2024 YAMAHA XSR 900 GP REVIEW – GIMME THAT OLD TIME RELIGION

IMAGES BY MATT McINTYRE

Damn…this one got me right in the feels. Those old monkey-brain feels where my imagination sees me howling down Paul Ricard’s insane Mistral straight, thumbs in my eyes, heart in my mouth, and a bevy of permed grid-girls body-painted with my sponsors logos on their Euro-boobies awaiting me in my pit garage.

Whatever possessed Yamaha to create the XSR900 GP and cast me and those of my ilk back in time like that, is worthy of celebration.

Let me tell you why…

We begin with the MT-09. An altogether game-changing bike Yamaha gave us a few years back. It was in in-line triple, it handled pretty well, went like fury, and ticked many of the boxes riders wanted ticked.

The MT-09 then spawned like a fecund salmon. It was always going to spawn, that chassis-and-engine combo was just a delight. Yes, there was some whining about underdone suspension from people who were parroting what they’d read from reviewers eager to find some “fault” on what was a great package, but in reality, it was nothing like that. Sure, the bastard wasn’t sporting Öhlins semi-active bouncers in the beginning, but there was nothing per se wrong with its handling that any normal rider would find issue with.

So, in the following years, the MT-09 found itself in SP form (with brilliant suspension), in Tracer form with luggage and screens for touring, and in XSR form for…well, no-one is really sure, but it had something to do with imagining hipsters were interested in actually buying new bikes and riding somewhere outside an inner-city suburb.

But Yamaha persisted with the XSR variant of the MT-09. It copped a lovely paintjob most recently, but that could not assuage its essential…well, “unloveliness”, I guess.

It was not a bike you gazed lovingly back at as you walked off. Don’t get me wrong. It was a good bike. Yamaha does not build a bad bike. The XSR handled and hammered and did all the things an MT-09 does so well, it’s just its aesthetics didn’t make you go “Fwoar!”

And let’s not pretend the Yamaha Bushidos were unaware of this. They knew the XSR was dancing sexy, but it was just not looking sexy while it danced. This could not be allowed to stand.

Then, in the Year of Our Lord, 2024, that all changed and Hamamatsu gave forth the XSR 900 GP. Monkey brains of my vintage – and yes, bitches, we are still the world’s largest motorcycle demographic – went full chimp-cage.

Here, finally was a bike that spoke to our racer fantasies. Here was a bike, that if you just narrowed your eyes a bit, you saw what Wayne Rainey once raced. This was retro done so right, so damn properly, it’s almost like some beer-fuelled home-build you’d find on YouTube.

That’s the trick with these retro creations. They have to work on your gilded memories of glory. Not necessarily your personal glory – for I can assure you I had none – but the glory people of my age all aspired to in the golden years of motorcycle racing.

That is precisely how and why the XSR 900 GP works on an emotional level. It is evocative in that regard, and powerfully so. I’m actually rather surprised Yamaha went as far as it did with its aesthetics. But hey, I do love it so when one of the Big Jap Four decides it’s going to make something special. And Yamaha has a lot of form in that regard. Think back to the legends it has made for us to ride…the RD, the XS1100, the R1, the R6, the VMAX…

And I am very good with adding the XSR 900 GP to that storied company, because it is special.

Yamaha very generously offered me two variants at the same time. One was a base-model grey-and-black jobby which reminded me a lot of HR Geiger’s alien – in and of itself a great thing. And one painted like a white, almost-red-and yellow, like a proper race bike from back in the day. All that was missing were race numbers and sponsorship stickers. It was fully kitted out, too, with a bottom fairing and an Akro can.

It is one of the most unique-looking bikes on the road, because it looks like it doesn’t belong on the road. Stick some racing numbers on it, and it will look like you just stole it from a racetrack. It is THAT good of an illusion.

LED lighting technology had improved to the point where a headlight, a third the size of your iPhone, would pass ADRs, and remain almost invisible in the overall aesthetic. And it’s OK at night. It ain’t great, but so few bike lights are. You can certainly work with it. There’s even a second smaller LED above it that is equally as unobtrusive.

And while it’s got the same frame and engine as the new MT-09, it feels very different to ride. It is 70mm longer in the wheelbase, thanks to a longer swingarm. It’s not quite an R6 front-end, but it’s not far off it – an R6 has 43mm diameter forks with 120mm of travel, while the GP carries 41mm forks with 130mm of travel – and shares the same full adjustability of the KYB units. And that means it is an absolute delight in bends.

