Yamaha has filed patents for a new headlight design that appear to reveal a new face for the MT-07. The patent relates to a new type of pure LED headlight which gives a bright, but very tightly focussed beam and to get the right spread of light, the firm needs to mount several.
Although the patent shows an array of different options for the layout, and demonstrates how the bulbs could be fitted on machines from cheap runabouts to fully-faired sportsbikes, the MT-07 appears to be the first candidate. While other bikes are represented by generic drawings, the MT-07 is shown in detail, including specifics of the new headlights’ mounting brackets and lens covers as well as the shape of the unit they’ll be mounted in.
A head-on picture clearly shows the MT-07’s instrument panel and handlebar bracket as well as its tank shape behind the new headlights.
Because in MT-07 form four of the new LEDs are fitted, they can be shaped so that the protruding rear parts of the light slot either side of the steering stem tube, while the compact dimensions of the bulbs also mean they can be mounted further back between the main fork tubes. The overall result is a neater, more compact light unit that should also give a better illumination. In terms of style, the four small, round lights give the bike a look that’s more like the MT-10, which uses a pair of compact circular light units.
By Ben Purvis
