New Yamaha R15: Finally, some clarity emerges!

New Yamaha R15

After months of speculations about Yamaha’s flagship Indian offering, the Yamaha R15′s facelift, a couple of images that have sprung up on Facebook means that we finally have some clarity regarding the Yamaha R15′s much anticipated facelift. This officially means that wild speculative theories that ranged from a 170cc big bore R15 to a 250cc R series motorcycle has finally been put to rest, at least for the time being. Bad news first. The Yamaha R15 seems like it will retain the 150cc engine capacity of the current version.

The biggest giveaway about the engine capacity of the R15 is the clear R15 badging on the exhaust muffler. Apart from the engine capacity being retained, the facelifted Yamaha R15 brings a host of changes that makes the R15 look sharper and more grown up than ever before. Firstly, the side fairing sees a stylistic change and so do the alloy wheels of the R15, which now feature a 10 spoke design. The engine too sees a new paint job, from the matt silver finish to a matt black powder coated finish.

New Yamaha R15

The visual changes carry on to the seat of the new Yamaha R15, which now takes the form of a split seat. The rear section of the facelifted motorcycle is now set quite high, making for a very sporty appearance, mirroring super sports motorcycles. The tail lamp cluster is all new while the rear tyre gets a hugger. Talking of which, Yamaha has also endowed the facelifted R15 with a wider rear tyre. This is one move from Yamaha which will definitely find plenty of favor with R15 fans as the super sticky yet slim rear tyre design on the current version didn’t find too many admirers when it came to the way the tyre looked.

With the wider tyre on the new R15, it is quite likely that Yamaha would have engineered the facelifted R15′s engine to produce a little more power and torque to compensate for the higher rolling resistance that the wider tyre will produce. Finally, the facelifted R15 also features a brand new exhaust muffler, which is a substantial step up in size when compared to the current R15. Now, we’ll have to wait and watch when Yamaha launches the facelifted R15 with an unofficial Yamaha R15 facebook page proclaiming a September launch for this hotly anticipated motorcycle. The sooner, the better!

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