News

My Yamaha R15 V2 Special Edition: How I fulfilled my dream 8 years ago

21st August 2024, 12:34 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

It is my first motorcycle that I bought out of my hard-earned money and it will always have a special place in my life.

BHPian TheStalwart recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I'd like to start this ownership review with the very first bike that I bought. It is a story of how I got my hands on a Special Edition R15 V2.0.

Backstory:

Back when I was in high school, Yamaha launched the R15. I was attracted by its looks. I think this was the very first small-capacity faired bike that I had come across. Since I was still in school, I did not have much hope of getting one anytime soon, although it remained a dormant dream to own a bike someday. I'd just admire the bike whenever I came across one on the road.

After a couple of years, Yamaha launched the next version of R15, the V2.0. I had just stepped into my college life and the second iteration of the bike caught my attention. Many of my friends and acquaintances owned one. Whenever I got a chance to ride one, I realized that it brought a very wide smile to my face. I had an inclination towards faired motorcycles than the naked ones and the R15 was a perfect 150cc segment sports bike for me.

But considering the circumstances at home, I knew I couldn't get one at that point. I had to plan for it after getting a job. I'd visit the Yamaha website every now and then, to see what all colours are available. Yamaha used to refresh the colour schemes very often. In my opinion, the black with gold was such a lovely combination.

In 2015, they launched a special edition colour scheme called Streaking Cyan

I instantly fell in love with that colour scheme and knew that it would be the one for me! Had the urge to buy my first bike, and what more could I ask for, when there's a special edition to begin the journey with? I transitioned from campus to corporate and had already started saving money right from my first salary. There were other powerful options available - like the Honda CBR250R and Yamaha R3, but they were way above my budget. Though I loved the CBR250R, I knew it was out of my league. I decided to keep that as an upgrade at a later point. The Honda CBR150R was also in the market. But in my opinion, it was nowhere close to the R15 in terms of performance, looks and quality. It didn't even have an engine kill switch, which for me is very crucial in Bangalore's traffic conditions. Since I was clear with what I wanted, I did not consider any other options at all.

The Hunt:

The colour scheme was refreshed at the start of 2016. There were 3 new colours (Revving Blue, Sparky Green or Adrenaline Red) out of which I didn't like any. I badly wanted the special edition. It was already March 2016. Made numerous calls to many showrooms in Bangalore, but everyone gave just one reply - "The special edition is not in stock anymore. We are not sure if we would get any since the colours have been refreshed. Buy the blue one instead. It is a really nice colour". Desperate, I asked my cousin to help me with the search. Finally, after a week, my cousin called me up. He said there was a showroom in Mysore road, which had only one unit available and that we had to take a decision soon. My parents never put any restrictions on me. They knew they couldn't sit behind an R15, but if I was happy with it, that was all that mattered to them. The decision was pretty straightforward, or so I thought!

The Booking & Payment:

The showroom was nearly 25Kms away from where I lived, but it was close to where my cousin lived. This meant that I could go there only during weekends, considering my office timings. The usage of UPI was non-existent at that time. I had no choice but to wait till the weekend. Meanwhile, I asked my cousin to make a payment of Rs.1,000 towards the booking, which he did. The on-road price was 1.46L. I was planning to pay 60k as a downpayment and take a two-wheeler loan for the remaining amount since I didn't want to drain my entire savings.

As planned, I visited the showroom during the weekend and paid an initial sum of 60k. They said they would let me know about the loan process in a couple of days since the finance official was unavailable that day. I had never taken any loan before and had no idea what the process was. I was very naïve and simply agreed. I asked them to show me the bike but they said it was in another stock yard which was far [Make note of this point]. I didn't dig into it further since this was actually the "last" unit in Bangalore and I was blinded by the joy of finding myself a special edition R15 V2.0.

Now, things wouldn't be so easy, would it? Mid-week the sales representative called and told me that there was someone willing to pay the full amount and buy the bike. I badly wanted the bike and couldn't just let it go that easily. If you look at the situation from another angle, they were just trying a few tricks to push things quicker. It all makes sense to me now, but back then, I was very inexperienced and couldn't think this through. I told them to give me time till the weekend. After sweeping my account, I could manage to amass another 60k. I was still short of 25k and time was running out. They said I could transfer my booking to one of the newer colours. After a lot of contemplation, I decided to roll out the last trick up my sleeve. When I got a job, I opted for a credit card during the bank account creation. Since it was a lifetime free card, I thought it might be of some help during any emergency. I visited the showroom at the weekend, swiped my credit card and completed the entire payment. That was it! I somehow managed to pull it off. I was very elated to have purchased my first bike.

