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If you're still sore about the fact that Yamaha isn't selling its retro XSR900 GP in the United States, you may not want to watch this video.
Yamaha unveiled seven custom versions of the XSR900 GP at the Waves & Wheels event in Biarritz, France, recently. The designs, produced by different customizers around Europe, pay tribute to some of Yamaha's racing successes: Christian Sarron's 1984 championship-winning TZ250; Randy Mamola's 1987 500 cc grand prix race-winning bike; Joan Garriga's 1988 250 cc GP bike; Eddie Lawson's 1993 Daytona 200 win; Fabrizio Pirovano's 1993 Superbike; two-time World Superbike champion Colin Edwards' 1996 machine; and Jörg Teuchert's 2000 World Supersport championship.
In case anyone misses the obvious irony here, whether younger riders who don't know the racing history or riders who just don't pay that much attention to racing, let me make it obvious. Not only was the design of the original XSR900 GP a tribute to the legendary era of Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson, the zenith of the dominance of U.S. riders in grand prix racing (a run of 13 premier-class world championships by U.S. riders in a 16-year span), but three of the seven customs in this list also pay tribute to riders from the United States. The country where Yamaha has decided not to offer the XSR900 GP for sale.
There's no indication that any of these designs will show up on future XSR900 GP models, but if Yamaha ever does decide to bring the GP to the U.S. market, they already have several styling options ready to go.
