Yamaha R15 Pictures and Review

If you ride a motorcycle, any motorcycle, then you must know by now that Yamaha will soon be launching their new 150cc motorcycle the R15. You also know that it has a four valve head, sticky tires, delta box frame, fuel injection, liquid cooling, six speed gearbox, rear disk brakes etc, etc.
It caused quite a commotion at the Yamaha stands at the Expo, or so I have heard. Or was it the female astride it. Anyways, since I missed being there (drat and double drat) I went all the way to Saket to see it in flesh.

Here’s what I think. I think the company is pretty serious about their future in the Indian bike market. Sales in the 100cc segment have been dismal and no amount of rechristening (G5) and redesigning (Alba) will help. The Gladiator although a great bike in its own right has not been able to set sales charts on fire. So the company realizes that they need a product which will not only be distinguished in terms of design alone but also in performance terms.

As of now the company has not said anything about the pricing and specifications of the motorcycle, but if rumors are to be believed the R15 will be around 20bhp and cost around the 85k mark.

Hmmm…150cc and 20bhp. I think it’s do-able. But the engine will have to be pretty high strung. Its red lined at 10,500 rpm so making all that power is not anything I doubt and if they can make an R1 rideable at 40 kmph in city traffic then we can be rest assured the R15 will be too. Also I notice that everybody seems to get carried away by the full fairing. Its designed on the lines of the R1 but it looks a touch bulbous to me. Also the headlamps look one size too large.

The tail section and the Deltabox frame itself are straight off the Vixion from Indonesia. The single seat is also not quite to my liking, and the less talked about that tail lamp the better. Also like all Yamahas before it, it too looks under-tired. A 100 section rear is a little thin don’t you think. The tread pattern is all new and they are soft ones (they look like they are) made by MRF. How long they’ll last is anybody’s guess. I hope not more than 15,000 kms.

Then there is the end can. It too is again a bit large and looks odd compared to the rest of the motorcycle. If they can give the FZ a small stubby one, why not a proper one for R15 as well? The pillion foot rests again, are not impressive. The rider foot rests though are. Proper rearsets they are. To compliment the foot rest there are slightly tall clip-on handle bars. Not overtly sporty (Why? may I ask). More like the ones on the 220.

The fairing is tall enough so you can tuck in behind and give the bike some stick on an empty stretch. The rear view mirrors are fairing mounted keeping in line with the sporty theme. Front suspension is ‘normal’ pair of telescopic forks like the ones on any other motorcycle in India. The rear suspension is a monoshock set up. The swing arm is the biggest and broadest of any 150 on sale in the country. It also sports a disk brake on the rear wheel handling the braking duties.

So you see the R15 is a step is the right direction for the company. After all it will be one of the most technologically advanced motorcycles in the country when launched. The company has developed it specifically for India. Okay so they picked it up from Indonesia. But this does not mean that they have simply mounted a fairing for it. The company has worked on the engine to get more power (supposedly). Put in a six speed gearbox and so on and so forth. But they seem to have tried to cut costs here and there.

This has led to small things that spoil the desirability quotient a smidgen. These are things like the pillion footrests, absence of a split seat, and overall proportionality of the elements on the bike. I mean if you’re going to fork out almost a hundred grand for a motorcycle, you only want good looking gear. Don’t cha??

I sincerely hope that the motorcycle is a roaring success for the company. This is because it will lead to the other manufacturers sitting up and taking note and will have to bring in similar machines with all the bells and whistles, and there can only be one winner in that. You and Me. Amen.

Update Post: Yamaha YZF R15 Launched - Detailed Specs and Wallpaper/Pictures