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The 3.7km long Chennai circuit was the place where I got my first taste of the R15's full potential, last year. After that I have been visiting the MMST race-track very often and have had many occasions to ride and race the R15 there. But all those bikes were in stock-trim without a single modification. So this looked really promising. An entire day with the best track-tool on one of the only two race-tracks in the country meant I would show no mercy on the bike or stop for nothing, at all. The weather sure was on our side as it was cloudy and over-cast throughout the day, which also meant that the lap-times would drop more than before due to lower track temperatures. A couple of laps on the stock bike and the best lap time I could do was 2 minutes 19 seconds around the long loop of the Chennai circuit. Then I jumped onto the race-spec R15 and the first thing I noticed was the exhaust note, which reminded me of the race-spec Yamaha T135 underbone bikes I raced in January at the Yamaha ASEAN Cup in Bangkok. It was insanely louder than anything on our Indian roads, and had a lovely throaty growl at idle revs. Coming out of the pit-lane I whacked open the throttle and the R15 raced ahead with an enthusiasm of a school-kid darting out of the day's last class.
Two laps down, the lap time dropped by a few seconds but it took me sometime getting used to the altered power delivery. Sadly, Yamaha had only two bikes ready with them and with the entire media fraternity present at the do, it limited the track-time on the modified bikes. The two modified bikes ran different gear ratios with one running a stock gear setup while the other bike had a slightly shorter gearing. The back-straight on the Chennai circuit allows for a good top-speed run and on the stock bike the best figure I have ever seen on the speedo is 134km/h. On the modified R15 with stock gearing, I touched 141km/h on the same back straight! With a quicker exit on C6, better rubber and more suitable track temperature, I?m sure that figure could easily cross the 145km/h mark.
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The power delivery was smoother and had a much punchier feel to it over the stock bike. The revs climbed much faster with an aggression never felt on the stock bike. The performance kit changed the character of the R15, entirely. Suddenly from its docile and forgiving self, the R15 had become a hooligan yet comforting in a very nice way. Revving all the way upto almost 13,000rpm, the new ECU gives the bike a wider powerband starting from 7,500rpm, allowing the rider to keep the power handy at all times, effortlessly. Throughout the track, the revs never dropped below 8,000rpm and it allowed me to keep the bike in its sweet spot all the time. In the real world though this will work against the R15 as on the crowded city streets it will require the rider to keep dancing on the gear lever. In the cityscape, one needs power low down the rev-range to really enjoy riding around the town and make swift overtakes. Yamaha claims that the entire performance kit bumps up the horsepower by 30%, which means with the kit the R15 would make 21PS of power! This means the R15 with the performance kit will have the best in-country power-to-weight ratio of 175PS/tonne!
The brake upgrades only improved things even more as I could comfortably enter the corner carrying all my speed and then trail brake with precision to correct the line. Late brake manoeuvres and shedding excessive corner speed was a breeze on the bike thanks to the braided brake hose and the 296mm diameter front disc. The rear set adjustable pegs were set on medium position and it didn't make much of a difference than the stock setup. However, the rear sets have three more rearward settings, which I believe can be more useful for the track.
The bike is in its element on a racetrack and feels much more fun than the stock setup, fulfilling all the needs of a hardcore racer. The primary target for Yamaha is the R15 championship racers and serious track-day goers. Yamaha has announced that this kit will be for closed circuit use only and though many out there would bring it onto the street, the practicality of such a high revving-engine in stop and go traffic is questionable.
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