The R15 Story: Part III

Part III: Race track

Looking at the title, you would be wondering already, that after giving you my first impressions about the bike, why the hell have I directly jumped onto the track test instead of the talking about the R15’s performance on the street. There is a reason. This bike was developed extensively to be an outright track tool. A bike that could not only question TVS’s dominance on the race track, but also reflect the track focused nature of Yamaha’s R-series of bikes viz. R1 and R6. My first and only chance of riding this bike on the track was in Chennai. Before this, I had hardly ridden the bike on the city streets, maybe a couple of kilometers. On the track though, I had the liberty to exploit the bike to its utmost potential.

Starting off with the long straight, the R15 was a little uncomfortable in taking my 100 kilo shell past the 120 kmph (speedo indicated) mark. But as soon as I entered the corners, the bike was in a rhythm of its own. Especially, after riding the R15 back-to-back with the Pulsar 220 (to which I have got so used to now), the sheer increment in corner speeds was evident. This is where all those brochure-highlighted bits like the monoshock and the Deltabox frame started making the real difference. With my weight hanging off into the corner, the R15 still managed to be way faster than the P220 and the same time, stuck cleanly to its line. Not once did I feel a twitch in the stability or any kinda jittery movements for the suspension elements.

For all those people who think that the tyre is puny, let me be honest, this rubber felt better than even the recently launched Zapper Wyde. MRF designed six prototypes in succession for the R15. When the sixth one was tested by the Japanese testers on the track, they were bowled over by the performance of the tyre. But the blokes at MRF were not satisfied with their product. Hence they went on to make two more prototypes for the R15 – with the eighth one being chosen as the final production unit. The testers couldn’t believe the kind of grip MRF managed out of rubber that looked to skinny in profile.

Their efforts can be seen in the way the tyres grip the track. By afternoon, the temperature was perfect for going even faster as the tarmac was stickier and so were the tyres. Getting the knee down on the R15 was much easier than the 220. But then, its about the corner speed and not only about how much you can lean – and this fact was getting highlighted when I actually started towards keeping my knee as away from the ground level as possible. The grip was phenomenal! The bike was leaning into corners as if there was no tomorrow. Frankly, there was nothing more spectacular that I had have ever ridden on the track till now, especially something that comes in a single-cylinder flavor. The R15’s track performance is unbelievable and this is where the bike truly belongs.

(Does that mean the R15 feels out of place on the street?? To find out, come back soon…)