Once I got the hang of the streets, I rode faster. Roberto had pointed out the stretch where I could open it up with only a minor risk of persecution or prosecution. As the revs rise, the Fazer seems to uncoil out of its lounge stance and become more serious. The Yamaha is a proper zinger between 7000 and 9000 rpm. The exhaust note goes from a gruff throb to a fairly audible thumping as the ceramic-coated cylinder breathes deeply and races towards its 21 bhp peak and then past it, without losing much thrust. Not bad at all. It isn’t grippingly fast, but then again, that’s not the character it was supposed to have (see box: One chance). The Fazer has a nice and wide power spread and I suspect it would be outstanding in both commuter and highway roles in India. No doubt that 19 litre tank will be a great help when you’re out on the highway as well. A good part of that versatility is thanks to the (Indian) Fazer-spec comfy seat and stance. It’s an ergonomic tour de force of sorts and very welcome.
Fuel injection aside, the engine is fairly straightforward, though high-tech in parts. The motor is a ‘normal’ oversquare oil/air-cooled single cylinder four-stroker, with a single overhead camshaft and two valves. However, for longevity and thermal stability, the cylinder is ceramic coated. The engine is mounted in a beefy double-cradle frame with a fat telescopic fork set up front and a monoshock at the rear. Like the top-line Indian bikes today, the Fazer features a two-calliper 282 mm disc up front and a 130 mm drum at the rear, with a first-gen Pulsar-ish exhaust, alloy wheels and rubber-topped aluminium footpegs (like the Enticer’s pillion pegs) and racy all-aluminium pillion pegs rounding out the bottom half of the bike. The top half is very close to our Fazer, but significantly wider. The tail panel and the tank are very close but somehow more contemporary and the tail lamp features integrated turn signals. The effect is contemporary, but the Fazer is not one of those Yamahas that causes dropped jaws, turned heads and yes, pools of drool.
In the two-odd corners that I swept through, the Fazer felt stable rather than quick and very, very confident. The Pirelli rubber felt very sticky and the Fazer promises lots of high speed thrills when the space allows it. I won’t comment on ride quality, because the asphalt was smooth all the way on my short ride.
How will it do in India? Brazil’s emission laws are fairly relaxed, and two-strokes are on sale there today. As such, the Fazer will have to be retuned to get past emissions, I think. Not by much, perhaps, but we may lose the odd bhp in transit. That aside, I only think a change of wheels is needed. The alloys look decidedly old-hat and the curved spokes that were cool on first-gen 1985 Gixxers are not anymore. We need a taut, light-looking straight-spoke pattern that’ll really jazz up the proceedings. The Fazer retails for about 9951 Brazilian Reals, which is about Rs 2.23 lakh there. That price tag certainly won’t work here. Yamaha would do well to aim for a sub-lakh price tag, especially given that the market buzz says the Bajaj ‘225’ DTS-Fi is more than likely to be an about-90K bike.
This is a really likeable motorcycle. And so were the people who were waiting for me on the kerb when I returned. Roberto took the bike keys from me, and I basically handed the lid back and raced into a taxi... I was already way late for the Volvo appointment. Still, job done.
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