Yamaha YZF R15 Ownership Review
See how life takes a turn. When I visited my uncles place in UP I was exposed to something called “Biking”. My cousin brother has a Pulsar 180. I always wanted to learn to ride a geared bike so then I thought why not give it a try. I forced him to teach me how to ride a bike and finally after few hiccups from his side I learnt to ride a bike!
Believe me, the experience was awesome. I feel shy to say this but previously I owned a scooty pep which my parents surprisingly booked for my sister on her birthday. I was devastated and for 3 years I rode the damn “Scooty Pep”.
Please don’t ask me how shy I used to feel riding a girls bike (Scooty Pep) with 5.8 Nm torque and a top speed of 70 (for which it cried). After I learnt to ride a bike I forced my mom to buy me a bike too. After a lot of force and plead my parents finally agreed over it and I started planning on which bike should I possess.
A Big Confusion
The day came when I finally thought to go for a bike. But a BIG confusion popped up in my mind. “Which bike should I go for?” Gosh. I then did a hardcore research on internet and then I finalized my 3 options.- Pulsar 220
- Yamaha YZF R15
- Apache RTR 180
Pulsar 220 and Apache are indeed great bikes otherwise I wouldn’t have nominated them in my list. But I had some other plans. I chose Yamaha YZF R15 after an intensive research of two months on Internet. I finalized the Yamaha YZF R15.
Yamaha R15 Price Factor
My parents were against my decision of buying Yamaha R15 due to the high price factor. My relatives were a step ahead in advising me to buy a Nano instead of Yamaha R15. But my decision was final and I thought to buy it from my own hard earned money (I make a decent income online).
I felt proud because I was soon going to own Yamaha R15 - the best bike in the country that too from my own money at a tender age of 19. From that day onwards I started collecting money for my bike and after 6 months or so I collected 75% of the total amount and for the rest amount I didn’t have time and patience so I took loan of the other 25%.
My Parents Reaction
- When my parents visited the showroom to get the quotation they were shocked to see the price . It costed whopping 1 Lakh 7,000 Rs On Road and Pulsar 220 costed around 85,000 On Road.
- So definitely my parents advised me to go for Pulsar 220.
- But, I was very firm on my decision and didn’t change my plan. Whatever it is “I will buy the Yamaha R15” – No Mercy!
- My parents didn’t have any problem with me because finally I am the one who will be paying.
The D Day – 30th October 2010
I went to the showroom with my parents and saw the sparkling Black Yamaha R15 parked in the showroom. I was loving it. But I decided to go for the Blue Yamaha R15 and planned to take it on the auspicious day of Diwali. But then a bad news came from the showroom people.
Thank you for the booking sir, Unfortunately we wont be able to deliver your the bike in Diwali. May be you have to wait for 20+ days. Gosh! I was like, What the Heck? How would I survive in that waiting period? On top of that I had 1 month holiday and I had nothing to do at home. So no other work left other then thinking about my love (Yamaha R15).
The worst period of my life
After waiting for 10 days I started losing my patience and was affected me internally. The feeling was the same like when you break up with your girlfriend. My mother was the biggest victim of my bad patience. I troubled her everyday with my dialogue,Me: Mummy, meri bike kab aayegi?
Mom : Aajayegi beta thoda sabar kar… Sabar ka fal “Yamaha R15 hota hai”.
I called up every 2nd day to the showroom to ask whether my Yamaha R15 has come or not. But alas the same old reply. “Sorry its not come yet. Don’t worry we will call you up as soon as we receive”. I had no other choice than waiting, waiting and waiting.
The Best Day of my Life
After facing the worst period of my life, God finally showed some pity on me. I got a call on 29th November 2010 from the showroom.
The feeling was just amazing. I was on cloud 100 because 9 was too small for me. The time came when R15 was “officially” mine. I reached the showroom and fulfilled the formalities and after few minutes they handed me the keys of Yamaha YZF R15. I pressed the start button, applied the clutch, shifted to 1st gear and zoomed off!
I can’t convey my thoughts on this how I felt at that moment. Everything was receding behind me. All eyes were popping on me as if I am a celebrity. I finally took the bike to a nearby temple, did some puja and took her for a ride.
Now the actual review
You might have got bored of the above bullshit. Well, now I will try to post a small review of Yamaha R15.Handling
Handling is the biggest plus point of Yamaha YZF R15. Why wont it be? Yamaha R15 is made with same technology as the Yamaha R1. The confidence which you get while riding THIS bike is just out of the world. I am still a rookie and I dont feel any danger while doing the knee dragging (I am still trying to learn it). It has a Delta Box Chassis, the same which Yamaha R1 uses!
