Well, today I’m standing in front of one of my teenage crushes and I’m pleased to say she has aged well; very well in fact, so much so that I’m in awe of this skinny little machine!
Again we are looking at a bike not destined for our own shores which is such a shame as I think it would have sold well. All we can say is thank goodness for the grey importers of the day! That said, while the likes of Honda’s CBR400s of various hues and even NC30 V4s, Kawasaki ZXR400s can be relatively plentiful coming in by the container load, the little Yamaha SDR200 is a pretty rare thing to see in the UK, so to get a ride on one was absolutely awesome!
Introduced to the Japanese public in late 1986, early 1987, the bike itself features the humble, single-cylinder 195cc motor borrowed from Yamaha’s DT200R. I say humble, but this powerplant still gives a lovely broad spread of power whilst also maintaining a bit of a rush further up the rev-range as the YPVS opens fully.
Wrapped around that engine is something completely different. You could be forgiven for thinking – when looking at that frame – that you’re looking at some sort of younger/smaller sibling of Ducati’s Monster
