May 31, 2005 04:39 PM
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(Updated May 31, 2005 04:39 PM)
RX135 = 2 stroke magic
What should one say about the RX 135(5 speed). It is already a mini legend following its brother rx 100’s footsteps. So here is my revu
Design
The rx looks like the rx 100. So there is the familiar rx headlamp, lousy illumination and the slim body bearing the famous Yamaha badge. Instrumentation is as scant as ever and it misses a tachometer. It gets a catalytic converter which minimizes performance and emissions. The exhaust is also limp and big. It is also a very light bike, which gives it a good power to weight ratio. The tyres are also bad, but more on that later.
Engine and gearbox 1/2
To meet the tough Indian emission norms, yamaha had to bore out the old rx 100 engine. In this avatar it makes a heady 14bhp at a high 7500 rpm. Remember though, that 14 bhp on a rx is way more fun than 16-17 bhp on a 4 stroke (p180, karizma). The torque also comes very high in the rev range, so rule out the low end torque of 4 stroke machines.
It’s a 2 stroker, so the hardware is really simple. With a normal silencer, the power increases to 16 bhp and with a proton exhaust, the power increases by one more bhp. This is because the catalytic converter restricts the rx’s performance. This makes it the performance king of the hill. I own a p180 dtsi and I drove the rx(my friend’s) with a normal silencer(not the catcon one) and the power delivery was positively explosive. He beat me till about 80 kmph(on the rx) but after that I overtook him. Sad, I didn’t go for the rx earlier since I knew very little about it. The sound is just mind blowing.
Performance, brakes and mileage
The performance is average for 14 bhp, but as it’s a 2 stroker, so all the difference is in the sounds deparment. It feels way quicker than a karizma or a p180 dtsi. It has got a superior power to weight ratio than these 4 strokers. We did the acceleration and top speed tests with a fatter tyre(100/90 as in cbz) , a normal silencer (not the catcon one) and a stopwatch. So there is a little bit of speedo error and a li’l bit of human error. O to 60 came up in 4.4 seconds and the 0 to 100 kmph took 15.5 seconds. The top speed reached was 122 kmph. But this bike is not about top speed. It is about the acceleration, power delivery and the sound. It doesn’t have a disc brake which is very very bad as it reaches indecent speeds comfortably. The braking is very bad. Had it not been a light bike it would have been even bad. Where it loses out is in the mileage department giving an average of only 35kmpl. When driven rashly it drops to 28 kmpl. But this is the price you pay for a very fast bike.
Ride and handling **1/2
The bike feels and handles just like the RX 100 did. Tyres have grown marginally fatter, but without the cbz tyre, the bike did not handle too well. The suspension is also very bad. The front wheel always wants to go up in the air whenever you encounter a pothole or ride on rough roads.
AS far as most people are concerned, the two-stroke is dead. Nobody seems to be buying any, manufacturers are ignoring them completely and even in racing the stink wheels are extinct. But we still love the simplicity of ports to camshafts and valves, the wail of a shrieking stink wheel at the top of its power band to the gurgle and sanitised power delivery of a four-stroke.
However it seems even Yamaha have written the obituary for their flagship two-stroke. The gearshift on the bike was so bad and resistant shift And the tyres, oh Lord. The tyres are pathetic. It's like having no tyre at all. The tyre has ruined what is still a very nice bike.
Two-strokes have always been like well-endowed barmaids, all jiggly and fun at the top end but lacking substance lower down. The Yam was a perfect reflection of it, going like stink when its head was revved off but lacking any mid-range substance
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The rx series of motorcycles are known to be extremely reliable and with most rx 100’s still alive and kicking you can be rest assured your rx will be running for a long time to come, no matter how you use it. However, there is no disc brake or electric start and that is hard to ignore. The mileage is also a little on the low side but just take a test ride on the rx and you will know how addictive two strokers can get, and why even today in the world of 16-17 bhp tree huggers(environment friendly bikes) the rx is special.
