The R15 Story : PART II

Part 2: First Impression

The R15’s unveiling took the entire country by storm. The R1-esque styling with the trademark R-series cat-eyed headlights, full fairing, a liquid cooled engine and a rigid Deltabox frame holding together all this engineering was definitely a serious package. Though everyone saw it in flesh at the expo, no one even heard the engine – let alone getting on the bike’s saddle.

With over six months worth of hype, Yamaha surely knew they had a winner on their hands. Inspite of their dark past, people went ahead an booked the vehicles even without test riding them. With thousands of bookings under their belt, Yamaha was ready to make the commercial launch of the bike. With fortunate inputs from ex-racer Aspi Bhathena, Yamaha decided to go the International way for the launch – a track day! Chosen journalists from various publications were flow down to the Chennai track where they were given an R15 each to be evaluated on the track. Instead of some typical launch function in a five star hotel, the track approach was a justified one for a potent track tool like the R15.

For me however, my first ride aboard the R15 was not the track, but the city. When I got onto the bike, the small size was what felt awkward instantly. It felt smaller than a 125cc to me – as far as the seating was concerned. The nose-fairing which appears to ‘grow’ from the tank gets wider as it wraps around the huge R1-style headlights. The stem that hold both the headlights together also mounts the information console. The console is suggestive of the unit seen on Yamaha’s 2003 R1, and so are the headlights. The visor is quite small as compared to the Karizma or the P220 but boasts of an aggressive shape. However, the angle of the visor will direct the wind straight at your face if you are riding with a ‘commuterish’ stance. That should give the poseurs a good enough reason to wear a helmet. Inspecting all these components closely reveals the great build quality that Yamaha has incorporated. There are no panel gaps, no vibrating mounts, cleverly designed components like the reaersets, pillion pegs, clip-ons, wheels, swingarm and every good damn piece you can find on the bike. The only thing that I really hated was the tail light. Its looks as if it came from the cheap Bangkok aftermarket. C’mon Yam!, if you designed a bike that was purpose built to leave all other Indian bikes behind, then you could have atleast given a better tail for the losers to look at!

(to be continued…check back tomorrow)