Yamaha YZF-R15 v3.0 rendered with South Asian customer feedback

It is no NSA-level secret that Yamaha Motor is hard at work creating the successor to the current Yamaha YZF-R15 v2.0. The extremely narrow sport-focused design of the current motorcycle has its share of detractors, with the common complaint being that it is uncomfortable and its ergonomics are hugely taxing on the body when ridden for long stretches of time. Yamaha India understands this very well, which is why they recently introduced the YZF-R15s, an R15 in all respects save for a unibody seat meant to be slightly more forgiving for both the rider and pillion.

Now, an Indonesian blog by the name of Warungasep reports that Yamaha officials in the country are interviewing prospective customers of small-displacement fully-faired bikes as to what they expect and want from the upcoming R15 version 3.0. Our command over the Indonesian language is limited to “Terima kasih” and Google Translate isn’t much of a helper, so what we can glean from the article is mainly limited to what we can see in the accompanying pictures. And that Yamaha is even interviewing riders from a local Honda CBR300 riding club.

The two pictures, meanwhile, show two unofficial mock-ups of the Yamaha YZF-R15 v3.0, one of which is directly based on its predecessor and the other based on the naked M-Slaz that runs on Indonesian roads with the same engine as the R15. The former evokes strong styling cues from the European Yamaha R125 while the latter has a hint of the Honda CBR250R around the tailpiece but is otherwise completely different looking.

It is early times yet so there is still no information whether Yamaha will tweak the engine, or will make do with a cosmetic refresh. It is also too early to even hazard a guess which design direction Yamaha (and, by extension, Yamaha Motor India) intends to take to the production floors. Nevertheless, a revamp, cosmetic or otherwise, of one of the best 150cc motorcycles we’ve ever seen can only bode well and we are excited all the same.