Yamaha has announced the return of their XJR1300 naked bike at Cologne’s Intermot show, now with two versions of this retro machine; the standard and the upscale XJR1300 Racer version that comes with a bikini fairing and appears to be aimed at the hipster dollar.
The machines are built around an air/oil-cooled 1250 cc motor, putting out 98 hp and 76 ft-lb of torque. Shades of the 1980s. The bikes have a five-speed transmission; we haven’t seen wet weight announced yet.
Of course, this platform isn’t familiar to North Americans, since it isn’t imported here, but it’s common in Europe. The main changes this year are the styling. The bodywork is stripped-down, with a solo seat, slim 14.5-litre fuel tank and aluminum bodywork. The gauges were also reworked, the subframe was shortened, and there’s a new 4-2-1 exhaust. The headlight was also changed.
Yamaha didn’t cheap out on suspension on this model; there are Ohlins shocks in back, and the front forks have a special carbon coating on the inside of the tubes.
Will the XJR make it here? Yamaha’s on a push to sell exciting motorcycles when compared to their more placid Japanese competition; this could be the right machine at the right time for our market.
Along with the bikini fairing, the Racer model also has a carbon-fibre seat cowling and short front fender.
GALLERY
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Is this coming to Canada finally? Europe seems to get so many bikes compared to us… 🙁
That makes me miss my XS1100. I’d love the standard with a 4 into 2 exhaust.
The current Japan-domestic model has 100 HP and 79.6 ft-lb, so the reduction in engine spec kind of boggles the mind. It’s not as though the existing engine is at all stressed. Weird.
Maybe an emissions thing?