The KTM RC 125, the Yamaha R15 V3.0 and the Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 are three of the most value for money full-faired motorcycles in India
When it comes to India, we absolutely love fully-faired motorcycles. They might be a little less comfortable as compared to a street-naked motorcycle, but then again, there’s hardly any kind of motorcycle that can make you look cooler than being on a fully-faired machine. As a result, almost every major automaker in the country has come out with their more affordable versions and/or their best performing versions of the motorcycles in their lineup.
This means, the Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 which is claimed to be the sportiest Bajaj on sale right now, then there’s the Yamaha R15 V3.0 which has claimed something of a legendary status when it comes to budget performance motorcycles in India and finally, KTM’s newest offering is also the smallest RC motorcycle to be sold in India ever, but still packs the looks and the aura that its elder siblings are known for.
So what happens when these three motorcycles come together for a drag race? Well, a video on YouTube answers that question.
As can be seen in the video, none of these motorcycles makes a jump start but it is the bigger, most powerful, Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 is the quickest motorcycle off the line, rather unsurprisingly. The smallest and the least powerful motorcycle among the lot, the KTM RC 125 is the slowest.
What is surprising, though, is the fact that Yamaha R15 V3.0 is so closely matched to the bigger Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 in terms of straight-line acceleration. And then, even more surprisingly, the R15 V3.0 actually goes on to beat the Pulsar RS 200 in terms of top speed.
So there you have it, in terms of being the quickest off the line, the Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 is the leader followed by the Yamaha R15 V3.0 and then the KTM RC 125. And in terms of top speed, the Yamaha takes the cake, being followed by the Bajaj and then KTM.
Coming to the specifications, the KTM RC125 is powered by a 125 cc, liquid-cooled four-stroke engine that churns out 14.3 bhp of peak power at 9,250 rpm and 12 Nm of peak torque at 7,000 rpm. The engine is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox with a slipper clutch that is offered as standard. The bike has a kerb weight of 135 kg and comes with a single-channel ABS.
The Yamaha YZF-R15 V3.0, on the other hand, is powered by a 155 cc engine that produces 18.7 bhp of power at 10,000 RPM along with 15 Nm of torque at 8,500 RPM. The engine comes mated to a six-speed gearbox and gets a slipper clutch as well. The bike also gets a dual-channel ABS and has a kerb weight of 139 kg.
Lastly, the Bajaj RS200 is powered by a 199.5-cc single-cylinder fuel-injected engine, the biggest of the lot, that puts out 24.5 bhp of power along with 18.6 Nm of torque. The bike has a kerb weight of 165 kg, the heaviest of the three and comes equipped with a single-channel ABS.
In terms of pricing, all the three fully-faired bikes are priced identical, even though the Bajaj has a bigger engine. All the three different manufacturers are offering the three different engine capacity bikes between Rs 1.4 lakh to 1.5 lakh (ex-showroom).
The KTM125 although the least powerful is the most expensive of the lot and the Bajaj RS200 and Yamaha are similarly priced, although the price difference between the three is less than Rs 5000.