It was truly a “Kando” moment in Goa today! Mr. Hiroyuki Yanagi, President and CEO, Yamaha Motor Co. was present to grace the occasion of introduction of new products in their lineup.
Puzzled?? Kando in Japanese refers to “simultaneous feelings of deep satisfaction and intense excitement“, and that is what Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd. strives to invoke within their privileged customers. The company today unveiled their second offering for the Indian scooter market.
Bestowed with the moniker Ray Z and a new slogan “Revs your Heart‘, it evokes the image of a pumped-up version as compared to their earlier offering, the Ray. With the introduction of the Ray-Z, Yamaha’s intentions to draw the youth brigade to their showrooms become clearer, this time they target the darker sex as well!
From time immemorial, manufacturers have tried to imbue a certain machismo to scooters, but unfortunately, have failed. The older Dios boasted of a “MotoScooter” tag on their front side panels, but they were tad underpowered for males to be throttle-happy. Mahindra’s Rodeo fulfilled the kick-in-the-seat-of-the-pants craze with its “Power Scooter” image, but its curvaceous styling inspired, unfortunately, a chubby and cuddly image.
Yamaha designers probably were aware of these pitfalls, and from the word “Go”, they have set themselves in turning the stereotype over on its head.If they have succeeded or not is what you have to decide but what we see here looks sporty, to say the least!
Here’s whats on offer :-
Yamaha RAY Z Features
- Windscreen – A new smoked windscreen, albeit very tiny, adorns the new Ray Z. There is a generous lapping of a similar looking material on the area over the headlamp, and it does add a wee bit of character. Did the designers try to cheat the feel of a motorcycle? We are affirmative.
- Rear Grab Rails – Japanese Manga is popular world over, and swans are popular foils for the imagination of their artists. We have never been able to spot any resemblance to a swan in both the Ray as well as Ray Z model, so the “Cygnus” badging was unexplained. But if you feel a swan embodies the qualities of gracefulness and gorgeousness, then the “Cygnus” all of a sudden becomes less mysterious. To stay true to that badge, Yamaha has added new “wing-shaped” rear grab rails made of aluminium.
- Dollops of Carbon Fibre – In sync with their efforts of recreating a big-bike feel, Yamaha’s designers have generously bathed the Ray Z in carbon fibre pattern. It boasts of a new instrument cluster with a carbon fibre background, and the seats are similarly patterned too? Lightweight ?? Oh yeah, the scoot is not a big deal to be pushed around at 104 kilos.
- Brand New Livery – The Ray Z is draped in raunchier decals, guaranteeing unlimited attention. We feel males need not fear of attracting taunts and jibes while chugging around on this gorgeous scoot.
The New Ray Z is pushed forward by the similar mill that powered the Ray. It is an air-cooled 4-stroke 113cc mill with CVT (Continuous variable transmission) that churns out a peak power of 7.1PS @ 7500 rpm and a peak torque of 8.1Nm @ 5000 rpm. If there are any internal tweaks, we can not know until Yamaha hands us over one for a test ride!
The Ray Z will possess an ex-showroom price tag of INR 48,555/- in New Delhi. This is Rs 2000 over the regular Ray which costs Rs 46,500 in Delhi. Is Yamaha’s plan of giving its scoot a shot of Testosterone just the tip of iceberg?? Is there a wider game plan involving the X-Max at the fulcrum?? We are not sure, but time alone can tell.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, check out the technical specs (and spyshots) of Ray Z that we broke open yesterday itself!
For RAY Z’s official pictures in all 4 colors, head over to our forum.
Yamaha Launches SZ-RR and SZ-S
Interestingly, the Ray Z launch event featured two other bigger siblings. Though its earlier variants were very spartan-looking, Yamaha has given the SZ lineup two new refreshes in the form of the SZ-RR and the SZ-S.
SZ-RR :-
It is the smarter-looking of the two new ones (pictured above) that were unveiled. A 3-D “SZ” logo now shows that Yamaha has finally reached there where Bajaj trundled upon quite a few years ago, though Yamaha is still ahead in terms of the paint-job quality.
Finally, Yamaha has decided to say goodbye to those cheap-looking rear grab rails on the SZ, and atleast one variant boasts of classy looking aluminium ones. An extremely rare display of cost-cutting by a Jap finally ended, we must remark!
The SZ-RR also boasts of a smoked windscreen now. It’s ex-showroom price in Delhi is INR 62,500/-.
SZ-S :-
In this curious case, Yamaha seems to have put it’s austerity drive on “Continue with Aplomb” mode! The tank design is simpler, and we do hope our Grandpas and Grandmas will prefer this subtlety, unlike some of the more aggressive models that prowl the market with humongous, muscular tanks and sky-high rear cowls.
As expected, the Delhi ex-showroom price is INR 59,500/-. Touche!!!
Also Read: Yamaha confirms R125 Based 250cc sportsbike
