Yamaha Tokyo concepts

Yamaha has unveiled five concept machines at the Tokyo motorcycle show in Japan; one a café racer version of the XV950, two electric bikes and an electric scooter.

None of the four bikes being shown are anywhere near production but the XV950R café racer is about as close as you can get. The electric PED1, PED1 and Evino scooter are merely concept machines.

Yamaha R25 concept
The headline bike from Yamaha is the R25 which the firm is presenting as a concept but considering the parallel-twin 249cc four-stroke has been linked to Valentino Rossi the firm is clearly taking it seriously.

Yamaha has done well in the entry-level sportsbike market with the YZF-R125 model but this two-cylinder model will take the fight to the Honda CBR300R and the Kawasaki Ninja 300 along with the new KTM RC390 in terms of styling and performance.

Yamaha says of the R25: “The R25 was designed to be the superbike you ride every day and its newly developed 249cm two-cylinder engine offers plenty of power. R25 is a serious cornering machine, and is great for the motorcycle aficionado or even the daily commute.”

Yamaha XV950 Café Racer
There is no official information about the XV950 Café Racer but we do know it’s based on the well-received retro-styled custom bike launched earlier this year. The café racer makeover means clip-on handlebars, retro-style seat and single seat unit and a number board on the side for that racer-inpired look.

Yamaha PES1
A lightweight electic sportsbike with a gearbox that can work in either manual or automatic modes, a battery box that works as a stressed part of the chassis and styling that tips more than a nod to the recently launched MT-09 and MT-07 models.

The biggest question is over power and range because the weight of a whisker under 100kg there isn’t much room for batteries.

Yamaha PED1
This is a motocross bike based on the same modular technology as the PES1 so they share the stressed member battery construction and a similar headstock design too.

Again, production doesn’t look that close but by lowering costs by sharing components it has at least been thought about. Lack of range doesn’t affect a motocross bike anywhere near as much as a road bike.