Shun Miyazawa, Yamaha product manager
The XSR was developed in parallel with the MT-07; we always had an idea to make a retro model. In 2011 and 1012 we were developing the XJR1300 and said, ‘okay, let’s try something else’ and the idea came of classics with modern components.
I went to see Shinya Kimura and Roland Sands, asking if this can be the way to do it. Shinya was doing the Faster Sons project, Roland Sands was doing a custom project and the more we talked about it the more confidence we got.
By summer 2013 we had an idea and a rough sketch, which was a bit more extreme and strangely proportioned; more like a Bulldog 1100 shape. But we decided we didn’t need an extreme custom, we just needed a kind of universal Japanese motorcycle. So we went from that to a much more neutral kind of bike.
My expectation is that half the customers will be a new audience, young guys coming to this bike from custom bikes, and the other half will be guys over 45 or 50 years old who know about motorcycle history.
Maybe later on they’ll read something and see that the colour is inspired by the XS-1, but nobody will buy this bike because it’s green with a silver stripe. When we looked into the smooth-revving engine and light, agile, manageable chassis. Add a pleasing twin-cylinder character and a restrained but slightly richer exhaust note, plus excellent ride quality and reasonable comfort by naked-bike standards, and the result is a bike that suits just about every rider and situation.
The engine’s flexibility makes the XSR very easy to ride, as do its light weight and generous steering lock. Like the MT, it pulls crisply from low revs, then picks up the pace in the midrange, allowing overtaking with just a lazy twist of throttle in top, and no need to flick down through the sweet-shifting six-speed box. There’s enough torque to lift the front wheel equally effortlessly in first gear, but equally novices should feel perfectly at home.
There’s plenty of straight-line performance available if you use the revs, and the balancer-shaft equipped motor stays respectably smooth even as it nears the 10,000rpm redline. Top speed is around 120mph and the Yam is capable of cruising at 80mph plus, if your neck muscles and driving licence are. The upright riding position seemed comfortable enough, and I didn’t feel cramped despite being tall. Even the seat seemed pretty comfortable, though a pillion doesn’t get much to hold.
Chassis performance was equally impressive. The XSR weighs 4kg more than the MT (mainly due to the extra metal parts), but at 186kg with a full tank it’s still very light, right on par with Ducati’s Scrambler. That helps it feel very manoeuvrable at slow speed, and even short-legged riders shouldn’t have problems although the seat is reasonably high.
Suspension is good, considering the simplicity of the 41mm front forks and rising-rate rear monoshock, although like the MT the bike felt slightly soft and vague under hard cornering. A donor machine we had several ideas – a twin, triple or fourcylinder. But the twin was the best to start with, and it was ideal from a price point of view.
But soon after we also said, ‘Okay, let’s try to use another engine’. Roland has been working on a triple project and we want to see other possibilities too.
A four-cylinder project could be possible. I think BMW wanted to do a similar project with Orlando Bloom, with an S1000RR custom machine.
They were thinking the same way because at a certain stage this is not about retro, it’s a new kind of pure road style that can produce a design that’s full of adrenaline.” slightly firmer shock and a bit more damping wouldn’t go amiss, especially for heavier riders, but the Yam was so much fun that it’s hardly fair to complain. The only adjustment at either end is shock preload. Adding a few extra notches gave a usefully firmer feel and added to the respectably generous ground clearance.
The Phantoms gripped reassuringly well, even on damp Sardinian roads. Braking was excellent too, the front stopper giving notably more power than I recall the MT doing on its launch a year ago, despite its identical specification. The XSR comes with ABS as standard, and the system worked well, even allowing a slight stoppie on grippy roads.
The XSR should even be respectably practical, at least by naked middleweight standards. It shares the MT’s 14-litre fuel capacity, which isn’t especially generous but should mean a realistic range of about 130 miles, based on my launch average of 50mpg. Plenty of MT riders have been averaging 60mpg-plus, and getting 160 miles or more from a tankful.
The speedo’s digital display shows gear position and fuel consumption as well as incorporating a fuel gauge, though the display can’t be toggled from the slightly small and basic switchgear. The mirrors were sufficiently large and clear to be useful. The XSR is no sports-tourer but like the MT it should prove a perfectly capable all-rounder.
And it’s one with a distinct style and character all of its own. The XSR700 is just as superbly fast, entertaining and sweet-handling as the MT-07, should prove just as practical, and is almost as competitively priced while offering the bonus of easy customisation plus a splash of Yamaha heritage. Faster Sons is a very promising concept, and this first of the family looks like getting it off to a flying start.