Conclusion
In a usual FB test, with a usual FB testing protocol measured, the Yamaha XSR900 would marmalise the Bavarian opposition. It’d probably feature in the Queen’s Honours for utterly marmalising the retro scene, but the Yamaha is almost too polished, too good to earn authentic retro status – even with those authentic brown leather panniers fitted. I think a more suitable competitor would be Kawasaki’s Z900RS, where two naked bikes dressed in chintz can slug it out like two naked kamikazes.
But there aren’t many other bikes offering such bang-for-buck as the XSR900. For just over £8,000, you have a bike that does everything but munch miles: fast road riding, commuting and even trackdays, all while looking damn fly. The twin exit exhaust looks badass, although there’s a high-mounted option that surpasses every level of awesome.
It’s still distressing to hear that the majority of bike sales are made on the basis of aesthetics, but there have to be exceptions. You either love or hate the looks of the Racer, but if you love ’em, you love ’em so much you’ll want to have its babies. It’s not as fast, it doesn’t handle as well (most of the time) and it’s not as easy to ride as the Yamaha, but the BMW carries that intangible X factor and extra swagger to boot. Not only did we look like a dapper, distinguished gentlemen riding the Racer, we certainly felt like ones too. There was an element of fraud when riding the Yamaha dressed like this, but the Beemer deserved every effort.
With astonishing levels of cornering ability plus the aforementioned, I’ll go as far as saying the Racer is not only the best R nineT created, it’s also the best Boxer-powered model that BMW has produced. Cue an angry influx of letters from proud GS owners…