The XSR 155 is the most awaited Yamaha offering among youngsters and died-hard Japanese-tech heads ever since its launch in Thailand last year.
Why? , India has been known for its love For retro motorcycles. The Royal Enfield Lineup is an example, later on, the Jawa Lineup came matching the same pricepoint. Also, the RD’s and Rx’s lineup always had a Place in our hearts.
So when the JapaneseTitan offers a new retro or to be more precise. A “neo-retro” motorcycle, it’s sure it will get the welcome it deserves. If that doesn’t work for you may be the tech specs will. Yamaha’s 155cc lineup.
The track built R15 and the street-fighter legend MT-15 has a well-proven engine which is currently one of the most provenEngineswhich gives out the right power without recommending you to buy an entire gas station. Also, the Japanese offer better build quality which has been proven over the years.
Table of Contents
XSR 155 – Power Delivery
So the XSR is built exactly the same as its brothers; the same liquid-cooled Single-cylinder 4-stroke(58mm-stroke) 4-valve fuel-injected bs6 SOHC 155cc engine coupled with a 6-speed gearbox(Wet multi-plate clutch) which has a slipper-clutch and clutch-assist feature, and that’s not all it also comes with a VVA (variable valve actuation) feature, so on paper, it gives out a peak power of 19.3ps power @10000rpm and 14.7Nm torque@8500rpm. Which as per the ThailandReviews gives enough juice for whatever you throw at it and you can keep up with the traffic even without much down-shifting.
Moreover, it’s said to have given upto48Kmplin real-life use and a max speed of 130Kmph.So slightly more than the MT-15owing to the Lighter body. Even though the engine is the Same, the performance comes down to the tuning and weight of the whole bike.
Though it’s a café-racer kind of design, the real place where the XSR shines over its brothers is the Rough roads, Unlike its brothers, the XSR comes with dual-purpose tubeless tires ( 100/80-17 front and 140/70-17rear), and probably the same sprocket from the MT-15Which has extra 4 teeth which enables the instant power delivery.
XSR 155 – Design and Constrains
Underneath that retro skin and the slight performance difference, it still shares the same aluminium delta-box frame. Even the alloy wheels (431.8mm front,431.8mm rear) and disc-brakes(282mm front220mm rear) are similar. Further into the details, yes, it’s a self-start (TCI) only. And unlike the Thailand version Indian version will probably get single-channel abs in the front(or maybe a dual-channel one, after all, Yamaha had disclosed the dual-channel option in the updated MT-15version) and box-type aluminium swing arm (single shock) in the back and also conventional telescopic forks in the front.
But comparing with the other 155 lineup Its quite similar. Coming to the electricals powered by a (Maintenance-free ETZ-5 12V 4Ah battery, it has an all-LEDsetup.Owing to the retro style you will get Circular headlamps and taillamps. The head-lamps (which is obviously not a projector-type)feature semi-circular all LED DRL, the headlight itself is split into two halves .
The top area hosting the low beam and the lower part hosting the high beam and pass light, which is quite similar to the one you see in the current Hasqvarna 250 lineup. Also, it includes a circular digital negative display speedometer Console which also includes an odometer, fuel gauge, gear indicator, low fuel warning, trip meter, clock, and low-oil indicator.
XSR 155’s Chassis
Coming to the chassis itself its 2000mm in length 805mm in width 1080mm in overall height and 810mmin seat height1330mm wheelbase 170mm ground clearance 2200mm turn radius. The bike offers a decent 10L fuel tank andThe entire bike just weighs about 134kg And is pretty small and nimble to handle. Also due to slightly lesser aggressive seating Position, long rides are easier achievable, still, the footpegs are slightly positioned to the back
Colours for XSR 155
Coming to the colors, it comes in one glossy Red-White color and three matte shades(Elegant Black, Premium-grey, and Olive Green)Out of which the Premium-grey comes with the one-piece brownish leather ribbed seats, others have similarly designed black seats.Which is overall comfortable even with a passenger in the pillion. Pillion foot-rests are also available and owing to the lesser aggressive seat position compared to the MT-15, the pillion also gets a comfortable ride.
Price and Availability ( India )
So, this whole package would be priced around 1.4lk or similar to the MT-15 price-tag Which sounds quite expensive for that segment, but overall you get a well-built light-weight motorcycle with good refinement and ergonomics with higher-capacity motorcycle features like VVA Moreover it’s a retro-styled motorcycle with quality perfectioned design which Yamaha itself is advertising as “Timeless Quality Impression”. After all, it has to live up to its predecessor 1960’s original XSR from where it derives its “sport heritage” stamp or it’ll have to at least live up to its bigger siblings like XSR 700 and XSR 900
Currently, due to the rising covid cases, the manufacturer is facing labor-related issues and the current manufacturing plants are far behind 50% in production. But the Yamaha sales have increased by as far as 17% his September and considering XSR is brought to more and more regions, last launched in Phillippines using the internet media platform, Yamaha could launch it in India.
This festive season, if not next year ( which is kind of a long wait, after all it was delayed thrice ie; last December, auto expo this February, and bs6 shift this April )