“Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday!” This mantra has been a cornerstone of marketing plans in the motorcycle industry for decades, but what does it really take to place a motorcycle on the top step of a national event podium in today’s modern era? In search of answers, Inside Motorcycles made its way to the Rocky Mountain Motorsports circuit north of Calgary, AB to spend time with Bronti Verbeek and the Yamaha YZF-R7 that she rode to history in 2025 as only the second women ever to win a CSBK race.
The Platform
Yamaha’s 2022 model year included the introduction of the YZF-R7. Moving away from the inline four-cylinder engines that had dominated the middleweight class for decades, the new R7 followed the industry-wide movement towards more affordable and emission-friendly parallel twin engines – in the case, the company’s proven 698 cc CP2 engine.
I initially threw a leg over the new R7 model in late 2022 during an Inside Motorcycles test at Rocky Mountain Motorsports and the overall consensus was that the bike represented an approachable sport bike that would meet the needs of new and returning riders looking to ride local twisties as well as track days. Producing horsepower in the mid 60s and 50 ft-lb of torque, the engine was not overwhelming and lacking in throttle response, but this was offset with a responsive chassis and ability to hit apexes out on the track.
During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, working with HardNoX Track Dayz provided additional seat time on the YZF-R7 when Calgary’s Jack Carter Powersports and Yamaha Motor Canada combined to provide the company with a pair R7s as instructor bikes. With the opportunity to spend extended amounts of time on this model, additional features revealed themselves. Most notably, the R7 with its no-frills setup is an absolute blast to ride with a lineup of HardNoX instructors always waiting to take them out for a session. With more seat time and increased pace, shortfalls in the suspension quickly became apparent as the front end proved to be soft regardless of how much the stock adjustable setup was cranked up. The subject of braking revealed it to be more subjective and I personally found it lacking when compared to the sharp bite of personal track bike.
Bronti’s R7 Build
The FIM’s announcement of the Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship (“WorldWCR”) as single-make series commencing with the 2024 season changed the focus of Bronti’s racing career. Having already established herself as “the racer to watch” while racing Superbike in Western Canada, her desire to join WorldWCR meant getting serious about racing the series spec bike – yes, you guessed it: the Yamaha YZF-R7.
Working with her partner, Brad Gavey, a roadmap to the WorldWCR was quickly formulated and put into action. Step number one was to acquire an R7, with the support of Jack Carter Powersports and Yamaha Motor Canada. Bronti’s initial seat time on the new bike revolved around her teaching roles with Edmonton’s On Track Performance and as an instructor with the Ken Hill team during their Canadian visit at Rocky Mountain Motorsports. While the R7 once again proved itself to be a fun track bike, Bronti and Brad quickly realized that serious upgrades would be required in order to take this bike to a national stage and race in the CSBK Twins Cup, which would serve as a steppingstone along her journey to the FIM.
First thing on the agenda was a full Hindle exhaust and tune, which resulted in a minimal horsepower boost up to 67. Unfortunately, the rule book for the CSBK Twins Cup does not allow for upgrades to the OEM airbox, which is unfortunate given the wide discrepancy to other bikes in the class, notably the Aprilia RS660.
Next up was suspension, and this is where the master came to play. Willie Vass has built bikes for some of the biggest names in the sport including five-time and current CSBK Champion Ben Young, so he was only choice when it came to upgrading the suspension on the R7. With Willie’s guidance, a K-Tech piston kit in the front fork and K-Tech DDS Lite shock were added to bring the suspension to a competition level while a Yoshimura linkage kit was installed to improve overall stability at high speed.
With these upgrades as well as an ABS delete completed, Bronti headed north to an EMRA event in Edmonton for the R7’s inaugural race, which confirmed that the while the updates completed to date were definitely going in the right direction, the shortfall to other bikes in class, and specifically the infamous Aprilia RS 660, would require some serious upgrades to the bike’s powerplant.
With this in mind it was off to LRX Performance where owner Paul Lavoie and Yamaha Master Tech World Champion Brett Hart would work their magic on the R7 with extensive upgrades including headwork, Yosh cams and a Woolich Tune. With Dyno results now pushing 86 horsepower the R7 had been transformed into a race ready machine.
With these upgrades in place it was off to Shannonville for the first round of the 2025 CSBK season where Bronti would finish on the podium in the first Twins Cup race of the season on a track that she had never been to. A testament to both the skill of the rider and the upgrades to the bike. Of note is that this Shannonville result was accomplished while running the bike with the stock footpeg setup and brakes.
The next national event for Bronti and the R7 saw her racing at her original Castrol home track for round 3 of the CSBK season. While the only significant upgrade during the time between national races had been the installation of Woodcraft rearsets, taking advantage of some additional seat time on the R7 and demonstrating her wet weather skills, Bronti made history when she took first place in Sunday’s Twin Cup race to become only the second ever woman to win a CSBK national race. A major accolade to Bronti, also confirmation that the R7 build was well on the way.
