FEATURE – 2020 Yamaha XR9 Carbona
Words: Mike Ryan
Photos: Yamaha Motor Europe and Bottpower
From the SR400 to the VMAX, XJR1300, SCR950 and Bolt, a wide variety of current and recent Yamaha motorcycles have been turned into unique creations under the manufacturer’s ‘Yard Built’ programme.
The XSR700 and XSR900 have been popular bases for custom builds, too, and one of the most recent Yard Built creations is the unit pictured - the 'XR9 Carbona'. Unveiled in December, the XR9 Carbona is based on the XSR900 and is the first Yard Built project to come from Spanish company Bottpower.
Twin turns to a Triple
If the Bottpower name is unfamiliar, the origins of that name likely will be. ‘Bott’ refers to ‘Battle Of The Twins’; the racing category born in the early 1980s and heavily populated with American v-twins, but one that most Aussies associate with the awesome Britten V1000.
Bottpower’s Battle of the Twins contenders have mostly been based on Buell XB v-twins and what they learned in this category was applied elsewhere, including the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, where the Spanish team scored class wins in 2017 with their Buell-based ‘XR1R’.
As its appearance suggests, the XR9 Carbona was built with racing in mind, reflecting the 14 years’ experience that Bottpower’s boss, David Sanchez, has in competition. Where it deviates from Bottpower’s previous focus on twins is that it’s based on the XSR900 with its 847cc three-cylinder engine.
“The XR9 Carbona is inspired by our Pikes Peak victories,” Sanchez explained. “With its strong torque and compact chassis, we realized that the CP3-powered Yamaha XSR900 was the ideal base for this dynamic new Yard Built special.”
Sanchez adds that there were two goals with this project. The first was to create a “cool and fast bike with a modern, aggressive look”. The second was for the XR9 Carbona features to work as a bolt-on kit, allowing XSR900 owners to give their own bike the same look.
While every Yamaha Yard Built creation serves to fuel creativity, Bottpower’s approach in allowing XSR900 owners to essentially build their own replica of the XR9 Carbona reflects recent developments in the programme that have previously been explored with an XSR700 kit created by German custom house, Hookie Co.
Two Wheel Pitbull
Along with experience in race bike engineering and tuning, Bottpower have some pretty handy skills when it comes to fabrication, working with composite materials and 3D printing, too. All of these would come into play when creating the XR9 Carbona.
“Using our experience, we introduced Yamaha R Series elements, like the hidden round headlights, to create the feeling of a race bike with a numberplate,” said Bottpower’s senior designer, Hugo van Waaijen.
The blanked-off headlight is just part of a design put together by van Waaijen that adds a bespoke fuel tank cover, bellypan, radiator shrouds, seat and tail unit, sprocket cover and number plate hanger, as well as custom wheels, an Akrapovic silencer and other aftermarket goodies.
Trimming the tail and adding a lot of visual bulk around the front-end gives the XR9 Carbona a very aggressive look, which was van Waaijen’s intention from the outset.
“The XR9 Carbona features a lot of optical mass around the engine, meaning a stubby front and short rear,” van Waaijen explained. “When looking from the three-quarter front view, it reminded us of a pitbull with strong, muscular shoulders (the fuel tank) and a hunched look which creates a powerful stance.”
Heavy on the Light stuff
As the name indicates, there’s a lot of carbon fibre in the XR9 Carbona, starting with the wheels, which are Rotobox Boost units, shod with Bridgestone racing slicks and attached to custom titanium hubs.
The XSR900’s factory forks have been replaced with carbon fibre units from Dutch company Ceracarbon, while the fork internals are Öhlins TTX components. Öhlins was also tapped for the rear shock, while Ceracarbon provided the carbon fibre rear sprocket.
Moving back to the front end, the brakes have been upgraded with components from an R1 and there are custom fork yokes and handlebar risers, while the handlebar itself is a carbon composite ‘TA-KE’ unit created by Bottpower. Race-style switchgear from CNC Racing replaces the factory blocks, while Renthal grips, Brembo levers and a Domino throttle have also been fitted.
Gilles Touring rear sets also feature, along with Samco silicone radiator hoses and the aforementioned Akrapovic muffler.
The carbon fibre parts designed by Bottpower include the fuel tank cover with its integrated air intakes, as well as the one-piece seat/tail unit that includes tail lights and indicators. Bottpower’s 3D printed parts include the front number plate that incorporates LED DRLs, the belly pan, radiator shrouds, lower fork shrouds and a selection of smaller parts.
Additional parts in the kit include fork-mounted headlights that incorporate with the radiator shrouds, an Alcantara seat pad and a rear tyre hugger.
One for the Road
With all its suspension, braking, switchgear and wheel changes, the XR9 Carbona was most definitely created for the racetrack, but the kit can be fitted to a stock XSR900 without compromising its road legality, according to Bottpower. The same kit can apparently also be fitted to the MT-09 and Tracer 900, as these models are based on the same platform.
The kit includes all necessary fasteners, cables and wiring, with the carbon and composite panels available in several colours. Importantly, for those who may tire of the radical XR9 Carbona look, the whole kit is bolt-on, bolt-off, so no permanent changes to the XSR900 frame is required and there’s no alterations needed to the engine, transmission, braking and rolling stock, too.
Given it contains so much carbon fibre, the basic Bottpower XR9 Carbona 4-piece kit (tank cover, front plate, radiator covers, seat and connected lighting) starts at 4975 Euros (AU$7,800 approx.), which is a hefty upgrade over the $14,999 ride away price of the XSR900 locally. Add in shipping costs from Europe and that kit gets even pricier.
Want to find out more about the XR9 Carbona kit for the XSR900 and its related siblings? Go to: bottpower.com for details.
