Finally answered the call of the Blue - Brought home a Yamaha YZF R3

Personally, the R3 is not any normal bike purchase for me, but a super emotional one for many reasons.

BHPian V.Max recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Continuing from where I left:

This was my first article in this mega forum: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...5-5-lakhs.html

For the above thread, I got great responses which helped me solve my almost 4-yr enigma! So, welcome one, welcome all into the initial impressions, buying & ownership experience of my first Supersports bike - The BS6 / Euro 5 Yamaha YZF R3 (Icon Blue), a CBU Import from the land of 1000 islands - Indonesia!

I wasn't sure of adding this to older R3 threads / to my original article. But considering the gap of 4 years before which Yamaha got the R3 back and that my personal conundrum (about which I’ve written earlier) won't have much relevance to actual ownership experience, I'm making a new thread. If the admins deem fit, I request them to kindly move my article to the appropriate thread. Thank you once again for giving me the platform to share my ownership experience.

Background:

Was always a car nut with my interest going back to me as little as 5 perhaps? However, my interest in bikes started much, much later, say around 27. Precisely during the time of Covid 2020. Thanks to Motovlogging, my interest in bikes took off spectacularly with an increasing desperation to change my then 6 yr old bike!

When I got my first bike (around 22 y.o), it was an easy decision - Get a reliable and good-looking ride. The automatic choice was the well-established chart topper - The 2014 BS 3 FZ-S! A ravishing red one at that! Gave it a good bit of TLC recently. Will share an ownership experience if folks here ask for it! Sharing a couple of pics of “Red” (named after Red in the Angry bird movie) here below:

Fast forward 4 years after getting stung by the change-the-bike bug, I still couldn't make up my mind as to which bike suits my needs. In a way, I suffered from problem of plenty (of data), since I developed a knack of picking atleast 1 massive deal-breaking downside for each of the sub 5-Lakh bike on sale in India. I consumed so much motorcycle content that I could easily to come up with reasons to not get a particular bike. Whoever said Ignorance is a bliss, was damn right!

Advice to my younger self - Just get a good bike and enjoy it. They're all good and the ones who buy it, buy it for a reason. The collective wisdom of lakhs of people in buying a model of bike cannot be outmatched by any one person’s conviction. So, don't waste time over analyzing. Time lost can never be had again.

The Challengers I Perused:

I’m mentioning only the things that kept me away from these proven performers. They are nonetheless brilliant as their owners are having a swell time with them! So, I’m honestly happy for those owners too

Aprilia RS 457: Too much tech (means costlier replacement costs & inaccessible to even simple repairs by FNGs), high service costs (explained later), less service touch points, spares availability & the biggest unknown - long-term ownership experience (quality, longevity, Aprilia Support etc.).

Ninja 300: Very, very, low ground clearance, engine heat in city, NO noteworthy updates in 10 years (yet its good), very high service costs (explained later), only 32 touch points Pan India & spares availability.

Ninja 500/Eliminator 500: Couldn’t afford + the service issues I mentioned above.

RE 650s: All the four 650s are heavy bikes and the air-cooled engines get pretty warm in Chennai’s soaring heat.

RE 450s: Both 450s have prominent vibrations and the small fuel tank in the Gueriilla 450 was a no for me.

Honda CB300R: Puny fuel tank, Less service touchpoints & low availability of spares.

Honda NX500: Couldn’t afford + high service costs (2 X more expensive than its predecessor CB500X), touchpoints and spares issue

HD 440/ Mavrick 440: No top end performance.

KTM 200/250/390 & the Husqvarna counterparts: They all have a certain amount of vibration, that’s not to my taste. Typical single cylinder character they say. I beg to differ (See how the CB300R is! Gruff engine, but doesn’t vibrate). Even the RC 200 vibrates a little too much.

Dominar 400: Outdated and soon to be replaced, Engine Vibrations.

NS 400Z: Not touring ready. Small fuel tank, built to a cost as evident in rear tyres being non radial. Vibrations.

Triumph 400s: Speed 400 is not rev happy at its peak power zone, while the Scram’s sprockets limit its top end.

BMW / TVS 310: NO updates in the past 7 years, Vibrating engine, service cost of BMW & service quality of TVS.

