Head bearings.
Apparently these as fitted in the factory to the MT07 are of the same kind of standard as the rest of the bike, and don't last as far as you'd expect them to. There have been a few cases of them being replaced under warranty, for the lucky few people whose warranties were honoured.
Head bearings, especially on a bike without a centre stand tend to slowly deteriorate without you really being aware. There is a very gradual drop in handling precision, and because it doesn't suddenly go, you don't feel it.
The only way to check it to get the front wheel in the air, and move the bars from side to side. The usual symptoms of worn head bearings are a very faint notchy feel as they pass through the straight ahead position, a very small click, although you won't hear anything, you'll just feel it.
This can actually have a significant effect on handling. At slower speeds when riding in a straight line, we are constantly making minute adjustments, and worn head bearings will have an effect on these. It makes the bike far less planted.
Anyway, if you've gone past about 10,000 miles on your bike (approx 16,000km), you should think about getting them checked, or if you can, check them yourself. If you're still under warranty, you should see about getting them done by Yamaha. If not, it's not a particularly expensive job - you probably could do it yourself, but there's quite a lot of disassembly required, and personally I wouldn't want to do it.
The tyre fitting place I use in London quoted £120 to do mine, a Yamaha dealer would probably be a bit more.
Apparently these as fitted in the factory to the MT07 are of the same kind of standard as the rest of the bike, and don't last as far as you'd expect them to. There have been a few cases of them being replaced under warranty, for the lucky few people whose warranties were honoured.
Head bearings, especially on a bike without a centre stand tend to slowly deteriorate without you really being aware. There is a very gradual drop in handling precision, and because it doesn't suddenly go, you don't feel it.
The only way to check it to get the front wheel in the air, and move the bars from side to side. The usual symptoms of worn head bearings are a very faint notchy feel as they pass through the straight ahead position, a very small click, although you won't hear anything, you'll just feel it.
This can actually have a significant effect on handling. At slower speeds when riding in a straight line, we are constantly making minute adjustments, and worn head bearings will have an effect on these. It makes the bike far less planted.
Anyway, if you've gone past about 10,000 miles on your bike (approx 16,000km), you should think about getting them checked, or if you can, check them yourself. If you're still under warranty, you should see about getting them done by Yamaha. If not, it's not a particularly expensive job - you probably could do it yourself, but there's quite a lot of disassembly required, and personally I wouldn't want to do it.
The tyre fitting place I use in London quoted £120 to do mine, a Yamaha dealer would probably be a bit more.