Yamaha new R15

Yamaha has been testing the new model Yamaha R15 for a long time now. There have been many important milestones in between like the TVS Apache RTR 180 ABS making its way to Indian markets, Honda CBR250 being launched, bikes like Kawasaki Ninja 650R coming to Indian roads and many other bikes coming to Indian roads including Yamaha’s own F-series being revamped. Time and time again we have seen spy pictures and candid shots of Yamaha R15 new model floating on the blogs. Recently another test mule have been spotted by a motoring enthusiast which indicated the design clues of new R15 being inspired by the Yamaha’s popular YZF-R6 racer.

The all new R15 will still be powered by a 150 CC engine but it may be tuned up to deliver as much as 22 BHP of peak power with great performance. Since the R15 seems a bit overpriced when compared to the larger bikes or the other bikes of the same segment, there is also a huge possibility of some price rationalization to boost the sales of R15 by Yamaha India. There were earlier speculations that new Yamaha R15 can be as much as Rs. 10,000 cheaper than the older version. There is no official word on pricing or launch date as yet, we expect something to come out in the near future.

The rear tyre is very clearly of a "fatter" variety and the swing arm too seems to be of the exotic "banana" type. With all this re-design the kerb weight on the new R15 is bound to increase. If there is no increase in the power/torque, an bigger rear sprocket with a couple of more teeth can take care of the increased weight (by improving the low end pick up). But in that case it would be interesting to see if the top speed could come down slightly.