I got this bike about a month ago and I have clocked >1000 kms. Believe me, its is a true macho machine. The Pick-up, handling, looks...they are just stunning.Riding positionWhen I took the test ride of this beast, I was a bit suspicious on the riding position and was thinking over and over even after making the payment. I was proved true when I took the delivery of the bike in this rainy season with jammed road, my wrist were feeling some pain on that evening that continued for next 2 days, but to my nightmare..I was proved completely WRONG from the fourth day. It is hard to believe, but it is true. Once you get a used to the riding position, it becomes simply WOW!!! .....
A simple trick here for those who experience wrist pain while riding R15 is to transfer your body weight to the seat of the bike. It is very usual that the body weight gets transferred to the wrist in a racing position, but you should learn to transfer it to seat for a happy riding. Not to mention here, that anywhere and everywhere I go or wait on a red signal, people stare at my bike as it is something they had never seen on Indian roads. Makes my heart beat louder every time this happens, as I own it now.PerformanceYamaha says not to cross 5K mark on Tacho, until 1000 Kms. That is true for any bike as it is the period when the bike readies itself for the real road challenges. Yet, I took it to 6K mark at times. To my surprise, the bike was not sounding like it was at 6K. It is simply amazing tech from Yamaha.
I tried vrooming off when I was waiting on a red signal. When I took off, I looked in the rear view mirror, it was shocking. Others were just starting to move, and I was far ahead. This was just to test the acceleration. I do not try that often. I took the bike to 90 kmph and it was soundless and no vibrations. My earlier bike used to tell me that I crossed 60 kmph by vibrating and making noise. This bike was did no nonsense like that!!!My friend got a Karisma 2 months before. He took my bike for a test. To my surprise, he is so much impressed, that he now wants me to exchange my bike for weekends with his, so that he can fly on it.Here, I should make one thing clear. People should not compare a 200 or >200 CC bike with R15. R15 is a 150CC bike. According to me, if a person is comparing R15 with a 200 CC bike, at that point itself it is proved that R15 is better, no matter it has less power. I mean, is there any sense to compare a Honda Accord with Maruti Swift. If you are comparing, means you fear somewhere in your heart that Swift can beat Accord.
HandlingI got the bike when it started raining. Until now I am riding on it on wet roads. I have not got past 90kmph, but I can say that it is great to handle this bike. At least, by the grace of god, I have not had any bad experience on wet roads of Mumbai. I have read about it in review and I hope that the bike will perform much better on dry roads. The tyres seems to be thin, but are excellent. They do not go off road on wet turns. They seem to be glued to the road. Excellent work here by MRF!!! Cheers for them.The balance of the bike is too good to mention. It is hard to resist high speed with such great balance and ease to handle.Fuel ConsumptionTrue, you can’t ask for a Vada-Pav sitting in Hotel Taj Palace. That says it all. The bike is good in performance, hence low in mileage. For the first 1000km, it used to give 35 kmpl. I think it has improved a bit now, though I have not checked it accurately.Until now, the only thing I did not like about the bike is absence of centre stand. Though I am riding bikes since last 14 years, I hardly park them on centre stand. I feel the need of centre stand on this bike, because I fear that in a packed parking lot, if the bike is on side stand, a simple push by anyone can make the bike fall and spoil its faring.I will add more to this review after I complete another 1000 km. Till then, happy riding.