Refining the heritage

Despite the fact that the XSR900 has been in Yamaha's range for six years now, the 2022 model can rightly be said to be entirely new... and that's not just marketing speak, but a genuine statement.

- Dave Manning

While it shares its name with the outgoing XSR900, this is a brand-new model for Yamaha’s Sport Heritage range, in every way.

You name it, it’s been changed. Yamaha’s 2022 CP3 (crossplane triple) engine is effectively a brandnew motor, thanks to the majority of parts being changed. The frame and rolling gear are also new; of special note being the new wheels, which are the lightest aluminium alloy wheels that Yamaha has ever produced, thanks to the ‘spin-forged’ process (essentially the wheel is rough cast and then spun while very hot and the rim shape formed) which strengthens the rim and thus allows it to be thinner and therefore lighter (the two wheels are 700g lighter than before), and also having the benefit of the weight loss being at the most beneficial place.

Diet plan The bike has actually been lightened in many places – not just the wheels – and this includes the Deltabox style frame (‘style’ as it’s not a true Deltabox thanks to the fact some inner plates have been deleted from the design). Although there is actually an increase in mass for the crank, not just thanks to the 3mm increase in throw for an enlarged capacity of 890cc, but also to increase the crank’s inertia and add the feeling of increased torque.

The frame is created using Yamaha’s new ‘controlled filling’ technique which enables it to be made with different thicknesses of material (varying from 1.7mm to 3.5mm), this strengthening it in the areas where it needs it, which is the reason why the inner walls of the ‘Deltabox’ are no longer required.