YAMAHA XS650 Roadster

Yamaha’s seminal 650cc parallel twin came in numerous guises, but here we’re going to be looking at the so-called Roadster or Standard version, which ran from 1975 to 1979/80 depending upon the market.

In these iterations many argue that Yamaha had successfully refined the simple, big, air-cooled four-stroke twin to its logical conclusion. Reliable as they come, packed with character, gutsy yet flexible, for many it was (and remains) the best classic big-bore four-stroke twin out there.