Motorcycle Ownership Thread Approved

After my First Yamaha in early 2012, there comes another Yamaha to my garage. The Yamaha Ray.

It was a month ago that my Family decided to buy a scooter. The serious options where Suzuki twins, Honda Activa, Piaggio Vespa, Yamaha Ray and Hero Maestro.
Decided to go with family to check all these scoots and let them choose their perfect scoot since it will be used by my dad and sis.

First place to go was obviously Yamaha since I had a great relationship with them from the good old R15 days. Test rode it , me and my dad, dad dint like the front end, the v shaped headlight , because it resembled the Honda Dio which he hated for some reasons. All other aspects, and the well known reliability and handling of Yamaha was very much known by dad, so the option stays intact, but needed to check on other scoots too. (waiting period 3 months).

Next was Hero. Man, heavy rush, Told we want a Maestro. They said , the Maestro is the best scooter available in the market...blah blah blah.. man,, seriously irritating people, with the scoot having a booking of 3-4 months, but they said they have blue color in stock. Took a test ride(only dad took it), he said felt like more or less a better activa, but felt a little too heavy, and of course the blue color is a somewhat irritating blue to be exact(personal view ). We scrapped the Maestro right der.

Now to Honda. We said want an Activa. The Honda guys said, sir, you can book it now and we can deliver the scoot in 6 months. My dad says doesn't like the so called waiting period and so do I. And surprisingly my dads old friend popped up from the showroom and told he can get the scoot in 2 weeks. Lol. 6 months to two weeks .
But he itself insisted that the after sales service is too poor but still can service it from outside from trusted mechanics. So couldn't take a decision whether to take it or not, so left for Suzuki.

My dad very much like the Access and the Swish, and those where his prime choices. So reached there, entered the showroom. 3 people sitting on three different ends. 3 of them looked at us(remember, not me only, I am with Family). And looked down to some book like they were preparing for I.A.S exams . We waited for around 10 minutes looking at an Access that was on Display. Still nobody came and asked anything. Actually we were in a good mood and we were laughing at them . Lol. And at last dad said, common lets go, they are seriously studying something , so do not disturb. Truly speaking, pathetic people. I dont know how they sell the scoots. My friend who has an Access for the last 3 years said the service was the worst in town along with Honda. So obviously the Suzuki's ended there.

That day, my dad brought a Vespa home, his friends' , and saw that my sister couldn't get her foot on the ground properly and too much weight. So we decided to go for the Yamaha avoiding Activa, considering poor after-sales service that Honda offers.
Booked it a month ago, got it delivered yesterday since I have some friends there, so a quicker delivery than expected.

The handling is just superb. 100% sure not a single one in its segment could behave like the Ray does. While the power, again 100% sure that this doesn't move like the other scoots on the table moves. A little under strength looking on paper, but since it got less weight, the power to weight ratio is better , but still a little lag is felt comparing with the Suzuki's and Honda's. But still can take anything that it rivals take, I meant the weight. U turn is unbelievably easy, and the brakes are surely best in class. Some pics here. Will post more later.

Recently got a Yamaha Ray for my cousin sis. Her father(my uncle) was hell bent of Hero Pleasure. I took her to the Yam showroom, she was amazed by the looks. Then after the test ride, she bought it instantly. When we reached home, my uncle's reaction was "Yamaha??? Yamaha sells scoots!!! Is it really Yamaha? or are they using other's engine?".
P.S.: He still owns a Rx100 from the 80s.
Though it doesnt feel as smooth as the New Activa, but the good power delivery,futuristic looks and the great ASS of Yamaha, this seemed the best VFM at 53K OTR. I had a yamaha Gladi in past, hence I know the quality of service and customer satisfaction they provide.
But it aint selling in great numbers as the activa. Guess it might need more time to get settle in people's mind. Accepting a scoot from Yamaha stable is a little difficult for the old generation.

As far as I know, all that Yamaha produces are being sold ,and here, the waiting period has increased from 1 month to 3 months. It wont sell like the activa, simply becuase the Ray is not being made in huge quantity

@Ivin: congratulations on your new addition to the family :-)... I have been wondering why no one has been posting their experiences on the Ray out here. Please do keep posting your experiences...

Yamaha would do anything to MAKE and SELL the Ray in as huge numbers as the Activa.

But the (Ray) or for that matter any scooter which competes directly head on with the Activa won't sell in equally huge numbers because the Activa has been the market leader for around Decade. One can't expect a new product to replace a market leader no matter how good the product is.

A decade of being market leader is no mean feat and has the goodwill of the customers and a legacy that is nearly impossible to beat with a similar kind of product.

Other Examples: Bajaj Chetak (at the time when geared scooters were popular), Splendor (in the hard core 100 cc commuter segment), Pulsar 150 (in the 150 cc sporty commuter segment) which are the market leaders in their respective segments for 10+ years.

Thank you. Sure bro, will keep the thread updated
You are right. And I dont think any company would be expecting to beat the market leader in a short span of time. Its very hard to change the customer mind unless, the rival has been in around for quite sometime. I very well know that Yamaha even if they have the capacity(which they dont) to manufacture Ray or in case any other new vehicle, they will never make it in quantity like the decade old Activa for example. They will study , study and study the market and move on. Perhaps the name Ray will stay on for a decade, or perhaps a replacement might come. Who knows

One place, where Yamaha got it wrong, was attaching the "female" tag to the scoot. Its great for the guys as well. I am 5'8" and 85 kg, still comfortable with the sitting position and power delivery. Would have attract the college goer average build guys, had Yam projected it as just another metrosexual scoot.

Yes, Yamaha got that wrong. But have you seen the new brochures? Female is nowhere to be seen ? Did they wake up?

I agree with both you. It is promoted more as scooter for gals. Even their brochures are printed in pink.
If it was marketed as an Unisex scooter, the sales figures might have increased many fold.

Some pics of my Yamaha Family. Hope it will grow soon to bigger capacities




























I havent been riding the Ray too much to say the least since I just cannot get off the YZF Baby even after 1.5 years of pure riding pleasure

Bro how is that possible.. Cant believe what i see.... How is that R15 as good as new??? Plz tell me your secret Dashboards are pure black. waaaa :O you use any dashboard polish? Even though i take care of my bike scratches in silencer are unavoidable and few scratches here and there.

Congrats Ivin!

Never use any polish for Dashboard. Thats the mantra. Not yet a single scratch on my bike, or infact on any that I used in the past years
Thank you bro