Yamaha XSR900 GP (2024) - Review

Well, they’ve finally gone and done it. We all know looks and style are subjective; a matter of personal taste; and plenty of riders won’t be turned on by Yamaha’s XSR900 GP mash-up of their classic 80s and 90s sportsbikes. But for a huge swathe of what Yamaha calls ‘rose-tinted racers’ – and they’re talking about all us 50-something ex-sportsbike pilots – the XSR900 GP is like catnip. It’s not the first modern retro-styled sporty bike – Triumph’s Thruxton, maybe their Speed Triple RR, MV’s Superveloce, Kawasaki’s Z900RS are all recent examples – but none have tunnelled quite as full-bore into the past for styling cues, or adopted so many from a huge range of machines. Yamaha says this is deliberate – the GP isn’t supposed be any one classic Yam – you bring your own personal nostalgia to the bike and find it there. You can get EXUP from the swingarm, FZR600 3HE from the frame, FZR400RR SP from the seat hump, TRX850 from the half fairing, and of course Messrs Lawson and Rainey from the YZR500 OW86 to OWD3. But let’s start at the beginning and refrain from talking about styling until the strain becomes unbearable.

The XSR900 GP is, on the surface, an existing naked XSR900 in a Wayne Rainey frock (ah, that didn’t take long). Launched in 2022, the second-gen XSR900 is itself a retro nod to the Sonauto Gauloises Yamaha GP bike of the late 1980s. It was based on the magnificent 2021 CP3 platform – 890cc, 117bhp inline triple, new Deltabox-style aluminium frame and ally swingarm, revised steering geometry and chassis dynamics, uprated KYB suspension and a full-spec 6-axis IMU bringing a full range of electronic control to the platform.

Fundamentally, the GP part of the new XSR900 adds a half fairing, new lights, clip-ons, a seat hump and a host of detail changes – some engineering, some cosmetic. It was meant to be launched alongside the naked XSR two years ago, in 2022 – which explains some of the curious styling choices of the naked bike – but was delayed (and, say Yamaha, almost shelved a few times) by factory indecision and Covid-related issues – according to factory staff, it’s the first Yamaha entirely conceived by CAD, without a single clay model being built. Niall Mackenzie rode a so-called prototype at Goodwood last year, which was pretty much the finished bike, and when the finished bike broke cover last autumn, it also pretty much broke the internet.

And now the XSR900 GP has arrived, and Simon Hargreaves has been despatched to Portugal to ride it.

Pros & Cons

2024 Yamaha XSR900GP tested on road and track

Simon Hargreaves is despatched to Portugal to test Yamaha’s mash-up of their classic 80s and 90s sportsbikes

2024 Yamaha XSR900 GP -Price

The 2024 XSR900 GP is £12,506 on the road. That compares with £10,716 for the lower-spec naked XSR900. The GP will be in dealers from mid-May but there’s been a queue since the bike was unveiled last year, so you may have to wait a while for your bike if you’ve only just got round to phoning your dealer.

The GP comes in two colour schemes – Legend Red and Power Grey. Personally, I reckon you’d have to mad to go for the grey option, even though it’s more stealth than the classic Marlboro version (the “M” word is, for obvious reasons, not mentioned in any Yamaha promo material).

There are lots of accessories for the GP – the full list is exhaustive, but here are some of the highlights, with UK prices (correct as of May 2024):

• Lower fairing: £599.00

• Akrapovič exhaust: £1990.00

• Tinted screen: £144.00

• License plate holder £161.00 (The above is available as a Racer Pack for £2750)

• Suspension lowering link: £88.00

• Heated grips: £173.00

• Radiator guard: £136.00

• Throwover soft bags: £244.00

• Throwover rack: £115.00

PCP details:
OTR - £12,506
Deposit - £3482
36 Monthly Payments - £119
TOTAL - £14,867
Optional final sum - £7101.25
Annual Mileage - 4000miles
APR - 9.9%

2024 Yamaha XSR900 GP -Engine & Performance

In some ways this is the least interesting bit of the XSR900 GP – the engine, electronics and performance are identical to the 2024 MT-09. That means the GP gets Yamaha’s near-perfect 890cc CP3 120° three-cylinder making 117.3hp (119PS, 87.5kW) at 10,000rpm and 68.6 lb-ft of torque (93Nm) at 7000rpm, now Euro5+ compliant. It’s smooth, in perfect primary and secondary balance – and also balances snarling, naked aggression with a “Who, me?” civility, all resting on just half a turn of keen, but never snatchy, throttle (it makes cornering smoother if you get a speck of throttle on early in the corner and modulate speed with a hint of rear brake – and then open it wider, faster. Modern throttles aren’t at their best if you ride passively, nursing fractional openings).

