A bike aficianado in India could easily mistake this as a twin-cylinder Yamaha Enticer, isn't it? For all practical purposes that's what these pictures suggest. This bike is Yamaha Virago. It's a 250cc bike sold in the US for about $3499 which translates into about Rs145000 in Indian currency. If it costs so much in the US, definitely it would cost at least 25-30% lesser in India which would mean a price of Rs110000. I don't know if the prices could be driven further down since the cost of resources is really really low out here as compared to many other industrialized countries of the world. Would it work in India at that price point? Seeing the equity of Yamaha in India and its expertise in performance bikes and leadership in biking technology, I can claim that people would lap this bike up if launched in India.When I see this bike, I really wonder what was Yamaha thinking when it launched a pauper cruiser bike like Enticer. After all, the success of Avenger 180 and the eager anticipation of Avenger 200 clearly proves that India has a market for a higher capacity cruiser bikes.
I can't believe that Yamaha believes its future in this country depends on bikes like Yamaha Alba 106. God save Yamaha. Anyway... for all bikers and Yamaha fans, am listing the specifications of this bike with a couple of pictures below. Let's only hope that Yamaha listens to bikers like us.
| MSRP* | $3,499 (Black Cherry) |
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| Engine | |
| Type | 249cc, air-cooled, SOHC, 60-degree V-twin |
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| Bore x Stroke | 49mm x 66mm |
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| Compression Ratio | 10:1 |
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| Carburetion | 26mm Mikuni |
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| Ignition | Digital TCI |
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| Transmission | 5-speed |
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| Final Drive | Chain |
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| Chassis | |
| Suspension/Front | 33mm telescopic fork; 5.5" travel |
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| Suspension/Rear | Twin shocks w/adjustable spring preload; 3.9" travel |
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| Brakes/Front | 282mm disc |
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| Brakes/Rear | 130mm drum |
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| Tires/Front | 3.00-18 |
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| Tires/Rear | 130/90-15 |
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| Dimensions | |
| Length | 86.2" |
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| Width | 32.1" |
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| Height | 44.9" |
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| Seat Height | 27" |
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| Wheelbase | 58.7" |
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| Ground Clearance | 5.7" |
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| Dry Weight | 302 lb. |
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| Fuel Capacity | 2.5 gal. |
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1 comment:
Sid - dead on man. I have written a long letter to Yamaha about just the same thing. They are not true to their global Image here - producing the equavalent of mopeds from the range of vehicles they have globally. They need a good 250 - dead on AND a good 400 . These will really change their image MORE than those dumb ALBA ads they are spending crores on at some overfat Ad Agency that is totally disconnected with reality. YAMAHA - RD 350 RX 100 = excitement, speed, quality, thrill, fun. THAT is what they need to work on and with. Virago is a super product and would be eaten up in vast numbers by indians. I cant fathom Yamaha's Hero honda kind of product line - they will sell more of their peashooter like bikes if they brought some confidence and commitment to india via other quality products. Just for the record I think them launching 1000cc and 1650 cc bikes by year end is a bit dumb. So you either get peashooter mopeds or machines that have no roads to run in India - WTF ?!!!! Where is the marketing ? Where is the connection with the average indian biker. Every call center dude with cash to spend would buy a 250 or 400 - but only a few will afford 1000cc or 1650 bikes . They are totally haywire with their ideas
nadir@vsnl.com if you want to exchange views. Cheers
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