Jawa / Yezdi 2.0 – All their engines have been tuned to have lesser top end now. Also, some say they vibrate, some say they heat up. Reviews are confusing.

Suzuki 250s: The toughest one for me to let go. The first time I rode a bike was when I was 13. It was my dad’s Max 100R. A sweet lil’ rocket, which I used to annoy the more powerful 4 stroke Pulsars lol. Suzuki service was iffy according to few folks in this forum. Plus, my personal bad experience with a local Suzuki dealer made it worse.

People with eagle eyes would have noted that I put more focus on the service and spares part, That’s true. Also, engines with high compression ratio are not to my taste (which I discovered later).

Barring the 2 Kawasaki 500s, Hero-Harley 440, NS 400Z & NX500, I test drove all the other bikes! So, I’m not shooting my opinions wildly here.

One can trust me on merit as well since I’m not a Yamaha fan! I like Yamaha. But I wasn’t a fan and isn’t a fan of the brand. I’m just someone who appreciates a well put together package (case in point the R3). The OEMs I tested above are the ones I REALLY RESPECT. There is no brand hatred per se on my part here.

So anyway, why the R3:

1. Low service cost (explained later). Spares availability for R3/MT03 is unknown though.
2. More than 300 blue square outlets Pan India. So atleast 200+ service outlets too?
3. Superb engine. Worst case, it buzzes a bit. But never vibrates.
4. Excellent fuel efficiency when driven sanely (35 kmpl in the highway)
5. Doesn’t heat up too much in city.
6. Sufficient ground clearance.
7. Has hazard lights, which the RS 457 & Ninja 300 do not offer. Yes, it’s important to me and I want it as a stock fitment in my bike. Not interested in messing with the electricals by adding the Simtac units.

Cons in my opinion:

1. A price which says “don’t even think about it / don’t even touch it with a 10-foot pole”.
2. No updates to the engine in almost 10 years! Works fine anyway.
3. Pillion seat is laughable (small and high). Yet to test the comfort part though!
4. Lack of touring accessories offered by Yamaha India.

Fast forward to recent times - End of 2023-ish:

After 5+ years of reading general motorcycle forums, model/bike specific user forums, reading global reviews, watching reputed YouTube reviews of journos from every country a model was being sold in and every terrain it was being operated at, my own R&D into the level of R&D put in by the OEM in showing commitment to developing their platform further, taking cues from user/ownership reviews from multiple continents, languages & my own discussion with friends, I had a lot of info and felt confident of making a perfectly well-informed decision. Hence the R3!

There are too many reasons to list as to why one can get the R3 apart from the 7 points above. But the long story short version is that the R3 by far had the least number of complaints/demerits by both critics as well as owners! It’s a rarity to see the level of adulation a single model could garner. Yamaha did it and Boy didn't they absolutely nail it!

Ideally its due for an upgrade in 2025 with fanboys wish lists like:

1. Deltabox frame like R1 & R6 (maybe?),
2. Bigger & chunky USDs from the R15
3. Traction control (multiple levels . . . maybe?) & cornering ABS from R7.
4. Colour TFT console from R15, with TBT navigation (maybe?) and Bluetooth connectivity
5. Ride-by-wire. And riding modes (maybe?)
6. Quick Shifter (Optional).
7. Adjustable suspension (Optional).

Should these be added, the cost escalation seems scary. However, if Yamaha are hearing this, I request them to consider parts sharing of not only the turn signals across all models, but also apply that to other parts say from the R15M. You know, parts like Colour TFT, bigger USD forks, Traction control software & Quick shifter which can all be bolted on the Gen- 3 R3 which should currently be under development (I hope). And FYI, folks in the UK get Yamaha’s official quick shifter as an accessory for the R3 for £ 198. Lucky them!

My personal preference would be to add just Traction control, TBT navigation integrated into the current LCD screen (like the Suzuki 250s) & an optional Quick shifter. Rest as such makes the bike such a friggin’ dream! Deltabox frame & Adjustable suspension are going to make it a lethal track weapon! So, it’s a no for me as the touring ability of the R3 will diminish then. Ride by wire can also be done away with. Thanks to Aprilia for spoiling us with unreal expectations!

