[payeng]

... and some guys once disagreed with me when I said that bikes like the R15 are nothing but glorified commuters.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by mehuel

I believe Yamaha has realized that they have lost their sportiest bike to KTMs, RS, Gixxer

How is the R15 featuring in the same category as the Gixxer?

Yes, I believe a redesigned tail was required as well. This will look like a half mod job to be honest to buyers of the R15-S. People will wonder if this is a V2 turned into a V1 or a V1 turned into a V2!

[cooltsr]

Good move IMO. What I really did not like in V1 was its puny tyres (by looks only) other than which the bike was simply awesome. And there came V2 and many of my friends who were looking for the V2 simply did not buy because of the practicality aspect. Even their party peppy gfs were complaining being on the pillion seat. And I am sure many considered the CBR just for its commuter friendly nature.

So, R15 S is sure to get some sales figures atleast bringing back the customers from the Honda showroom. I myself am considering one

[PISTONS]

Please observe that the V2 model rear tyre mudguard (Tyre hugger) is not present in this 'S'. Why do I think that this 'S' is an old V15 with new type silencer. If Yamaha has not made any changes to the specs in this variant.

[naveenroy]

Hahaha, sorry found this really funny.

If the same thing had been done by Honda, everyone would have pounced on them. Yam does it and is praised by all. Life.

[barcalad]

Can someone kindly post pictures of the bike from the rear?
I don't know if it's just me but the tail light assembly (from our viewing angle) looks very similar to that of the Apache.

Could've done away with the Green & Black Fazer-esque colour combination, though. Engine tweaks and more cosmetic changes were necessary.

Hope this one is able to fill the shoes of the R15 V1 which I personally find to be a very capable and comfortable touring bike.

[Astonite]

Excellent move, Yamaha!

I would love to buy one. Reason? R15 is one of the best bikes in the market. But while travelling with a pillion, it is one of the worst bikes (is what I've heard). V1's seat is one of the most comfortable ones (personal experience). The buyer gets the best of both!

[abhipuri]

Good move by Yamaha to milk maximum of an already existing platform. A more practical update than shoddy sticker jobs adopted by their jap counterpart.
Why haven't they launched it in traditional racing blue? Would have looked much better than tacky green and black combo which makes it look similar to fazer.

[Funny]

This seems like a smart move. At least it'll help to keep the sales going till they launch the R15 V3.0 in 2016. By the way is that tail gate borrowed from V1.0?
Seems like that from the images.

[RiderZone]

Originally Posted by barcalad

Can someone kindly post pictures of the bike from the rear?

Here you go, doesn't look too nice to me, but hopefully will do the job of keeping muck away.

[mehuel]

Originally Posted by payeng

... and some guys once disagreed with me when I said that bikes like the R15 are nothing but glorified commuters.

If you have corner carving cravings. This it still one of the best bike to scratch that itch. Question is, how many percent of the population buying this bike actually knows how to corner properly or end up taking it to tracks. Not even 20 percent. May be 10. It's sordid that the bike ended up being called a commuter. But it can do a lot more One just has to know how to do it

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

How is the R15 featuring in the same category as the Gixxer?

Yes, I believe a redesigned tail was required as well. This will look like a half mod job to be honest to buyers of the R15-S. People will wonder if this is a V2 turned into a V1 or a V1 turned into a V2!

Not in the same category. But consider a guy going to college decided to buy a 'dhoom' bike. Again 90 percent of the population wont know what's the difference between twin spar or single down tube. He won't care what sticky tyres will do. Let alone liquid cooling. Fuel injection? List is long. But all he would care is the fairing. His pocket will decide which faired bike he can afford. Simple. That's the reality. And that's why same category. Sole reason to purchase for many is not most - commuting

But all said and done this R15 S is indeed a glorious commuter. No doubts there.

[sriramv.iyer]

Originally Posted by payeng

... and some guys once disagreed with me when I said that bikes like the R15 are nothing but glorified commuters.

