[m.shekhar]

Purchase Decision.

Pre May 2012 : Not once had I ever given a serious thought to owning a motorbike. My parents were strictly against bikes due to the safety concerns and this had resulted in our family not owning a single two wheeler till date. Even I was perfectly happy driving the Safari and wasn't really interested in bikes.

You may ask – then how did this report come by?

Here's a brief timeline of the events leading up to the purchase :

May 2012 : Dad shifted back to our hometown – Patna, the cars and the privileges that came with living with him all went away and now I had nothing to go about in! We started considering a new car purchase for Indore but at that time we couldn’t spend too much on a new car due to certain financial constraints.

June 2012 : I wanted to get a used car and scoured up a really sweet deal on a used Fiesta 1.6S but my parents weren't really comfortable buying a used car so that idea was struck off.

Now I was left with three options :

1. Wait for 6-7 months and buy any car I wanted,
2. Wait for a month and buy a car < 4 lakhs or
3. Get a bike right then.

July 2012 : After much deliberation I decided to go for the third choice. I needed a vehicle soon because college had started and also after nearly 2 months I could not wait anymore!

Now I needed to find a suitable steed. This was rather easy, for there were only two bikes that were in contention.

1. The Royal Enfield Classic 350 : I had been and still am in love with this bike. But it had a long waiting period (around 1.5 months) and being my first bike my friends and family advised me against going for it. So even though I had my heart set, I convinced myself to look at something else. Consoling myself that I would buy this bike one day, sometime when I’m earning my own money and already have a hot hatch and a Jeep parked in my garage, I moved on to the second choice.

2. The Yamaha R15 V2.0 : There’s not much of a need to praise/descirbe the bike, it’s one of the best performance oriented bikes available in the <1.5 lakh segment and has a legendary fan following.

And although this and the C350 are miles apart in terms of everything, this was the only other option I considered.

So, I went and booked a R15 2.0 in the 'LE White' paint scheme on the 16th July 2012 and was promised delivery by the 25th.

Booking Experience.

Visited the Yamaha dealership closest to my home - Asean Yamaha. The staff there was really courteous and responsive.
Only problem was they had no bikes for display and their TD bike too had crashed a few days ago and wasn't available.

I was really confused between the LE White and Racing Blue paint schemes and wanted to see both the colors in person before booking.
Visited another dealership and it was the same story there - no display bike! The reason given to me at both the places was that the R15 is a premium bike hence they only bring those on order!

Didn't have much of a choice so left the decision upto my mom and sent her pics of the bike in both colors.
She finalized the blue (something I had secretly wanted too). So on the 18th I went to pay the remaining advance amount and finalized my booking for a Racing Blue Yamaha R15 2.0.

Promised delivery date was July 25, 2012.

Delivery.

The waiting period was strangely not very hard on me, I somehow wasn’t really excited about this and was still hoping to get a call from dad asking me to cancel the booking and buy a car instead!

I had started having doubts about my decision to purchase a bike but still 25th came and I went to the showroom at 10 A.M.
The dealership hadn't received the bike yet as the truck had been delayed due to rains and they were extremely apologetic for it. They promised that they’ll deliver the bike ASAP and asked me to come back after some 4 hours.

Came back to the showroom at three and saw her standing right at the showroom’s entrance. The moment I laid my eyes on her, I knew I had made the right decision!
She looked hawt! Damn, I never knew a bike could stir the same passion in me that cars usually did!

Finally, after completeing all the formalities, got her deliverd by 4:00. Filled up a tankfull of fuel and got the puja done.

I'll let the pics do the talking now...

In all her pristine blue glory.


0.1 on the odo, what a sight!


The customary pooja ceremony.


Finally home!


Initial Impressions.

# Excellent engine, butter-smooth gearshifts and great handling.

# Great brakes, give a lot of confidence on our chaotic roads. ABS is missed though (specially at this price point!).

# Excellent quality overall, Yamaha sure is good at this.

# Still attracts a lot of attention on the road, especially if one rides it kitted up.

# The riding postion did feel uncomfortable during initial city commutes but it doesn't trouble me anymore.
I guess it's just a matter of finding a suitable riding position, the 'Hugging the tank' method is quite useful.

# The rear seat is pretty steep and uncomfortable. It stays true to the bike's tagline - 'Arrive Alone'.

# I find the headlights inadequate for night riding. HID upgrade planned soon.

# Decent FE - I'm getting around 40.

# Rear view mirrors once upset are hard to get back into the suitable position.

# The speedo/odo console wasn't working properly on delivery. The dealership got it fixed promptly within 3 days.
Turns out a malfunctioning sensor and loose wiring were the culprits.

