2016 Yamaha XSR900 Demo Ride!

"Nonster" (noahnic)
07/22/2016 at 15:30 • Filed to: XSR900, Yamaha, Two wheels good, motorcycle, organ donor, dank woolies

The Yamaha Demo Truck came to town! Conveniently enough they came to the bike shop thats just 2 miles from my office so what better way to spend a long Friday lunch than to test ride a new bike?

They had a pretty solid spread of the current Yamaha lineup inluding the Bolt C-Spec, Bolt R-Spec, FJR, FZ-07, FZ-09, FJ09, R6, R3, Raider, Stryker, VStar 1300 Deluxe, VStar 950 Tourer & XSR900.

My riding buddy has been shopping for an older ZX-6R for a track bike so she wanted to take the R6. The yamaha heritage graphics or whatever they call it looks stellar though.

But as previously mentioned my steed of choice was the XSR900. I’ve been itching for a chance to check one of these out ever since I first heard about them. I never was a fan of the FZ-09's looks since I’m a bit too much of a hipster to forego a classic looking round headlight.

We got to go on a quick 20 minute ride around the neighborhood to get a feel for the bikes. Unfortunately the guides are pretty strict and don’t allow any shennanigans but I can’t really blame them. I just wish we got to explore a bit more of the bikes’ capabilities.

So this will be a quick first impresssion type of ride review. My current bike is a 2007 Suzuki SV650. I consider these to be quite similar bikes but there are some major differences between the two.

Looks/Styling

I think the bike overall looks really great, but there are a few things that kind of bother me. The color scheme looks good and all the little details like the lights, guages, the plate right under the seat, etc. all look the part. However, the who “belly” of the bike just looks really busy. They make it look good enough by blacking it all out, but there’s just a lot going on that just doesn’t quite look right to me.

Handling/Rideability

I didn’t get to push it hard so this will be more about its general manners and rideability when cruising or maneuvering a slow speeds. In this regard the bike is great. The upright seating position, wide bars, and low center of gravity means the bike is super easy to manuever right from the get-go. It’s curb weight is fairly similar to my SV650 but it definitely carries it much lower. When I got back on the SV it felt much more top heavy.

Comfort/Ergo’s

The seat was shaped nicely and cupped my fairly standard-size ass well, but it was very firm. I was plenty comfortable, but larger folk might not like it as much.

The seating position is very upright with a surprising amount of leg room. I was rather surprised at how much more aggressive/sporty the riding position of my SV was in comparison. So I found myself wanting to be in more aggressive position to better suit the nature of the bike.

I’m only 5'8" with a 29" inseem but I think a taller rider would still be comfy.

Engine

This motor is a peach. It was begging me to crank it up, it was terribly frustrating because I wanted to see what it could really do. After a mile or so I switched the engine to “A” mode which is the most aggressive setting and even then the on-off throttle response was smooth but sharp. The SV’s throttle is way snatchier.

Transmission

The clutch lever pull was nice and light and shifts were wonderful snick-snick affairs. No false neutrals or any complaints.

Overall and What I’d Change

I really like the XSR900, but I didn’t quite fall in love with it, at least not yet. It definitely has my attention, but I really need to wring it out to see how it feels when you really let it cut loose.

The one thing I’d change is the handlebars. A little more forward lean would better suit the nature of the bike.

I still love my SV650 and I don’t exactly have the cash to drop on a brand new bike, but if I did the XSR900 would be on the list.

DISCUSSION (7)

AdverseMartyr > Nonster
07/22/2016 at 16:15

I hate you, but that’s just my jealousy talking. Also any piece of writing that includes “cupping my...ass” is Pulitzer material.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Nonster
07/22/2016 at 19:31

Completely agree with every point. However, I had a ride on one by myself and was able to get into it a bit. Haven’t been able to get it out of my head since. Doesn’t quite have the “VTEC JUST KICKED IN YO!” feeling that a triumph triple has at higher rpm, but the smoothness if the power delivery overall is welcome. That being said the triumph feels slower to me below 8k, if only just.

I’m just under 6' and find the bike to be very comfortable. But found myself thinking the exact same thing about the handle bars. As soon as I got off of it I was looking to see if they could be flipped. I think they could.

Oh, and Yamaha needs to stop making their turn signals so hilariously floppy.

The Compromiser > Nonster
07/22/2016 at 21:37

There are lower bars available with hipster bar end mirrors too. Not that I checked the website frequently or anything....

The Compromiser > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
07/22/2016 at 21:37

They have lower bars available.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > The Compromiser
07/22/2016 at 23:26

Figures they would, but the frugal tinkerer and customizer in me just wants to flip them.

'Wägen, EPA LOL > Nonster
08/05/2016 at 10:04

Nice write-up; this is definitely a bike a lot of people have their eyes on (myself included). I haven’t had a chance to ride it, but would really love to pick one up if for no other reason than to address some of the design miscues that were sacrificed to safety & regulations. The whole tail lamp/reflector assembly looks terrible to me. It would be pretty easy to fix, but it just looks like a parts bin nightmare.

I’d also prefer to see flush mount turn signals up front, bring the bars a bit more forward/narrower and swap out to the undermount mirrors (as opposed to the bar end ones that come out farther). This bike would look best imho by cutting off everything above the bars and trying to give it the narrowest profile possible without swapping out the tank or tires.

McMike > Nonster
08/09/2016 at 05:26

For a second there, I didn’t think your ridding buddy was wearing pants as she sat on the R6.