Yamaha FZ25 Review (Knight Black) – Perfect Powerful 250cc Bike

Yamaha FZ25 Review – Perfect Powerful 250cc Motorcycle

FZ (pronounced as eff zee) is a motorcycle series from Yamaha India which is pretty popular among Indian youth. The brand “Yamaha FZ” is popular by itself.  The company launched the powerful 250cc version of the FZ motorcycle in the month of January 2017 in India and has branded it as “FZ25“.

Today we have with us the all new Yamaha FZ25 motorcycle for review. We picked the Knight black color variant of FZ25 from Perfect Riders dealership in Lalbagh road.

First Impressions

The motorcycle looks fantastic and you can clearly notice the design cues borrowed from original FZ motorcycle.  Out of Ballistic Blue, Warrior White, and Knight Black colors offered, we think the Black is pretty appealing. The FZ25 sticker is not so prominently visible on the black motorcycle – the unique design, muscular fuel tank and headlamp makes it evident that it is FZ25.

The motorcycle’s rear is of high stance, the vibrant bright LED tail lamps adds more value to the design.  Motorcycle manufactures like Bajaj should learn from Yamaha and get some lessons to get the rear end design of the motorcycle right (of course, we are pointing our finger at Bajaj Pulsar RS200’s ugly tail lamp) .

Design

Headlamps are very very bright – with AHO ( Always Headlamp On) being mandatory, you see there is no switch to turn this light off and it is by its design. As usual, people on the street screamed at us to turn off the light – “Anna Light On idhe” – for which we had to smile and move on.  We love the way how the dashboard turns ON and made the electronic sound as you start the bike, the digital instrument cluster is nice and shows all the relevant information to the rider including time.  The seating position is done differently – being a regular Honda Unicorn rider I felt I had to lean slightly to front and adjust myself to be comfortably seated – probably it is designed that way to run efficiently in high speeds.

The engine sound of FZ25 is really good to hear,  it is smooth and minimal.  A feedback  to Yamaha is they should probably change the placement of “Dim and Dip” switch from the above the handle to below so that the finger easily reaches to respond to emergency obstacles while riding.

Engine and Performance

The core of this motorcycle is the engine. Yamaha really wanted to woo its FZ riders by offering the much powerful and performing engine and that is the reason FZ25 is launched. The aspirations of 150-200cc motorcycle riders are growing and FZ25 is here to fill that gap for those seek more power and performance at a slightly upgradable price point.  The all new Yamaha FZ25 motorcycle is powered by 249cc engine that delivers whooping 20.9 PS of power and maximum torque delivered is 20.0 Nm.  The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission gearbox. Initially, finding the gear lever was a bit tricky for me and then I got used to it.

Yamaha FZ25 is a treat to ride on highways. We enjoyed riding through our favorite Bangalore Airport road elevated highway and touched upto 134 Kmph top speed with ease racing all those luxury cars which came our way.  The power kicks in instantly and it is actually a good idea to make sure the person behind you (pillion rider) is seated – if you are a type of rider who loves accelerating frequently with more thump!!! –  It is a pretty powerful machine.

Handling & Brakes

The wheelbase of Yamaha FZ25 is 1360mm which helps you do good cornering. The turning radius is good as well. Being 250cc motorcycle, Yamaha FZ25 offers a very modest kerb weight of 148 Kgs which is best in the industry in this segment.  The reduced body weight helps you in cruising easily through roads without any hiccups of carrying an extra load.

Although ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) is absent, the motorcycle brakes well as it is equipped with disc brakes both in the front and the rear.  The suspension of Yamaha FZ25 are of high quality, we could clearly notice the play of shock absorbers on those uneven terrains and road humps – All thanks to Yamaha FZ25’s telescopic fork suspension type in the front and swing arm suspension in the rear.

Dimensions, Comfort and Pillion Comfort

Talking about the dimensions, Yamaha FZ25 measures 2015mm in length, 770mm in width and has a seat height of 795mm. The wheelbase of FZ25 measures 1360mm and ground clearance measures 160mm.  The ground clearance could be a matter of concern, you might hear the noise of brushing while passing through speed breakers.

The kerb weight of Yamaha FZ25 is 148 Kgs and the bike offers fuel tank capacity of 14 litres. You would really need a bigger fuel tank when you are riding a performance motorcycle like this that offers comparatively lesser mileage than other lower cc bikes.

While the motorcycle offered perfect stability and ergonomics to the rider, it might not be same for the pillion rider.

Price

The ex-showroom Bangalore price of Yamaha FZ25 is INR 1,22,400 . Post GST implementation from July 1, the  Yamaha FZ25’s GST price could vary in  the range of 3 to 5%.  The pricing of Yamaha FZ25 is attractive. You are getting a powerful machine with 250cc engine with just around 1.3 Lakhs to 1.4 Lakhs on-road price ( depends on your city).

Verdict

We would straight away recommend the Yamaha FZ25 for anyone who is looking to buy a motorcycle with 200cc plus engine.  Yamaha FZ25 is a great choice for those who love to experience the performance and power a motorcycle can offer. Yamaha FZ25’s design is updated, modern and appeals the younger generation. Yamaha FZ25 is undoubtedly a winner and stands out from other performance oriented motorcycles like KTM Duke, Bajaj Dominar and is also a great upgradable choice for those who like Gixxer, Hornet, Pulsars in 200-250cc segment.

What’s your take on the new Yamaha FZ25? Let us know by commenting below. You can find the gallery below. View and download the entire photo gallery of Yamaha FZ25 from here.