The RC125 is the latest entrant in KTM’s India lineup and also probably the most expensive 125 cc motorcycle in the country right now. The fully-faired sibling of the Duke 125 is priced at Rs. 1.47 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) which means it is even more expensive than the most popular bike in this price range, the Yamaha R15 V3. However, while the RC125 may only have a 125 cc heart, KTM has made sure that there is no downgrading of equipment and quality in the RC125 compared to its bigger brothers like the RC200 and the RC390. In past, we have brought to you the acceleration and top-end test between the RC12 and the R15 V3 but today, let’s take a look at which among the two is better at braking.
The video above by Ayush Verma pits the two bikes against each other but instead of a regular drag race, this time the bikes compete for a braking test. Both the bikes are simultaneously taken up to a certain speed and ridden to a pre-decided point. The riders then apply the brakes after reaching the decided braking point and both the bikes come to a halt quite quickly. However, the KTM RC125 performs better in this test and stops a couple of meters shot from where the R15 V3 stops.
Comparing the size of the disc brakes on both the bikes, the RC125 gets a 300 mm disc up front while the rear braking duties are done by a 230 mm disc. On the Yamaha R15 V3, the front end gets a 282 mm disc while the rear end gets a 220 mm unit. Clearly, the RC125 has got bigger disc here which directly translates into better braking prowess and the same has been hinted by this video too. Both the bikes have almost the same weight (R15 -135 kg, RC125 -139 kg) so that does not create much of a difference here. One disadvantage the RC125 has over the R15 V3 is that it only gets a single-channel ABS while the latter gets a dual-channel ABS system. This means that the R15 V3 has safer brakes than the RC125.
Coming to the specifications of these bikes, The KTM RC125 is powered by a 125cc, liquid-cooled four-stroke engine that churns out 14.3 Bhp of peak power at 9,250 rpm and 12 Nm of peak torque at 7,000 rpm. A six-speed manual gearbox with slipper clutch comes as standard. The Yamaha YZF-R15 V3.0, on the other hand, gets powered by a bigger 155 cc engine that puts out 18.7 Bhp of power at 10,000 RPM along with 15 Nm of torque at 8,500 RPM. The engine comes mated to a six-speed gearbox and gets a slipper clutch as well.
Note that these results are exclusive to this video and it is not a professionally done setup or test. Hence, the results might be a bit different if done by professionals in a controlled environment but this video here does manage to give an idea of the braking prowess of these bikes in real-world riding conditions.
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