[Darth Sid]

OMG, yes! Thank you for putting up pictures of the headlight throw! I have been looking for those images and yours are the first I have found.

A few questions, though:
1. How much better is the Dominar's light in terms of usability?
2. Does the small high beam bump translate to usable light on the open road?
3. Do you know how much the headlight costs in spare parts?
4. How long is the warranty? Extended warranty available?

And yes, congratulations on your purchase!

[PatienceWins]

Good review mate. The bike meets your requirements more than Duke 250. I think you made the right decision. The bike looks very good and it is definitely value for money.

I ride my relative's Frazer regularly and love it's refinement, handling and revability. It deserved more power and happy that Yamaha did justice there with a better engine. But I wish Yamaha offered ABS, at least as an option.

How is the riding position of Duke 250? I am attracted towards it because of the saddle height. I am 6' 2" tall and prefer taller seat with relaxed posture.

[abhinav.s]

Very well crafted review Vikram!! Congrats once again on the bike The pics at the right intervals and the flow of the review is really good. Comparison charts in the second post are very well done and deserve special mention. Your views are very balanced and not totally for or against the product you have bought which is the best part of the review! Kudos and wishing you many many happy miles with the FZ25!

[Pratzgh1]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

If performance is your quest, FZ25 may not be your salvation.

Thanks for clearing it. I will take a test ride and check as well. For the price, it is a rather impressive package. Congratulations and ride safe mate.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by Darth Sid

OMG, yes! Thank you for putting up pictures of the headlight throw! I have been looking for those images and yours are the first I have found.

A few questions, though:
1. How much better is the Dominar's light in terms of usability?
2. Does the small high beam bump translate to usable light on the open road?
3. Do you know how much the headlight costs in spare parts?
4. How long is the warranty? Extended warranty available?

And yes, congratulations on your purchase!

Thank you Darth Sid.

Please find my opinion below on the queries you have posted:

1. How much better is the Dominar's light in terms of usability?
- I have not had an opportunity to ride the D400 in a dark environment or over an extended period, so I cannot comment on the "Usability" factor. Just by the looks of it, the LED brightness on the D400 is way stronger than the one on FZ25. I believe a lot of this can be attributed to headlight/reflector design as well.

2. Does the small high beam bump translate to usable light on the open road?
- Not really !! The spread of the low beam is quite good on a dim/badly lit roads. The high beam only adds few more inches to the beam

Have a look at this comparison video against the RTR 200V's headlight throw, posted by somebody on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvAsRp7Mi7s

Even without any "ALL LED" propaganda, the RTR's head light beam is a league of its own and far superior to the FZ25's.

3. Do you know how much the headlight costs in spare parts?
- Have no clue on that. I am closer to the first service, so I can get the info then.

4. How long is the warranty? Extended warranty available?
- Have not really enquired about these. Will share the info on these as well.

Originally Posted by PatienceWins

Good review mate. The bike meets your requirements more than Duke 250.

How is the riding position of Duke 250? I am attracted towards it because of the saddle height. I am 6' 2" tall and prefer taller seat with relaxed posture.

Thank you PatienceWins.

As I have posted in the ownership details, the FZ25 was a pure "Mind Purchase" as my "Heart Purchase" was gunning for the RC 390 !!

The seat height is almost same as the regular FZs. You lean a bit forward as well, but neither is it as sporty as a CBR 250R nor very upright like the Duke 200. Duke 250 however, may be more suitable to you. It does have a very tall saddle and I could not flat-foot both my legs on this, for reference I am 6 ft.

Please do TD these bikes before you take a plunge, and I have a hunch that you may actually end up with 2017 Duke 390 !!

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Very well crafted review Vikram!! Congrats once again on the bike

Thank you Abhinav and I think much of my review is based on some of the mind boggling details that is available on the forum.

The mods were kind enough to encourage me to share as much details as possible and had the patience to let me take my time on that.

Thank you once again for your good wishes buddy.

[Sheel]

The beam throw in high is not that bad. I am traveling for next 10 days, else would have posted a pic/video. It needs to be adjusted. No screw needs to be opened, the left side Allen keymarker is the adjuster.

[Sportztourer]

Awesome review @Vik0728 loved the history of reviving biker in you. The bike looks amazing in white, great choice. The brakes feels better than my RTR 200 & as said earlier the FZ 25 is more fuel efficient. Wish you a lot of safe and happy miles & do keep us updated.

[Darth Sid]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Just by the looks of it, the LED brightness on the D400 is way stronger than the one on FZ25. I believe a lot of this can be attributed to headlight/reflector design as well.

Well, the Dominar's headlight does cause glare even in the day time so intensity is surely higher but it also has more emitters than the FZ.

- Not really !! The spread of the low beam is quite good on a dim/badly lit roads. The high beam only adds few more inches to the beam

Perhaps some testing with the alignment adjuster is in order. That might give some favourable results. However, your statement reminds me of the Morimoto Matchbox projector in my Duke. It is really small but give good illumination in low beam with a small bump of light in high beam. However, the low beam itself has good throw and spread, if properly adjusted.

Have a look at this comparison video against the RTR 200V's headlight throw, posted by somebody on Youtube:

Even without any "ALL LED" propaganda, the RTR's head light beam is a league of its own and far superior to the FZ25's.

YouTube is blocked here in the office but I think you might be referring to the video uploaded by user Sportztourer here on this forum. I have seen that video and yes, the RTR's headlight wins in the optics department. But the LED headlight draws less power.

- Have no clue on that. I am closer to the first service, so I can get the info then.

Thank you. I look forward to the information.

