Review of Yamaha R15 v2.0

When you utter the word "sportsbike" the first thing that strikes the mind of an India Biker is R15. Such is the popularity of this bike in the market so no doubt the R15 is an extraordinary machine which introduced India to the concept of a sportsbike and has stood the test of time and with the second version launched its got more leaner,meaner and faster. Ohk, there are couple of fundamental reasons for the popularity of R15 its single cylinder 150cc engine puts out 17ps of power which gives it power to weight ratio of 125 bhp/tonne to put it in perspective Honda Accord with a 2.4l V6 engine has a power to weight ratio of just 123 bhp/tonne and with the help of aerodynamics help this beast to a top whack of 135-140kmph which is very commendable for a 150cc engine. Let us see what else makes up this benchmark bike of 150cc.

Engine and Performance

The R15 uses a liquid cooled single cylinder SOHC (Single Over Head Cam Shaft) it should come with a DOHC (Dounble Over Head Cam Shaft) to facilitate better exhaust needs of the high revving engine that said the SOHC unit in R15 has higher lift cams to facilitate the exhaust (If you dont understand the technical jargon above the R15's engine is still good enough). As stated above it has a tremendous power to weight ratio and a good torque of 15nm at a tad higher 7500 rpm but this gives it a big advantage over its competiton the cbr 150r which develops lesser torque of 13 nm at even higher 8500 rpm having peak torque at lower rpm helps in driveability of the bike and acceleration while the torque at higher end facilitates cruising at higher speeds. The Yamaha engine is rev friendly and quickly revs up and doesnt feel strained at higher revs and the R15 has a better mid range while the cbr comes with a strong top end this too is advantageous for yamaha as you dont need to work it hard to get performance from the engine.

Handling and Chassis
The R15 has set the benchmark in handling for 150cc segments and is a brilliant track machine it comes with a triangular delta frame which provides good rigidity and the feedback can be just termed as awesome. It is chuckable and feels at home while cornering at any speed and even an amateur rider can achieve incredible angles of lean with confidence although the cbr 150r has a real good diamond type chassis it just cannot keep up with the r15 at corners. The R15 comes with sticky mrf's which suit the bikes profile.



Ride, Ergonomics and Build Quality

The yamaha R15 no doubt rides harshly but thats something you expect if you want good handling it has a hard front suspension with somewhat softer rear monoshock but its rideable. Its a lean-forward bike and for tall riders it does feel small at times but the rider should be comfortable once you get used to the posture but the pillion seat is high up in the air with no grab rails so it will be nightmarish for anyone behind but i guess that is one of the reason you buy R15 you can reserve the seat for a special person and you can count on R15 to deliver one hell of a ride everytime! The build quality can be termed as good the plastic bits feel good and i absolutely love the carbon fiber sticker on the limited edition R15 and its sharp curves are exciting. The design is similar to its elder siblings like the R6 but its refreshing and suits the bike well.

Mileage
After R15 being better than cbr 150r in all departments finally the cbr 150r catches up with impressive mileage of upto 50 kmpl while the r15 ditches out only 40 kmpl average at its best. Although mileage should not be the deciding factor for a buying a performance bike lets keep in our mind we are in India where more mileage is always welcome.

Verdict
The R15 is still the reigning king of 150cc motorcycles and if you have seen comparisons it is compared with CBR 250r and Duke 200 such is the stature which this bike enjoys and i can only say it deserves it. It is definitely a track machine but a bike well tested on the Indian roads and conditions and yamaha is doing everything to keep its flagship bike of India on the top. You should buy the R15 if you want a good ride with performance and insane handling which it delivers the only reason you should spend more for the CBR 150r is for the high mileage and for the touring capabilities in which r15 is rated lower. At 1.19 lakhs (ex-showroon) i feel its worth the price more than the CBR150r.

Note: I have had countless R15 owners coming to me for advice on performance modifications its my sincere opinion that its better to keep it stock than add a FFE and Cold air intake and retune the ECU all of which will cost around 80k and a drop in mileage when you can get a more powerful stock bike with better mileage for just 30k more. Unless you are taking your bike to race i feel its useless to modify it and risk the warrenty.
Credits- Aditya S Rao and Monik Reddy for the R15 pics.