Now, before heading on to talk about how this upgraded bike feels on the track, it’s a safe assumption that if you have read this far, you are probably wondering: “How much does all of this cost?” While Bronti is a fairly private and prefers not to discuss finances, she does acknowledge that even with support of all of her incredible sponsors, she has over $35 thousand invested in the R7.
On the track
Taking advantage of a quiet fall day at RMM when we could have the track to ourselves, it was time to take Bronti’s R7 for a ride.
So how does it compare to the stock R7?
Before it even comes off the stands, from the moment it is fired up this R7 is a machine unto itself, bearing little or no resemblance to the stock machine. Thanks to the full Hindle exhaust, compared to the boring, muted sound of the stock bike, the auditory symphony emitting from Bronti’s R7 is both captivating as well as powerful.
Up on the saddle, the spaciousness of the cockpit and the overall ergonomics are a welcome change from the cramped stock model. The switch to triple clamps from Forsaken Motorsports and Zero Offset clip-ons from Woodcraft has created a more practical reach to the bars providing ample room to move around on the bike.
The positioning of the Woodcraft rearsets felt quite natural. The only change I would make would be to adjust the position of the shift lever as I struggled with it in its current position and ended up with repeated mis-shifts while on track.
While Bronti had attempted to work with Yamaha factory quickshifter during the 2025 season, ongoing issues meant that I would be riding the bike without this added feature.
Entering the track and coming out of corner 3 into the first acceleration zone, the power and potential of this bike hit home. Throttle response is immediate and powerful with no dead spots found anywhere on the power curve. Once again, it simply bears no resemblance to the stock version.
Out of habit, I am always timid when riding someone else’s motorcycle. Just don’t want to be “that guy” who goes out and bins another’s bike. This is all good and well, but on my first lap the suspension on Bronti’s bike felt choppy. It was part way through the same lap when somewhere from the recesses of my mind, I could hear Willie Vass lecturing me that you need to actually ride the bike in order for the suspension to do its job.
Picking up the pace – somewhat – the beauty of this suspension setup came into play. Where the stock suspension dives heavily under aggressive braking, the setup on Bronti’s bike allows you to load up the front tire and trail brake deep into corners with confidence. Accelerating hard out of corners, the rear of the bike feels planted and solid with no noticeable squatting. On the other side of this equation the K-Tech system also feels controlled when encountering issues in the asphalt such as the seam in the pavement that runs across corner 6 at RMM.
Combining with the upgraded suspension, a serious reduction in overall weight (366 lb vs the stock weight of 414 lb) further enhances the overall handling of Bronti’s R7. While the stock R7 is notable for its responsiveness, the overall setup on Bronti’s bike takes this to a new level with the tight RMM circuit providing the perfect backdrop for this experience. It literally feels as though the bike is reading your mind, tipping into corners and hitting apexes with literally no effort.
Prior to our on-track sessions, Bronti and I debated the quality of the R7 brakes. Where she felt the stock brakes were actually quite good, as I noted above, my preference for immediate and aggressive braking response left me feeling the stopping power of the stock R7 to be lacking. This led to further discussion about Bronti’s penchant for progressive feel in her braking setup, explaining that it provided her with more control in all situations.
Heading out on the track this turned out to be the biggest surprise of the day. Yes, the HEL master cylinder that was added prior to the final CSBK round at CTMP is a serious upgrade over stock, but more importantly, Bronti’s preferred settings proved to be the perfect balance of stopping power and control, allowing for deep trail braking without any worry of unsettling the bike when transitioning from the brakes to throttle. How good is it? I will definitely be changing the set up on my own brakes during the off season. After all, if it works a racer of Bronti’s calibre, there must be something to it.
Coming up
The off-season is going to busy for Bronti and Brad and the R7. In addition to an engine refresh and other maintenance items, a SuterClutch is in the works to replace the stock clutch that surprisingly carried Bronti through the 2025 season. The bike will also receive a Translogic quickshifter which is destined to make the bike even more competitive in 2026. Bronti and Brad are also in the midst of researching options for data collection in order to further refine the performance of the R7 next season.
Final thoughts
It’s hard to say if “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” is still a reality in the motosport industry, especially when considering the cost to get to the top of the podium. That being said, with Bronti Verbeek and her YZF-R7, Yamaha Motor Canada has a combination that has already proven to be capable of winning on the national level, and yes, the best is yet to come.
A sincere thank you to Bronti and Brad for the opportunity to spend some time with her race winning R7 out on the track. Riding a bike where someone has taken the time to build it as opposed to just buying the latest and greatest of the showroom floor was an experience that I am sincerely grateful for. Add in the ability to spend an afternoon at the track with the fastest woman in Canada, and it is a day that will be remembered.
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