My Black Bucephalus – The Real Bike. Review on Yamaha R15

Many yamahaians had shared their detailed views/experience with their R15 - be it a drag, speed, comfort, performance etc.. But here I would share about the long distance performance of this BEAST.

My Black Bucephalus stood strong though when I took it for about 650 kms – to and fro - on a single day.

It was after the 2nd services of my R15 – (drove2000kms until then) - the urge to taste the real speed of my bike shooted high in my nerves. Really wanted to feel the adrenalin rush by pushing this beast to some level of testing conditions. Earlier, hardly could I reach 80kmph speed (drag)in the Chennai city roads. Where else would I drive a long distance with this beast? Found GST road to be one of the best ways to test my R15’s long distance performance and love the ride with my beast – of course safely - coz GST got broad and good conditioned roads, emergency help, etc.

So started to Tiruchy (one of the temple city in South India) from Chennai. I started at 5 am – the first 30mins were very comfortable – neat ride, enjoyed the travel with less tariff, cruising below 80kmph – but all the way took me only near tambaram. Could’nt resist reaching the first toll-booth from where the roads are safer to take a good speed. This 30min steady drive was good enough to warm my bike, check the brakes and get the confidence to take my first ever long trip in my R15.

No sooner did I cross the first toll-booth and took the NH45, my R15 just took off and it unleashed its true colour and the beast within.The first time I said to myself – man it’s worth the money. I drove all way to Ranjangudi (a small village just 50kms on the way to tiruchy) via - Tindivanam and Villupuram. All the way say 280kms I cruised between 100 to 110 kmph – with required short brakes. Enjoyed every bit of the ride and the performance of this bike. I did not feel any difficulty – be it a back or wrist pain (as some have stated coz of their poor driving stance). The last 50kms was hell of a ride. It was the month of July 09, and the winds in the area from Ranjangudi toTiruchy were pretty hard. I could not balance the bike as the wind started pushing the bike away from the road. Understood the complete casing of the bike with no room for the winds to pass through is the reason for this difficulty. So drove at 40kmph the rest of the distance and reached tiruchy by 11am. A decent 6 hours journey including 40 mins stoppage altogether.

Now all tested – the bike’s performance, speed – joy of riding the bike, adrenalin rush etc. BUT what about the ENDURANCE of this beast? Why not test the same.

So my greed to test the endurance of my R15 stood high and hence I started my return journey from Tiruchy to Chennai around 2.00pm. Being a Sunday afternoon the traffic was less on this NH 45 and the wind speed was favourable too. I reached Chennai (tambaram) at 6.30pm. I drove 290kms in 4.30hrs trying to maintain a speed level of 110-120kmph with 20min overallstoppage.

But I had to pay the real price for my greed. My back, wrist and neck started paining pretty badly from 100kms to Chennai. Truth is, the seating and driving position is not really designed for long distance. (ya ya I understood very late).

Except that I enjoyed every bit of this long distance travel in my R15.

Over all impression:

Negative:

1. Seating position not designed for long distance – hence sure to get back, wrist and neck pain during long distance travelI

   
   




2. Doubt pillion riding is NOT as enjoyable as singles when cruising long distance for the same reason said above.

   
   




3. Dangerous to drive in highways during windy season coz the bike couldn’t be balanced as no way for the wind to escape through the bike.

   
   




4. The bike gushes tons of hot air on heavy traffic roads and you can fell the intensity of the hot air on your thighs. But good for the bike as the fan cools the engine.

   
   

Positive:

1.No Vibration: You don’t really feel any vibration in R15 – can even hype by saying ZERO vibration.

2.Great speed: Of course Speed – I reached top speed of 130kmph and easily maintained it for 5kms stretch (average between 100 to 110kmph speed through out the journey). The bike shown no sign of tiredness and still got plenty to push and rev.

1. Endurance:No better way to test the endurance of this bike as I detailed above. I BET pulsar or karizma or apache can NEVER near the endurance test of R15.

4.Comfort:Very comfortable if u could maintain the proper seating stance, else as I mentioned long distance travel will be bit uncomfortable. As I said earlier, R15 is not for cruising but a real racer. ( I do agree Royal Enfield’s Thunder Bird could do better than R15 in case of cruising with comfort)

5.Show Stealer:Leaving apart the speed and joy for riding, I bet every one will never say NO to the attention you draw on the roads when u drive this BEAST. Yes I felt at cloud nine when I over-took the cars with ease and when many did turn their heads to watch my R15. Definitely a show stealer.

1. Mileage:45 km per litre on highways

   
   




2. Head lights:The beast.

   
   




3. Brakes and Tyres:I could stop the bike even at 80kmph within few feet at ease, which u can never dream in any bikes in India of the same class. This is very important as the brakes give you the confidence to drive the bike in high speed.

   
   




4. Overall Performance: The best of the best in its class and real value for money. As many yamahaians had mentioned earlier, DRIVE R15 and you will definitely say the other bikes in its class are nothing but Mopeds.

   
   

GO FOR R15.

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