I’ve ridden a lot of engines over 32 years as a road tester – mostly pretty good at doing what they’re supposed to, a few horrible or feeble or hard to control, and a few possessing a delicious, organic, super-sensory blend of performance and soul – like Honda’s RC30 and RC45 V4s, Ducati’s 748, Triumph’s 675 and 765, Suzuki’s GSX-R1000 K5. And maybe BMW’s later flat twins too. Yamaha has had a few, such as the second-generation crossplane crank inline four – what a beast that is. But, in my opinion, the 890cc CP3 is up there as well – it’s a motor that has no law of diminishing returns; the more you ride it, the better it gets.

It’s a fabulous engine and, with the benefit of the GP’s half fairing, is an adrenaline-tickling treat to get your head down and let the motor wring out its full potential, moaning with a soulful, gut-punching thrust. But it’s at its best surfing the wave of torque from 5000rpm, short shifting through the box using Yamaha’s immaculate fully multi-directional quickshifter (third generation, now effectively clutch-free in almost every scenario, as fitted to the Tracer 9 GT+, MT-09 and now XSR900 GP). As per MT-09, Yamaha has also uprated the GP’s transmission, adding an extra dog tooth (the inner teeth on the gears used to engage with the shifter) to each of the top four internal gear ratios for smoother engagement. Shifting gear on the GP is like skipping through daisies. They couldn’t make it any easier (he said, acknowledging Yamaha’s recent announcement of an automatic gearbox for sports riding with a resigned shrug).

Other mods from this year’s MT-09 are carried onto the GP – Yamaha has redesigned the airbox intakes into twin ducts, fed from the top of the fuel tank. The MT-09’s speaker-style grilles atop the tank are absent, but you can still hear the thing howling away – especially as the top fairing now traps the noise. And the GP gets the 09’s latest suite of 6-axis IMU electronics: adjustable throttle maps, traction control, slide control, anti-wheelie and, new for 2024, variable engine braking. They’re all bundled into rider modes (Sport, Street, Rain and two Custom modes) and you can set them from the switchgear or remotely via Bluetooth from Yamaha’s MyRide app.

On the road, 117bhp is spot-on for most situations these days – it’s the Goldilocks of performance with a stonking wallop of midrange hoo-hah that recalibrates your time/speed/distance calculations and absolutely eviscerates Google Maps’ estimated time of arrival (love it when you get to the end of a ride and Google asks if they got something wrong because you’ve arrived half an hour before you left). But the GP hasn’t got the kind of insane top end that automatically teleports you straight into jail without passing Go. It’s not the Messiah, it’s just a very naughty boy.

Yamaha is at pains to point out the GP isn’t a pure sportsbike – they have no plans to race it and don’t see it as a rival for a supersports-class machine. And they’re right – on the track, 117bhp would be a limitation, eventually, up against the sheer horsepower of litre sportsbikes. But in my estimation – based on a day’s road ride – the GP would be capable of giving old-time 750 race reps or most supersport 600s a good run for their money. If nothing else, the extra torque from the GP’s larger triple would be a distinct advantage. And be in no doubt – a handy rider on an XSR900 GP would smoke a mediocre rider on an R1, every single time. It’s not what ya got, etc.

2024 Yamaha XSR900 GP -Handling & Suspension (inc. Weight)

The 2024 XSR900 GP’s chassis is a bit of a mash-up of the new 2024 MT-09 and the existing XSR900 (the naked version). The frame is essentially the same die-cast aluminium Deltabox with internal webbing as per the new MT-09 – visually similar to the naked XSR900’s, it features minor updates including extra headstock bracing to cope with greater acceleration, steering, braking and dynamic forces. It also uses thicker engine mounting plates and subframe mounting plate to give more direct-steering feel – although it must be said, these are small variations and you’d think it would take a fairly sensitive rider wringing the neck off both bikes back-to-back to feel a difference. But Yamaha says they contribute a significant part of the overall handling feel of the bike. Meanwhile the GPs’ swingarm is based on the current XSR900, so it’s 55mm longer than the MT-09’s. Chassis geometry is slightly altered over the existing naked XSR900 – the headstock is 5mm higher and trail is up to 110mm from 107mm.

Suspension is fully adjustable KYB – uprated 41mm usd forks get high and low speed compression damping, as well as rebound and preload, and an uprated KYB shock has hydraulic preload adjustment over a greater range than the standard XSR900’s collar adjuster, plus rebound and high and low speed compression damping. It’s a pretty comprehensively spec’d set-up, with bespoke spring and damping characteristics to suit the altered weight balance of a prone rider (as dictated by the riding position).

