I will readily admit that a 250cc Yamaha excited me. The largest capacity motorcycle I have ever owned has been that displacement, and far and away the best motorcycle I’ve owned has been a Yamaha, in the form of the first-generation R15. Putting the two together seemed like the perfect upgrade for me.
However.
When the FZ25 launched, I was disappointed. I was expecting to rush to my friendly neighbourhood showroom right from the launch, but there I was, thinking about whether I want the bigger FZ or not. You see, I weigh more than some small motorcycles, as Ranjan likes to say. A 150cc motorcycle doesn’t cut it with that kind of weight when you’ve got 30-odd km of highway duty to do on each trip to the office, and a total one-way trip of 60km. You need something a little bigger, yet something that is easy to maintain. 120km every day, five days a week, converts to a lot of miles in a startlingly short period of time. The KTM 200 Duke interested me, but with that kind of usage I’d be going through a set of tyres every six months. I’d also need fuel efficiency, which isn’t part of the KTM’s design brief. The Apache interested me, too, but it still is a bit small for a six-footer to be truly comfortable on such a long commute. I’d pinned my hopes on the FZ because even the FZ16 felt large enough, the pegs were placed such that you could choose to stand over the bumpy bits, and the handling always put a smile on your face. Then the FZ25’s specs were revealed – I can live with 20bhp, but a two-valve head? No ABS? Tyres that are the same as its little brother’s? I suddenly had doubts.
I felt like the FZ occupied a no-man’s land – the TVS or even the Benelli TNT25 seemed like better choices. However, after a couple of days’ reflection, I now realise that that’s no bad thing. The TVS offers Pirellis, sure, but there’s no news of the ABS and FI yet. When that happens, it will be near as makes no difference to the FZ25 in terms of pricing. The TNT25 breaches the Rs 2 lakh barrier on-road, and it isn’t manufactured here, so there go my requirements of easy maintenance. Sure, there’s always the draw of the Bajaj Dominar 400, but cruisers will not do a good job of protecting my back on my commute, no matter how good the suspension.
The FZ25, then, is in a class of one at the price. No ABS still disappoints me (although neither the KTM nor the TVS offers it), but if it handles as well as the FZ16, and remains as easy to maintain (all the signs point to a ‘yes’ for the moment) then there is no real option for the commuter who needs the extra displacement, or merely wants to upgrade. I’m not rushing to the showroom yet, but I do catch myself looking at the on-road price and making EMI calculations. And if I feel this way, so will a lot of other commuters who have been craving that little jump in power or cruising ability on the highway, without sacrificing the practicality of a commuter. I hope that Yamaha replicates its success of the FZ16 with the FZ25 for very selfish reasons – finally, people who weigh more than small motorcycles, or even the general public, can have performance without breaking the bank.
