Remember the first time Yamaha decided to show us how till its new small-displacement sport motorcycle will look like? The Japanese manufacturer had legendary 9-time world champion Valentino Rossi introduce a prototype with a striking resemblance to the YZR-M1 MotoGP official machine and the hearts skipped a beat.
Unfortunately, this wonderful dream came to an end when Yamaha showed the actual R25 bike. Even though the main looks were pretty close to what the initial teaser showed us, the front end of the bike had in fact nothing to do with the MotoGP bike… and this kind of made us very sad.
Still, it looks like the new Yamaha YZF-R25 is going to be a huge success, both because of its MotoGP-ish cues and its performance. This sport bike slots above the entry-point level and will most likely give the similar-displacement machines a run for their money: its 249cc parallel twin produces 35.5 horsepower around 12,000 rpm and 22.6 Nm (16.6 lb-ft) of torque at 10,000 revs, and the 14-liter (3.7 US gal) tank should provide a great range for this injected machine.
The bike tips the scales at 166 kg (366 lb) but it looks like the weight will not be that much of a problem for it. Unfortunately, the European and North American markets will most likely never get to see it rolling down the street, as Yamaha has plans for a bigger version to compete with the new Honda CBR300R and the Kawasaki Ninja 300.
Possibly dubbed R3, the new small-displacement sport Yamaha bike is rumored to be introduced this fall at either Intermot in early October or one month later, at the 2014 EICMA. And since a bigger displacement similar bike would only requite that Yamaha strokes out the engine, just like Honda did with the CBR250R, we can say that the R3 is almost ready. Enjoy Vale’s accent while trying to sound epic!
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