It’s not as busy as EICMA, but the Tokyo Motor Show always has some interesting machines on display. Here are some of the concepts we’ve heard about so far.
Along with the Bolt-based cafe racer we told you about last week, Yamaha has also unveiled some interesting electric concepts, as well as a 250 sportbike.
That 250 cc sportbike concept, dubbed the R25, has been rumoured a long time. We knew were supposed to see it this fall, but we expected to see it in production form.
Nevertheless, it shows Yamaha is working on budget sportbikes, just like everyone else. The concept is based around a 250 cc twin-cylinder motor. It has a six-speed transmission and EFI, and styling straight from MotoGP. We haven’t seen any official spec sheets yet, but according to Yamaha, the bike ” boasts a powerful and sporty ride in the high rpm range while being easy to handle.” Translation: The powerband on this thing is likely more Ninja 300-like, with less emphasis on lower-end torque, like Honda’s CBR250.
Like the CBR250 (now a CBR300 in some markets) and the Ninja 300, R25 is aimed at the beginner buyer in developed markets, while in developing countries it will be considered a higher-end sportbike. Check out the bike in the video below.
Yamaha also unveiled two electric motorcycles that could be even more interesting than the R25, the PES1 and the PED1.
These bikes use the battery boxes as stressed members of the chassis, allowing the designers to reduce weight (although the reported weight is so low, at about 100 kg, we’re wondering if these are track tools only – batteries for street range are heavy). The PES1 is a sportbike, and the PED1 is a motocross-style bike based around the same basic platform.
The light weight is an welcome feature, but the bikes also have something else that’s sadly lacking on most battery bikes – a manual gearbox. Supposedly, the bike’s transmission works in either automatic or manual mode. Check out the PES1 in the video clip below.
What about the other Japanese manufacturers? It seems Suzuki made most of their big news at the AIME show in Orlando, and Honda’s big news mostly came out at EICMA, but Kawasaki had an interesting motor on display at Tokyo.
Suzuki made waves when they unveiled their turbocharged concept bike last month. Now Kawasaki is hot on their heels, with a supercharged motor on display in Tokyo.
Details on the hot new inline-four are slim, however. Kawasaki’s marketing team had a brief blurb saying the company was using their expertise gained from years of Kawasaki Heavy Industries involvement with turbine engines to put together the new blower motor, and that was about it – no word on torque, horsepower, etc.
[…] can check out this link for our original peek at the Yamaha electric bikes, but here are the details in concise form: […]
What difference is an extra 50cc going to make? 5HP more at redline? Whooeee! It’ll still be as slow as reindeer crap. Which is the whole point of a 250cc bike, you know. The big difference between the Kawi 300 and the Honda 250 is that one is made by Kawasaki and the other by Honda. Two very-different philosophies. And neither of those two bikes looks as good as this bike, admittedly without headlights and mirrors but still. Yamaha has said, “so fine make the Ninja 300 look just like the Ninja 650. We will make our 250 look just like our MotoGP bike LOL”
For me the R25 is a big deception , beside the color it does not stand out from it`s competitors , bodywork is nice but the rest of the bike look crap. I was hoping an expecting something like the YZF-R125. Sales will be based on brand royalty and colors mainly. Now I keep praying for KTM to import their new RC.
I like the look of their new electric concept but they are just that, electric and a concept.
And yes for the coming back of turbo charged bikes.
I Agree! Looks way better than the ninja and cbr 300s. Seems to have the least amount of unnecessary plastic (that matte black stuff between the fairing and frame…why? what is the purpose of this? so ugly…)
I do like that Yamaha tends to be a bit more ‘sport’ than ‘beginner’ with the smaller bikes. Just look at the R125 vs cbr125, shame they didn’t bring it over here.
Now as much as I love single cylinder engines (the best part of the cbr.) If this came to Canada looking like it does here, it would be my pick over the other 2. Even if it stayed a 250.
I would just have to wring its little neck that much more, and would love every second of it.
I think the R25 looks fantastic. With the Akrapovic can on it, it looks like a motorcycle should, IMO. I really hope they put this into production. It might need 300 cc to make it fly in N.A., but the styling execution is spot on the money.