THE BIG NEWS

When news began pouring in that R3 is staging a comeback in India, I was going nuts, while also remaining cautious as Yamaha can sometimes become a Honda while pricing their bikes. And true to that, it was a bomb of a news at 4.65 lakhs ex showroom! It should have ideally been the on-road price of the bike. But Yamaha shattered my heart and plunged me into a week-long depression. The realization of not being able to buy that one bike which you looked forward to for 4 years was crushing! I collected myself, cursed Yamaha and poured all my grief across social media. Took 6 months to calm down lol.

Did my analysis once again. Was surprised to know that Yamaha retails the R3 at the same price in USA, while being more expensive in Brazil, which is another location where the R3 is assembled apart from Indonesia. Thanks to the Free Trade Agreement between India and Indonesia, R3 could be had here at the price at which it is retailing now. Otherwise, we’re taking about R3 being sold for 8+ lakhs. Yikes! Yamaha can break hearts, but they’re not that stupid to bring the R3 at that price.

With this new-found info in my mind, I almost convinced myself to get the R3. But here comes the however part –

Despite ruling out the RS 457 & Ninja 300 off my brain, my heart wasn’t ready to accept it. There’s so much useful tech in the RS 457 while being ₹ 35000 cheaper, while the Ninja 300 is a full ₹ 1.23 lakhs cheaper! Features and money really talk I say! With the RS 457 tempting us with a solid overall package and the Ninja 300 staking a claim with its proven legacy, I once again found myself in a quandary on picking one of the 3: R3, Ninja 300 & RS 457.

And so I hit the ground running once again to deep dive into the cost of ownership/after sales side of the Ninja-verse and the RS 457-verse. Wasn’t satisfied with the super high service costs, spares & service touchpoints (only 32 Pan India locations for Kawasaki) and wasn’t convinced with the sophisticated tech’s longevity, high service costs and the unknown ASS quality of the 457.

Found the Ninja 300 debiting your bank account by ₹ 7500 - ₹ 11,000 (depending on regular service or extensive service) for every 6000 kms.

As for the RS 457, its 1st free service costs ₹ 3000 and 2nd free service costs ₹ 5000 according a YouTube source. This is without labour. With labour, the costs are definitely in Ninja 300 territory for sure! Apart from the 5000 for the 2nd service, the Youtuber had also changed the brake pads for ₹ 2000 separately, prior to the 2nd service. So, the 2nd service according to me is ₹ 7000, excluding labour! That’s Ninja 300 territory again.

By the way, according to the Youtuber, the RS 457 shares the front brake pads with the Gen 2 Duke 390. Same brand, type of pad (Double H), part number and price!

So considering all these costs, I finally made up my mind for good! It was the R3. Done. Dusted. Period. Dot (Dr. Vaseegaran Rajini style).

I finally picked the Call of the Blue. No more signal issues/missed calls lol. Time for Yes Yamaha! No more Bhass Yamaha! (stolen phrase from Shumi, MotorINC)

Personally, the R3 is not any normal bike purchase for me, but a super emotional one for many reasons.

One year I’m in a job, and then the next year I’ve changed it!
One year I see close friends go through their happiest highs and another year I see none of them to be in touch.
One year I got married. The very next year I’m not married!
One year my folks at home are healthy, but the next year there was a silent cardiac arrest for dad!
It has been more of shocks & lows with not many highs for me at 32. But I’m also pretty sure most people have gone through bigger bouts of downs than me. All said, I’m eternally thankful to the almighty for all the lessons taught. As they say, what doesn’t kill you, makes you strong. And as mentioned in the MS Dhoni movie, “the scoreboard keeps moving”. Life has to go on isn’t it?

This purchase has been a depression defeating, self-pampering purchase. I’ve spent too many years asking myself, “do I deserve it?”. What I realised is, you need to summon that Dunkirk spirit and tell yourself, “its ok, go for it. If YOU don’t like yourself, who else will?”

Fortitude? Mettle? Tenacity? Call it whatever you want, it’s the absolute need during an adversarial hour!

