Small Yamaha XSR 700 Bantam Racer in the driving report

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Small Yamaha XSR 700 Bantam Racer in the driving report

Too good for hipster boy selfie

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Small and fine. The former is the name of the builder, the latter the description of the modified and tested XSR 700. But how sporty is the compact middleweight racer?

If you own a Yamaha XSR 700, you certainly have an affinity for retro-style motorcycles. It is fascinating that a lively two-cylinder engine with sporty qualities does its job in the steel bridge frame XHowever, SR 700 does not guarantee termination. On the contrary: Classic shapes combined with sporty talent provide the basis for a gorgeous conversion. And if tuner and Yamaha dealer Dominik Klein had had a little more time for this project, the machine baptized Bantam Racer would have turned into an even wilder mid-range racer. Because what leaves the tuning company Klein from Dillingen in Saarland generally follows a sporty approach.

In this case, however, Yamaha Germany staked out the details of the mission from the start: “Build us something cool based on the XSR 700, which we turn into the wheels & Waves Festival to Biarritz. The main frame and engine must not be touched and must remain in series production. ”And that rocks?

R1 fork and bridge, K-Tech strut

Within six weeks, Klein only superficially transformed the XSR into a show bike that can be seen as an exhibit at the trade fairs. But the Bantam Racer is far too good as a poser chair for casual hipster boy selfies. Hey – there is a 43 mm upside-down fork including triple clamps from the YZF-R1! The super sports car was even a part donor for the brakes and contributed the monoblock pliers. The fully adjustable shock absorber comes from K-Tech and ensures that the machine is stable on course and fully leaned.

We were able to convince ourselves of this exclusively at the Lausitzring: no bobbing, no swaying or fidgeting. Despite the bumpy slope in Brandenburg, the Bantam Racer skilfully pulls its lanes. In addition, there is the low overall weight. Even a standard XSR 700, weighing around 188 kilograms, has hardly any fat on its ribs and handling is correspondingly easy. But on the operating table, Dr. Small in size on the production motorcycle, 17.5 kilograms of superfluous material were left and the scalpel was immediately applied. For example on the bolted rear frame, which now ends in a short, hand-laminated hump with no additional frills and only has one place – that of the driver. The voluminous air filter box has been removed, and the weight of the standard exhaust system with its heavy collector is also eliminated.

OZ forged aluminum wheels, clip-ons, Magura brakes

Noble OZ forged aluminum wheels of the type Gass RS-A reduce the gyroscopic forces and push the jagged handling of the Yamaha, which ultimately weighs 170.5 kilograms, on a bicycle level. In addition, the Bantam Racer BKG carries 3D stub handlebars instead of the standard handlebars. This allows the rider to sweep through corners with a lot of weight and pressure on the front wheel. Experienced pilots manage to set the braking point accordingly late and take a lot of momentum into the bends without exposing themselves to the risk of the front wheel collapsing. Speaking of brakes: The radial HC1 hand brake cylinder from Magura conjures up a reliably and clearly defined pressure point. In combination with the other high-quality Superbike components – the five millimeter thick brake discs come from Alpha Technik – the individual parts come together to form a racing-ready brake system that grips with tremendous power. The clutch cylinder with the HYMEC system also comes from Magura. The hydraulic actuation improves the controllability of the clutch and by far exceeds the mechanical version of a series XSR.

No engine tuning

The only question that remains to be answered is how it looks with the print? Since the project did not allow engine tuning from the start, the small XSR 700 does not break any lightweight performance limits. But it doesn’t have to, because the Bantam gets its speed through precise turning points, late braking and high cornering speeds. But of course a little is always possible: thanks to the complete Arrow system, large and openly displayed DNA air filters and a flashed control unit, the small XSR 700 generates 83 hp – ten ponies more than in the series. In the lower speed range, the perfectly tuned two-cylinder feels like a bear with its soft throttle response and delights with liveliness at the top. Bantam defines a low weight class in martial arts and means "small". However, the adjective has nothing to do with driving pleasure!

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