Yamaha updates its XJR400R

SPY shots direct from Japan show Yamaha has given its XJR400R its first major update since its launch in 1994.

While the styling has been left untouched, there are plenty of mechanical changes. The new exhaust system, which features a conventional silencer rather than the megaphone can of the old model, hints at internal engine modifications.

Sources in Japan claim the bike’s motor has been revamped to increase power from 53bhp to around 61bhp.

While the twin Ohlins rear shocks with their piggy-back reservoirs are unchanged, the old bike’s black-painted forks are replaced with slightly revised ones finished in plain aluminium.

That allows Yamaha to fit brake callipers straight from the R1. The single-piece callipers are much stiffer and lighter than conventional designs like the Brembos fitted to the current XJR.

Other alterations are limited to a new, smooth seat cover instead of the dated, quilted one of the current bike, and new alloy pillion peg hangers.

As with older XJR400Rs, the new bike is unlikely to be imported officially, but the bikes are popular with grey importers, so expect some to reach this country when they go on sale in Japan later this Spring.