spark plugs; high-flow fuel pump and regulator; and an airbox kit that replaces the Stocker’s snorkel lid with a sealed carbon-fiber top. The coolest-looking kit bit? The radiator set, a massive, double-row work of art offering extra capacity and greater surface area than the standard two-piece item.”
Chassis highlights included Ohlins suspension front and rear with a 43mm inverted fork and a piggyback shock. Back in ’99 that was far from the norm. The bike came standard with four-piston R1-style calipers and 320mm discs in the front. But at the test, the bike Canet rode had been upgraded with six-pot Nissin billet calipers with stainless rotors from the race kit.
As for riding the R7, Canet had this to say: “I was immediately taken by how incredibly smooth everything was. From the feathery-light clutch pull, to the engine’s silky sewing-machine feel, to the chassis’ nimble, neutral steering, the R7 experience was like riding in seventh heaven. With plenty of midrange power to play with, taking Jerez’s hairpins a gear taller was a viable option that still had the front wheel floating on exit. Ripping through the close-ratio gearbox on either of Jerez’s straights was a festival of sound and fury.”
In 2013, Cycle World invited Freddie Spencer to Chuckwalla Valley Raceway to revisit a bunch of these homologation specials in our “Superbikes With Soul” feature. After riding bikes including the older RC30, FZR750RR OWOl, Ducati 888 SP4S, and Suzuki GSX-R750 LE, Spencer said of the beautifully restored R7: “We just moved into the modern age. This is the first bike that needs a steering damper. It’s also the first bike that is starting to feel fast.”
As the last of the Japanese homologation specials, the R7 closed a chapter in Superbike racing before the rules changed to 1,000cc production-based bikes in most racing series around the world. When the bike was first put to use on track in the World Superbike series in 1999, Noriyuki Haga was on board. Haga got his first win in Race 1 at Albacete in Spain, four events into the season, and then went on to record four more wins in 2000. That was it for the R7 and Yamaha in WBSK; the machines went to 1,000cc engines in 2002, and Yamaha didn’t return for another year.
In the same “Superbikes With Soul” story, author/tester Nick Ienatsch said of the R7: “It feels modern in its steering, and [Spencer and I] both felt comfortable pushing it hard because there were no reminders of its age. Yamaha did its best to replicate Wayne Rainey’s YZR500 GP chassis, added Ohlins suspension bits and a slipper clutch—all this back in 1999.” That makes perfect sense when you consider that it was pretty much the last example of the era, right at the dawn of shifting trends in sportbikes, that saw a lot of those formerly trick parts become available on production bikes for the general buying public to enjoy.
So nothing against the modern iteration of the R7 and its friendly and fun design, but as you can see here, the original was an entirely different beast altogether, and a bike that truly helped shape Yamaha’s modern sportbikes like the YZF-R1, that honestly wouldn’t have become the bike it did, without the existence of the OW02.