The Delivery:

On 23rd March 2016, the sales representative called me and informed me that the bike had arrived at their showroom. I asked my cousin to visit the showroom once and inspect the bike. He dropped by the showroom and did a quick inspection. He informed me that everything looked fine, and confirmed that it was indeed the colour I wanted. The bike was just dusty, which was expected/normal. Just a couple of days away from the delivery. On 25th March 2016, after finishing work, I headed straight to my uncle's house and stayed there for the night.

On 26th March 2016, it was finally time for me to take the delivery of my first bike. Reached the showroom on time and waited while they prepped the bike for delivery. The moment was mine, and I took the delivery of my R15 V2.0. As it was brought down the ramp, I noticed that the left side mirror was a bit loose. I asked the sales representative to adjust it. They called a mechanic and in an attempt to fix it, he yanked the mirror a little too hard. It scraped the number plate and there was a big scratch on the stem of the mirror. That scratch was too hard for me to handle. I asked them to replace the mirror immediately. They said they did not have it in stock and promised to replace it during the first service. I took it in writing from them so that they don't flip later.

Since my cousin helped me so much in this entire process, I asked him to take the first ride. We took the bike to my uncle's house and got a customary pooja performed. I stayed there for the night. I was very excited to return home and show the bike to my parents. I was looking forward to taking it to the office every day.

Pardon the poor quality of the pictures. My phone's camera wasn't up to the mark at that time.

For the gamers out here, notice the special edition font. It is almost similar to the NFS Most Wanted font

The simple yet elegant instrument cluster

Post Delivery:

The next day, I took the bike home and showed it to my parents. They don't have much knowledge about automobiles but were very happy that I was able to get what I wanted. I was eagerly waiting for the registration number for the bike. The sales representative gave me some odd reasons for not having it registered before giving the delivery, even though I paid the entire amount instead of availing a two-wheeler loan. Just a couple of days I thought. After having waited for so long, just another week didn't seem to bother me much. Every day, before leaving for office, and after coming back from office, I would just stand and stare at my bike, admiring its beauty. It was one of the many dreams that I had, and it finally materialized.

After around 3-4 days, I got the registration number for the bike. I got it stickered on the number plate. HSRP was not even a thing back then and people used it as an opportunity to show their creativity on number plates. I wasn't a fan of all that and selected a simple, legible font though. I took a photocopy of the necessary documents like insurance, RTO payment slip etc. and kept it in the tiny storage space under the pillion seat. The RC card would be sent to my house address after a few weeks. I started taking the bike to the office and it became my daily ride. The first day I took it to the office, almost everyone in my team got a picture clicked with it. In the entire campus, my R15 was the only one with the Streaking Cyan color scheme, which was indeed unique. Just by combing through the parking lot, one could determine if I was in the office or not.

There's one small catch though. After I got the RC card, the colour of the bike was mentioned as "GP Blue". Now, whether the showroom changed the panels and converted a "GP Blue" bike to "Streaking Cyan" or not, I don't know. I did call them up and check, but they stuck to "This is what the RTO registers it as". Even during the first service, I tried bringing this up. But they were very ignorant and did not pay heed to my query. I did not make a big fuss since that was not a concern for me at that point. I don't know if this might be a problem in the future, but I'm sure I'll be able to get some help here and figure something out.

Initial Impressions:

It took some time to get used to the riding posture. In the first couple of weeks, my palms, wrists and shoulders would ache but I gradually got used to the riding posture and the pain subsided. The engine was smooth and so were the gear shifts. Whether you'd want to ride sedately or rev hard, the engine always delivers. Never felt the bike to be under-powered. Overtaking and city usage was easy since the bike was very nimble. The heat was dissipated away from the legs and never seemed to be a problem even after long rides or in dense traffic. The bike always felt planted even at high speeds. On average, its fuel economy ranged between 38-42 kmpl. I got it serviced at the authorized service centers regularly, once every 3 months. The service cost averaged around 1.2k-1.8k. In cases where some parts needed to be replaced, the maximum cost would come up to 3.5k-4k. It was well worth the long wait. I was satisfied with what I had earned for myself.

The first milestone

After 3 years of ownership, I upgraded the headlight bulbs to LEDs since the stock ones weren't powerful anymore. But when WFH became a norm, I reverted back to the original headlights. The LEDs were too bright and I started feeling guilty of causing inconvenience to the other road users.

