The first week of June, 2014 was a big one for Yamaha. After months of testing and developing, they launched the MT 25 naked motorcycle, which was revealed a couple of months ago. The Yamaha MT25 was awaited with baited breath by those motorcycle enthusiasts who wanted a small, fast, rev-happy motorcycle, but do not like fully faired sports bikes like the Kawasaki Ninja 300R and the Yamaha R25 and R3, but prefer mean naked machines instead.
The Yamaha MT 25 is here for those who want all the performance that a Yamaha YZF-R25 offers, but without the fancy clothing. The Yamaha MT 25 is very similar to the Yamaha R25, as they share a lot of parts, including the Engine and Chassis. The MT 25 has a more upright riding position because of its high handlebar and sports a Bikini Fairing instead of the full side fairing on the R25, even the rear end is exactly the same on both the motorcycles. These are the most prominent changes on the motorcycle, other than these changes; there aren’t any other differences, at least aesthetically. The front of the MT 25 is designed to look like the front on the Yamaha Mt 01.
The handling will be different though. The upright riding posture will allow better touring capabilities, as the rider will be sitting straight and the spine of the rider will remain stress free. This however will have an adverse effect on the handling of the motorcycle, as the higher position of the handlebar will naturally mean lesser feedback from the front wheel. Hence the difference between the MT25 and the R25 will be more pronounced while cornering hard. Other than this, there isn’t any difference between the faired and un-faired twins from Yamaha.
The MT 25 is powered by the same liquid cooled, 249cc, 8-valve, rev-happy, parallel twin engine as the Yamaha YZF R25with a maximum power output of 36 PS and a maximum torque output of 22.6 NM and drive is sent through a 6-speed gearbox to the rear wheels.
Yamaha launched the MT25 in Indonesia at a price of 46 million Indonesian Rupiah and left us motorcyclists in India waiting, just like what had happened with the Yamaha R25, but now it appears as if Yamaha has got its plans for the Indian market all sorted out and this really makes sense. We recently published spy shots of the YZF-R3 spotted in India, showing that Yamaha will be launching the R3 here instead of the R25, as the R3 can take the competition directly to the KTM RC 390, Kawasaki Ninja 300R, and the upcoming Honda CBR 300R.
Now we are speculating that Yamaha will launch the MT25 here along with the R25 to fight competition below 300cc and this too makes sense, as the MT 25 can directly take the fight to the KTM Duke 200, Bajaj Pulsar 200 series(NS, AS, RS) and upcoming Motorcycles like the Hyosung GD 250N, Kawasaki Z250 and Hero Hastur. The Yamaha MT 25 fills the large gap between the MT 125 and the MT 09, in Yamaha’s Product Profile.
Looks like Yamaha has all its competitors covered , with its upcoming motorcycles. The Yamaha MT 25 is expected to be priced at around INR 2.2 lakhs, which is pretty competitive already. The future of low capacity, high performance motorcycling in India seems very vibrant and competitive indeed.
To read more on Yamaha R25, Click here
Also see: Clearest view of the Yamaha MT-25 (Naked Yamaha YZF-R25) yet!
