After a hiatus of over nine months, the Yamaha YZF-R3 is now back on sale in the Indian market. Apart from a revised engine, the new R3 features a few cosmetic and technological upgrades to bring it on par with the competition. Here are the four differences between the old and the new Yamaha YZF-R3.
Fresh look
Yamaha is offering two new paint schemes to breathe a fresh lease of life into the bike. The R3 is now available in blue and black paint schemes. The bike also gets complementing decals and rim tapes to add a sporty appeal.
BS-IV engine
With the industry moving to BS-IV emission norms, Yamaha had temporarily discontinued the R3 in April 2017. Now though, the company has updated the engine to make it BS-IV-compliant. There is no change in output, and the 321cc parallel-twin engine delivers 41.4bhp and 29.6Nm of torque through a six-speed transmission.
ABS
Yamaha is offering the R3 with ABS as standard. This dual-channel system prevents the wheels from locking up under aggressive braking.
Metzler tyres
Another new addition to the features list is the new rubber. The tyre sizes are the same as before, although the R3 sources its tyres from Metzler. The Sportec M5 radials are stickier than the MRF that its predecessor came with and should offer better grip than before.
The YZF-R3 is priced at Rs 3.48 lakhs (ex-showroom). It is locally assembled in India, and competes against the Kawasaki Ninja 300 and the Benelli 302R.
