Yamaha’s funked-up XV950 Racer revealed

The roadster gets redressed with attitude and a bit more black paint

This is the latest ‘Yard Built’ motorcycle to throwitself into the Yamaha big cafe racer line-up, the full-on XV950 Racer.

In the same vein as the firm’s recent updated Vmax, the cafe racer XJR1300 and the SR400, the bike is now part of a growing Yamaha trend to add some street funk to selected parts of the range. Nothing majorly mechanical has been changed on the bike though, this is much more a styling change with some obvious revisions to the riding position.

Making maximumtorque of 58lb-ft at 3000rpm – and maximumpower of 51bhp at 5500rpm – the 942cc aircooled 60º V-twin is more a drag race bike for city riding than long-range tourer option for the cool brigade. What distinguishes the new XV950 Racer from other models is its forwardleaning riding position. That’s thanks to aluminium 22.2mm diameter clip-on handlebars that are positioned 156mm further forward and 78mm lower than on the XV950/R models.

The fact that the bars are 22.2mm diameter – as opposed to the larger diameter designs used on the other XV950/R models – enables the use of slimmer supersport type handlebar grips.

The clip-on handlebars are equipped with compact new switchgear and clutch/front brake levers and the front brake’s master cylinder has also been reduced in size.

The XV950 Racer gets newly positioned flashers that are mounted on the lower triple clamp. There’s also a new slimmer seat and rear-set footrests. The front forks are 41mm diameter and give 144mm of travel, 9mm more than the standard XV950.

The twin rear piggyback gas shocks have also been developed to suit the new Racer model, and give 116mm of rear wheel travel, 6mm greater than the XV950/R.

No price on the bike from Yamaha at the moment, but we do knowthat it will come in blue or grey and will be available from May.