.....moreover ur RVM looks different from which bike u change them

Ownership Report: (8months, 16000km)

Hi guys, here's my Ownership Report after owning my R15 for 8 months. You might think 8 months isn't enough to really know a machine, but i've completed 16000km of touring, commuting and hooliganism on this amazing machine. For guys in a hurry, please skip the first paragraph.

The Decision to buy the R15:

I've always wanted to own my own piece of machinery on 2 wheels, but was restricted from buying one by my parents who considered bikes to be dangerous and just a cheap means of transport. I cut my teeth on my mum's 1988 Kinetic Honda ZX that is almost as old as me. An awesome scooter in my opinion - fast, smooth and ever-so-flickable. The bike was in top condition as my dad maintained it diligently. Spent much more on its upkeep than what it was actually worth. It was finally sold for a measly sum of Rs. 4000/- and boy was I heartbroken to see that bike go.. It was partner (whenever i could steal it from mum) through many a round of loafing, night-outs and signal-to-signal drags. It was sold coz mum 'upgraded' to an electric scooter.

By this time I was done with college and was about to enter the 'Real World'. Pestered my parents to finally buy me a bike as I would need it to travel, and settled on the Honda CBF-Stunner. The parents agreed to buy me this bike on the condition that I paid them back, and I agreed (who wouldnt). A GREAT beginners bike for sure! Stable, reliable and good mileage.. Had a blast on it till I got a taste of touring, and then I realised the small 125cc engine and short-ratio transmission weren't up to cruising at more than 60km/hr. I started thirsting for a performance machine with a higher cruising speed and which could climb hills with ease. I'd heard of the R15 but was very ignorant, thinking that it was an over-priced 150cc bike. Man, was I ever so wrong. I started reading up on bikes online, many thanks here to mouth-shut.com and xBhp.com that made me make up my mind on the R15. I was glued to xBhp's ownership thread for almost 14hrs a day. Reviews of the R15 were an eye opener and I began finding out more about this machine's technology. Was lucky to get a test ride from a friend's friend, tho it was a badly maintained R15. The test ride at the Yamaha Showroom was the decisive factor and I set my heart on buying the bike. The feeling the moment I sat on the bike was in-describable. THIS was what i wanted, and it just felt sooo right!

The showroom offered me 45k for my 6 month old Stunner and I was more than happy to accept this, more so as 45k was the downpayment for the R15. Booked the bike at Perfect Riders, Lalbagh and then began the nail-biting wait for the object of my desires to arrive. Many thanks to the members of xBhp for helping immensely throughout this period by providing much-needed reading material and knowledge! 10 days later I was told my bike would arrive, so I bunked work and headed to the Yam showroom. Was made to wait about 2 hours, and then they wheeled in my beautiful red R15! It was just washed, and was dripping wet, making it look all the more spectacular.. I could hardly wait for the SVC guys to dry it and finish with their polishing. Signed the paperwork and I was off.. The feeling of riding a spanking new bike out of the showroom is the best feeling in the world and I wish every biker out there experiences this atleast once! My R15 felt like the epitome of smoothness and grandeur.. Headed straight to the bunk as there was hardly a litre of fuel in the tank. Tanked-up and headed home through rush-hour traffic. The radiator fan kept coming on, making me grin all the more! and the attention! Everyone on the road seemed to have only eyes for this gleaming Red Beauty! And it felt HUGE with the full fairing and wide mirrors! I was elated at how at ease I felt on my machine although it was the first ride, and that too in Bangalore's crazy rush-hour traffic. My parents, who thought I was totally bat-shit crazy when i told them i was changing bikes, were totally spellbound by the bike and my dad even said "Youngsters today are so lucky to have access to such beautiful machinery".

After showing off the bike to my parents, I set off to meet my buddies who were eagerly waiting to see my newest 'partner' and were even more excited than me! They moaned and crooned over it, everyone wanted to sit on it and touch it and hear the sound of the engine! I remember how careful of the bike I was those days, never letting anyone get too close, and getting paranoid about parking the bike just about anywhere..

