Yamaha to Bring Back R15 V1.0 as R15-S

Yamaha is preparing to re-launch the previous version of its R15 in India, which first saw the light in 2008 and was replaced by R15 Version 2.0 in 2011.  The refreshed R15 will be on sale alongside the ongoing YZF R15 V2.0. There were talks about a new version of the R-series bike to be launched soon, but the company has gone back to its old offering, mainly to give a competition to the Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 whose looks and design have led it to capture the Indian two-wheeler market. This time, R15 will be named as R15-S and will be priced competitively somewhere around Rs. 1.1 lac (ex-showroom). The Japanese manufacturer is adopting the same strategy used for FZ, whose two versions are being sold simultaneously.

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With festive season round the corner, the Japanese manufacturer is looking to improve its sales by offering more options to the customers to choose from. Yamaha R15 was the first real 150cc track-focused sports bike of the country, which comes with the signature look of R-series. Then in 2011, the facelifted version was launched with added features like a split seat, wide rear tyre, longer swingarm, retuned ECU and LED tail light. The R15-S will feature tweaks like an aluminium swingarm, a larger rear disc to improve the braking system, revised gear setup and Electronic Control Unit (ECU) with closed loop fuel injection system taken from Version 2.0.

The price difference between the two versions of R15 is expected to be around Rs. 5,000 (on-road) as the current model is available with a base price of Rs. 1, 14,241 (ex-showroom, New Delhi). However, the company might increase the price of R15 Version 2.0 after the launch of R15-S to make a slightly larger cost difference giving meaning to the re-launch.

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