Yamaha has just taken the covers of its latest offering in the Sport Heritage segment, the 2015 Yamaha XV950 racer. Taking inspiration from the ‘El Ratón Asesino’ – a café racer made by German builder Marcus Walz, the Yamaha XV950 Racer is designed to look like a yard build. Inspiration or not this is one classic looking machine. The very prominent 60° V-Twin engine has a capacity of 942 cc and puts out 52.1 PS at 5,500 RPM and 79.4 Nm of torque at 3,000 RPM. To add a sporty dimension to the motorcycle Yamaha have added clip on handlebars which are lower and forward set along with rear set footpegs. Overall there are many changes that differentiate it from the XV950/R model range. These include smaller, sporty and redesigned switchgear and a master cylinder, differently positioned indicators and a single seat. The seat itself is a minimalistic light weight one and is followed by a mini cowling that add to the café racer theme. Another new addition is the aluminium number plates to the side to finish the old school racer look.
The suspension has also been worked on to handle its new racy characteristics. A lot of work has gone into reducing the lowering the centre of gravity of the 2015 Yamaha XV950 Racer. Apart from all these changes, Yamaha are offering various other optional accessories and parts to enhance the café racer design and feel. These include handlebar end mirrors by Rizoma, billet footpegs by Rizoma, front pulley cover by Rizoma, billet clutch and brake- lever, license plate holder, front fork brace, Akrapovic exhaust and a sports air filter. ABS comes as standard so does the roud LCD speedometer and the 12 spoke cast alloy wheels. Colour options include Glacier Blue and Matt Grey. Pricing has not been announced yet but Yamaha have confirmed that the XV950 Racer will be available from May 2015 in the EU region.
