2022 Yamaha XSR900 Breaks Away From the Cafe, and Onto the 1980s GP Grid

Speaker 1: The 2022, Yamaha Sr 900 bales on the cafe racer inspiration of previous generations and fixes its sites squarely on the wild smoky two stroke grand free bikes of the early 1980s. The result is a sleek aggressive machine that manages to straddle the line between nostalgia and a modern high performance ride. Like the XSR 900 S that came before it, the 2022 model shares. Most of its guts with the Yamaha [00:00:30] Mt. Nine naked bike. That means that it gets the MTS obscenely good CP three cross plain in line three cylinder engine, which God, a displacement bump for 2021 to 890 CCS. Plus a bunch of other internal changes to make it run smoother, rev harder, and ultimately bump it to a max output of 117 horsepower and 69 pound feet of torque. Speaker 1: That motor is paired with a fantastic six speed transmission [00:01:00] that offers smooth, accurate shifting whether you use the clutch lever or more likely the standard up and down quick shifter new for 2022 is a stiffer suspension setup that along with lower steering tube and more importantly, a swing arm that's 59 millimeters longer and barred from the tracer nine GT bike. Add up to a bike that's overall smoother and much more composed in corners without having to sacrifice ride comfort. The front forks are 41 millimeter units from K Y B and both they and the rear monoshock are fully adjustable. [00:01:30] If by now you're thinking that this sounds like a pretty serious performance machine. You are absolutely right, but Yamaha's doing its part to make sure that it's a controllable and safe one. In addition to some really decent breaks, it gets a super smart electronic setup powered by a six axis Bosch IU that adds lean sensitivity to the XSR antilock breaking system and makes systems like wheelie control possible. Speaker 1: In addition to safety tech, the XR has some other smart features that make real quality of life improvements because the bike uses Yamaha's chip controlled throttle [00:02:00] system. The XSR offers four pre-programmed ride modes plus a user configurable mode that lets you adjust track control, abs sensitivity, wheely control, sensitivity, and more on top of that, you also get cruise control as standard. All the configuration is handled via a smallish 3.5 inch full color TFT display. Now all this stuff would be great to see on a bike that costs 14 or 15 grand, but ther doesn't cost that much costs a lot less. In fact, Yamaha's asking just $9,999 [00:02:30] for what is likely one of the best motorcycles to go on sale in 2022. It's hard to think of anything else that offers this level of performance and refinement at that price. And it's already starting to trickle into dealerships if you're in the market for a new motorcycle this year, and you're considering a naked bike put the 2022 Yamahas R 900 at the top of your list.