Yamaha is actually planning to bring the WR 155R off-road motorcycle to India. It is powered by the same engine from the R15 and if Yamaha sees sufficient demand, it could arrive next year.
The Indian motorcycle market has evolved by leaps and bounds in a past few years and if there’s one kind of motorcycle that’s really growing popular, then its ADVs. But we still haven’t seen a purpose built off-road motorcycle in the Indian market. Well, that could change very soon. Yamaha is planning to bring the WR 155R off-road motorcycle to India. The company is currently studying the Indian market and if it sees there’s sufficient demand and if they can price the off-road motorcycle competitively, we could see the Yamaha WR 155R come to India next year.
The Indian motorcycle market has seen a steady growth in the demand for off-road motorcycles. With the WR 155R, Yamaha could rightly be bridging the gap between the Hero XPulse 200 and the Royal Enfield Himalayan. Both the Xpulse 200 and the Himalyan are very nice motorcycles for what they intend to be but the XPulse just lacks that little extra oomph and the Himalayan is just too heavy for off-road fun. If Yamaha is able to price the motorcycle around Rs 1.5 lakh, they will surely have a winner in their hands.
The WR 155R is in fact power by the same 155cc engine that powers the Yamaha R15 V3 in India. Moreover, the motor is manufactured in India which should give Yamaha some added advantage. The engine on the WR 155R is however detuned to produce 16.7PS as compared to 18.6PS on the R15 and slightly lower torque at 14.3Nm. But the engine has been tuned to produce peak torque 2000rpm lower and gear ratios of the 6-speed transmission has also been revised for better low-end performance.
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The highlight of the WR 155R has to be its off-road hardware. It gets long travel suspension, 245mm ground clearance, 21-inch front and 18-inch rear spoke wheels with knobby tyres and all this while just weighing 134 kg. The international-spec model does not get ABS but the India-spec model could see a single-channel ABS unit. However, the WR 155R has a rather steep 888mm seat height (65mm more than the Xpulse 200) and that’s a big issue for an average sized Indian. The fuel tank is also quite puny at 8.1 liters.
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As for the styling, its functional to say the least. The minimalist body panels, long-travel suspension, high-mounted underseat exhaust, the beak with a small-ish headlight – all give it a purposeful off-road motorcycle look and that’s really the appeal of the motorcycle. It also features a small digital instrument cluster which gives all necessary information. If it really makes it to India, it could be starting a whole new segment of motorcycles and a whole new genre of riders as well.
