After months of teasing, Yamaha has released their new R25 sport bike. There’s just one problem: They unveiled it for the Asian market, and there’s still no word on whether it’s coming to Canada.
The new R25 has a DOHC 249 cc parallel twin motor (four valves per cylinder) that reportedly puts out 35.5 hp at 12,000 rpm and 16.7 ft-lb of torque at 10,000 rpm. That’s close to the Ninja 300’s output, although the motor is 50 cc smaller, and more power than Honda’s CBR300 is supposed to make. That motor is mated to a six-speed gearbox.
Although this would be a budget, entry-level bike in Canada, it’s a top-of-the-line machine in Indonesia, where it was unveiled. It’s still built to a price point, though, with a steel frame and telescopic forks. It’s supposed to have a 166 kg wet weight.
The new machine has EFI, naturally, and rolls on 17-inch rims. Front tire is a
For now, the Yamaha R25 is only for sale in the Asian market. We’re expecting to see a 300 cc version for sale in North America and Europe, but Yamaha hasn’t confirmed that yet.
I think this will kick Hondas ass big time.
The single cylinder motor is a big let down on the Honda.
Good for Yamaha for producing a small twin…..
“Only for sale in the Asian market”…. Good, they can keep it. My money is going to whoever brings the first sub 400cc sport bike that does not look like it was made from recycled pop bottles.
Tut tut! Go buy yerself a vintage Ninja 400 (the original 4-cyl) in that case. Or an NSR250. OR you could deal with the pop bottle recycling look in an exchange for modern reliability …
Growing up on PEI, there were tons of grey market Ninja 400s, NSR250s and other oddball machine around. Always fancied an NSR myself, although I reckon I would have promptly wrecked it.