All-new KTM RC 125: Watch walk-around review video of Yamaha R15 rival

KTM recently launched the smallest motorcycle of their RC lineup in India, the RC 125. Keeping up with KTM’s standards, the bike gets all high-quality materials from its bigger brothers and is powered by the same engine which is found on the KTM 125 Duke. However, all of this comes at a price, which is quite hefty at Rs. 1.47 lakhs, ex-showroom Delhi. This makes it one of the most expensive 125 cc bikes out there but KTM has not cut any corners with the bike. Let’s now take a look at the video below by Dino’s Vault which shows us how the Yamaha R15 V3 rival looks like in real life.

The success of the baby Duke is what led KTM to launch the RC 125 in India. It gets an all-new black and orange paint shade along with a white and black shade option. There is no doubt in the fact that the bike looks ravishing and is a spectacular performance oriented package overall. The only factor which might limit its sales is the high price tag of the bike, which is even higher than the much more powerful Yamaha R15 V3’s price tag. To let you know, the Yamaha R15 is priced at Rs. 1.39 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) and even comes with a double channel ABS unit, something which the RC 125 does not offer. It only comes with a single channel ABS unit as is the case with the Duke 125.

Almost the whole body of the RC 125 is the same as that of its bigger brothers like the RC 200 and the RC 390. This is one of the reasons why the bike is priced so high as the quality of materials has not been compromised. The instrument cluster and several other components have been directly lifted from the Duke 125. It gets upside-down front forks and a monoshock rear shock absorber along with disc brakes on both ends.

The motorcycle is powered by the same, 125cc, liquid cooled four stroke engine that is used by the Duke 125. This short stroke motor gets a four-valve head, twin overhead camshafts and fuel injection as standard. As for the power output, the engine churns out 14.3 Bhp of peak power at 9,250 rpm and 12 Nm of peak torque at 7,000 rpm. A six-speed manual gearbox with slipper clutch comes standard and so is the single channel ABS. The Yamaha R15 V3, in contrast, churns out 19 Bhp of power and 14 Nm of torque from its 155 cc liquid cooled engine.

In terms of performance, the RC 125 will be slightly better than the Duke 125 due to enhanced aerodynamics. However, the sporty seating position means that one would need some time to get comfortable with this bike. It now remains to be seen how the RC 125 performs in terms of sales as the baby Duke has been doing quite well. Also, it remains to be seen whether the RC 125 can take the fight up to the segment leader – the Yamaha R15 V3.