Old people being young people…It steers marginally slower than the MT-09, which I very much like, since I have never been a fan of thought-quick steering. And it feels more planted and stable in corners, and when you’re wringing its neck in a straight line, which is obviously due to the longer wheelbase.

And it offers you an almost-race crouch that is so suited for purpose, you may very well buy a second one to take to the track to see if you’ve still got it.

But it’s not a true racer’s crouch. It’s not the R6’s cruelty, or the R1’s cramped old-people malice. It’s certainly clip-ons and rear-sets, but not in a way that will hurt you, even after a day in the saddle. If you have any kind of a true rat-bastard motorcycle soul, you’ll love it.

But let me tell you what really sold me on the GP.

I took my mate Duncan with me to pick the two GPs up from Yamaha HQ. We ride down on MT-09s and swapped them over, so we got a good back-to-back comparo. Duncan is a man of my vintage, and he’s still lithe and agile enough to pilot a 2024 S1000RR around at speeds that make me dry-mouthed keeping up with him. If anyone could make a clear-eyed assessment of how…well, fit for purpose the GP was, it would be him.

And if there’s a road which would expose any issues with the GP, that would be the Putty. On a weekday. When it’s empty. And remember, we had each other to rac…erm, engage with. And while you might think two old warhorses would behave responsibly on a cool and sunny afternoon along one of Australia’s most glorious roads, you’d be wrong.

We went at it like teenagers.

When we finally stopped at the old fig tree the other side of the Ten-Mile, we were both literally giggling. The bikes ticked as they cooled, a sound which has metronomed my entire life, and Duncan and I eeped and rattled our chimp cage in the most delightful manner. To look at us, you’d think we were 20 not 60-something.

“I’d buy this over an MT-09 in a second,” I said.

“Yep,” Duncan nodded. “Me too. Though I reckon an MT might be easier if you were doing traffic and commuting a lot.”

“Fair point,” I agreed. “But we live out here. Traffic is for city people.”

“It just steers so sweetly, so…precisely,” Duncan shook his head. “It holds a line, doesn’t it? Is it longer or something than the MT?”

I shrugged. I had not even looked at the specs. “Must be,” I said, peering at the swingarm, as if I could determine its extra length by sight. “Yamaha would not change the rake and trail on it. Must be the swingarm.”

But Yamaha did change the rake and trail, as I discovered, and indeed the whole chassis to give it more torsional rigidity – which explains its amazing stability in corners. The numbers are as follows – the new MT-09 has 24.7 degrees of rake and 108mm of trail, the normal XSR has 25 degrees of rake and also 108mm of trail, while the GP has 25.3 degrees of rake and 110mm of trail.

“That engine is a beaut, too,” Duncan grinned. “You gotta love a triple. I reckon it might have different gear ratios to the MT, and maybe the maps are different. It’s just so different to ride to the MT.”

As my later research (I called Geez with a list of questions) revealed, the gearing is not different, but the mapping is, compared to the old MT-09 and XSR. The new MT-09 shares its new six-axis ECU with the GP – and that ECU is one busy bastard, sending data (in real time no less) to all the rider aids, like lean-sensitive traction control, slide control, front-wheel lift control, and brake control.

Both the bikes were in Sport Mode the whole way, and there are five modes all up, with two being entirely customisable. Duncan and I both felt Sport was our starting point. And to be perfectly honest, I remain disinterested in Rain Mode. On any bike.

“I shall look into and seek guidance from Geez in that regard.”

“Geez?”

“Yes, Yamaha’s Marketing Director. He’s like a database for dispelling journo ignorance. So what’s your final take on the GP?”

“Love it.”

“Yeah, me too.”

In all seriousness, it’s impossible NOT to love it. Some of you may recall Yamaha built a bike called the TRX a while back. It was an 850 upright twin (back before such things were cool), but I feel it had the same philosophy behind it. It was light, it handled brilliantly, and many of them found their way to racetracks. I’d think comparisons between it and the GP would be inevitable.

But they would only be partly justified. The GP is a thoroughly modern, torque-rich sumbitch designed to fill our filthy monkey-brains with fantasies of racing glory – but in a way that allows you to ride it every day without cursing your life.

