Yamaha has launched its highly anticipated motorcycles, the R3 and the MT-03 Rs 4.65 lakh and Rs 4.60 lakh ex-showroom respectively. Bookings for the bikes start from December 15, on the company’s website, and the bikes will be sold exclusively through the Blue Square dealerships of Yamaha. The bikes will be available as CBUs.
While the Yamaha siblings feature the same chassis and powertrain, they differ in their ergonomics and body style. The Yamaha R3 features a track-oriented design, while the MT-03 features a naked street-fighter design. Both bikes get all LED lighting and multi-function LCD instrument cluster. The R3 will be available in Icon Blue & Yamaha Black colour options, while the MT-03 will be available in Midnight Cyan & Midnight Black colour options.
The bikes share a diamond frame suspended from USD fork suspension with 130mm travel in the front, and a mono-shock with 125mm travel at the rear. Cradled in the frame, is the 321cc liquid-cooled in-line two-cylinder engine, capable of producing 42PS and 29.5Nm. The engine has an all-aluminium DiASil cylinder, and highly heat-resistant pistons, which give stable engine performance and better heat dissipation. Fuelling the engine is a 14-litre tank.
Braking duties are handled by a 298mm disc in the front and a 220mm disc in the rear. Both bikes get dual-channel ABS. The R3 has a kerb weight of 169kg, while the MT-03 tips the scale at 167kg.
It should be noted, that the R3 will go up against the recently launched Aprialia RS 457, the KTM RC 390, and the Kawasaki Ninja 300 and Ninja 400. At Rs 4.65 lakh, it is heavily undercut by the two European bikes and the Ninja 300 because it is available as a CBU, but still ends up cheaper than the Ninja 400. To know more about how the Yamahas are to ride, stay tuned for our review, coming soon!
