Yamaha has revealed the 2018 model year version of the R3 sportsbike. It is expected to soon be launched in India. Earlier this year, Yamaha took the bike off sale when BS4 emission norms came into place in April 2017. The 2018 bike that will be relaunched will be BS4 compliant.
The 2018 version has been showcased in 3 colours – Team Yamaha Blue, Vivid White, and Raven. The bike is currently produced at Yamaha’s Indonesian factory, from where it is shipped to countries around the world. For the Indian market, Yamaha ships CKD kits from Indonesia and assembles it at its Indian factory.
The bike is powered by a 321cc four stroke engine that produces 42 PS and 30 Nm. The engine is a parallel twin, and uses liquid cooling and fuel injection. It features twin cam shafts and four valves per cylinder. The engine is known for its smooth power delivery and high revving nature.
The bike uses telescopic front suspension and a monoshock rear suspension. There are disc brakes on both wheels, which are alloys running tubeless tyres. The bike weighs around 170 Kgs and can hit a top speed of about 170 Kph. The 0-100 acceleration run is very impressive, taking around 5.5 seconds.
ABS is one feature that was missing on the older R3. It may be added on the newer version as the bike that costs nearly 4 lakhs should have it. Not to mention the other fact that all new Indian bikes need to be equipped with ABS before April 2018.
The competitors for the Yamaha R3 include the Kawasaki Ninja 300, the Benelli 302 and the much-cheaper KTM RC390. The R3 may be launched at the 2018 Indian Auto Expo as it makes no sense to launch the bike this month or in December 2017. The fag end of the year is a time when automotive purchases drop, and this is a reason why manufacturers don’t launch new vehicles.