HANDLING

The CBR is extremely neutral in the way it dances. You can plot your line and if you’re doing something even remotely right, it will follow true. Whether it’s a tight corner or a long winding curve, the Honda does its thing rather well, with its grippy MRF Zapper rubber and all.

The older R15 was an nimble motorcycle with the ability to quickly change direction. The Version 2.0, however, demands a little more nudging to throw about, all thanks to the wheelbase being increased. But the slight increase in heft required to toss the motorcycle this way and that has been compensated with a tangible improvement in straight line stability.

As you probably rightly concluded after reading the above, both motorcycles are sorted in the handling department. But the R15 is just a little more reassuring around the twisties, more planted and sure-footed than the Honda. On the Yamaha, you begin to push yourself harder and harder, beginning to experiment with various lines around the same corner. It’s never as simple, read boring, as fire and forget. The R15 is all fire, fire, fire, making it much more involving to ride than the CBR 150R.

RIDE QUALITY

Reality can be a bummer. I mean, we would all love to live in a realm where the daily commute involves a couple of laps of race track, shortly followed by pristine black top running through wooded hills and then finished off by a long straight leading directly to the office.

But that’s never the case. And more so if you live in a city like Mumbai, where pothole-free roads are rarer than hen’s teeth! On the rough stretches, the R15 can chatter, and it simply won’t soak up the bad stuff enough to keep a smile on your face.

The CBR, on the other hand, feels more plush over broken roads. The suspension is more supple, and Honda has done a great job in putting together a splendid combination of soft and taut with the set up, preventing the CBR from appearing mushy around corners.

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