The Yamaha MT-07 is adored by pretty much anyone who enjoys a motorcycle that’s easy to ride, has a ton of engine character, and balances its excellent performance and features with sub-$8K affordability. If you want most of what the MT-07 has to offer but prefer a more classically styled machine, the XSR700 may be the bike for you. It’s essentially an MT-07 but with a slightly more relaxed handlebar, seat, and footpeg relationship and a retro makeover that nods to Yamaha’s air-cooled 1970–1983 XS series of motorcycles, a model range about as perpetually en vogue with customizers as two- and four-cylinder Honda CBs from the same era.

The XSR700 is not, however, a retro clone. There are no faux carburetors or cooling fins here, thank you very much. The XSR700 proudly displays its modern liquid-cooled 689cc crossplane parallel-twin and “diamond-type” single-shock steel frame. With antilock brakes, cast aluminum wheels, and a modern liquid-crystal display, the XSR treads into the past without sacrificing its versatile MT roots. For 2020, the XSR gets a new Radical White/Rapid Red paint scheme with gold rims and keeps its $8,499 MSRP.