Brakes are as per the 2024 MT-09, so the GP gets an uprated 16mm Brembo master cylinder squeezing Yamaha four-pot radial calipers on 298mm discs. Wheels are, as per the rest of the CP3 platform, Yamaha’s spin-forged lightweight items, and tyres are Bridgestone Battlax S23s. Overall weight is a claimed 200kg fully fuelled (up 7kg over the 2024 MT-09).

It’s impossible to talk about how the GP handles without also talking about its riding position, so we’ll do that here instead of a separate section below. After all, in some ways the XSR900 GP is breaking a few moulds, so we can break the copy template to accommodate it.

The XSR clearly has a racier riding position than the flat-bar MT-09 or XSR900, with clip-ons that drop wrists 93mm forward and 114mm lower than the XSR900, a seat 12mm forward and 27mm higher (835mm) and pegs up by 26mm and moved rearward by 26mm. But the clip-ons are mounted above the top yoke and then on a cast riser – compared to an R7, the GP is less sporty. And it feels like that on the road – riding at a decent pace on twisty roads, it feels perfectly positioned and not at all cramped for a 6ft-er. Compact, yes. Sporty, yes. Painful, silly or awkward, god no. Head down behind the bubble and pin it – then, it works perfectly.
To my memory, the riding position feels a bit like a 1994 FZR600 riding position. In fact I just compared them, and the bars and pegs are identical (I’m quite pleased I spotted it). The GP has a slightly higher seat – for a more modern reference, Yamaha says it’s not as extreme as an R7.

So the GP’s on-the-road riding position is marginally more extreme than, say, a CBR650R or Daytona 660, but not as wristy as a supersports 600 like a CBR600RR, and nothing like as a bad as the XSR900 Abarth – the limited edition XSR900 from 2017 that used up a load of crippling clip-ons from the Faster Sons accessory catalogue. The GP is no tourer, but it’s the perfect Sunday blast tool.

And the riding position has a big impact on the GP’s handling. It has slightly slower steering than a conventional XSR900 or MT-09 because there’s less physical leverage over the front wheel – the bars are narrower. But it’s not exactly heavy to turn and when it’s in and on line, it’s pinned thanks the forward-canted rider weight. The suspension feels about right at 75% pace – the most we could manage on the launch, on somewhat congested roads – and there’s a bit of crashing over speed bumps and potholes; more because of the committed riding position than the suspension. I suspect, at a hot racetrack, the suspension will get a bit soft as the pace increases – as Yamaha says, the GP isn’t a supersports bike. And there’s plenty of scope for increasing damping as required, as you pick up speed on track. Brakes are pin sharp on the road – again, ABS intervention might be the limiting factor on track, and there’s no option to modulate it or turn it off. Steering lock is a bit limited, too – so watch those tight U-turns!

2024 Yamaha XSR900 GP -Comfort & Economy

As mentioned above, the riding position is designed for sporty Sunday riding and, while it’s not uncomfortable, it’s clearly not entirely benign – ride the GP in traffic (of which, sadly, there was ample opportunity on the launch) and wrists will start to ache. At least there’s an old-school aluminium fairing stay to rest your left arm against, just like we used to. It’s muscle memory; my arm goes straight to it.

Comfort will be similarly compromised on motorways too – the GP comes with cruise control, which will help take the strain on the right wrist. But the screen is low – and anyway, who’d going to buy the GP to ride it on a motorway with any other expectation than it not being entirely suited?

Fuel consumption is claimed to be the same as the MT-09, at 5l/100km (56.5mpg) and the tank is the same 14-litre capacity so the GP’s overall range to empty is still a theoretical and wildly optimistic 280km (174 miles) – in reality the reserve light comes on at around 110 miles and by 120 we’ve got a flashing fuel indicator showing some 9 miles of fuel reserve (there’s no remaining range, which is a pain). The bike reckons an average of 48.5mpg, but we’ve not been caning it, so low 40s are probably within reach with a bit more wahey.

2024 Yamaha XSR900 GP -Equipment

The GP is fitted with the same new colour TFT dash as the 2024 MT-09 – at 5" wide it has five different themes, including a new ‘analogue’ style in keeping with the retro ethos of the bike. As well as the rider aid controls listed above, it also comes with a suite of smartphone-connected tech including the usual media controls and a Garmin StreetCross navigation system – which is very cool. An under-seat USB-C socket adds a bit of gadget-charging capacity.

The GP also gets the same new switchgear as the MT-09 – no scroll wheel on the right bar; instead there’s a nicely-built stubby joystick on the left bar, new push-to-cancel rocker-style indicators (take a bit of getting used to, but not too bad), plus cruise control.

