Yamaha’s Indonesian arm has spilled the beans, announcing the launch date of the brand’s new YZF-R25 sports bike model.
In an effort to boast the new model’s supposed race-bred heritage, Yamaha have dubbed the YZF-R25 as a ‘baby YZR-M1’ MotoGP bike. While that remains to be seen, a parallel-twin 250cc engine will most likely power the R25, which is expected to deliver anywhere between 35hp to 37hp. Sources confirmed that the R25 will be built in Yamaha’s Indonesian manufacturing facilities.
If launch in our market, the YZF-R250 will compete directly against the Kawasaki Ninja 250 and Honda CBR250.
Previously, the Yamaha previewed a concept version of the YZF-R25 at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show, but it looked pretty much track-ready and not street-legal as you can see in the image below.
Nevertheless, all speculations and doubts will be thrown out the window once Yamaha unveils its ‘baby M1’ this week on May 20.
Sources report that Yamaha will also likely follow up with a 300cc version of the model destined for the European markets, bearing the designation YZF-R300 instead as well. The supposed R300 will then take the fight against the likes of the Ninja 300, CBR300, and perhaps the KTM RC200 or RC390.
It is widely expected of Yamaha to use the new R25’s platform to expand its MT naked range to spawn a MT-25 version as well.
Source: Visordown and Asphaltandrubber
