Page 60 - 2022-08-01 RiDE
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BRITAIN’S TOP-10 NAKEDS
THE COSTS
SERVICING
Minor 6000 miles/£250
Major 12,000 miles/£520
PCP
£122.29 x36 months
(Deposit 2040, APR 7.9%, optional
final payment £5355)
PREDICTED VALUE
AFTER THREE YEARS
£7000
YAMAHA XSR900
Brilliant looks, great value and a superb
engine make it a compelling choice
Price £10,200 Power 117bhp Torque 69lb·ft Weight 193kg Seat height 810mm
Pound for pound, when it comes to value, with an inspiring rate of turn that is precise The joy of a naked
performance and equipment levels, we and always predictable. Riding one down motorcycle on a summer’s
reckon Yamaha’s XSR900 is the best new any B-road is an assault on the senses and day: biking at its purest...
naked on the market. Based on the 2021 full of inspiration. There’s no inertia to any
MT-09 platform, it boasts a chassis that’s of your inputs nor does the XSR ever feel
wonderfully exploitable, an engine that’s too lightweight or untrustworthy. It’s the
engaging, involving and sings the off-beat definition of perfect balance and huge fun.
song only a sorted triple can. No other bike Ahead, a section of bumps and twists
looks quite like it either. Like the MT-09 loom. The big KTM looks composed but so
but put off by its Transformers aesthetic? does the much-cheaper Yamaha. As I turn
You want the retro XSR900, then. into the left-hander, it hits a compression
I’m out with RiDE contributor Jon, but the MT-09-spec suspension shrugs it
sampling two very different naked bikes off and holds its line without shimmy or
and enjoying a rare respite in July’s shake — and any time you want it to turn
summer heatwave. Urry’s at the front on tighter, it will. There’s always more ground
the KTM Super Duke. He’s a smooth, quick clearance and always more grip from the
rider but the XSR never loses an inch to the
KTM and while Jon’s getting a sweat on,
doing battle with the torque and brutality
of the KTM’s 1301cc V-twin, I’m guiding
the Yamaha with my fingertips.
Based on the updated MT-09 introduced
last year, it is a much more capable bike
than the old XSR900 — and there wasn’t
much wrong with that. Now it carries its
weight much lower, has a 2.3kg lighter, Adjustable
stiffer frame and new lighter spin-forged suspension well
wheels, all of which equate to a motorcycle set from factory
60 SEPTEMBER 2022
