XSR700 review

'WE'VE seen our friends in Bologna doing well so we're jumping on the hipster band wagon,' joked Shun Miyazawa, Yamaha's project manager during the presentation of the XSR700. The joke fell flat... perhaps because there's truth said in jest.

Yamaha - with its longer development times - might have started working on its modern retro first but Ducati's Scrambler beat it to the showrooms and in doing so helped carve out an entirely new segment. Divisive as it is, the Scrambler has been a sales success and it is the benchmark by which the XSR will be judged.

Essentially the XSR700 is the MT-07's trendy twin, barring a few tweaks here and there the frame and engine are the same.

Click here to read the rest of our Yamaha XSR700 review.

'WE'VE seen our friends in Bologna doing well so we're jumping on the hipster band wagon,' joked Shun Miyazawa, Yamaha's project manager during the presentation of the XSR700. The joke fell flat... perhaps because there's truth said in jest.

Yamaha - with its longer development times - might have started working on its modern retro first but Ducati's Scrambler beat it to the showrooms and in doing so helped carve out an entirely new segment. Divisive as it is, the Scrambler has been a sales success and it is the benchmark by which the XSR will be judged.

Essentially the XSR700 is the MT-07's trendy twin, barring a few tweaks here and there the frame and engine are the same.

Click here to read the rest of our Yamaha XSR700 review.