YAMAHA XSR900
PRICE: $12,999 (plus on-road charges)
WARRANTY: Two years,
unlimited distance
SERVICING INTERVALS: Every
10,000km or 12 months
ENGINE: Liquid-cooled three cylinder,
4-stroke, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder
BORE x STROKE: 78 x 59.1mm
DISPLACEMENT: 847cc
COMPRESSION: 11.5:1
POWER: 84.6kW @ 10,000rpm
TORQUE: 87.5Nm @ 8500rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, wet
multi-plate slipper clutch,
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SUSPENSION: Front, 43mm inverted
fork, adjustable preload and rebound,
travel 137mm. Rear, monoshock,
adjustable preload and rebound,
travel 130mm.
DIMENSIONS: Seat height 830mm,
weight 195kg (wet), fuel capacity 14
litres, wheelbase 1440mm
TYRES: Front, 120/70/ZR17.
Rear, 180/55/ZR17
FRAME: Diamond cast aluminium
BRAKES: Front, twin 298mm discs with
radial four-piston ABS calipers. Rear,
245mm disc, single-piston ABS caliper.
FUEL CONSUMPTION: 5.41 litres per
100km, premium unleaded
THEORETICAL RANGE: 258km
COLOURS: Rock Slate, Garage MetalVERDICT: PEEL THE SKIN
OFF THIS PSYCHO!Shades of YICS – who remembers
that? The revision has taken away the
jerkiness at a light constant throttle,
which is perfect.
An assist and slipper clutch has also
been added for smoother riding and
it works well with the triple cylinder
characteristics. It’s also made the
clutch lever a bit lighter which is
always welcome.
Ergonomics seem to be very similar to
the MT-09’s but the XSR900 is all about
the retro look and customisable features
and the tank is a little wider at the rear.
In light of this, Yamaha has an extensive
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to the XSR900 (and XSR700). The two
main accessories that really change the
look of the XSR900 are the Ultrasuede
seat and the Seat Cowl. To further
‘retro-ise’ the look you can get canvas
luggage, a low position handlebar and
bar end mirrors. The other accessories
in the range are detail type pieces, but
you can also get a range of exhausts to
get the exact look you’re after. Still in
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cowl which was on display at last year’s
Sydney Motorcycle Expo.
Styling sees the use of metal, rather
than plastic. The tank and rear guard on
the XSR900 are made from aluminium
and the silver of the version we tested
is actually not paint but brushed
aluminium. You also get aluminium
headlight stays, a round retro styled
headlight, stitched two-level seat, a 12V
socket underneath at the under-tray
and the thing you’ll be looking at most
is the new, offset round TFT digital
instrument dial.
Two colours are available, the ‘Garage
Metal’ we tested, but also a lovely Rock
Slate which is a mid-metallic blue.
Yamaha is promoting the fact that
you can convert this into your very
own by painting it another colour, or
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look you’re after.
The target customer for the XSR900
(and 700) is someone who appreciates
heritage style with performance. I’m not
sure the ‘hipster’ crowd Yamaha appears
to be targeting will be after this kind of
thing (or prepared to pay for it),
whereas general riders like you and me
will be looking to get our bums on an
XSR with enthusiasm.
If you want to see what can be done
with an XSR, check out Faster Sons,
Wrenchmonkees and Roland Sands
Design. All three have created beautiful
motorcycles, if retro custom is your
thing. Or, you might like to do a tribute
bike, just like the job that Yamaha Motor
Australia has done with both the 700
and 900. The 700 has been turned into
a ‘DT1’ look and the 900, an RZ350
which I fell in love with as soon as
I saw it.
So, it’s time to get the tools out of
the toolbox and start tinkering with the
‘psychodelic’ Yamaha XSR900, all the
while knowing that you have an amazing
performance motorcycle underneath
the changeable skin.“PSYCHOTIC POWER,
COMBINED WITH IMPROVED
HANDLING AND RETRO AND
CUSTOMISABLE LOOKS IS
JUST WHAT THE SPIN
DOCTOR ORDERED"
BIKETEST
Special and delightful. Pity they made
them out of pre-production models.