Five years after the launch of the original model, Yamaha completely renews the XSR 900, that is the top of the range bike among the Sport Heritage of the Iwata company. From a technical point of view, it receives all the updates of the Yamaha tricylindrical family, while from the aesthetic point of view, it chooses a rather particular style without paying much attention to current fashions. If its general character makes it fall into the category of cafe racers, the design has several echoes of the Eighties, especially those super sports bikes whose fairings were removed after an accident, radically changing their appearance. An operation that then many manufacturers have made their own by actually creating the hyper naked. Here everything tends to the essential, with the central part of the motorcycle dominating all the rest, thanks to the combination of the Deltabox aluminum frame and the well-pronounced tank that also includes the dynamic air intakes.
The rest is in the name of essentiality, with the aim of putting the rider at the center of the bike. Thus the round headlight has become fully Led and has a more compact housing with brushed aluminum brackets. The tail is short and square, configuring a visually unbalanced riding position on the rear, where the LED light is hidden under the camber of the saddle. Speaking of details, the dashboard is mounted on a new triple tree, with machined caps and the XSR logo in aluminum; instead, the instrument cluster with 3.5-inch color TFT display, with the bar tachometer that changes color as the engine speed increases. At the chassis level, longitudinal, lateral and torsional stiffness has increased, the steering head has been positioned 30 mm lower and inertia around the steering axis has been reduced by 14%.
The aluminum swingarm is 55 mm longer and has a wheelbase of 1,495 mm. The chassis consists of a fully adjustable KYB USD fork with a gold finish and a progressive linkage rear swingarm and forward-leaning KYB shock. The engine is the latest evolution of the 889 cc three-cylinder which delivers 119 HP at 10,000 rpm, with a torque of 93 Nm at
7,000 revolutions; the Japanese technicians worked very carefully on the sound by redesigning the inside of the exhaust. The braking system uses twin 298mm discs, with Brembo radial master cylinder and adjustable ABS Cornering.
Standard are the “ride by wire” throttle control, four driving modes, cruise control and the Quick Shift System electronic shifting. There is also the 6-axis IMU inertial platform derived from that of the R1: the traction control is sensitive to the lean angle and there is also the slip and wheelie control, all adjustable on three levels. The Yamaha XSR 900 will be available from April 2022 in two colorways, Legend Blue – inspired by Christian Sarron’s victorious Yamahas – and Midnight Black. The price has not yet been announced, but it should be aligned with that of the previous generation, which cost just over 10,000 euros.
