Turbo Twins from Stibnite Moto: MT-07 Turbos for Street & Beach…
Since its release in 2013, the Yamaha MT-07 has become one of the world’s most popular streetbikes. In Europe alone, more than a quarter million MTs have been sold over the last decade — half of them MT-07s. From the very beginning, this “Hyper Naked” twin won over riders and moto-journos alike:
“It’s an inspired machine, designed cleverly and built impeccably. It’s one of a rare breed of machine in any class that mixes lightness with an easy to manage engine, making it smooth, fun and easy to ride.” –MCN
The biggest secret to the bike’s success is the 689cc CP2 engine — a liquid-cooled DOHC parallel-twin that powers not only the MT-07, but the Yamaha XSR700, YZF-R7, and the Ténéré 700 adventure bike. It’s a compact, lightweight engine that packs a 75-hp punch, and it’s now generally accepted as one of the best parallel-twins ever made.
If you’ve been following BikeBound for any length of time, then you know our friend Dan Stone of Stibnite Moto — aka the “07 King.” Dan is a bit mad for the MT-07 / CP2 engine, and he’s built all kinds of custom bikes on the platform, from his Stibnite Super7 café racer to his Stibnite Stinger — a CP2-powered dirt bike he rode to victory in the 2023 Malle Mile Beach Race, second place in the main Malle Mile event, and which he plans to ski across Grimsthrope Castle lake in 2024!
But Dan hasn’t always been satisfied to keep his CP2 engines naturally-aspirated — no, he heard the siren song of forced induction whistling in his ear, and Dan heeded. Today, we’re thrilled to present a pair of MT-07 turbo bikes he built — one for the road, one for the beach.
Nicknamed “Turbski Road” and “Turbski Beach,” this pair of Yamaha MT-07s both feature small Garret turbos, upgraded fuel pumps, larger injectors, stainless steel manifolds, aluminum boost pipes and plenums, and both are tuned using Power Commander V controllers.
The small turbos spool quickly, translating to less lag / more immediate power — perfect, since Dan built both bikes more for fun than top speed:
“They’re on the boost from the second you touch the throttle. Very peaky, punchy power delivery… They make all the fun turbo sounds you’d hope for.”
Both MT-07 turbos have custom subframes and burly Yamaha MT-10 forks. The street version features a quickshifter and Mupo rear shock, while the beach racer has an off-road 21″ / 19″ wheelset.
Before winning this year’s Malle Mile Beach Race on the (naturally-aspirated) Stinger, Dan built and raced the Turbski Beach in 2022. As you might imagine, traction was an issue on the Margate Sands:
“It did well, but but struggled to put the power down on the sand and finished 5th overall.”
Still a strong finish, and Dan’s turbo MT-07 was quite the winner in the head-turning department as well. Below, Dan gives us more details on his turbocharged creations.
Yamaha MT-07 Turbo Bikes: Builder Interview
• What’s the make, model, and year of the donor?
2017 Yamaha MT-07/FZ-07.
• Why was this bike built?
I built this for the annual Malle Mile Beach Race in 2022. I try to build a new bike to race each year. It did well, but but struggled to put the power down on the sand and finished 5th overall.
• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
I’ve been building bikes off of the CP2 base for a while now and have wanted to build a turbo bike for some time, so it only seemed right to build a few turbo ones.
• What custom work was done to the bike?
They both have custom subframes, Garrett turbos with updated fuel pumps and injectors, stainless manifolds and aluminium boost pipes and plenums.
Both are running Power Commander 5 with PCV. The road bike has a quickshifter and Mupo shock, while the beach bike has 19” rear and 21″ front wheel. Both bikes have MT-10 forks.
• Does the bike have a nickname?
Turbski Road and Turbski Beach.
• Can you tell us what it’s like to ride?
Pretty wild. They have small turbos, so they’re on the boost from the second you touch the throttle. Very peaky, punchy power delivery. Neither bike was built for top speed — just all the fun things, really! They make all the fun turbo sounds you’d hope for.
More “Turbski Road”
Follow the Builder @stibnite_moto
Photos: @drew.photographic | @miros_photomoto
More Stibnite Moto Builds
Got Boost? Yamaha MT-07 Turbo! - Turbo Twins from Stibnite Moto: MT-07 Turbos for Street & Beach… Since its release in 2013, the Yamaha MT-07 has become one of the world’s most popular streetbikes. In Europe alone, more than a […]
Stibnite Super7: Scratch-Built 700cc Café Racer - “I couldn’t own the name of being a bike-builder until I really did build one from scratch.” We’re as guilty of it as anyone else. We often talk about bike “builds” and “builders,” when the […]
Stibnite Stinger: Yamaha MT-07 Powered Scrambler - The Malle Mile Beach Race Winner from Stibnite Moto… Some call him the “07 King.” Dan Stone aka Danners of Stibnite Moto has earned a name for himself turning up to Malle Mile events on […]
The Beater: Kawasaki ZX-6R 636 Stunt Bike - In late 2002, Kawasaki made an unusual move with their 600-class sportbike, the ZX-6R. They increased the engine capacity to 636cc for the mass production model, then offered a limited production 599cc ZX-6RR for displacement-restricted […]
The Mile Bike: KTM 625 SMC Scrambler - A Malle Mile racer from Danners Automotive… The KTM 625 SMC was a 55-hp street-legal supermoto with fully-adjustable WP suspension, four-piston Brembo brakes, and a few daily niceties like electric start and turn signals. Said […]
The Wasp: Yamaha RD350 Scrambler by Danners Automotive - An RD350 dirt bike built for the Malle Mile… The Yamaha RD350, built from 1973 to 1975, is one of our favorite machines from the heyday of the two-stroke street bike — a 39-hp parallel […]
Absolutely desirable, utterly bad-ass. Loving the stance. Definitely needs to be a BOTY contender. The only thing I don’t like is the bulbous, not-super-uniform welding on the aluminum turbo intake.