The R15 has always been an entry-level sports bike and the 2.0 is no different. The 2.0 improves on areas where the older bike lacked. Yamaha says when it was time to update the first R15, the R& D boys held customer clinics to find out exactly how they needed to tweak the R15 without corrupting its baby-superbike soul.
The first thing people pointed out was the thin tyres, which gave excellent grip but looked out of place on such a wide bike. So the front now comes with a 90/80 tyre, which is a 10mm increase over the older R15. The rear is a 130/70, a whole 30mm wider. The wider tyres have enhanced the 2.0’s visual appeal, but they’ve also increased drag.
Also, those wider tyres would result in a loss of agility. So Yamaha has worked around this with the use of an aluminium swingarm, which holds the rear tyre. Yamaha claims the swingarm gives greater rigidity and better grip, which in turn mean better cornering.
We found this to be true but the bike has lost some of its agility because of the wider tyres and longer wheelbase. But it’s a fair compromise given that the bike has better ride than before and most of its users will be taking it out on long highway runs.
The most prominent design changes are at the rear. When the R15 was launched, the rear styling was bland and conventional compared to the front. With the 2.0, that’s been sorted, with a sharper looking rear inspired by the 2012 Yamaha YZF R6. Yamaha says the redesigned middle and rear cowl, split seats and integrated LED taillights have not only enhanced visual appeal, they also reduce drag by four per cent.
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