Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Today got the master cylinder kit changed under warranty. Unfortunately, that made zero difference.
The brakes were bled again (properly) too. Checked the calliper internals (piston) everything is fine.
I also checked out the brake feel on some the other R15's at the SVC. They all felt the same.

I guess i was expecting a bit too much in terms of stopping power.
Pads were about half worn out got those changed. As expected, that improved the braking performance quite a bit (less lever travel now).
I feel that the R15's brakes have got good feel and are progressive but in terms of absolute stopping power its not quite up there with the best.
Me thinks steel braided brake lines will help but still haven't found one in Delhi..

Well I think you are wrong the R15 has one of the best stopping power in 150cc segment and also among some higher segments bike in India, which SVC are you visiting. I get scared braking my bike hard in traffic fearing someone would bang me up from behind......

Yamaha YZF-R15

The brakes have great stopping power. In fact, they have enough power to create flexing of inner tubes of forks in extreme circumstances. There is one possibility that I would suggest you consider (not trying to be offensive or degrading); your abilities and skill set. Braking as a form is a art and needs to be mastered as such. Its not an 'on/ off' phenomena. Like the throttle it's a regulator of speed. You say that you tried other R15s and found them to have the same braking power as your bike. So ask yourself if you have mastered the skill enough to exploit the power of the brakes correctly and to the full potential.

Steel braided lines do help, however, the stock lines are not bad at all until you start doing some very heavy braking and brake fade starts to appear.

Guys which is the best and trusted Yamaha service centre in Mumbai?

Effective brake bleeding is not as easy as many of the mechanics think. They are filling fresh fluid in the reservoir, pressing the brake lever a few times and closing everything. Surely there is air trapped in your bike’s brake hose. Besides, there is a possibility of damaged calliper pistons and O rings.
Try a reverse brake bleeding and, if necessary, replace the calliper pistons and its O rings. The stock brake hose need not be changed for about 4 years if it is not leaking.
Please check your PM.

You may be correct but in the entire history of my total riding for about 3, 00,000 kms from 1998, I have never got even a single chance to prepare myself or my bike to brake safely and skilfully at critical situations. When the bike was to hit another vehicle or a pedestrian or a wandering animal, all I did was applying my full force on the brake levers. Brakes are to stop the vehicle.

Today My bike was not getting started after the selfstart! It sounded like false start motor rolling with out any impact like .....krrrrrr..krrrrrr!!

Push started the bike and bike got ignition and rode it upto 5kms at > 5K RPM ....stopped the bike and again used tried the self start it can to life!!

Is it coz battery is old ? or there was really some problem with the starter ???

Very True!! Once my friend had an accident on P150 he had changed his tyres to some more broader one due to which he din't get the policy just coz he was using a different dimension tyre(It was more broader then stock) Even had happen same with one more R15 V1 owner.

Kamla Yamaha, Sewri. See my earlier post in this thread for details and pictures.

My Bike had few minor accidents lately and is full of scratches. Now I think it's high time to do something about it.

I'm considering two things
1) Repaint the whole bike. What would be the cost?
2) Get some good stickers on the scratch areas.

I'm looking for some opinions for the same. Please advice.

Here's how i brake: i lock the heels of my boot against the footrest, grab the tank hard with one or both knees, then start with some lever pressure to load the forks and then rapidly increase to 100%, once a good amount of speed has been shed blip downshift...repeat, then finally, smoothly ease out the brakes.
i don't have an issue with the front losing traction (expect once when i was riding in the wet and on one another occasion, in both cases i didn't lose the front but could hear a howl/squeal from the front so had to promptly ease the lever pressure).

Its just that with half worn out pads the lever travel has increased so much that i am not able to reach max braking because the lever is pressing against my non-braking fingers (two on the throttle).

But you could be right, maybe i am missing something in terms of technique, not sure what that is though.

I didn't actually ride the other R15's, just checked how much travel there is in their brake levers. They all felt roughly the same as mine.
My reference for braking power is the Ninja 250R which i rode last month. My R15 never scares me under hard braking but the Ninja did! :-)

Anyway, after putting in new brake pads its good. Looks like i am going to have to keep changing pads well before they are worn out.

BTW, any idea what material the pads on the R15 are made of (organic or sintered metal) ?

^^^ sintered...

Master cylinders don't go kaput in 50k or 100K, and hence the FOC replacement. FOC = Free of Cost.

You can either just replace the clutch bell or even just overhaul the same clutch bell to kill the extra freeplay.

Regarding the death grip, well, let's talk about it on PM, but the basic idea is never to use engine braking to slow down your bike - use brakes! I know, this goes against the popular belief, and I would be trashed here for saying so, but trust me, this is something which is taught in Motorcycle Racing 101. Panic braking is an exception to this rule.

Are you by any chance talking about 20P to 38B? because I can't think of reason why anybody would want to switch from 20P clutch assembly to that of 38B

Expensive affair! You will also have to change the push lever assy. Overall, not worth the money. I started off with 3K, and ended up spending upwards of 6K including multiple oil drains over a span of 100 - 150kms.

Increased? It was 1200 bucks for rear pads some two years ago

Half worn out brake pads should perform just as well as a new brake pad, or did I get something wrong?

+1 Agreed on the reverse bleeding part! Most mechanic really do a sorry job at bleeding brakes.

Survival reactions can cause a human being to do things, which can make a controllable situation worse.

If you are specific on your braking requirements, spend some cash on those Daytona rotors! In my tries, I found the Daytona rotors + steel braided lines to be slightly better than Ninja 250's braking

Check the spec of the master cylinder in the Service Manual and fill appropriate quantity of brake fluid. Seems like you are running on low brake fluid.

cool, thanks for the info.
TBH, i am quite tempted to get it, but its not in stock right now at the nearby dealer. Plus, it comes as a set (radial master cylinder, rotor etc) and nobody there is able to give me any clear answers about specific questions such as will they sell stock and sell individual parts etc. From what i gathered the few Daytona parts they have sold have mostly been the FFE. So i don't know if its a good idea to go for it.
In my area R15 (especially V2) is mainly used as a tool for posing. There are some who ride at full throttle (all the time) through traffic (drag racers) and the remaining majority who have probably never cross 5k rpm (forget about cornering and all). i am yet to see/meet a 'good rider' here.. :-)

Thanks for reply..but even I go there .. I find it very far from where I stay (Mulund).
Yes but they are reliable especially Rakesh is around.