Yamaha xsr900, any good?

[Tonyg1987]

Been looking at this for my next bike, it seems a very interesting. Just after some info from people who own or have ridden one. Pros and cons, reliability, fun-factor, that sort of stuff.

[grr666]

Same 850cc triple engine as MT09. Arm tuggingly torquey, hard to keep front wheel on floor in first. Sounds great with Akrapovic.
Fun as fucking fuck!!! I laugh like a loon often when I ride my MT09 Sport Tracker which is a bit like a lovechild of the XSR900
and the MT09. Mine shoots fire from the exhaust since the Akra went on. Bangs, backfires and burbles a plenty.
Upright riding position, easy to filter on. Wouldn't suit a short arse as they have a quite high seat. But you can alter this
slightly with drop links. Suspension is a bit on the budget side if it's the same as the MT series bikes, damping could be better.
The engine is the star of the show though, some say the fuelling makes them snatchy but I haven't found this to be the case
with mine. Mines showing 42mpg average over 1500 miles. Windblast at 100 plus is quite pronounced. Three throttle modes
to choose from. B, STD and A with B being the least aggressive and STD the default setting. Brakes are strong but
ABS a little keen to kick in. All in all a lot of bike for the money I think. 2 year warranty if buying from new.
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
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[kgm]

The fuelling on the XSR is allegedly better than on the MT although I cannot confirm having not ridden one.

[Bricktop]

Would be a nice bike if it weren't for all that matt-black powdercoat.

[Tonyg1987]

I think it's kinda weird that I've never seen one before, they don't seem to be a common bike, and from what I've read you get quite a lot for the small price they cost, the bike comes with ABS and traction control as standard, you get the fantastically fun and reliable MT-09 engine. I don't understand why more people aren't buying one. Are people put off by the retro styling possibly?

[Alpineandy]

[Polarbear]

Looks are pretty

EXCEPT the Kenny Roberts block painted one. The colour scheme breaks up that god ugly tank and improves it no end.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTZrK9p877qfO7kaJpzTuv6YxoBZ28wC96OmgSZIuuzHVPMqT5bHQ
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Northern Monkey]

It rides like an MT09 with the suspension fixed so it isn't boingy, and the fuelling less snatchy, especially in standard mode. There is a mode 2, which sharpens it up, but makes it a bit snatchy if there are bumps on the road.

The seating position is bolt upright, which means that any time at 80mph plus gets really tiring. That's exactly what I want. You can blast up to 70 (ahem) mph for a short time, but you can't hold it there, which reduces the chance of being banned.

Triple engine is a thing of joy. Plenty of torque to for when you're not caning it and keeping the revs low, but really comes to life above about 9000rpm.

TCS means that the front wheel stays on the ground if you're a ham fisted idiot like me, but is easy to switch off if you're Paddy.

I love mine. Its fucking ace (and in the Kenny Roberts colours which is +10mph)
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Fisty: after polishing the tank with the glistenng beads of sweat from my full hot scrotum, I filled the headrace bearings with 10cc of my manmilk

[lilredmachine]

Was perusing one the other day. Overall looks good, but devil is in the details. Odd missing panels at the side, which I know they've done for the look, but why leave the decidedly cheap looking rear master reservoir hanging out in the breeze? Relocate it perhaps? Rear light looks like they forgot it needed one then screwed something to the not-really-there rear end at the last minute. On a bike that is supposed to bring on rose tinted memories of old timey bikes, these things are just lazy and pretty much unforgivable.

Having ridden a couple of MT-09s, one stocker and one with 2000 quid (nitron hydraulic preload adjustable rear shock, full revalve/spring/adjustable ktech front end) thrown at the suspension, I'm glad they have kind of sorted the somewhat retarded handling. No complaints about the motor, the damn thing has outrageous mid range shove, wheelies in many gears but this is mainly because some mischievous bugger has replaced the rear shock and forks with pogo sticks.

Ultimately, you can spring for the cheaper bike and accept that they saved a couple of grand on the suspension or buy something that won't put you in a hedge with a Street Triple. They seem like very different bikes on the outside but take it from me, riding them back to back one just feels like a far more sorted version of the other. You can guess which way round this is. Pay for it you will, though.
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Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.

[Tonyg1987]

[grr666]

Go try one, any MT09 variant will pull about the same. Be ready for a torquey surprise.
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.