The buying experience: Very Short & Straightforward

The R3 retails for an astronomical ₹ 5.5 lakhs OTR Chennai. Our brethren at North-East can get it for as low as 4.8 lakhs I hear! Good for them. Started making a handful of enquiries and got good responses. Within a span of 10 days, I got the deal done and within a further 7 days later, I took delivery. Here are some pictures, taken at each stage:

1. Arrival of the crate from dealer’s yard.

2. Unboxing the crate.

3. Thorough dusting and washing.

4. PDI as per Yamaha checklist. Three aspects - Physical, mechanical and electronical.

5. The OBD was also connected for the first time showing 2 error codes. Nothing worrisome. It was reset quickly and the parameters were checked again. It was all green and good to go! Incidentally, I saw the Quick shifter option in the OBD menu somewhere. So that means the R3 can be quick shifter equipped. It’s just that Yamaha India has decided to not bring it here, while Yamaha UK sells it officially.

6. Time for delivery of my most expensive possession. There was subtle fanfare like flying confetti, a few hesitant claps from folks around. But I was filled with LOADS of contentment, tears of joy and satisfaction of being over and done with a 4-yr old head ache!

Initial riding impressions-

What I heard:

1. The engine is smooth-ish. It’s not Kawasaki smooth and has a smidge of buzz to know its working for you.
2. The engine doesn’t heat up too much, has got decent low-end torque.
3. The fairing design is so good it diverts the hot air around your legs (kind of doubt it).
4. Perfect rider triangle! Not too committed by loading up your spine and hands and not too upright by loading your butt. Just the perfect balance for the 5’ 10”, 77 kg frame like me.
5. Gives you fabulous fuel economy if driven sanely. Typical Yamaha trait! Heck, even the R1 can give you 20 kmpl! Yes yes yes, nobody buys an R1 for fuel efficiency. Still, es fabuloso!!!
6. Emits an orgasmic scream post 7000 rpm going all the way up to 12000+ rpm (yet to test).
7. Isn’t rev shy and truly “revs your heart”. If you know, you know!

What I felt:

Basically, the R3 is supposed to be a non-heating, non-vibrating beast. Let me tell you! IT ISN’T ONE . . . . . . . . . YET!

Drove 11 kms to home after delivery. Didn’t feel anything to be off. The next day, I woke up early morning on a Sunday and I took my first long ride of the bike to Iraniyamman temple at Perungalathur, Chennai. The temple has a female deity to whom motorists (mostly heavy vehicle drivers) offer prayers for a safe journey & protection from accidents.

Nothing uneventful until I got there. But hang on, my funny struggle was just about to unfold. I parked the bike closer to the temple’s entrance. When I removed the keys, it accidentally slipped into the gaping hole around the clip-on handlebars and wedged itself perfectly into the inside part of the left side faring lol. One of the temple shopkeepers came and asked me “what’s up?”. I told him what had happened. He quickly got an iron rod shape like a “S”, located the wedged key and got it out in just 2 minutes. In the process, we both felt the radiator and man it was sizzling hot for a sedate, short 10 km ride from my residence to the temple!

I guess that’s down to the mineral oil, which is incapable of keeping a high revving engine like that sane & cool, which is perfectly understandable (I guess).

Offered my respects to the deity, said my prayers and I was off. Took it for a long-ish spin on the Chennai Outer Ring Road to put it through its paces. In few short bursts of 6500 rpm, it was pulling like a freight train. NEVER CROSSED 100 kph & 6000 rpm for a prolonged period.

Read the user manual about engine break-in. Until 1000 kms, one should not engage in prolonged operation above 6000 rpm. Between 1000 - 1600 kms, one should not engage in prolonged operation above 7200 rpm. From 1601, its locked, loaded and ready to launch!

Coming from a 150 CC FZ, any engine bigger than that is always going to be buzzy and hot for me. So, I’m being cautious with my 2 cents here:

The Bike’s hot (figuratively and literally)

The entire riding experience was mechanically a breeze, but for the searing heat, thanks to the mineral oil. Interestingly, the radiator turned on only 2 times during the entire 110+ kms ride. The fairing is also shaped in such a way the heat is sometimes directed on to the legs! *contrary to what a couple of trusted reviewers said*

As a result, I had to place my feet at the outer edge of the foot pegs and open up my legs like a frog to cool off a few times. I felt the heat despite wearing jeans pants and sports shoes. Also, the petrol tank felt a little warm near the crotch. So, I’m super desperate to complete the first 1000 kms and get rid of this oil for good!

