A FITTING TRIBUTE

A cynic might claim that the XTribute is so closely related to the XSR700 on which it’s based that Yamaha are pushing their luck by calling it a new model. Others might suggest that the links between this latest twin-cylinder retro-bike and the old single-pot thumper whose name and style it echoes are distinctly tenuous.

Both observations have merit, but from where I’m sitting I couldn’t care less about that. Right now I’m perched aboard the XTribute’s dual-seat, nudging the wide, one-piece handlebar to send the Yamaha slicing accurately through another bend on a country road near Amposta on Spain’s northeastern coast; then winding back the throttle to send the bike charging on to the next straight.

The engine is revving eagerly and emitting a glorious bark via the high-level Akrapovic pipe. So what, the XTribute seems to be replying. An accessorised