Yamaha XTZ 125 SPIED testing: India’s most affordable adventure bike?

The Indian motorcycle market is currently seeing some of the most awaited launches. The arrival of Jawa, twin-cylinder Royal Enfield, more affordable KTM 125 Duke has warmed up the market very well. Now many other manufacturers are planning to launch their products in the growing Indian market and tapping into the growing business.

Yamaha, one of the biggest motorcycle manufacturers in the world also has a good presence in the Indian market and to push forward, they may launch a new dual-purpose motorcycle in the Indian market.

CarToq reader Manigandan Rajesh caught a new Yamaha dual-purpose bike on test on the Indian roads. The uncamouflaged bike reveals all the details of the bike, which may launch in the future. Yamaha has not ever announced or hinted the launch of any such entry-level dual-purpose motorcycle in the Indian market but now that the motorcycle market has become mature, Yamaha may as well test the new segment with the all-new product.

The first glimpse of the Yamaha XTZ 125 would remind you of the Hero Impulse, which has been discontinued in the Indian market for a long time now. The XTZ gets long travel front suspension and a mono-shock suspension in the rear. It also gets spoked rims that are very useful while riding on the rough roads and off-road. The spoked wheels are sturdier and are extremely useful during the off-roading. Other off-road-friendly features include under-seat exhaust, which increases the capability in deep water crossings too.  The bike weighs only 118 kg, making it very nimble to handle in the city traffic and off-roading.

Even though Yamaha has remained tight-lipped about the launch of a dual purpose model, they had announced that new set of entry-level motorcycles in the Indian market and this could be the part of the same. The Yamaha XTZ 125 draws power from 124cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled engine that produces a maximum power of 12.5 Bhp and 11.5 Nm of peak torque. It gets a 5-speed transmission. The engine remains quite simple and gets a carburettor. Yamaha has not said anything about the launch of the all-new bike but is expected to be launched by the mid of 2019.

The XTZ 125 would take up the place of the Hero Impulse when launched. The Impulse was discontinued to the low demands in the market and the brand would soon launch Hero XPulse 200. The XPulse would be launched later in 2019 and would be priced competitively.

The Yamaha XTZ 125, however, would the most affordable ADV in the Indian market when launched. There are quite a few other adventure bikes that may get launched in 2019. Hero is expected to launch the XPulse 200R while KTM would also bring in the 390 ADV in the Indian market in late 2019.

The adventure motorcycle segment in India is yet to take off in a big way even though Indian roads offer almost perfect conditions for such bikes. The launch of a slew of new offerings in this segment may make such bikes more popular in the coming years.