I would like to contest -

1. R15 was the first bike in its category to get liquid cooling - This made them extract 17 BHP from a 150cc engine while other stopped at 12-14 BHP

2. R15 has a Diasil cylinder - This is a Silicon and Aluminium alloy which is super hard and heat resistant. This makes the insides of the cylinder not have imperfections and undulations on the cylinder surface - Helps in long life of engine and also rev without any unnecessary friction. (Also helps in reducing heat generated)

3. R15 also came with forged pistons! Not cast - This makes the pistons light and also stronger. Forging is a process where the metal is heated (not melted) and then the block of metal is forged into the shape (When it is cast, the liquid is molten and poured into a cast) - The pistons that are cast are heavy (because of physical bonds being broken) and don't have ideal reaction to heat (which happens inside the engine) - Yamaha made some pioneering contributions to forged piston techniques as a company (way before R15)

4. Deltaframe chassis is super rigid - Ideal for cornering. The handling is surreal. There have been times when I curse myself for being aggressive in corners. But R15 has never let me down - It is almost magical how it handles corners. Actually, I was told that the Deltabox chassis is quite expensive to build and hence was even left out of its elder sibling R3 to keep costs in check.

5. Fuel Injection - This may have found its way into more bikes but still this was quite a differentiation when the bike was launched

6. Sticky tires - For corner carving. Yamaha went against the popular notion of fat rear tyres and put in supremely functional ones (though they were skinny) and gave bike a bad look. (Yam wouldn't do it if it had intentions of keeping form > function)

7. Air Drag - IIRC, R15 when it was launched had a lesser drag coefficient than R1 !!!

I am unable to recollect more - But, do you think if Yamaha built a commuter it would have worried about the points above?

R15 is a brilliant piece of machinery - Built for racing. It can also be used for commuting. That doesn't make it a commuter.

It would have been very easy for Yamaha to make a bike look like a sports bike like what Suzuki did with Gixxer. However, they did very good R&D and came up with a brilliant piece of engineering.

I completely disagree that this is a commuter.

PS:- Actually it is a terrible commuter bike. The power comes in higher revvs, so if you cross a pothole or a speed breaker, you need to quickly downshift and then rev high to get back to power band. This is a real pain in city driving

[kat]

Has Yamaha launched this bike already? The Yamaha India website has not yet listed this bike.
http://www.yamaha-motor-india.com/motorcycle-home.html

One of my friends was scouting for a second hand R15 V1 for some time (He is a fan of the V1 commuter seat ). After hearing this news, he was super excited and wanted to book it but has no clue how to. Even a showroom nearby has no idea of an R15 S.

[vishaltanksale]

Guys I went ahead and purchased this last week. Registration is still pending and expected early next week.

Just to give you background, I was in search of fully faired entry level bike for last 3-4 months now.
After evaluating Guzxer SF, CBR150R, 250R (no other options considered as pillion comfort was one of the prime criteria). Almost had finalised CBR150R and was just waiting for new colors to arrive mid-Oct (as per dealers in Mumbai).

And that's when this came as a surprise. Yamaha launched this just around Ganpati and it was meeting my top most criteria.

Looked at the bike and just loved it in Red/White combination.

Dealer had my preferred color in stock and delivered bike in flat 2 days and now waiting for registration number.

As luck would have it, got the bike which was never in contention and now it has all the tick marks meeting my requirements!!

I'm going through initial run-in period and I will post my experience later.

[KedarB]

Originally Posted by vishaltanksale

Guys I went ahead and purchased this last week. Registration is still pending and expected early next week.

Just to give you background, I was in search of fully faired entry level bike for last 3-4 months now.
After evaluating Guzxer SF, CBR150R, 250R (no other options considered as pillion comfort was one of the prime criteria). Almost had finalised CBR150R and was just waiting for new colors to arrive mid-Oct (as per dealers in Mumbai).
.

Many congratulations on your new purchase. I have been in the exact same position for the past 3 4 months and have been wildly swinging between buying a second hand cbr250 or a new bike, but haven't been able to make up my mind. R15 ticks all my requirements except the pillion seat. I used to ride a pulsar 150 5 years ago but shifted to cars post marriage and kid. I have been wanting to go back to biking. But things change once you have a wife and a kid . The r15 was rejected outright by the family (even though I highly doubt if any of them would ever ride on it with me). Planning on checking out the bike over this weekend.

Please share details like on road cost, any accessories you bought. And waiting for the pics!