The TRX was built in 1995. It produced 79 horses and 85Nm of torque. And it weighed 202kg wet. It made me a little crazy, but it was hell-fun to ride and carve corners. As a commuter and tourer, it had many limitations.

The XSR 900 GP ain’t that, is it? It weighs 200kg, makes 117 horses, and 94Nm of torque. When you add that to the modern brakes and suspension, and a brilliant third-gen quick-shifter, you’re getting something that would leave a TRX gasping in its wake. And rightly so. Almost three decades have passed between them.

Three decades is like forever in motorcycle development. Everything has changed. The bikes we get today can only be compared to bikes of the 90s in philosophical terms. On the road, there is no comparison. There can’t be.

Bravo, Yamaha. You nailed this old time religion thing.

SECOND OPINION by Aaron Clifton

Duncan handed over his XSR 900 GP to his son, Aaron. We both figured a younger bloke’s perspective was worth hearing, even if we did not care what he thought about it at all.

It usually starts over a few beers.

See also

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‘This’ bike is better than ‘that’ bike; I ride ‘this brand’ because it’s better than ‘that brand.’

Then it turns into a pissing contest; ‘I can ride faster because I ride this bike instead of that one.’

Put down the schooner glass for a second, and zip up your jeans, then answer a serious question.

Objectively speaking, in 2024, are there any bad bikes on the market?

No, there are not.

We have reached a time of great engineering and technological privilege in motorcycling. When was the last time your sphincter clenched because frame flex misaligned your front and rear wheels through a high-speed sweeper?

Gone are the horrors of spaghetti forks bending under load, involuntarily increasing the rake on your front-end.

So, if most bikes today are objectively good, how does a manufacturer go about creating a standout motorcycle?

It creates something uniquely desirable, as Yamaha did with its XSR 900 GP.

The first thing that strikes you about the XSR900GP is the retro styling. It takes you back to the five hundred two-stroke days of Wayne Rainey. Sadly, modern society does not allow for Marlboro decals to be plastered on the fairing, but it should be done regardless.

The retro styling is a stroke of marketing genius. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, the young hipsters seem to love old style. And most likely for reasons even they don’t understand. But for those of us who do understand, well, we can reminisce of a golden era, when bikes were fast and crazy, and men were men.

Underneath the retro styling is an 899cc triple, the same as the MT-09 and it’s impossible not to love it.

Torquey, smooth, pumping out 93nm of torque and 117hp, driving a six-speed gear box with a slipper clutch and quick-shifter.

The suspension package consists of fully adjustable KYB forks from the R6 platform, and fully adjustable KYB rear shock with remote preload adjuster.

The riding position is a racers crouch, but not what you find on an R1 or R6.

Its slightly more upright, less cramped with a more spacious feeling behind the bars, and puts you in a very natural-feeling seated position.

It’s those three things together, the engine, suspension, and riding position that make this bike one of the sweetest and most usable bikes on the market.

It’s smooth, compliant, and comfortable for everyday road-riding, and when pushed through corners, shows its hand as a serious trackday machine.

Quite the perfect combination, I reckon.

The dash is a five-inch TFT screen, or as my children call it “the I-Pad.” I’m not a hater of technology or rider aids, it just needs to be easy to navigate, if it’s not, then I simply won’t even bother playing around with it. I don’t ride motorcycles to end up frustrated and screaming at the dash, and I can’t stand those people who sit on the side of the road holding up the ride because they’re busy selecting maps.

This is not the case with the GP. It’s probably one of the easiest screens to navigate. It’s so easy I found myself accessing and using all of the maps, rider aids, etc, which is something I don’t do too often. I usually just find something I like and leave it alone, but not on the XSR900GP, it was quick and easy to use and change.

It also has lean-sensitive traction control, slide control, wheelie control, and brake control, as well as self-cancelling indicators.

As a motorcyclist, there are many bikes I would own, but this is one I want to own. Because it is a complete package, and such a pleasure to ride.

And isn’t pleasure what this riding business is all about?

HOW MUCH? $21,499 RIDE AWAY

WHAT COLOURS DOES IT COME IN? The ones you see – tri-colour race-slut or alien-monster black-and-grey (and I really did like that colour scheme a bit more than the race one).  

ALL THE SPECS CAN BE FOUND HERE