Taking inspiration from its recent custom sports heritage projects, Yamaha has unveiled a tasty-looking middleweight tagged the XSR700. Although there’s no hint in the press info, the ‘casual, retro-styled street bike’ is based on the superb MT-07, with a barrage of cosmetic updates.
While finer details are still elusive, the firm’s latest generation ‘CP2’ twin-cylinder motor powers the XSR with a tweaked 700cc lump, and continues with the crossplane philosophy: an uneven firing interval and 270° crank.
Yamaha claim a wet weight of 186kg, and given the MT-07’s sublime chassis and handling characteristics, the XSR700 should enjoy getting a hustle on. It looks to share the same 10-spoke aluminium wheels and horizontal shock, among other trinkets. Paying homage to the XS650, styling mods include a period dash/speedo, a shorty exhaust and retro tank, with Yamaha ably assisted by Los Angeles-based Japanese bike builder, Shinya Kimura – the man involved in the Faster Sons project.
The XSR700 will be launched in November this year and looks to be a more functional, sportier protagonist to the Ducati Scrambler. More when we get it.
