Here at MotorBeam, our favourite scooter is the Yamaha Ray because it is so fun to ride with its sharp dynamics and peppy engine. However when we had the Yamaha Ray for a longer time, we found out small issues which rob the practicality away from the scooter. Prime amongst these was the small under seat storage which at 15.5-litres couldn’t fit a full faced helmet. The Ray is a compact scooter and thus the hefty amongst us found it difficult to adjust. Enter the Yamaha Alpha, a scooter which is not really bigger but vastly more practical.
We were the first to bring you the exclusive and uncamouflaged picture of the Yamaha Alpha, much before its launch. After the company launched the Alpha at the 2014 Auto Expo, we spent a good time with the scooter to gauge it. The Yamaha Alpha uses the same underpinnings as the Ray which means dynamics will be super sharp and the telescopic forks are sure to offer a good ride quality. The engine is the same 113cc, single-cylinder unit from the Ray, producing 7.1 PS of power at 7500 RPM and 8.1 Nm of torque at 5000 RPM. This means performance will be slick and mileage will be good (claimed economy is 62 km/l).
So essentially, the Alpha is very much like the Ray but different in more ways than one. For starters, the Alpha is much bigger than the Ray which means people of all sizes will find comfort on the Alpha. The Yamaha Alpha has a generous under-seat storage of 21-litres and the footboard area lets you keep bags easily (there are hooks as well). The seat height is 775 mm (slightly more than the Ray) and thus tall riders will be as comfortable on this Yamaha scooter. The seat is long so two on board won’t fight for space.
The Yamaha Alpha isn’t bigger than the Yamaha Ray as the pictures may make you believe. The Ray is longer and both scooters have an identical width. The Alpha is taller and the handlebar mounted headlight is a boon when riding at night as you get better illumination. A 200 ml bigger fuel tank capacity will help only marginally in boosting the range of the Alpha (5.2-litres) while the low 104 kgs weight will help in making the Alpha easy to park and manoeuvre. Yamaha has offered body coloured matching surrounds for the instrument cluster which is a cool touch.
While the Ray was targeted at female riders and the Ray Z was aimed at the youth, the Alpha’s primary customers would be families. Yamaha also has a slew of accessories for the Alpha including a floor mat with the Alpha logo, chrome crash guard and seat cover (the red scooter pictured here has the accessories fitted on it).
The Yamaha Alpha is priced attractively at Rs. 49,518/- (ex-showroom, Delhi) and will take the fight to the Honda Activa. The scooter has all it takes to emerge on the top of the 110cc segment and although not as feature rich as the TVS Jupiter, being a Yamaha, quality is exceptional and reliability is a given. While scooter enthusiasts continue to wait for a 125cc scooter from Yamaha, we are sure the company is working on bringing more scooters to the market and a Activa 125 rival isn’t far away.
