Riding the Tide

The first quarter-litre naked from Yamaha hits our shores and it has everything that the FZ16 lacked and more...

- Sarmad Kadiri

BACK IN 2008, DURING THE AUTO EXPO held in Delhi, I remember our editor pointing out that the just unveiled Yamaha FZ16 would have been an even better bike if it came with a larger 250-cc engine. And about eight years down the line, we have the first quarter-litre naked motorcycle from Yamaha Motor India in the shape of the FZ25.

However, over the last eight years the Indian motorcycle scene has transformed, and how. Apart from missing the first-mover advantage,Yamaha are, in fact, late to join the 200-to-250-cc party. The specifications, at least on paper, do not knock the ball out of the stadium either, but what they have got right is the price. At Rs 1.20 lakh, ex-showroom, Pune, it really is an appealing price for a quarter-litre bike carrying the prestigious tuning fork logo.

And it looks the part too. One might argue that the FZ25 looks quite similar to the FZ16 sibling, but Yamaha are just trying to maintain the well-appreciated FZ series’ street fighter styling throughout the range. And what we love about the FZ25 design is that it hasn’t been forcibly beefed up, but has good proportions and the weight distribution is centralised. The shape of the splitall LED headlight, along with the muscular fuel tank, gives the 250 a Transformer-like persona. The large 14-litre fuel tank has deep knee recesses and is also carved out on top to make room for the handlebar while steering the bike. And similar to the FZ16, it has a black plastic stripe running on the top of the tank. The seat is large and offers good comfort for both the rider and pillion. Besides, the pillion gets sickle-shaped grab-rails.