Ultra-rare Yamaha R7 Bol d’Or replica goes up for sale

THINK of very rare motorcycles and the Yamaha R7 is probably quite close to the top of your list. There was though one edition of the R7 that is even rarer, the Bol d’Or replica.

Yamaha Tricity walkaround

The bike in the pictures has an even more interesting provenance because it was owned by the late French racer Jean-Claude Olivier.

Adding to the machine’s appeal is that it is number 1 of 20 machines built and only has around 3,000km on its bores. The bike is being sold by classicdriver.com and has a listing price of €60,000 (around £55,000).

The bike cam about to celebrate Yamaha France winning the 64th Bol d’Or endurance race, with Jean-Marc Delétang, Fabien Foret, and Mark Willis at the helm. To celebrate the achievement, Yamaha produced a series of special R7s and R6s, all of which wore the same #17 colour scheme as the winning bike.

The bike features an Akrapovic titanium exhaust system, quick-release plates on the swingarm, an Ermax racing screen, and a special edition marking on the frame. Most special edition bikes feature a plaque mounted on the top yoke, although the Bol d’Or editions have the edition number etched directly onto the aluminium frame. The bike also features an endurance-spec fuel tank, boasting a larger capacity than standard and twin Zenith valves for faster refuelling.  

Out of the box, the R7 would produce just over 106hp, not a huge amount even then. Although with the inclusion of the race kit of parts, new airbox, exhaust, and a re-map, power could be boasted to around 160bhp, putting the svelte 750 from Yamaha on a par with many of the 1000cc sports bikes.