If The Meteor is Spotify, The SR400 is Vinyl
With Royal Enfield’s Meteor, Honda’s CB350 (GB350 in Japan), and a plethora of other similar bikes making their debuts, the middleweight classic-styled market is booming with new motorcycles; Yamaha is showing up to the party with their own updated SR400 that was just released in Japan trailing Honda’s GB350 JP unveiling.
This retro-inspired mid-displacement cruiser gets its “Final Edition” this year with a few updates to take this old boy into 2021 after a 43-year tour.
The SR400 Final Edition comes with the same single-cylinder 399cc air-cooled motor paired up with a five-speed transmission, producing a total of 23 horsepower. Although this is a “400” – and the Meteor and CB350 are “350”s – this bike only manages to snag another 3 horsepower through its extra 50ccs when compared to the CB350; making it a direct competitor within that section of the market.
To keep the extremely robust nature of this classic motorcycle true-to-form, you won’t even be seeing an electronic starter on this bike. Hopefully, those classic calves of yours are in shape; as this motorcycle will require a kickstart every time you want to start the bike. How classic, indeed.
The dash is completely analog on this motorcycle as well. The instrument cluster on this bike has no 5″ TFT display in sight, just plain analog dials to keep the tachometer rolling. A large center halogen headlamp has been fitted to the front, and beyond that, you’re getting yourself a classic blast-from-the-past brand new off Yamaha’s dealership lots.
This bike just released in Japan with an MSRP of 605,000 JPY (~$5800 USD) and fills the niche for classic enthusiasts looking for a bike that feels like it was ripped straight out of the 80’s.
I think this a really good looking bike. Unfortunately, it has low performance for it size, 23 HP from 400cc, where as my Xmax 300 is listed as 27 HP. Kick start? Maybe if you are young and think it is cool, but, having owned kick start bikes in the old days, I don’t miss it !!
MMMmmm! I do like the look !! though.
I have just two words:
Svartpilen 401.
What a difference 40 years makes.
I bought my ’78 SR500 out the door for $1500.
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I still have my SR 500 1978 and no one is getting it .
I miss my Maroon 1979 SR 500 (new out the door $1650) every time I think about it. Now, even as a 64 year old, I recall the rhythm of that compression release and slow kick over before the jump and fire. Two kicks max on a bike with 51,000 miles and never had the head off. I might buy one of these. They are classics and I won’t complain about the EFI they added a few years back either.