8 Yamaha R25 Concept in Tokyo Motor Show. My Take on its chances in India

Finally Yamaha shows the R25 (250 cc, twin cylinder) concept..

Internationally Kawasaki has ruled the sporty 250 cc class with its Ninja 250 over 2 decades now. Taking a cue out of Kawasaki’s book, Honda made the plunge a couple of years back with a VFR inspired 250 cc, calling it the CBR250R. To keep costs low Honda gave it a single cylinder and manufactured both from Thailand and India. Meanwhile Kawasaki upped the Twin cylinder Ninja from 250 to 300 cc (except in Indonesia), and Honda too is now following suit with the CBR 250R replacement with the 300R and thankfully with non VFR like styling this time.

Missing in the picture was Suzuki and Yamaha. Most have actually forgotten that Suzuki makes motorcycles too but the absence of Yamaha from this quarter litre segment was very much felt. Yamaha has finally revealed its quarter litre model in the ongoing Tokyo Motor Show. Calling it as the R25, it is a sporty concept that looks very much similar to the European R125. Although Yamaha insists that it is inspired from Yamaha’s MotoGP bike the M1.

Yamaha R25 Details:

The model is just a concept for now, but it definitely doesn’t look too far from production. The only details of the R25 made public is:

• Engine: 250 cc, Parallel Twin Engine


• Chassis/Frame: Tubular


• Transmission: 6 Speed

My Take: Looks Despite skipping the Perimeter frame (which incidentally the lower capacity R125 and R15 gets), the R25 concept looks very promising. The package is racy and unlike the Honda CBR250R, this one deserves the Yamaha “R” tag. For the enthusiast the absence of the perimeter frame is an eyesore, especially when the tubes are exposed. But the bike looks overall looks neat.

My Take: Probable Price For the model to be competitively priced in India, the bike have to be made in India. Now even if the bike is made here, the Yamaha R25 would be difficult to be priced less than 2.5 Lakhs on road. The CBR250R ABS is already at 2 Lakhs and therefore with the twin cylinder, the R25 can be at best priced at Rs. 2.5 lakh. Ok 2.3 at best (non-ABS version).

The only issue would be the KTM RC390 which is a much sharper looking and more desirable, which will be definitely more powerful and being manufactured by Bajaj in India means that the KTM 390 will be available for around Rs. 2.3 Lakhs..!! Now I am not even even taking the Pulsar 375 into consideration here.

My Take: Probable Performance Being a Yamaha product, I expect it to handle well despite the budget frame. In terms of its competitors, the CBR250R might not be a great track handler but one can at expect the KTM 390 to be a sharp handler. In terms of peak power, I’ll be realistic here. Expecting 40 plus bhp from a 250 cc 4 stoke engine will be too much. Kawasaki Ninja 250R made around 32 bhp and that according to me would be the max that the Yamaha R25 will be able to manage legally. Which will be a significant 8-10 bhp less than the KTM RC 390 and the Pulsar 375 as well.

My Final Take: The majority of the buying public won’t be bothered with the power output or if the bike lacks a perimeter frame or if the bike has a single or multi cylinder.

For the average buyer, if it bike “looks worth the price”, they will be more than happy to get this “Dhoom bike”. And in case of the Yamaha R25, if the production model would be not too different from this concept, then Yamaha has done the styling and the desirability quotient right. So now it will ultimately boil down to the pricing.

Anyway Yamaha, better late than never. Welcome to the 250 cc club. Now please price it sensibly in India.

Related Posts

• Honda CBR300R replacement for CBR250R? [Oct 2013]



• Pulsar 200SS/400SS will compliment (in Price) the KTM RC 200/390 [Nov 2013]



• KTM RC 200 and 390 Price in India? [Nov 2013]



• 5 Interesting things about the KTM RC 125/200/390 [Nov 2013]

Disclaimer:

This is to remind that the Views or Opinions in the blog are entirely mine unless explicitly stated. The Views and Opinions published in this blog should in no way be related to any other person or organization associated -- directly or indirectly -- with me.