Yamaha 250 breaks cover, finally!

If there was one Yamaha we’ve been waiting for, it has to be a 250cc sportsbike, especially after the YZF-R15. This motorcycle has been long overdue, and Yamaha finally previewed a concept of its quarter-litre sportsbike, the R25 at the Tokyo Motor Show. The concept motorcycle drew heavily from Yamaha’s MotoGP bike, the M1, looking more or less identical with a full fairing and similar body lines.

The concept shown was powered by a liquid-cooled, twin-cylinder engine but no technical details were given out and the engine could even differ in production spec. Yamaha has released a video of Valentino Rossi riding the R25 though and Rossi is said to have been involved in development of the motorcycle, which tells us the R25 will be a high-strung, high performance motorcycle. Targeted at emerging markets like Asia, the R25 will also find place in Europe given the new licensing norms. When launched here, the R25 will have its sights clearly on the Kawasaki Ninja 300 and the less potent Honda CBR250R, which is due to be replaced by the 300R.

We expect the bike to hit Indian shores mid 2014, and going by the impressions of the concept bike shown at Tokyo, it could command premium pricing, close to the Rs 2.5 lakh mark.