Good Vibes? Not yet. But we’re getting there!

One more aspect that I noted was the buzz. Felt my hands to be too buzzy and took 3 breaks once every 35 kms. What I felt was a tingling sensation in my hands every time I took a break. Was a little worried that the bike isn’t as advertised or criticised by many. Hence when I came home, I took a closer inspection of the bike. Discovered that the bar ends of the clip-ons were loose on both sides! Neither super loose nor negligibly loose. It was medium loose (rotatable by hands) and it needs to be tightened soon as!

But credit where its due – The buzz was barely felt on the fairing, petrol tank & the foot pegs. It was just more on the clip-on handle bars, which I believe must be down to those loose bar ends.

Other Aspects

As for clutch, man its tight for a 300 CC bike! For the uninitiated, Yamaha is not offering slipper clutch in R3! The gearbox though is slick shifting and slots well. Did not get false neutrals.

As for rider triangle, I felt zero tiredness for the short 110 km ride. My palm was just baby pink in colour cos the posture is a tinge more committed than my FZ and that’s super fine. Legs felt a bit more crouched than I wanted. But my body can and should adapt to this!

As for fuel economy, it showed an overall 5.5 liters per 100 kms (18 kmpl in city driving) until the first 11 kms.

After the 110 kms longer ride, it came up to 3.3 liters per 100 kms (30 kmpl in highways).

Took it to my workplace, which is a 70-km spin in mixed conditions. Its easily averaging around 2.8 – 3.5 liters per 100 kms (33 kmpl in mixed conditions). This is Admirable and as expected!

Suspension comfort - Although non-adjustable, its tuned to provide the perfect parity of giving track-side stiffness and touring-ready plushness. Just found the sweet spot there! It glides over small potholes and has adequate ground clearance for bigger bumps too.

Finally, the brakes - The disc was smooth and the pads were new. So, I felt no brake bite until I crossed the first 50 kms or so on the ODO. But now I get a feel for the brake bite and it seems sufficient & predictable.

Couple of things the reviewers won’t tell you (Source: the R3 user manual) –

1. Lean angle sensor: The R3 comes equipped with a lean angle sensor, where it stops the engine in case of a turnover. In case you want to turn the bike on again, you should turn the main switch off and then on. Otherwise, the engine will crank, but won’t start.

2. Engine Auto-stop system: The engine stops automatically if left idling for 20 minutes.

Overall this is a bike that finishes 2nd best in everything you throw at it. Don’t think, just buy!

Service intervals:

Here comes the part where Yamaha gets zero publicity and I think that’s unfair! The first service is at 1000 kms. All the subsequent services come at a 10000-km / 6-month interval (whichever is earlier). The best part – Its FREE SERVICES for the 1000 kms, 10000 kms, 20000 kms service intervals which needs to be done at 60 days, 180 days and 365 days respectively!

Saw a video of Youtuber whose BS6 black R3 costed him under ₹ 2500 for the first free service at 1000 kms!!! That’s some sterling stuff innit’? Further, I sat with the service centre team to understand the pricing of a few important spares for the R3:

1. Chain sprocket set - ₹ 6000
2. Fairing - ₹ 6000 per side
3. Front brake pads – ₹ 3000
4. Rear brake pads – ₹ 1000
5. Engine oil & oil filter– All nominally priced as usual.
6. Forgot to ask about the air filter. Bummer! Anyway, it’s a once every 10000 kms replacement part. So not worried

Vahan registration – Sought a Fancy number:

The process is a straight forward one in Tamil Nadu state. If you inform your showroom that you’re going to take a fancy number, they give you an RTO disclaimer paper. Take that to your residence’s nearest RTO along with your Aadhar copy.

