The Yamaha MT-25 is the naked derivative of the R25 and gets a new headlight cluster, air shroud and under cowl while the mechanicals have been retained.
Yamaha took the Indonesian market by storm last year when it finally launched the highly awaited R25 in the country. With the demand for Yamaha’s quarter-litre track-spec offering overwhelming, the Japanese auto giant was quick to go back to the drawing board and started working on the street fighter derivative of the R25. Now a year later, Yamaha Indonesia is all set to repeat history and has launched the MT-25 in Indonesia priced around 46 million Indonesian Rupiah (around Rs. 2.20 lakhs) that blends some naked practicality to the track bred sports bike.
The 2015 Yamaha MT-25 takes the MT lineage forward by adopting several design elements from the series. The headlight cluster with a halogen lamp looks simple but gets new LED pilot lamps located on top for that menacing appearance. The body looks fuller though with its imposing stance and gets a massive engine cowl that is hard to miss. The sculpted fuel tank styling has been retained from the R25 but gets new air shrouds flanked on the sides that feed air to the engine and also hold the ‘MT-25’ badging along with a new MT specific logo. Moving to the rear, the street-fighter has retained the design from the full faired version inclusive of the split seats, exhaust muffler, LED tail light and the tail tidy. There are new chunky grab handles finished in silver mounted at the sides of the pillion seat.
In addition, the Yamaha MT-25 gets a raised handlebar positioned closer to the rider to provide an upright seating position comfortable for long journeys. The bike is based on a diamond frame and measures the same length as the R25 at 2090 mm, but has the width increased to 745 mm and height to 1035 mm. The wheelbase remains the same at 1380 mm along with the 14-litre fuel tank capacity. With the fairing removed, the Yamaha MT-25 is surprisingly just 1 kg lighter than the R25 with a kerb weight of 165 kgs (R25 is 166 kgs). That said, Yamaha says it is the lightest offering in its class. The instrument console has been retained from the R25 as well with the analog tachometer and a digital display located on the right.
Power on the Yamaha MT-25 comes from the same 249cc 4-stroke, liquid-cooled, twin-cylinder engine with fuel injection and the bike uses DiAsil cylinders and forged pistons that help to produce 36 PS at 12,000 RPM and 22.6 Nm of torque at 10,000 RPM, paired to a 6-speed gearbox. The motorcycle uses 41 mm telescopic front forks and a monocross suspension setup at the rear while stopping power comes courtesy of the 298 mm dual piston floating disc brake at the front and 220 mm single piston disc brake at the rear. The street-fighter also rides on the same 110/70/17 front and 140/70/17 rear tyres, like the full faired R25.
More details on the performance aspect of the MT-25 are yet to be known and Yamaha will reveal the figures in a few days. The bike will be produced at the same facility near Jakarta where the R25 is manufactured and exported to several other markets including India in the future. With Yamaha India still planning to launch the R25/R3 in the country, do not expect the MT-25 to touch the Indian shores before the second half of 2016.