2024 Yamaha XSR900 GP -Rivals

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Power/Torque

178bhp/92lb-ft

Weight

199kg (kerb)

2024 Yamaha XSR900 GP -Verdict

There’s almost no point talking about the Yamaha’s styling because it’s a subjective opinion and we’re all different. So this is my take: I think it’s stunning, and here’s why: the bike’s finish quality is – for a modern Japanese bike – exceptional. There’s a ton of paint on it – it’s deep and lustrous. The metal finishing is wonderful – lots of alloy, all nicely painted or anodised. The detailing is superb – the fairing R clips are actual re-makes of the original TZR250 clips – if you’re restoring a TZR, now you have original clips. The Dzuz fasteners are also cool – as per the XSR900 – but the bolted-on fairing pockets are genius.

Yamaha says the GP doesn’t come with a full fairing – the lower is an accessory and yes, it’s supposed to have that gap – because they want the bike to be as much a reference from half-faired classics such as the TRX850 or even the 1986 FZ750. This sounds a bit like post-rationalisation unless you also believe Yamaha’s claim that the GP isn’t based on one particular bike from their past – the point is you bring your own nostalgia to the GP, be it old 500cc race bikes, two-stroke TZR250, FZR400s, EXUPs... it’s got hints of all of them.
For me, it works. The XSR900 GP is a fantastic – and unique – mash-up of one of the most exciting and dynamic engine and chassis combos available today, mixed with a dash of modern electronic practicality, and wrapped up in a fine suite of shamelessly retro styling. What would I change? I’d make the tank bigger. And that’s about it.

If you’d like to chat about this article or anything else biking related, join us and thousands of other riders at the Bennetts BikeSocial Facebook page.

UK Track Review

By Michael Mann, BikeSocial’s Content Editor

Several weeks after the official press launch where excited talk of track time at Estoril turned into sweeping around one corner for photos, I was invited to a Bennetts Track Day to be among the first to ride the XSR900GP on track in the UK care of The Yamaha Track Experience guys who provide a full service for the day.

As I roll up to the garage, my first reaction was subdued. Why? Because standing before me was the XSR900GP not in the awesome, stand-out, make-me-feel-like-a-80s-racer red and white colour combo, but instead the much duller grey and black version. First world problems, eh? I had a word with myself, not before a certain John McGuinness MBE fresh from the Senior TT race less than 48 hours earlier hopped on board and tried the Yamaha (sorry Honda) for size. He was as intrigued as I was given the bike’s hype and praise.

Fast forward to my first session on track and after a quick tinker with the rider mode settings and a little familiarisation with the controls and clip-on derived riding position, I was off onto the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on a pair of cold Dunlop’s. The short tail section, without its registration plate, accentuates the wheelbase making the bike look longer and it doesn’t do much for the side-on silhouette appearance. Glance at the side-on photos and I get a Matchless G50 vibe. Nevertheless, the front fairing coupled with the Iower engine cover still gets my vote for its chicness.

Despite being seated quite far back, the saddle’s actually very suited to my 6ft/14st4lbs frame particularly when slid backwards and leaning against the rear of the seat. The seating position has loads of room and isn’t cramped, the handlebars are well placed for a sportyish riding position that this 44-year-old was grateful of.

The power is ideal for the short Indy circuit at Brands Hatch and I’m glad it wasn’t a Donington Park or Snetterton where I’d have been like a sitting duck to the sportsbikes. The throttle and clutch lever combo are super friendly, not aggressive or overly sharp meaning that trust is quickly built with how the power is delivered. You can quickly become acquainted leaving plenty of focus left for hitting those apexes. I found the combination of engine braking and twin front discs ample for this circuit where there’s no really hard braking zones. I have heard the ABS can be intrusive on circuits where more force is required. The bike steers quickly and prefers to stick to a line once leant over, though the rear suspension is soft for track use – particularly noticeable when trying to apply power while navigating the undulations out of the final Clearways/Clark Curve duo as the bike wallows about. You have to be patient. The gearbox is lovely – it’s very quick to engage on the upshift with little ankle effort required. The downshift is only slightly compromised and requires a full extension of the gear lever after each gear change before asking for the next one down the ‘box.

While its inspiration might have come from those 80s race machines, and even though there’s a ‘GP’ in the name, this version is not designed for track use. Yamaha agrees. So while the GP is a real looker and a treat for the road use, we look forward to the YZF-R9 for a more focused chassis (and we hope for a tad more power too), watch this space because we’ve learned that it’s coming soon!

2024 Yamaha XSR900 GP -Technical Specification

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MCIA Secured gives motorcycles a rating out of five stars (three stars for bikes of 125cc or less), based on the following being fitted to a new bike as standard:

• A steering lock that meets the UNECE 62 standard

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The higher the star rating, the better the security, so always ask your dealer what rating your bike has and compare it to other machines on your shortlist.