Review of the All new Thunderbird 500

I was waiting for this one and finally i got a chance to ride the latest offering from Royal Enfield the Thunderbird 500. The 1st thing you notice on the bike is the blue lit dials which look modern and classy at the same time and read the speed in both kmph and mph although its not necessary its cool! You get a tachometer which red lines at 5500rpm and a digital display below the speedo to give you the trip meter and average speed and other necessity's. And on pressing the starter the electric motor cranks up the engine and you can hear a deep sounding brutal engine slowly coming to life. The sound is pleasure there is a new thump and i am all in for it. It produces a loud yet subtle note which gets better as you rev the engine hard.

Performance

Since it was an 500cc vehicle i decided to be cautious with it and soon realised the clutch engaged only at the at the end this is not very comfortable in traffic but helps to keep the 500c vehicle under control. After riding it in the city streets for some time i decided to head to open roads what better place than the chennai bypass. Once i hit the bypass i gunned the engine and was surprised with the pick up and the bike pulled cleanly till 120 kmph and had still more than 1000 rpm to the indicated red line but the road was bumpy and it was dark so we decided to call it off and head back. The bike should have a top speed of 140kmph and later on dragging it against a CBR 250r we found that the bike is a tad slower but still in sight of CBR which is surprising for a heavy vehicle such as this. There have been some tweaks in the engine but its minor and overall it should be quite similar to the plant in classic 500.

Handling
Traditionally the scariest part of owning a thubnderbird the bikes were designed to be cruiser hence had long wheel base and heavy weight (comparative to other bikes of the segment) and when chucked into a corner they werent in their comfort zone but all that has changed with the new thunderbird its shorter wheelbase and lighter weight means its nimble and quick and allows you to slip past traffic with ease cornering was not bad too it cornered well even at speed and maintained its composure. The bike has been designed for both cruising and city riding in mind. While the shorter wheelbase and compact dimensions are favorable for the city. The 20l tank up front reminds you to ride further.
The braking is provided by double disc both in front and rear which are fit enough to bring th bike to a stop but ABS is missing which is disappointing.

Mileage
The engine comes with electronic fuel injection which should improve the economy and the 500 mill should return a mileage of around 25 kmpl in city and 28-30 on the highways under normal driving. This is respectable keeping in mind its a 500cc engine.



Ergonomics and Ride

The most important thing of a cruiser and the place where the thunderbird scores i never liked the cruiser feel mostly because you dont have as much control over the bike like the other bikes but the thunderbird comes with perfect arrangement and ensures good rideability and feel of the bike while giving good control. The pillion seat is comfortable as well the only issue being the odd looking small backrest provided for the pillion rider which although does it job looks awkward for a bike of that stature. Also the bike soaks up the terrain really well even in bad roads makes
riding a breeze.

Looks and Build Quality
The looks of the bike at first sight might not be that appealing, but its a completely new design and for the first time RE has paid attention to detail and quality which will soon grow upon you. To start off now the bike comes with a factory fitted projectors which provide good throw at any condition and help in increasing the riders confidence. The tail lamp, indicators are all LED which looks great. The tank lid is offset to the right and looks great while ensuring that tank is filled to brim when on side stand. The leg rests for the rider and pillion are cylindrical with RE stamped on them. The switch's and other plastic bits seem to be of good quality. The logo is embossed on the side and all other bits seem of good quality too.


Verdict
After riding the bike for nearly 200kms it was indeed an incredible experience and the bike is perfect for highway cruising with plenty of fire in its belly and is one hell of a bike to ride no doubt about it and the performance is too good to be true while the handling is a breeze but the flavor of enfield is somewhat missing out and more of a regular bike rather than an ENFIELD! Its nice to see that even royal enfield has gone with the times and are offering new technologies like electronic fuel injection, led tail lamps and so on. All this should ensure wider audience for the bike and owning an enfield shouldnt be as scary as it used to be. Although it might not impress the hardcore RE fans but it should be a hit for the general audience with almost no serious cons it should be one of the best rides from RE stable so far. But beware the bike still loves to leak oil!

What does biking mean?

Pic- Himalayan Odyssey by Royal Enfield.