Low beam throw

High beam throw

Let me summarize my likes and dislikes about the bike

Likes:

Stunning looks - Was definitely a head turner, and sometimes still is. It gives you an identity
Unmatched performance, power and thrill for a 150cc bike
Butter smooth rev-happy engine - Rev it all you want, it just keeps going. Unless you're doing high speeds for too long, there's no vibrations at all
Great handling and cornering - I've never taken it to the tracks but with whatever road trips I've done, I'm completely confident about its handling and cornering abilities
Braking is good enough and does the job well. It always has enough bite and stopping power
Fuel economy - The showroom itself claimed a fuel economy of 30 kmpl based on customer feedback, but mine returned 40-42 kmpl on sedate riding, and around 32-36 kmpl when you rev the nuts out of the engine. The tank range is sufficient
Maintenance - The service cost is manageable and never burnt a hole in my pocket. It was the easiest sports bike to maintain
Say if any day I had to take the bike for a long unplanned ride, I could take it without a second thought. Such is the reliability of the bike. Not once has it given me any trouble
It has enough ground clearance and I don't remember scraping the underside on any speed breakers or pot-holes
The visibility offered by the rear view mirrors is spot on and more than enough to cover what's behind
It is light weighted and very easy to maneuver even in city traffic

Dislikes:

Very aggressive and committed posture - It is fine when you're at a younger age. Once you grow older, you'll get a glimpse of what back ache feels like, especially if you have a desk job
Fiber panels can break easily and you must be very careful about where you'd put pressure on them. One fall and you'll have to replace a lot of panels if you don't have any crash guards or frame sliders. Mine didn't have any frame sliders and I've had to replace a few panels a couple of times. Since mine is a special edition, the wait time is a little longer than usual
The mirrors do not have a locking mechanism and become loose with usage. You can adjust them and tighten them in the required position but they protrude a lot from the body of the bike, and can break easily. I have replaced the mirrors at least 4-5 times till now
The cushioning on the seats is horrible. Ride it continuously for nearly 2 hours and it'll feel like your bottom is split into multiple pieces
The pillion seat is a joke. If you have short, or aged parents, or are single, the pillion seat is of no use. Considering the rear seat comfort, there's very little chance of anyone being willing to sit there. Even after getting married, my wife barely agrees to ride as a pillion on the R15
Just like the pillion seat, the storage under it is also a joke. But we can't expect more on a bike under this category, can we? It is just enough to hold the tool kit and a few documents folded neatly
During production, the front tyres (90/80-17) were made specifically for this model. In case the tyres are worn out, you can find the rear tyre (130/70-17) but finding the front one is a nightmare
In case any of the tyres are punctured, you'll have to tilt and hold the bike until the mechanic finds and fixes it. If you do not get the rear mudguard removed, the repair process might take exponentially longer since there is very less space to access the tyre
The headlight throw is not enough. Low beam, high beam, doesn't matter. It is just not enough and doesn't light the road as expected
Replacing the battery is not that straight-forward. You need a hex key to unscrew the rider seat bolts, the rear panel bolts etc. Since there is no kicker, there is no other way to start the bike if your battery dies. This happened to me after trying to start it once covid restrictions were relaxed. I had to summon a few people to push it while I attempt to start it. Even that didn't work. I had to eventually get a new battery, and push the bike to a nearby mechanic shop to get it replaced
If you need some quick fix, not all mechanic shops would be willing to take a look. It is a better option to take it to the authorized service center

I have elaborated on the dislikes just in case it might help anyone who is considering buying a used R15 V2.0.

The amount of likes and dislikes sort of balance out each other. Everyone will have their own opinions and nothing is always perfect. To each, his own. According to me, it is a beautiful package to welcome you into the world of motorcycling. It is a beginner-friendly sports bike and I have loved every bit of riding it. It is my first bike that I bought out of my hard-earned money and it will always have a special place in my life. The V2.0 does not have ABS and when Yamaha launched V3.0 with ABS, VVA, 155cc engine and all those bells and whistles, I briefly had my eyes on the Monster Edition R15 V3.0. I wanted to exchange this bike and get that. I could have managed the finances too. But the emotions attached to this bike are far too strong to let it go. Before this bike came into my life, there were many sleepless nights where owning a bike in itself was still a dream. It remained my daily commuter until covid put the world on a standstill.

This is how the bike rested during the covid period

Notice the cob webs

A lot has changed since then, both professionally and personally. The R15 remained with me through thick and thin, being an integral part of my life. The bike is completely bone stock and I do not have any intentions of getting it modified. The bike has clocked around 22k kilometers in the 8+ years of journey. Off late, the usage of the bike is very less, but whenever I take it out, it still puts the same wide smile on my face.

This is how it rests today

I'll admit I have neglected it a bit, here and there, but I wish to keep it with me for as long as I can. It is a special one and will always remain so! Wrapping up this ownership review with two of my favourite shots of my R15.