Staff Bike: MT-07 Tracer – Akrapovic Exhaust & Sub-Cowl

Our Long Term Tracer with the Akrapovic Carbon Racing exhaust fitted, as well as the Sub Cowl,

Other new additions include a Yamaha Comfort Seat, as well as Billet (Gilles) Brake and Clutch levers, a Billet Oil Filler Cap by the same brand, and of course the Yamaha Sub Cowls.

The excitement of a big box of motorcycling goodies!

Best take a look. There was a book with different language installation instructions and a separate English version. Grab that and make sure you’ve got everything.

Everything in it’s glory. Good idea to be careful unwrapping everything. Avoid using a blade on the muffler packaging as noted. Headers are already fitted to the collector, then there’s the mid-pipe, muffler, muffler hanger, bracket, Lambda sensor nut and washer, copper paste, and exhaust springs/extra fixings.

That’s the stuff!

The rear mounting bracket. We won’t show every part individually to save a little time.

Have a good long read of the instructions. They are straight forward, but it’s worth knowing what you’re getting into. It also gives you an opportunity to check you have all the necessary tools, against the various fittings you’ll be removing.

First up remove the right (facing the front of the bike) frame cover, by undoing the two bolts noted.

There’s a third attachment point that simply clicks into place. A gentle but firm pull will get the cover detached, don’t force it.

Next remove the rearset mount. This means undoing the rear swingarm nut (top), and the two lower bolts which are quite close to the rear brake pedal. They are still accessible however.

Once unbolted place something between the swingarm and the assembly to prevent damage. Arrow shows glove used to this end. You’ll be accessing  an exhaust mount under this area later (exhaust already removed in this picture).

Now remove the Lambda sensor (carefully).

I tied the Lambda out of the way, it’ll be reconnected later.

Now remove the header flange bolts. There’s two per header and space is a bit tight around the radiator, but with an extension on your socket it is not difficult. The exhaust will still be held in place by the rear mounts. Retain the exhaust gaskets.

Rear mount one. The standard exhaust is mounted on both sides off a small plate with a rubber mounting point. On this side you’re removing the plate entirely.

On the other side you’re undoing the bolt through the rubber exhaust mount. You’ll need to reach it past the chain.

It’s a tight fit here, so having the right tools helps.

View from underneath, on the left is the rubber mounting point. On the right, where the mounting plate was removed.

Old versus new. The MT-07 Tracer’s standard exhaust weighed in almost 4kg heavier than the Akrapovic replacement.

Now you’re fitting the Akrapovic headers, see the flange mounting bolts where you’ll secure them.

This was a two-person job, as with one header in place the other was a fair bit out of place and needed to be muscled across.

Hand tighten the nuts holding the header flanges into place.

The other end of the header and collector assembly, with a mounting point for the Lambda sensor. In the top right corner you’ll see the image of the nut and washer that is used to mount the standard Lambda sensor.

Now you need to connect the nut and washer assembly, followed by the Lambda sensor. This will twist the wire that goes back to the harness.

You can disconnect the Lambda at the plug to straighten out the wires.

If you removed the wires from the stock mounting points, now’s the time to replace them. These are a cool system from Yamaha to hold wires in place, without damaging or pinching them.

Now place the new exhaust mounting plate under the rearset mount.

Here’s the rearset plate back in place, including the standard bolts and swingarm nut. The far left arrow shows the new exhaust mount point.

Torque to the advised values.

Connect the mid-pipe, add the exhaust springs provided, and bolt onto the left side rubber mounting point. Then add the muffler and the exhaust springs.

You can get the carbon-fibre exhaust hanger into place by gently stretching it out so it won’t scratch the muffler.

Then using the provided bolt, nut and two washers, tighten onto the mounting point.

Now it’s time to check all nuts and bolts are tightened to the correct torque setting, particularly those on the header flanges, which will still be hand tight.

That Akrapovic exhaust looking good!

The headers colouring up nicely after the first ride.

Check you’ve got all your Sub Cowl parts and give the bike an eye-ball to see how they connect. The brackets are bolted on to sump points, which means removing the standard bolts, fitting the bracket and replacing them. Marked left and right (facing front of bike).

The left side Sub Cowl. These basically give the bike the belly-pan look.

Right side sub-cowl. This side has the bracket which is mounted under the exhaust.

Left side is as easy as it gets. Check which sump bolts to remove.

Pull those two bolts, then fit the bracket. I tried to be quick to reduce the chance of leaking oil. This side didn’t seem to be a problem however.

Bracket fitted and bolts retightened. Obviously take the usual care that you would with sump bolts. You don’t want to overtighten these and damage the sump.

Put the wellnuts (rubber captive nut assembly) into the appropriate holes. These basically allow you to bolt the Sub Cowl in place, rubber mounted to reduce vibration issues. As tightened the rear expands holding the cowls in place.

Left side fitted!

The other bracket requires access under the exhaust. We lowered the exhaust, but it would be much easier to do this step with the exhaust off.

Right side fairing is fitted in the same method. Fit the wellnuts and then bolt on with the provided bolts. And you’re done!

Our Long Term Yamaha MT-07 Tracer all kitted out.