Limited edition
Tasty carbon parts, Akrapovic exhaust and Ace bars Aggressive riding position limits comfort
YAMAHA HAVE TEAMED up with Italian tuning house Abarth, (best known for their classy Fiat-based cars) to create this limitededition XSR900. Combining carbon-fibre-enhanced looks with a radical café racer riding position, it’s surprisingly hardcore.
It has a carbon bikini fairing, front mudguard and a pillion seat cover that encircles a round rear light with a hint of jet engine about it. The seat has an Alcantara cover with red stitching. Standard footrests are retained but the XSR’S raised handlebar is junked for a one-piece ‘Ace’-style bar that is wide and sharply turned down. The tank is finished in grey with a black top and red speed
blocks.
Below that, the 847cc threecylinder engine – the same as the standard XSR – breathes through a titanium and stainless steel Akrapovic exhaust system that ends in two black-wrapped silencers.
In a straight line the Abarth is punchy and sweet-revving, leaping forward urgently with a tuneful but restrained howl and outdoing the standard XSR at speed thanks to the fairing’s wind protection. Unfortunately its aggressively leant-forward riding position leads to aching forearms and makes the bike harder to steer.
One advantage of basing a special on the MT-09 platform is that the base triple’s ultra-competitive price means that even this glamorous derivative is just £9999 – £1700 more than the standard XSR900. If you’re interested, you’d better not hang around: Yamaha are building a limited run of 695 units and most of the bikes coming to the UK have already been sold.