Even Europe Gets Its Own Small Yamaha XSR125

It’s hardly been a week since we brought you murmurs about the Yamaha XSR125 heading to Europe and now, it has finally been unveiled. Yep, the smallest member of Yamaha’s neo-retro series of bikes has arrived on the scene, offering budding enthusiasts a different flavour from the usual naked or supersport formats.

No prizes for guessing why the XSR125 and the XSR155 look so similar -- they are virtually the same bike but with different engines. The same handsome XSR design DNA carries forward on the small 125 as well. The chunky tear-drop shaped fuel tank, the triangular side plates, and the mudguards arrive in three shades: Redline (red), Impact Yellow, and Tech Black. There are also lovely twin-stripe vinyls that contrast well with the base colour.

The retro elements, such as a ribbed seat cover, a round headlamp and tail lamp, and a circular dash are neatly integrated into what is a pretty modern motorcycle. The dash is a negative-LCD fully-digital unit and the lighting bits mentioned above are LEDs.

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The XSR125 shares its engine with the R125 and MT-125. As European licensing laws restrict the cubic capacity for learner motorcycles to 125cc, the larger XSR155 couldn’t be sold there (just like the R15 and the MT-15). This VVA-equipped motor, one of the most powerful in the class, makes 14.95PS and 11.5Nm.

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All of the mechanical bits on the XSR125 are blacked-out, including the motor, its short stubby exhaust, the Deltabox frame, the cast aluminium swingarm, and the USD fork. The XSR125 runs on 17-inch alloy wheels that come shod with block-pattern tyres. Disc brakes are employed at both ends with dual-channel ABS offered as standard.

While the XSR125 has no natural rivals, it will have to contend with Europe’s current king of learner motorcycles: the KTM 125 Duke. The Austrian naked (that’s built in India) has an edgy design and near-identical engine output as the Yamaha neo-retro bike.

But, what about India? Ideally, Yamaha India should have brought the larger XSR155 to our shores since there’s no such cubic capacity restriction here and we already have the R15 and MT-15. Sadly, what we will be getting is the FZ-X, a neo-retro derivative of the highly popular FZ commuter. Here’s what we know about the upcoming bike so far.