Folks at Yamaha Motor India are going all out with a series of launches, most notably the new R15 which has been followed by the most powerful scooter in India — the Aerox 155. It uses the 155cc engine from its motorcycle counterpart, the R15, and has already been available in international markets for some time. However, Yamaha India probably sees a market for the maxi scooter in India and is all set to take on the Aprilia SXR 160 with the Aerox 155. Let us look at what it has got.
As mentioned earlier, the Aerox 155 uses the R15’s liquid-cooled 155cc 4-valve FI single-cylinder engine with VVA, which is detuned to make 14.75bhp at 8000rpm and a peak torque of 13.9Nm at 6500rpm and is mated to a CVT. This makes it India’s most powerful scooter.
The design of a maxi-scooter is not alien for Indian customers thanks to the Suzuki Burgman and Aprilia SXR 160, but the Aerox looks rather different. It resembles the TMAX 560, with its pronounced cladding, split footboard, painted wheels with 140mm rear tyre and two-level seats. There is 24.5-litres of under-seat storage too. It has LED lights at both ends with LED position lights above the headlamps, though the turn-indicators remain conventional bulbs. The Aerox comes in two colour options as standard, namely, Racing Blue and Grey Vermillion and there is also a third Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Edition, which comes at a premium of Rs 1500. Additionally, to personalise Yamaha is providing extensive accessories catalogue worth Rs 30,660 (combined) which include a seat cover, two visor options, LED flasher, body cover, and KYB suspension.
The Aerox weighs 126kg and is suspended on 26mm telescopic front forks and a twin coil spring setup at the rear. These rear coil springs can be swapped with the gas-charged KYB Ultimate Series suspension exclusive for the Aerox scooter from the aforementioned accessories catalogue. A 230mm disc up front with a single-pot calliper along with a 130mm drum inside the rear wheel handle the braking duties, assisted with single-channel ABS. Dual-channel ABS should have been standard at this price point, especially considering the performance of the Aerox 155.
The Aerox comes loaded with a kit. For starters, there is an LCD screen that can be paired with Yamaha’s Y-Connect app which enables features like telephony, geo-tracking, malfunction notification, fuel consumption tracker, ‘Revs dashboard’ — which provides engine telemetry on your smartphone screen. Yamaha has installed a smartphone USB charger as well. Apart from that, it also has a smart motor-generator system that will make your early morning cold starts quieter and there is an automatic start stop feature to save fuel by switching off the engine when stationary, at a traffic light for example and it restarts with a simple twist of the throttle.
Yamaha Aerox’s prices start at Rs 1.29 lakh ex-showroom and cost only Rs 2000 more than its rival the Aprilia SXR 160, which is priced at Rs 1.27 lakh. For the extra dough, you get more horsepower (SXR 160 has 10.75bhp) and an arguably larger service network. Watch this space for the first ride review of the Aerox.