Yamaha R15 is a motorcycle that needs no introduction. It is extremely popular among young riders who are looking for an aggressive and sporty-looking sports bike in the single-cylinder segment. Over the years, Yamaha has made several changes to the motorcycle to make it appealing to the young audience. Now, Yamaha has introduced the R15 V4 in two more variants with a quickshifter.
Earlier, the quickshifter feature was only offered in the Intensity White shade. Yamaha has now updated the motorcycle, and it now comes with two more variants that offer the quickshifter feature. The motorcycle is now available in Racing Blue and Matte Pearl White too. In total, the motorcycle gets three variants that come with the quickshifter. The price for the R15 V4 quickshifter variant has been launched at Rs 1.79 lakh, ex-showroom. If you want to go for the regular version without a quickshifter, it is Rs 4,650 cheaper.
Yamaha is offering the R15 in V4 and R15M variants. The R15M is the range-topping variant, which comes with features like LED turn indicators, a TFT instrument cluster, connected features, and more. The quickshifter was earlier reserved for the R15M, but Yamaha slowly introduced it in the V4 version with the Intensity White colour.
Now, this has been extended to the Racing Blue and Matte Pearl White shades. Other than offering the quickshifter in two more colour options, Yamaha has not changed anything else on the motorcycle. The quickshifter offered with the R15 is a unidirectional unit.
A quickshifter is an electronic device on a motorcycle that lets you change gears up or down without pulling the clutch lever or rolling off the throttle. It uses a pressure sensor on the gear-shift linkage. When the rider pushes or pulls the lever with their foot, the sensor detects the movement and sends an instant signal to the motorcycle’s ECU. The ECU cuts the fuel or ignition spark for just a few milliseconds. This tiny pause removes the engine load from the transmission. The gears become “unloaded”, which lets the next gear slide smoothly into place without any issues. Once the bike is in gear, the power returns and the rider can continue riding without rolling off the throttle. Depending on the motorcycle, brands offer uni-directional and bi-directional quickshifters.
The R15 motorcycle continues to get the sharp and sleek-looking design with a fully faired front end, which looks aerodynamic. The bike gets LED DRLs and a bi-functional projector LED headlamp, an aluminium swingarm, USD forks, and connected features including call and SMS alerts. The motorcycle also comes with wide 140 mm-section radial tyres at the rear.
The motorcycle is powered by the same 155cc, single-cylinder, SOHC, liquid-cooled engine that generates 18.1 PS and 14.2 Nm of torque. This engine is mated to a 6-speed gearbox. Yamaha has also expanded the R range of motorcycles by launching the R2 in India. It is an all-new motorcycle with a starting price of Rs 2.30 lakh, ex-showroom.