The Yamaha YZF-R3 has always been close to many a heart. The latest one is no exception
Story: Charan Karthik
Photography: Apurva Ambep
We had one of the most beautiful experiences in Thailand when we rode the R3 for the first time last year. But then, first rides are, well, first rides. You need to spend some time astride a motorcycle to understand it completely. And that’s exactly what we did when Yamaha sent us the bike for a road test.
Let us first consider all the changes in this bike as compared to the older version. The front is the most prominent one and catches your eye immediately. The fascia has been re-designed and gets two beautiful looking LED headlamps. Looking at the front feels like staring at Toothless the dragon from the film How to Train Your Dragon. The headlamps have ample throw and they give the bike a subtle and fresh character that it always needed. The fairing on the sides over the engine has also been tweaked and it looks much better and more streamlined now. The bike itself looks leaner and sharper. If the old one was a tiger, this one is definitely a cheetah. Moving on, the switchgear has been revised, the starter switch now has a cool spring type swipe down method which turns the engine over.
One of the major updates is the LCD instrument cluster. Although not a coloured one, the unit serves its purpose well with a display of everything you’ll ever need while out on a spin. Sadly, it is devoid of any sort of device connectivity. I did love the analogue tachometer on the older R3 but that’s just a personal preference. The layout of the screen is clean and crisp to look at. Going back to the aesthetics part, I must mention the new fuel-tank with its neat gill-like design on both the sides at the front end. Other changes include a more aggressive rider position, with the handlebar being set lower than before. I will get to that later. The bike also gets LED blinkers all around but the tail-lights remain the same. Part of the package now is also a 37-millimetre upside-down (USD) front fork which feels considerably stiffer.
As you swing a leg over the motorcycle, the change in the riding position becomes immediately noticeable. While sitting on the bike, my feet could touch the ground, the seat height now being a low 780 mm, thus adding to the aggressiveness. The rider triangle is much more focused and sport-oriented than before.
As I switched the bike on, I was welcomed by the 321-cc parallel-twin. The engine has an output of 42 hp at 10,750 rpm and 29.5 Nm of peak torque at 9,000 rpm. It also revs up to 12,000 rpm. On paper, it might not seem like a lot of power, but the way the R3 carries itself on the road is what makes the difference. A sharp pocket-knife is what the bike feels like. I had the opportunity to take it to the hills and the way it behaved is why I still consider it to be a benchmark in its class. This sport bike weighs 169 kilograms and is capable of carving corners with ease. All you need to do is trust the bike and know your limits and you’ve got a proper weapon. Sure, the motor is not as aggressive as the Austrian single, but it has a good top end and it never feels breathless. You will only feel the rpm climbing slowly at the top of the sixth gear.
The front brake has been engineered well and slowing down from triple-digit speeds was like taking a walk in the park. I mainly used the front brake alone to slow down and was slightly surprised by how much bite it possessed. The anti-lock braking system (ABS) made an intrusion at a considerably later stage, thus making for a fun ride. The rear brake, however, was not that sharp and was mild at best. The front has a 298-mm single disc while the rear gets a 220-mm one. Maybe, a larger rear disc would feel better? The bike gets dual-channel ABS as standard.
Tyres on the R3 are Dunlop Sportmax GPR-300s, the front being a 110/70 and the rear a 140/70, both on 17-inch rims. They provided enough grip through the corners. The suspension, both front and rear, had proper stiffness to them. The rear, in particular, was reliable and provided good feedback. It was impossible not to trust the bike through the feedback it gave. Climbing through the rev-range, aggressively shifting up, the bike did pop a small power wheelie, but nothing that caught me off guard. You expect the bike to do something and it will do exactly that. This is the best characteristic of this motorcycle as it didn’t take me long to adapt to its nature.
As for the feeling I got while riding the bike, it was impressive. Small things like pops and bangs from the exhaust sounded amazing. Music to my ears. The exhaust has a soft note at the beginning of the rev-range but it slowly opens up and screams like a banshee as you open the throttle.
As you may have noticed, I haven’t talked about the electronics and other equipment. That’s because there aren’t any. Barring the dual-channel ABS, there aren’t any other rider aids. This can be looked at in two ways: one, where the bike is cut and right, being a raw rider’s machine and, two, where it just feels old and outdated. Competitors do have rider aids such as traction control, switchable ABS, smartphone connectivity, TPMS, and TFT clusters. But all of these, as I look at them, are not necessary. They can be had as an accessory or an add-on. They don’t have to be
standard equipment.
Now, there has been a lot of talk about how the R3 resembles its smaller sibling, the R15. I would never agree with this. Even to a layman, it is easily distinct. In fact, the R3 in the Icon Blue colour is one of the most beautifully designed sub-400-cc bikes in our market. The 10-spoke petal-like alloy sits just right on the bike.
The R3 was loved for offering a lot of bike for less money. An amazing motor, a raw delivery of power, minimal but adequate electronics, and, of course, the Japanese stamp of reliability. However, that is not the case now. The Yamaha YZF-R3 is priced at Rs 4.65 lakh (ex-showroom), which I find to be annoyingly steep. Yes, it is a completely knocked down (CKD) unit and it comes from Indonesia. However, that alone does not justify the price tag. When the R3 was about to be launched, I expected it to be pricey but not this much. It’s safe to say that the bike will only attract the true blue enthusiasts. If you ask me, I have always loved the R3 for various reasons and I continue to do so. The price is high, but if I ever have an opportunity to get one, I will not shy away.
Leave a Reply