They show you the running number series. From this, you can choose any available number within 1000 numbers. For example, if the starting number in the running series is TN 11 BM 4501, then you can choose any available number until TN 11 BM 5501. Normal fancy numbers like 8055, 4848, 5001 etc. are like ₹ 2000. Super fancy numbers like the 1000s and the single digit ones require special permission from the TN Secretariat along with payment of ₹ 40,000 lol. I kid you not.

So here’s what you do - First you pay ₹ 300 as flag day contribution. It goes to our army veterans I hear. After this they allocate a number of your choice and generate a user name and password for you to make a payment of ₹ 2000 in Parivahan portal.

Login with the credentials, make the ₹ 2000 payment, generate a payment receipt in the same portal and show it to the RTO there and share it with your showroom. Essentially what you have done is you booked a fancy number. The rest of the registration process is normal, which the showroom takes care of.

The Evil eye:

Call me superstitious or whatever, I believe in evil eye! I put my bike down once already! Yikes! Almost suffered a cardiac arrest. But the gods are watching. No frame sliders installed yet. However, the bike escaped relatively unscathed. The R3 sticker had a portion of it torn off. I hope it will be the bike’s only scar for the rest of its life!

How it fell – The weight distribution is too perfect and there’s no grab bar. I lifted the bike off its side stand rather enthusiastically and tilted it a little too much on the opposite side! It promptly fell down, albeit super slow thanks to my reflexes. They were quick to tell me “it was at this moment he knew, he messed up”. Within a span of 2 seconds the bike fell, but slowly. Luckily the clip-ons and turn blinkers did not hit the ground! Still figuring out how that is possible!!!

A tip that I will follow from now to avoid a bike fall while maneuvering it: Sit on it with the side stand still on. Remove the stand after sitting and continue maneuvering it to the desired position. Man, I badly need a pillion grab bar.

Upgrades planned:

1. Must get a rear tyre hugger to escape the elephant-style self-slinging of mud.
2. Must get a front bumper extender to protect the down pipes, oil filter and radiator from getting muddy. OR
3. Must get an affordable down pipe grill. Damn they’re expensive everywhere!
4. Must fit OEM Frame Sliders (import from UK. Need some help please)
5. Must fit OEM Quick Shifter (import from UK. Need some help please)
6. PPF for fuel tank and fairing.
7. An LCD screen guard.
8. A metal cover to protect the rear disc brake’s reservoir container from mud.
9. To retrofit the MT15 grab bar onto the R3. Will come in super handy as I have something to hold on to while I pivot the bike on its side stand while parking. The grab bar’s mounting points in both MT15 & R3, are similar, but not same since the screw head seems very different. Need to research about it to understand the feasibility.
10. Get the R6 throttle tube - It elevates the R3's acceleration by many notches I hear! Basically, the R6 throttle tube provides lesser rotation requirement to wring the throttle’s full range.

Zero mechanical mods & electrical mods in my mind. See how specific I was, even about the hazard lights being stock! So, for me, no ECU flashing, no engine oil grade fiddling, no coolant grade fiddling, no performance air filters, no velocity stacks & no exhaust upgrade, even if it is a homologated full system Akrapovic one which is available in the USA. I wouldn’t even get a tail tidy and worry about its legality in India.

My ride shall be bone frigging stock with utilitarian upgrades only as enlisted above. One temptation I find difficult to stay away from is upgrading the hideous single tone horn! Sheesh, it’s horrendous yet loud and functional! The fear of losing warranty for the electricals keeps me thinking and I’m not sure. Want to fit the old Pulsar 220 / R15 dual horn.

The future

Keep a tab on this article. I’m yet to receive a courier from Yamaha. They give a starter kit which consists of a can of RS4GP oil, Yamaha T-shirt, Valentino Rossi style Oakley sunglasses, PVR Gift card worth 3K, Extended warranty & RSA. As for MT03, they give a Casio-G watch instead of the Sunglasses. The other 5 items are the same. Will share pictures of the unboxing as soon as I get it.

More ownership experiences will be updated as promptly as possible. A ton of thanks to all those who read every word this far. I hope to give you all good pointers in deciding about purchasing your very own R3. Trust me, you can never go wrong with an R3! Tips, tricks, hacks to maintain the bike are welcome. I’m all ears. Love & Peace to all.

Best,
V.Max

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