The Yamaha MT-09 isn’t considered one of the more beautiful motorcycles on the market, but thankfully the three-cylinder street bike is offered in a more palpable café racer version, the Yamaha XSR900.
This is where we begin today’s story too, thanks to Yamaha’s Yard Built program, which encourages tuners and designers to take their hands to these affordable machines, and restyle them into something new and beautiful.
With that, we see the work of David Sánchez from Bottpower with his XR9 Carbona build, which will also be available as a body kit for those who are looking to spice up the looks of the Yamaha XSR900 sitting in their garage.
The XR9 Carbona borrows its ethos from another Bottpower creation, the Bottpower BOTT XR1R.
A machine built around the Buell XB platform, and tapped to race at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, there are equal helpings of street-tracker and sport bike in Sánchez’s previous work, and we can see that carrying over into the XR9 Carbona now today.
“The XR9 Carbona is inspired by our Pikes Peak victories. With its strong torque and compact chassis, we realised that the CP3-powered Yamaha XSR900 was the ideal base for this dynamic new Yard Built special,” says Bottpower manager David Sánchez.
“Firstly our goal was to create a cool and fast bike with a modern and aggressive look – and we also wanted to be able to develop a ‘plug and play’ kit that would enable any Yamaha XSR900 or CP3 Platform owner to transform their bike into the XR9.”
“Using our extensive experience with composites and 3D printing, we introduced Yamaha R-series elements like the hidden round headlights to create the feeling of a race bike with a numberplate,” explains Bottpower’s senior designer Hugo van Waaijen.
“The XR9 Carbona features a lot of optical mass around the engine meaning a stubby front and short rear – and when looking from the ¾ front view it reminded us of a Pitbull with strong muscular shoulders (the fuel tank) and a hunched look which creates a powerful stance.”
To transform the Yamaha XSR900 into something that looks like the XR9 Carbona, Bottpower’s kit includes a fuel tank cover with integrated carbon fiber air intakes, carbon fiber seat and tail including an alcantara saddle, tail and signal lights, a front number plate with integrated LED position lights, radiator covers with winglets (obviously there has to be winglets), high/low beam headlights, license plate holder, sprocket cover, and a belly pan.
Of course, to really complete the transformation into the XR9 Carbona, one will need a slew of go-fast parts, like an Akrapovic exhaust, Öhlins suspension (with carbon fiber fork tubes from CeraCarbon Racing), Brembo pumps for the brakes and clutch, and Rotobox Boost carbon fiber wheels.
Like Bottpower’s previous creations, the XR9 Carbon looks like it would be a total street-shredder that is equally at home on the track.
With 113hp on tap in stock form, the Yamaha MT-09 family isn’t short in the power department, and with all of the carbon fiber in the Bottpower kit, we imagine the bike is well under the 430 lbs curb weight of the XSR900.
Source: Yamaha Motor Europe
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