New Yamaha YZF-R15: no compromise on the hugger

New Yamaha? In this economic climate? And a ‘super sport urban bike’ at that? Yep, you read it right (Looking for a 125? Find a Yamaha YZF-R125 for sale). Unfortunately, the svelte new R6-alike 150cc machine isn’t destined for a showroom near you, unless you live in Pune, Hyderabad or Mumbai.

It’s an India-only evolution of the original YZF-R15, the most extreme performance machine to debut in the sub-continent at its launch in 2008.

These leaked images of the new version – Indian Bike of the Year  in 2009 – show a more aggressive take on the YZF theme than the original, which Yamaha India says was ‘developed in the same modeling room where YZF-R1 designers worked’.

The four-stroke single has a top speed of around 85mph, weighs 120kg and features, without doubt, the world’s greatest hugger.