When I was waiting for the launch of the SS I heard everything from bad resale values to "Yamaha has no sales at all in India" to" the plant is gonna shut down any moment" and so on.
But one look at the newly launched SS and Yamaha has finally delivered in india the sporty perfection that it has for decades launched worldwide.
I own an SS which has clocked 100 km no complaints yet and so lemme talk about what I liked about it more than other bikes
1: The most important factor for me was the price. At 49.5k on road this was a better bargain than id hoped for .If my calculations are correct this is the lowest priced bike with Discs and Electric start as standard option.
2:The fact that XCD looked more like a toy , Discover looked ugly , Shine looked good but it didnt have an all black engine and The name Glamour being the greatest misnomer ever { for me it simply didnt look glamorous } made the Gladi the best in its category for its looks { looks vary with induviduals}
3: The 5 speed gearbox is a real blessing .The other bikes when at 4th gear the engine screams for a 5th and the gladi is the only one able to grand the wish, and the engine instantly seems to be satisfied giving better perfomance at a bass rich sound in return.
4 : The carbon matt handlebar with R1 type grips looks space age compared to stainless steel pipe bends that weve all grown up seeing
5 : There is a slight difference in sound { higher bass } than the others , this too may be apparent but I think the new exhaust pipe muffler has added a small difference here
6 :The tachometer was a good innovation but I feel the thing couldve been digital , but then again digital meters if they get spoilt are a pain in the neck to get repaired . So reliability rules
7: The riding position is sporty and the racing cowl adds to it . But the cowl is more of a problem during rains as it collects all the splashed mud which otherwise wouldve missed the engine
8 Cant speak much about the mileage as I have clocked just 100ks and the ride comfort is good too .
The seat is neither too hard nor too soft and the shocks are good enough for a city like Trivandrum
9 People talk a lot about Yamahas not having resale values and sales .But here in Kerala people are simply crazy about yamaha .The RX 100 legacy is still at large here.
Finally this is recommended more for performance enthusiasts and price conscious bike daredevils than for people who want mileage and doesn’t care for anything else.
Hope this is useful