Yamaha Bikes

Key Highlights of Yamaha Bikes

About Yamaha

When you think of Yamaha, you think of high performance motorcycles. This is not a modern trend, but has been the company’s philosophy ever since its inception back in the 1950s. In 1950, Genichi Kawakami became the 4th generation president of Nippon Gakki - a company that produced musical instruments and electronics. Kawakami decided to expand the Nippon Gakki company’s portfolio into motorcycles. For this, in 1954 Kawakami’s team of engineers made their first prototype motorcycle, the YA-1 - a 125cc single cylinder 2-stroke machine. It was a motorcycle that proved its mettle through an unprecedented 10,000km endurance test and in 1955, Yamaha Motor Co Ltd was formed along with its own factory to mass produce this motorcycle. In the proceeding years, the YA-1 won many races throughout Japan, and established Yamaha as a manufacturer of performance motorcycles.

Yamaha’s Indian journey began in 1985 when they tied up with the Escorts group to start local production of Yamaha motorcycles in the country. Under this joint venture, Escorts Yamaha produced some iconic motorcycles such as the RD350, the Rajdoot and the RX100, all of which tickled the fancies of performance motorcycle enthusiasts in India. Yamaha made many successful 2-stroke motorcycles in India such as the RD, RX and RXG, but with the growing demand for more fuel-efficient motorcycles and ever more stringent emissions norms, the company made their first 4-stroke for India - the YBX 125.

In 2001, Escorts and Yamaha parted ways, and Yamaha India Motor was born. After striking out on their own, the company didn’t enjoy a huge amount of success with any of their models until 2008, when they launched the FZ16 - a 160cc muscular naked that took India by storm. They quickly followed that up with the YZF-R15 - a true baby supersport with a 150cc 4-valve liquid-cooled engine that properly paid homage to Yamaha’s greats such as the YZF-R6 and YZF-R1. Both the FZ and R15 have been among the company’s most popular models ever since and have seen multiple evolutions over the years. In 2012, the company launched their first scooter in India - the Ray, and since then has launched many scooters such as the Alpha, RayZR, Fascino (one of their best sellers) and most recently, the Aerox 155 - India’s first true performance maxi scooter powered by the same liquid cooled VVA (Variable Valve Actuation) motor from the latest generation R15.