# A squeaking noise could be heard from the suspension during initial days, it's there even now but it's frequency has reduced.

[Bazinga]

Congrats mate
The riding position would take some time to get used to...

[bullet-tooth]

Congrats on your purchase mate. Enjoy the sheer performance of the bike.

Originally Posted by m.shekhar

0.1 on the odo, what a sight!

I just want to correct one thing. The symbol F - 0.1 means that the bike has travelled for a 100mts after the fuel level has gone below the 2 litres mark. To view the actual ODO press the mode button to see the actual kms run by the bike before delivery.

[m.shekhar]

Originally Posted by bullet-tooth

I just want to correct one thing. The symbol F - 0.1 means that the bike has travelled for a 100mts after the fuel level has gone below the 2 litres mark. To view the actual ODO press the mode button to see the actual kms run by the bike before delivery.

In this case it's also the total KM's ran, checked that after clicking the pic.
Actually the bike was unloaded from the truck in front of my own eyes, so I can vouch for the figure.

[bullet-tooth]

Oh! That's great. I guess you are very lucky then. When I got my R15, I was too excited to ride it that I did not check the ODO or take pictures. Please share your initial ownership review soon.

[m.shekhar]

Me and my bike.


With family.






Century!

[Eminenttismo]

Hey mate, Congrats on the R. Your delivery was quite rapid, In my place my friend couldn't wait for ~1-2 months, so got the demo vehicle instead. Regarding the non-availability of display bikes, I suppose it's with all dealers. Same fate with the dealer in our place.

Drive Safe,
~emnenttsmo

EDIT: Why does one of the R15 in the pic, have HUGE disc?

[m.shekhar]

Originally Posted by Eminenttismo

Hey mate, Congrats on the R. Your delivery was quite rapid, In my place my friend couldn't wait for ~1-2 months, so got the demo vehicle instead. Regarding the non-availability of display bikes, I suppose it's with all dealers. Same fate with the dealer in our place.

Drive Safe,
~emnenttsmo

Thanks.
Here in Indore the waiting period is some 7-9 days for both normal and LE versions.

Originally Posted by Eminenttismo

EDIT: Why does one of the R15 in the pic, have HUGE disc?

It's a modded R15 1.0 with petal discs.

[Eminenttismo]

Originally Posted by m.shekhar

Thanks.
Here in Indore the waiting period is some 7-9 days for both normal and LE versions.

What's the difference between Normal and LE versions?

Next to your R, the 1.0 looks pale, skinny.

[m.shekhar]

Originally Posted by Eminenttismo

What's the difference between Normal and LE versions?

It's mostly a difference in the paint schemes.
The white LE (Limited Edition) also has Golden colored Yamaha logos.

This is the normal Red.


This is the LE Fiery Red.


And this is the 50th Anniversary LE White.


You can see the differences in the paint schemes here.

[narula123]

The LE Anniversary White edition looks YUMMY !!! Just wish it had a 250 cc mill atleast.

[Eminenttismo]

Originally Posted by m.shekhar

It's mostly a difference in the paint schemes.
The white LE (Limited Edition) also has Golden colored Yamaha logos.

This is the normal Red.
Attachment 981862

This is the LE Fiery Red.
Attachment 981863

And this is the 50th Anniversary LE White.
Attachment 981864

You can see the differences in the paint schemes here.

Thanks. I thought Normal, LE were like different variants, like DX, LX etc.

[m.shekhar]

Got her first service done on the 20th of last month. Total Kms clocked was around 500.

Service charges - Rs. 822.

Jobs done -
1. Engine oil change,
2. Oil filter change,
3. Chain cleaning and lubing,
4. Oiling of handlebar to cure squeaking sound and
5. a thorough wash.

Fuel Consumption before first service - Around 40kmpl.

Changes observed : The low end pickup was good earlier but now it has become even more smoother.

Now I've started exploring the above 4500 RPM band and trust me, it's addictive.
Take it to around 6k, up-shift and she just pulls so cleanly, no lag!

[m.shekhar]

FE Update :

Method - Tankfull to Tankfull.
Riding conditions - Mix of highway and city driving coupled with some insane accelaration and speed runs.
KM's run - 360.9 KM
Fuel consumed - 7.884 ltrs.

FE - 45.77626 Kmpl (for those who love the finer details )

Also, some pics of the beauty for your viewing pleasure.

[sarcastichouse]

Any R15 owners still active here? My November 2011 black R15 is going great guns and the odo reads 20500km as of now