To us, Yamaha is more than just a motorcycle brand; it is an emotion. Valentino Rossi, for a major part of his career, raced with Yamaha, and you all know how much we adore him. More than that, we have a great history with Yamaha as well. Recently, Yamaha organised a Track Day in Gurugram as part of their Call of the Blue campaign. We got an invite too, and since it is a community event with a generous topping of racing, we were not going to miss this one. 

You see, xBhp and Yamaha go way back. In addition to our reverence for the brand because of Valentino, we have also been big fans of the fantastic motorcycles they make. The crossplane inline-4 is a legendary mill. Moreover, when the Yamaha R15 first came to India, it took the market by storm. It was nothing like we had ever seen. Aluminium deltabox chassis, a high-revving yet smooth single, and looks for days; it was bound to be a hit. 

We found it so impressive that we took it around India in 2008. But the R15 was not the only motorcycle that was a part of that ride. We also had two Yamaha R1s alongside it. The two stalwarts of the YZF lineage: one at the pinnacle and one a fantastic entry point in the family. Since it first came to our shores, the R15 has seen a lot of revisions over the nearly two decades it has been here. Yet, it continues to sell like hotcakes. 

There is a simple reason behind it. There is nothing quite like it. It is a mini-racing machine that is unmatched when it comes to the performance it extracts from its 155cc engine. More than that, it is the telepathic handling that took people by surprise. You will find more than a few people saying that such is its handling that even motorcycles from bigger classes fail to replicate it. And Yamaha also did a great thing by expanding on the platform: first with the MT-15 and now with the XSR155. 

Eurogrip Protorq Extreme tyres have proven themselves to be a formidable option in the class, with the insane amount of grip on offer, be it on the road or on the racetrack.

Since the R15 is such a fantastic handler, Yamaha has been organising track days for its owners for a while now. The Call of the Blue Campaign has been a huge success. Their community, Blue Streaks, has more than 25,000 members across the country. That number seemed more than believable once we reached the venue of this particular track day. 

At the F9 Go-karting Track in Gurugram, there were more than 250 riders at the venue, all geared up and ready to unleash the R15s on the racetrack. From xBhp, we had core team member Ankita Arora, aka HighHeelsMotorcyclist, take the reins of an R15 on the racetrack, while Sundeep Gajjar/MotoGrapher and Dr Manan Chaturvedi/Shuttervedi covered the event and interacted with the riders as well as the Yamaha Team. 

Another good bit of news was the presence of Eurogrip. The motorcycles made available to the riders were shod with Eurogrip Protorq Extreme tyres, one of the best you can get in this class. We recently used the Protorqs and Roadhounds from Eurogrip on the #roadTripUnited2026. Based on that and prior experiences, we can tell that Eurogrip makes some of the best tyres in India right now. It is great to see that, along with the motorcycling culture in general, manufacturers and OEMs are also starting to kick things up a notch. 

Overall, it was a great outing. Riding on the racetrack was great fun, of course, but more than that, it was riding with the fellow riders that left a lasting impression on us. Being community-driven people, and xBhp itself being a massive community, these sorts of get-togethers with bikers are something we rarely miss. That said, we are eagerly looking forward to the next edition. So, the next time you hear the Call of the Blue, answer it, and we’ll see you there. 

Ride safe.

With Hajime Aota San, Chairman, Yamaha Motor India Group, and Vijay Kaul San, General Manager, Marketing, Yamaha Motor India.