Everyday we see,read and hear about biking, the question arises what does it signify? The people's understanding may be varied but biking signifies freedom as far as i am concerned. Our lifestyle is monotonous and plagued with boredom and the way to release all the pressure is to hit the road and what better way to do it than in a 2 wheeler. The joy of riding a motorcycle cannot be found even in riding the most expensive cars it provides a meaning to life and defines your personality. While others indulge in momentary pleasures of alcohol and drugs bikers indulge in riding which simply puts everything behind them and there is nothing as welcoming as the sight of open road and sunset on the horizon.

You need not have an expensive ride to enjoy the joy of riding you can ride in almost any ride what is important is you understand the limitations of  yourself and bike. In context of India, biking has tremendous potential as we are one of the largest market for two wheeler's and yet biking has not caught up in India as much as it has in other countries. I believe we are in a brink of a biking break through. Most of the two wheeler brands do not encourage amateur riders but some brands like RE are seriously taking it upon them to ensure their customers explore to maximum extent. KTM has also joined in by sponsoring "orange day" in various cities to provide a platform for various ktm owners to mingle.

There is a lot of social stigma associated with biking and the type of riders but none of it is true because i have personally met many bikers most of whom are professionals with a white collar job during the weekdays and in the weekends avid riders who dont care as much about the destination as they do about the route which they take. There are a few decent biking clubs in cities but there are majorly closed circles of like minded people. It doesnt matter whether you are 18 or 80 all that matters is that you have a passion to ride. The people's mindset has to change greatly to form groups and ride with people you barely know and only have riding passion as a common. One can start by forming small groups among friends and with small rides of 100-150 kms and then increase the number of people and kms. Also one can explore the beauty of the country through biking and i feel that biking as a culture is fastly becoming a part of our life with more and more people joining in. 

Royal Enfield Old vs New

Royal Enfield is one of the cult brands of the motorcycling world and by far the company most revered by bikers atleast as far as India is concerned. It was and is a legendary brand and also now an Indian company owned by Eicher group. The company which was in loses has turned around over the last few years with the launch of new model like Classic with Unit Construction Engine and Twinspark Technology.

But after riding various versions of Enfields dating back to 1972 when the RE created a sensation by launching a diesel version of bullet which is now one of the vintage collector's bike i feel the magic is somehow lost in the modern Enfield's. Yes, the RE's nowadays are giving better mileage, more refined and most of all reliable and easily serviceable with even more power. But the joy of riding a old RE Diesel at just 70 kmph cannot be found when riding a classic at 120 kmph. In the past owning a RE was one hell of a job, the bikes had many issues primary of which was oil leakage from the cast iron casing, also the clutch wires broke frequently and one had to have good knowledge of the bike and always carry spares when hitting the road.
You needed lot of experience and force just to kick start the old bikes and till recently there was no self start and even till date the RE's come with kicker which is a welcome sign as you would not be left stranded in case your battery died. The thump was much more metallic thanks to the cast iron engine and open silencer even thought people are modifying the silencer's it cannot be compared to the old bikes which simply roar down the street. The older bikes were also the kind of bikes which lasted you a life time if maintained properly but although they were not well engineered even for that time but they were all fun to ride and defined personality of the person. The modern bikes however are becoming more of a youth fantasy rather than a bikers desire they are now lighter, faster and nimble and not at all hard to ride which is good but not appealing to a hardcore biker.
I like the Thunderbird from the RE's stable a lot and have ridden almost all versions of it and i feel there is nothing that can beat the first version which required muscle to just get it going and was still powerful enough to hit 120 kmph with a cast iron engine. The bike had its set of problems like false neutrals from the gearbox, complicated clutch wire changing which is a problem when it breaks quite frequently, and the insufficient kicker but still the vibration and the thump will put a smile on your face. The newer thunderbird still captured some of the awesomeness by having one of the longest wheelbases and even longer exhaust but suprisingly the newer thunderbird is even shorter and lighter. The changes are with the modern trend of fuel efficiency and emission norms but that is not why anyone would buy an RE and by making the bikes more rideable they are targeting a wider group of people but losing out on the core bikers. RE still holds a lot of biking trips and they have strong brand marketing.
But if i had to buy an RE i would go for the older one because i feel the pain and cost of maintaining is worth the joy of riding one!