Yamaha XSR900 Abarth 2018 — Specifications

We all remember that feeling, discovering the standard XSR900: such a successful neo-retro base that we already dreamed of transforming it into a pure, hard-core café racer. A few years later, Yamaha decided to knock on Abarth’s workshop door to realize this fantasy. The result is this XSR900 Abarth, a limited series of 695 units flirting with €13,000. Is it the ultimate café racer or simply a clever marketing operation dressed in carbon and scorpion stickers?

Visually, the work is undeniable. The bike has lost all its nonchalance. The low handlebars, the carbon fiber headstock fairing inherited from the defunct XJR1300 Racer, and the aggressive micro-fairing give it the posture of an urban predator. The gray livery striped with red, embellished with three scorpions, and the carbon fiber parts (mudguard, seat cowl) send a clear message: here, we are in the sporty, not in the flimsy replica. The titanium Akrapovic slip-on completes the voice of this transformation. We’ll just regret the rear license plate holder, still as inelegant, which seems to be the last vestige of an undesirable road bureaucracy.

But a motorcycle, especially at this price, is judged on more than just its plumage. The heart remains the famous CP3 triple of 847 cm3, delivering 115 horsepower at 10,000 rpm and a muscular torque of 87.5 Nm. An explosive, playful engine that defines the personality of the MT-09 and the XSR. For this Abarth version, Yamaha has retained the original suspensions. This is where the shoe pinches for an engine aspiring to be so refined. We dreamed of an Öhlins kit or at least a firmer setting, worthy of the style and positioning. Faced with a Triumph Thruxton R, another benchmark of the modern café racer, the agility is there, but the road holding lacks that last degree of precision and feedback that makes the difference on a winding road.

So, who is this beast for? Clearly for the enthusiast who wants a unique motorcycle, with a striking look, without embarking on aftermarket transformations. The typical customer is an urban aesthete, perhaps a collector, who seeks rarity as much as sensations. For the demanding touring rider or the Sunday track day enthusiast, the suspension compromise will be too glaring. It is a show machine, a weekend machine, that makes an effect in the café much better than it cuts the road on a mountain pass.

Ultimately, this Yamaha XSR900 Abarth is a beautifully executed style statement. It proves that the Italian tuner knows how to dress a motorcycle with taste. But by not touching the suspension mechanics, Yamaha and Abarth have produced a café racer with a convincing look, but a temperament a little too close to the base roadster. It will seduce with its exclusivity and panache, but will leave those seeking absolute technical consistency wanting more. A missed opportunity to create a true bomb, settling for a luxurious damp squib.