Monday, June 18, 2007

Yamaha to launch YZF R1 and MT-01 in India


Yep, the cat is outta the box.
Tomotaka Ishikawa, CEO and MD of Yamaha Motors India has confirmed that the company is launching the YZF R1 superbike and the MT-01 muscle naked bike in India. The bikes have already passed the Indian homologation and as soon as the first shipment arrives, the bikes will go on sale here in India.

Yamaha has also shut all those who though the company has no good plans for India, including me. We all knew they are looking at bringing in big bikes, but when was the big question. Better late than never, I am excited to see the first batch rolling off the showrooms.

The YZF-R1, also known as the R1, is a very popular bike all over the world. Powered by a 998cc pumping out a max power of 162bhp at 12000 rpm, the power is enough to make it reach a top speed of a true 270km/h or around 295km/h on the speedometer.
The best thing about YMI's plans is that the bike will be available here for around 9-10lac rupees, which is more or less the same as what unofficial importers ask for. But by purchasing a bike from YMI, you get service backup, warranty, spares, insurance, loan and a big piece of mind!

The MT-01 on the other hand, is a pure muscle bike. Powered by a 1670cc Vtwin engine, it pumps out 90Bhp. It may not seem high, but what matters here is 150Nm of torque, which is almost 15times that of the Yamaha Gladiator. This is the bike to have for city riding, looks mean and has tons of torque at tap. I estimate the bike to sell for around 12lacs here in India.

For more info on roadtest links to R1, see http://bikeroadtests.blogspot.com/2007/05/yamaha-road-test-links.html

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