The Riding Experience:

After the initial days of euphoria and pure un-adulterated joy began the journey of living with the bike. I had the usual aches and pains in the wrists and back for the first 3 days, i guess ur posture or ur body adjusts to the riding position, coz i was very very comfy after those 3 days. And its an amazing position, gives u a commanding yet comfortable stance on the speed-demon. The running-in period was a joy as the rpm limit was 5000rpm which was good enough to do about 70km/hr easily. Did the running-in religiously and dropped the bike into the SVC for the 1st Service in just 6 days! The service centre guy's face was like - I found it too funny.. The first service was splendid, for the bike felt much free-er and revvy. And i kept noticing the exhaust note getting louder and more bassy as the km's blew by. I was really bitten by the touring bug by now, and was riding to a new destination every weekend. I was more of a lone-rider and used to take-off for a ride whenever i fancied it.. Early mornings, nights when i couldnt sleep, straight after work, just about ANYTIME. and my R15 was the PERFECT companion, constantly teaching me new lessons and improving my riding skills on every ride. This is one forgiving machine and i've missed many fatal accidents due to the precise braking and razor-sharp handling. These incidents just worked towards strengthening my bond with my buddy the R15.

I think i've been rambling on a bit too much. Let me get on with the technicalities of the Ownership Report now..
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Looks: Nothing much to be said here, its a beautiful machine and is an attention-grabbing design. It looks every bit a baby-SBK that it is. Even till today, whenever i've stopped for a smoke by the roadside my eyes are always flowing over the beautiful curves and edges. I'm very happy with the bike as it is and wont be changing parts with the 'new-look' R15, whenever it comes out. Will always feel good to own the Original R15 that started a biking revolution!

Performance: The engine is a gem, and many kudos to Yamaha for coming up with it. Feels like a regular 150cc below 5000rpm, kinda wakes up at 6000rpm and blazes forth 7000rpm onwards. I've hit the rev-limiter innumerable times during my many spirited rides. i've noticed it feels best when ur blasting on a curvy road in cold temperatures! The brakes do a commendable job in shaving-off gobs of speed, and is a revelation in what braking should be on bikes. The braking feel and effectiveness far out-performs every indigenously built bike.
All my friends who wanted to compare their machines were invited to a few select deserted roads to drag-race all day. Many went home feeling their machines weren't good anymore, some were surprised and others downright amazed! Only the Pulsar 220 provides suitable competition, and therein lies the awesome thing about this bike, people only compare it with the 220's and nothing less. Imagine if yamaha came up with a 200 or 250cc R25 or somethin! Makes me shiver in anticipation! The engine is also supremely smooth and can be kept in the power-band all day long.. The biggest plus-point for a tourer. I attained a max speed of 145km/hr fully crouched, and that blew my socks off as i weigh about 82kgs and i'm 5'9.

Mileage: Being Indians, mileage is a big factor for many. I bought the bike with the notion that if I got about 30kmpl i'd be happy, so i wasnt disappointed ever! Got about 43kmpl during running-in and have been getting anything between 30 - 42 kmpl consistently depending on riding style. The worst i got was 27kmpl during a high speed ride with some xBhp Ninja's!
Enuf said.

Maintenance: Since I was riding an average of 3000-3500 kms a month, I've been servicing my bike monthly. The service centres are just ok in my opinion. Good for just a regular service but found lacking if there were any problems. I've had many situations when i've wanted to punch the SVC guys in the face coz they'd screw up my clutch setting or give my bike back worse then the way i'd left it. But somehow always managed to get them to straighten out all the trouble. My main issues have always been with vibes, but realised that the 38B model R15's are prone to vibes and loudness of engine note. Maintained mineral oil (Rs. 220/-) till the 3rd service, then switched over to Yamalube Semi-Synth (Rs. 415/-) after 6000km on the ODO.
Ran on that oil for more than another 6000km, and it was satisfactory. Tried out Agip Fully Synth (5W40, Rs. 620/-) during my 5th service and wasnt too happy with it. Gear shifts were a bit clunky and vibes would creep in once the engine heated up. Probably coz the oil was too thin. Changed over to Motul 5100 Semi-Synth (Rs. 425/-) during 6th service and I'm VERY happy with this oil. Will continue using this oil from here on. Gearshifts feel very positive, vibes reduce and the exhaust sounds a little extra-bassy.
Since I service my buddy every month, its been about 1000-1200 bucks every month. I'd had a crash a few months ago and spent about Rs. 2000/- on fixing up the RHS fairing, mirror, etc. With part prices dropping, things are only getting better.

