FOR THOSE OF A CERTAIN AGE, THE NEW YAMAHA XSR900, with its late 1980s and early ’90s design cues, rekindles memories and emotions strong enough to send tingles down the spine. I fondly remember Yamaha’s TZR250 with its Deltabox frame, just like the one on Sarron’s GP 500 YZR… ish. Friends rode early FZR1000s and, at 19, I piloted a FZR750 Genesis with a polished Detlabox frame. These Yamahas with their long, flat tanks and distinctive twin-spar frames were the bikes of my youth and at the heart of the world biking 30 or more years ago.
But the XSR900 is not a cosmetic upgrade or simply an MT-09 with new clothes trying to pull a few old heart strings. Engine apart, this is a completely new motorcycle with a new frame, suspension, and much-needed lean-sensitive rider aids. The CP3 119-hp triple engine is transferred from the MT-09 but much else is bespoke to the XSR900, including new forks and shock (to compensate for a longer swing-arm). A new six-axis IMU ensures cornering ABS, traction control, slide control, and wheelie control. Plus, there are three riding modes, four power modes, an up-and-down quickshifter, and even cruise control as standard. We flew to Tuscany in Italy to ride this very modern
