This Rendition Of The Yamaha R15 Has Sport Touring Ambitions

The potent, performance-packed Yamaha R15 has been given the ADV treatment and it looks like it can gobble miles to no end

Whenever we talk about Yamaha, the name R15 pops in our mind almost every time. The baby supersport is famous for being a great performance and feature-packed entry-level sports bike. One of the main reasons for its charm is its heart, the 155cc VVA-equipped engine that it’s powered by. 

We have already seen the same engine in the MT-15 and Aerox 155 in India. That leaves us wondering how it would be like to have this platform and engine in an ADV bike which could match up against the Honda CB 200X. To give us an idea of the same, -based Abin Design has created a digital rendition of the ADV version of the R15. 

To start with, the front of this ADV gets a sporty front cowl with a big windscreen and LED DRLs straddle the sleek LED headlight, which is picked up straight from the Yamaha R15 V4. Not only that, the cuts and creases that you see on its side fairing have also been inspired by the baby supersport’s latest generation. Unfortunately, it still makes do with halogen indicators. 

The ADV intentions can be seen in the upright handlebar, carved fuel tank, split-seat setup and semi-fairing. The black alloys, side panels and sump guard give it a sharp design, hinting at the company’s sporting pedigree. 

However, if we go further down, it’s interesting to see an underbelly exhaust instead of the conventional upswept one usually found on ADVs. That said, this rendition of the R15 has been styled as a road-biased sports tourerinstead of a hardcore off-road-friendly ADV. Reinforcing this approach, it also gets the same 17-inch alloys as the supersport, wrapped with road-biased rubber.

This sports tourer is powered by the same 155cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine equipped with VVA. The motor churns out 18.4PS and 14.2Nm and is mated to a 6-speed transmission. 

In terms of hardware, this adventure sports tourer gets bright golden-coloured inverted forks at the front as we’ve seen on the likes of the Yamaha R15 V4 and the MT-15 V2.0 working in conjunction with a monoshock at the rear, both with longer travel. There are single discs at both ends handling braking, assisted by a dual-channel ABS as standard. 

This ADV rendition comes in two colours: Blue, staying true to team blue as well as red. 

Abin Design rendered another design of a fully-faired R15 sport tourer too. Wrapped up in Yamaha’s flagship blue colour, this one gets a longer exhaust as well.

Interestingly, Yamaha sells the WR155 abroad, which is an ADV based on the R15’s engine. We hope that Yamaha brings an R15’s engine-based sports tourer soon, as the entry-level ADV segment is ripe for the picking.

If you’re looking for a good entry point motorcycle to perfect your track riding skills on, you could also have a look at the KTM RC 125. If ADVs are your thing, you could consider getting yourself the Hero XPulse 200 4V, Royal Enfield Himalayan or the Yezdi Adventure.