Living with it: The bike is a joy on highways and a bit of a mixed bag in city traffic. Riding in heavy traffic puts a strain on the wrists because of constant braking, and the heat from the radiator fan is a nightmare on hot sunny days with heavy traffic. The R15 is also fun to ride in the city because of its flickability and poise. Long rides do take a toll on the wrists, shoulders and back, but is easily remedied by taking breaks every 45mins - 1 hr. Plain and simple working out at the gym to strengthen muscles wud also help!
I haven't faced any issues with my alloys bending or such although i've encountered bad roads and HUGE potholes on my rides. I think only a high-speed impact with a crater of a pothole would cause a problem. So the quality of the alloys isnt an issue for me. Air does seem to escape from the tire faster than an ordinary tyre. I recommend people to check their air-pressure once a week. It reduces by 2-5 psi every week.
Chain lubing needs to be done constantly, especially in wet weather, and is my biggest grouse with the machine. The sound of a dry chain is especially irritating. I havent taken too much care of my chain and its already on setting 5 in 16000kms of riding.
The suspension is brilliant, and although you can feel small cracks and splits in the road, its never un-comfortable and gladly takes on bumps, drops and the rest smoothly. I love the 'squish' sound the forks make when negotiating a speed-hump or pothole! Build quality is brilliant on this Yam and nothing rattles or squeaks even today.
Tyres are just BRILLIANT and provide superb amounts of grip and feedback on wet or dry tarmac. Be careful on gravel or sand tho, things get pretty harrowing in such situations if you're not careful.

Conclusion: I hope i've managed to type out all my thoughts here in this report. I'm most happy to answer questions on anything that i've left out. Also, forgive my bland and simple english!
The Yamaha YZF-R15 is one of the best things to have happened to bikers of our performance-machine starved country. Yamaha have really shown us what a good quality machine is all about. Just try and compare the R15 to any other 150cc machine currently in production (barring the Honda Unicorn ) and you will see that the baby R1 is leagues ahead in every aspect. It is a pure bred machine with the genes of the ultimate Yamaha - The R1. This is a bike that will teach you the finer nuances of biking, and will also show you what owning a SBK is all about. Its sad that Yamaha haven't managed to provide adequate training or knowledge to their service staff. but all in all, I think my decision to buy the R15 was the best choice i've made in my life, and i'm very VERY happy with my investment. I'm looking forward to many thousand miles of exploration, touring and just pure biking on this amazing machine! Cheers and happy riding to all..

P.S. - For the xBhpians i've met: I'm still paying my mum back for the Stunner, along with the EMI's for my R15. Now you know why i'm perennially broke!

Tibby-boy, is your new 6W taillight workin alright? Is it brighter since its 1W more than stock?

Yes. Its always been like this.
Unfortunately, there are lots of irrelevant posts adding to that count. Some people use this thread for one-on-one chatting.
The quality of this thread has gone down lately.


Chain lube is a consumable for which the SVC can charge you. Its however not necessary that all SVCs will charge for it.

If you are using semi-synth again, why would the bike feel different!! It will give the same smoothness as was before the oil change, isn't it?

If you mean to say the bike is rough, MAYBE the jokers at the SVC didn't change the oil, or just topped it up. I'm probably jumping to a conclusion, but this could be one reason for the harshness (if any).

Its surprising dude, as i also did my second service yesterday and after that i felt the bike was revving much more freely and you didnt note any difference

Hi guys and admin,

I am in plan of buying R15 after reading all the reviews in xbhp. Now. pl guide me...i am 5'6", will R15 suit me...pl i need help

Guys will the 15 be able to cruise doing triple digit speed ? A friends is interested in buying 1 and loves to tour and was not impressed by 220s performance on highway

^^ thanks, we drove the 220 for 160kms odd, mixed with stretches and twisties, it seemed to run outta breath after doing the whole journey, but we loved the 220s accleration, any ideas to improve the baby 1's pulling power ?