2019 Yamaha MT-15 Review

2019 Yamaha MT-15

Highlights

• The Yamaha MT-15 is priced at Rs. 4.24 lakh.

• The MT-15 shares the engine, chassis, and gearbox with the R15

• The MT-15 has faster acceleration, but lower top speed than the R15

The Yamaha MT-15 is that the newest 155 cc streetfighter from Yamaha. Targeted at the millennial crowd, the MT-15 promises a trendy, muscular naked, and shares its DNA with the favored Yamaha YZF-R15. So, it’s an equivalent engine, chassis, and lots of common features with the R15, but it’s completely different.

Design and Features

First, let’s mention the looks; and that they are subjective in any case. What’s beautiful to some, might not be for others. That’s more or less what the case with the MT-15. it’s going to not be good-looking within the conventional sense, but presence it certainly has. The futuristic and aggressive front is accentuated by the dual-slot daytime running lights (DRLs), between which sits the LED headlight, giving the MT-15 an almost robotic, Transformers-like face. it is a love-it, hate-it kind of design, but something which can definitely grab your, and anyone else’s attention. The sculpted fuel tank, extended radiator shrouds, and a plastic belly pan complete the muscular look. The buttock is proportionate and sleek, with a pleasant LED taillight finishing the tail section neatly. If it’s one angle from which the MT-15 looks best, a minimum of to my eyes, it’ll be from the rear three-quarters.

The control panel may be a straight lift from the R15, and as mentioned before, for India, the MT-15 loses out on some equipment. So, no USD forks, and therefore the wheels are shared with the R15 and it only gets single-channel ABS, unlike the dual-channel ABS the R15 now gets. But the MT-15’s looks begin to grow on you, and it definitely looks sharp and can stand out on the streets. So, that’s an honest thing; if it’s road presence you are looking for, the MT-15 has it covered, in plenty. But an honest looking streetfighter is one thing and having the performance and handling to back it’s another.

Performance and Handling

Swing a leg over it, and it’s immediately a cheerful place to be in. The flat handlebar, upright riding position with the somewhat sporty stance is instantly likable. City-slickers and college-going millennials will welcome the comfortable, yet sporty ergonomics. The engine purrs into life with a well-known thrum; in any case, it is the same R15 mill, also because the exhaust. The 155 cc, single-cylinder, the liquid-cooled engine puts out 19 bhp of maximum power at 10,000 rpm and 14.7 Nm of peak torque kicking in at 8,500 rpm. And it gets an equivalent 6-speed gearbox because of the R15 and standard slipper clutch. what’s different though is that the final drive ratio, to form the MT-15 gets some more pulling power at low and mid revs for better tractability while husting through traffic and from stoplight to prevent light. Yamaha says the MT-15 accelerates faster than the R15 within the 0 to 80 kmph sprint but loses out on top-end performance. Official figures put the R15’s maximum speed at 129 kmph, while the MT-15’s top speed is rated at 118 kmph.

2019 Yamaha MT-15

But with a kerb weight of 138 kg, the MT-15 may be a good 4 kg lighter than the R15, and getting up to an honest clip is brisk, and quite entertaining. The BIC is not any place for a 155 cc motorcycle, but thankfully we were testing the MT-15 round the short southern loop, leaving the rear straight and therefore the main straight out of the equation.

Round the corners, it dips in and out with precision and eagerness, and its taut and stable road manners promise to be impressive even while filtering through traffic on the daily commute. But show it an extended enough stretch of road, and that is when you’ll possibly begin to yearn for a touch more punch, some more stamina. If you are looking for highway duties, the MT-15 may lack the stamina to hide long distances at an honest clip, but we’ll reserve our judgment till we get to ride and test it call at world conditions.2019 Yamaha MT-15

Verdict

The Yamaha MT-15 looks good, features a smooth and refined engine, and maybe a taut handler. There’s nothing much to complain about the MT-15 as a product. But what Yamaha has may be a problem of plenty, and therefore the tag the MT-15 carries. At this price, it’s never affordable, more so, as a 155 cc naked. For few thousand more, you get the full-faired, R15, with dual-channel ABS and better top speed, but more importantly, for fewer than the MT-15, you furthermore may get the Yamaha FZ-25, with a much bigger and more powerful 250 cc engine, which offers more performance and better cruising ability.2019 Yamaha MT-15

And if you are not just watching the Yamaha family, at that bracket, there are other 200 cc motorcycles also, just like the TVS Apache RTR 200 4V, and therefore the Bajaj Pulsar NS 200 which are considerably less costly.