Riding Position
- Let me clear out a myth here. I am around 5ft 11 inch tall and weighing around 60 KG. Some say that you get a back and wrist pain while riding.
- Trust me, I didn’t feel any back pain. Yeah, the wrist pain is normal but you can get rid of it soon or you can wear the riding gloves which will make you look even more cooler.
- The riding position is the best according to me. It is very stylish and give you a feel as if you are riding a superbike.
Design
No one will disagree with me in this matter. The design is the best in the country and it is the best looking bike. I daily take the bike to my college and often gets request from Girls for a free ride at the backseat. But I deny them as I need to show some attitude.
Apart from Girls attention you get lots of attention on road. Many of them praise the way the bike looks. Its the first bike in the country which is designed in a full fledged wind tunnel. Its Aerodynamics is just amazing. Try crouching at high speeds and see the magic.
Tyres
You are a fool if you say the tires are puny. The tyres are the best in India. In my college I often get comments from wannabes to replace it with Pulsar or FZ tyre.
I don’t have anything to say to them because its useless to argue with an idiot as they can bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.
For your information the tyres are specially made by MRF for Yamaha R15. They are made of soft compound rubber which makes it very sticky on tarmac.
Advice
Don’t be a fool by changing your Yamaha R15 stock tyre with a pulsar or FZ tyre. You will just gain some good looks but then will have to say bye bye to handling and mileage which will drop considerably. So think before you do!Performance
I am not much into Drag races but yeah one day I felt to race against Pulsar 220 which is considered more powerful on paper. But the result was something else, I defeated Pulsar 220! Can you believe it? A 150 CC beating the shit out of a 220 CC mill? (I am not promoting drag races so don’t do it as it can be dangerous).
The bike is very smooth at 4th, 5th and 6th gear with Zero Vibrations. Although there is some feel of sluggishness at the lower gears. But the sluggishness is compensated by the awesome high power band. The real fun is after 4.5k RPM. Ride it to believe it!
Mileage
Mileage is also great. Of-course you can’t expect Splendor mileage with Yamaha R15. It gives me 42 Kmpl consistently. With heavy ripping it can give you 35 to 38 Kmpl. The quality of the bike is so good that the mileage will never drop unlike other bikes. For me its no big deal as my Scooty Pep also gives the same mileage.
Maintenance
Believe me its a maintenance free bike! It requires no or very less maintenance. Only thing is that you will need to take care of the chain as you will need to lube it after every 500 kms or whenever the noise starts coming. When the bike was launched the maintenance cost of the bike was very high but now the prices of the spares are brought down considerably.I was charged 150 for the Oil Filter which was 400 before. The Yamalube oil costed me around 450 Bucks. So total came around 600 for 1st servicing. Next servicing is after 70 days from the day of servicing.
Price Factor
This is the only thing which scares the customers. Its cost is 97,000 (Ex Showroom) and a 1 lakh bike is considered to be a posh bike. That’s what they say here. According to me the price is justified because of the kind of technology they have used. Its liquid cooled with delta box chassis, forged piston, good looks, top class tyres, super quality and you name it. It has everything advanced.
I would recommend Yamaha R15 to all the serious bikers out there. You wont regret after buying it. I don’t work for Yamaha neither I am advertising the bike but from a customer point of view I didn’t find anything negative about it. Although its impossible to be 100% perfect. There are some flaws in the bike.
The Flaws
- The bike rear doesn’t look that attractive as compared to the sides or front. Its because of the tyre I guess. But I better not think about it as the tyres are the best of its kind.
- Low end torque isnt that great. As i explained before there is some sluggishness below 4k RPM but that is compensated after 4k RPM due to its unbelievable pull at higher gears.
- Bike doesn’t suit people with fat ass. If you are thin like me then this is the bike for you.
- Sorry but I can’t find any more flaws. Its not a biased review but I really didn’t find anything bad about it except the 3 points listed above.
Bonus Advice
Park your bike in a safe place and if there are chances of robbery in your area, do lock it with a chain. As you know that this bike looks different from crowd. It also attracts lots of bad intention.Same thing happened to me when I parked my bike in college parking lot. After 3 hours when I came back I saw my rear sidelight missing. Someone pulled it completely which left the wires hanging outwards. The side light costed me around 131 Rs + 50 (Labour charge) = 181 Rs.
So take care of your bike and consider it as your girlfriend if you don’t have one. So I am wrapping up this short review.
Please comment below if you wanna ask something or say something. Feel free to connect.
I would also like to thank Mr. Deepak for giving me an opportunity to express all my thoughts of my love.
Thanks!
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