- Have not really enquired about these. Will share the info on these as well.

Yamaha is one of the few bike makers that offer extended warranty. One thing I have learned from owning a troublesome bike like the Duke is that warranty is indispensable. I got the engine replaced free of charge in my Duke thanks to the warranty. If there is the option of extended warranty, I would lap it up in an instant!

Originally Posted by Sheel

The beam throw in high is not that bad. I am traveling for next 10 days, else would have posted a pic/video. It needs to be adjusted. No screw needs to be opened, the left side Allen keymarker is the adjuster.

This is a good thing, the ability to adjust the headlight without opening the cowl or anything. I hope the adjustment yields good results.

Originally Posted by Sportztourer

RTR 200... the FZ 25

Thank you for uploading the comparison video of the headlights of these two bikes.

[The Brutailer]

Nice, crisp review man! It's the perfect upgrade for people who don't want overwhelming performance but also don't want to get smoked by the Gixxers and 220s.

This is the perfect commuter. Adequately powerful and fuel efficient. Spot on pricing as well.

If people can pay so much money for an R15, hell yeah this bike can be a success. Yes! Yamaha.

Congratulations. Have a fuss free and safe ownership.

[uday.ere]

Congrats Vik, The much awaited report. Excellent write-up and crisp viewpoints. Liked your decision making process with the likes / dislikes for all contenders. Wishing you many many happy miles with your White Japanese X-2

Can you let me know if you changed to LEDs at the dealer or sourced / changed them yourself?

[Msc07]

Originally Posted by Pratzgh1

Good review mate. I am in a similar dilemma. Four things stopping me from taking the plunge to FZ25 are the seats, power delivery compared to Pulsar 220 (This is my current ride), built quality (loads of plastic is a recipe for rattling noises) and fuel efficiency.

I do not ride a lot and want something reliable/worthy compared to the Pulsar 220.

Hi. I have an Fz25 as well and have ridden it for roughly 800 kms now. As for your dilemma regarding the power delivery of the FZ25 in comparison to the P220, well its just very linear and superior to the 220. You'll realise this when you'll ride the bike yourself as I have been in real world scenarios where some guys in the 220 or D200 have tried to do a small drag and the FZ25 beautifully came out on top of them, especially against the 220. Its a more than worth upgrade to the 220 for sure. Build quality is solid and the fuel efficiency which i have been getting for the last two tank top ups has been 41.8 and 42.7 kmpl which is very pleasantly surprising.

[Msc07]

Originally Posted by R-Six

Congratulations, Vik!! FZ25 looks killer in that white shade!

I have been hearing a lot of rave reviews about the exhaust note, including you. Would you mind trying to shoot a video (probably?) to capture the exhaust note and share it with the folks here?

I tried checking it out on YouTube but did not find anything as exciting as the feedback we have been hearing/reading across the web.

Ride safe, mate! Cheers!
R-Six

The closest thing which would do justice to the exhaust note would be a 3D audio recorder and even that wouldn't be able to do proper justice to it. It's impossible to replicate the actual sound waves your ear would receive and how your brain would process. If possible, check it out in real. It has a quite a bit of bass than the usual Yamahas and the engine being a quite a free revving one, it sounds beautiful when on full throttle and upshifting. I have ridden it for 800kms or so and I am already in love with this machine.

What a beauty in Black.

Have done round about 800 kms on this and everytime you plan on taking that corner with a little more lean in than the last time it just cooperates. The gear box has definitely gotten a lot smoother post 500 kms and I feel will get better after the 1000km service.

The high beam, as mentioned in the post, definitely needs to be worked upon to make it anywhere near usable. But be sure to get a second glance from every passerby as this is somewhat of a head turner.

During my morning rides I have come across P220s, D200 and Apaches and it does away with them with quite an ease, the D200 however did make it push a bit but I had to resist the temptation post 100 kmps as I did not wanted to expose it to post 6000 rpm for a prolonged time period so early in the run in phase.

Overall a beautiful learner machine for someone who wants to upgrade to larger displacement machines in the somewhat near future.

[skyliner34]

Originally Posted by Sheel

The beam throw in high is not that bad. I am traveling for next 10 days, else would have posted a pic/video. It needs to be adjusted. No screw needs to be opened, the left side Allen keymarker is the adjuster.

Sheel, I think there is another start screw (or similar) behind allen key on left that needs to be turned clockwise/anti-clockwise to adjust beam position.

Today visited showroom to get the flickering and alignment sorted, they almost dismantled the entire assembly and still the flickering issue didn't go away to my satisfaction, though beam (low) is much better now. They had a hard time putting the assembly back together and I'm not at all convinced it is how it was before they have zero knowledge on FZ-25 at the moment, even I was surprised to see so many independent parts, rubber pads, screws in the assembly. So I suggest to other if for whatever reasons they say they need to dismantle HU assembly just ignore, unless they are experienced in handling FZ-25. For adjusting beam position not a single screw need to come of HU assembly.

[Sheel]

I didn't get my beam adjusted at ASC, instead it was done by my mechanic who looked after my RX & was the guy who used Rajdoot's one of the steering cone part to replace my R15's cone set as it was NA. And I have seen him adjusting the beam from the LH.

[Satishtv]

Woah, with the change in taxes the price has just gone up to 1.52 Lakhs in Bangalore from the earlier 1.44 lakhs.

Any reason you did not consider dominar without ABS? Another 10k and you would have got a much powerful bike?

I was eagerly looking forward to this bike but the power output (bhp) is quite less and disappointing.

I guess I will go for KTM 390 (heart decision)