New 2018 Yamaha colours24th September 2017 XSR700 | XSR900 | FJR1300 | XS650 ◄PREVIOUS STORY NEXT STORY► 
Yamaha has been at the paint pot again and has mixed up some new hues for 2018. If you were hoping for something more radical with which to see-in the new year, keep those fingers crossed. For now, you'll mostly be seeing red. And blue. The "red" refers to "Brilliant Red" for the XSR700, supposedly as a nod towards the classic XS650 which was introduced in 1968 and stayed in production until 1979. Alternately, you can opt for the XSR900 which will be available next year (2018) in "Racing Red". Both colours are no doubt being introduced simply to help keep the Yamaha balance sheet out of the red and into the black—when what the market really wants is something more than a paint job to keep these very worthy (but over-designed) motorcycles on the boil. 
If you don't like the "Brilliant Red" the XSR700 (actually 689cc) is currently also being offered in "Garage Metal" and "Tech Black." And if you don't care for the "Racing Red" of the XSR900 (actually 847cc, image immediately above), you can demand "Garage Metal" or "Midnight Black." 
Meanwhile, the FJR1300 (image immediately above) is being offered in "Phantom Blue", "Matt Silver" or "Tech Graphite". In fairness to Yamaha, the firm is fielding a lot of bikes across its range hoping to cater for all comers, and that means that radical, or even significant annual changes to all models is simply unrealistic. On the flip side, failure to keep moving the game along risks stagnation. It's a problem. See also: Yamaha XSR700 launch ◄PREVIOUS STORY NEXT STORY► | 
