I’m an enormous fan of small displacement bikes, significantly sporty machines like bare and sportbikes. And so when Yamaha pulled the covers off the Yamaha YZF-R15M right here within the Philippines again in 2022, I used to be fast to go over to the press occasion and take it for a spin.
It’s one of the crucial common little sportbikes right here, in addition to the remainder of Asia, and occupies the so-called premium entry-level phase. And for the 2024 mannequin 12 months, Yamaha Taiwan has pulled the covers off new liveries for this little sportbike, suggesting that these new colorways will quickly make their method to different elements of Asia.
Extra particularly, the R15 will likely be made accessible in three variants—with an extra ABS model for these searching for extra conventional colorways. After all, the top-tier M bundle continues to be supplied. Actually, it’s been freshened up for 2024, with a revised colorway impressed immediately by the ultimate version of the YZF-R1M.
That’s to say, with a blacked-out entrance fender and decrease fairing.
MotoGP aficionados can go for the Monster Vitality colorway, impressed by Staff Yamaha’s MotoGP livery. Final however not least, the usual ABS variant introduces three colorways harking back to different fashions within the Yamaha steady: Blue Darkish Grey, Black, and Pink Darkish Grey.
As for specs and options, many of the earlier 12 months’s componentry is carried over to the brand new bike. It’s nonetheless rocking the identical 155cc, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected thumper with Yamaha’s Variable Valve Actuation (VVA) tech—an engine I’ve develop into very accustomed to through the years, and one I contemplate to be top-of-the-line in its class.
However it’s with the R15M the place the enjoyable’s actually at. It will get gold anodized entrance forks, Y-Join telephone connectivity, and a quickshifter as normal. Discuss punching above its weight class.
Within the Asian market, the Yamaha R15 carries a price ticket beginning at about $3,500—fairly a steep value for what’s basically a sporty commuter. However hey, one can’t deny the appeal of what can greatest be described as a miniature YZF-R1.
Efficiency-oriented small-displacement machines are a comparatively new factor within the Asian market. I keep in mind not too way back, premium options like inverted forks, a TFT show, and a quickshifter had been supplied solely on premium mid- to large-displacement machines. And so it’s clear that producers are leaning on the aspirational aspect of issues when designing entry-level merchandise.
Newcomers getting a style of fancy know-how on entry-level machines implies that producers set the stage for these of us to improve to greater, higher, extra performance-focused machines. It’s the right illustration of the trickle-down impact with regards to know-how, and fairly frankly, it’s what retains the trade’s wheels turning.
