Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha is gearing up to expand their product portfolio and launch a new scooter. The scooter in question could be the Yamaha NMax 155. The Japanese two-wheeler brand has been successfully selling products like the Yamaha YZF-R15 and the FZ series motorcycles for quite some time in India. Yamaha also launched the MT-15 naked street-fighter motorcycle recently in India and in its debut month it delivered over 5000 units of the naked roadster to its customers.
Yamaha in the fiscal year 2019 has sold 8.04 lakh units making a growth of 1.5% but are still lower than the industry’s growth rate of 4.86%. The entry-level scooters and motorcycles that are currently sold by Yamaha are not so popular and hence a new premium scooter with a 125cc or higher capacity engine is needed for India. But we think if Yamaha decides to launch the NMax they will skip the 125cc version and bring the 155cc engine to directly compete with the Aprilia SR 150 and Vespa SXL 150 which currently dominate the 150cc scooter segment.
The NMax 155 is powered by a single-cylinder, 155cc, liquid-cooled, 4-valve SOHC motor producing 14.8 HP of power @ 8000 RPM and 14.4 Nm of torque @ 6000 RPM coupled to a V-Belt automatic transmission with a centrifugal dry clutch. The fuel delivery is through an electronic fuel injection system and the scooter is expected to be BSVI emission standards compliant when it launches in India.
The chassis is a backbone type frame and rides on the telescopic front fork and a unit swing arm shock absorber on the rear. The scooter is expected to sport ABS-equipped disc brakes on both front and rear wheel. The wheels are expected to be 13-inch alloys with 110/70 front and 130/70 section rear, tubeless tyres. The NMax 155 weighs 127 kg and has a fuel tank capacity of 6.6-litres.
The NMAX will feature all LED triple headlights, comfortable step-up seats, a split footboard, disc brakes on both wheels and spacious storage compartment.
The NMax when launched in India is expected to be priced around INR 1 lakh.