SR400 Yamaha vs baby Triumph?

So okay, neither bike has arrived yet. But Triumph, Yamaha and Harley-Davidson are all urgently exploiting the market for lower capacity bikes with new sub-500cc models either in development, or up and running and ready to ship.

Yamaha, in fact, never left that market, and the above 400cc SR400 single (along with smaller capacity models in the range) has been in production for decades and selling well in Japan where these machines have a cult following.

The larger capacity (500cc) SR500 was introduced into the UK in the late seventies and found an almost instant fan base. It was the road-oriented version of the XT500 trail bike and stayed in production until the late 1990s.

This was one of those motorcycles which, like the XS650 twin made many hardened British bikers sit up and take notice, not least due to its simple good looks, uncomplicated engineering, competitive pricing and a reasonably decent exhaust note. Indeed, Yamaha made no apologies for the fact that the inspiration for this motorcycle was the classic British thumper.

Nowadays good SR500s and XT500s are highly sought after, and it's largely to this market that Yamaha reacquainted us with the above SR400 that was unveiled at the recent EICMA show in Milan.

So okay, it's kickstart only. It's SOHC. It's running a fuel injector instead of a "good old" carburettor. It's air-cooled. And at 25bhp, the horsepower is actually more like ponypower. So you're not going to impress too many of your mates at the local bike meet, or upset the local constabulary. Nevertheless, a lot of bikers think that speed is overrated and want simplicity, and this bike's got oodles of that.

But while Yamaha is still counting heads and considering its next move, Triumph is gunning for the minor-league performance market and looks like it's bringing in a new liquid-cooled single with a capacity somewhere between 250cc and 400cc. Possibly a little more.

Triumph's bike will undoubtedly be in a different class and will offer more sporty performance. And the Triumph brand is hot at the moment, especially here on home turf.

But we reckon there's still room for the humble SR400 (if the EC lets it in, and if the price is competitive). However, maybe Yamaha would do well to reconsider the capacity and look at a 500cc engine which, as die-hard SR fans know, offers a better platform for tuning and racing.

That said, Sump's primary remit is to promote British classics, not Jap iron. Except that if this bike isn't British by birth, we grudgingly like to think of it as British in spirit.

Be nice if Triumph came up with something similar, huh?

— Del Monte

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