War of the quarter-litres at the Tokyo Motor Show – The small big bang

A war is brewing in Japan and the battle will be fought at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show as almost all the major motorcycle manufacturers from the Land of the Rising Sun are developing their respective long list of products. What got us really excited is the list of quarter-litre motorcycles heading to the 44th Tokyo Motor Show. The latest reports from Japanese automotive magazine, Young Machine, hints at the list of products that would be unveiled at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show. Surprisingly, according to the report, Yamaha opted to stay out of the quarter-litre war about to take place at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, most probably because it was only last year when it introduced the YZF-R25.

Here is what Yamaha Plans to showcase at the Tokyo Motor Show:

• Yamaha FJR 1300 A / AS
• Yamaha FZ1 Fazer
• Yamaha YZF-R1S
• Yamaha YZF-R6
• Yamaha MT-09 TC
• Yamaha RZR 900
• Yamaha 01 GEN
• Yamaha MT-07 Tracer

That leaves Kawasaki, Honda and Suzuki to blow the war bugle at the motoring event. First up is Kawasaki. According to the list published by the Japanese magazine, Kawasaki will be showcasing five products at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, one of which is the Ninja 250. While no further details are yet available, we expect Kawasaki to continue with the twin-cylinder setup on the new variant of its quarter-litre motorcycle. The new Ninja 250 may draw design elements such as the twin headlight and muscular bodywork from the Ninja 300. The new Ninja 250 will primarily be targeted to the markets where it will fall in the lower tax bracket as compared to the Ninja 300 owing to performance grading.

Here is what else Kawasaki will showcase at the Tokyo Motor Show:

• Kawasaki ZX-14R
• Kawasaki ZX-10R
• Kawasaki Ninja H2 / R2
• Kawasaki Ninja 650 cc S2
• Kawasaki Ninja 250

While Kawasaki reportedly plans the Ninja 250, Honda may bring out not one, but two products in the sub 500cc segment. If the list is anything to go by, Honda may unveil the CBR250RR and CBR350RR at the upcoming motoring event. So while the Honda CBR250RR will participate in the quarter-litre battle against the Kawasaki Ninja 250 and Yamaha YZF-R25, the Honda CBR350RR will compete against the Kawasaki Ninja 300 and Yamaha YZF-R3. The double-R moniker hints towards sporty motorcycles heading out from Honda’s production line which is a really interesting update. Looking at its competitors, we believe that Honda may add a twin-cylinder setup to both the upcoming CBR motorcycles to stay at par with its rivals. Parallel or V? Our intuition says parallel-twin but will wait for the official announcement at that front.

Here is what else would possibly roll out from Honda’s production line very soon:

• Honda New WING
• CB 1100 Cafe
• NC 750 X
• CB 400 Four
• CBR 250RR / 350 RR

That brings us to the final competitor on the list, Suzuki. What Suzuki has reportedly planned for the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show might give its competitors sleepless nights. The Suzuki GSX-R250 renders with futuristic LED headlights, a muscular fuel tank and a step-up split seat have been doing rounds over the World Wide Web for quite some time now and we are utterly awestruck with what we saw. The new GSX-R250, however, will not be the lone participant from Suzuki in the 250cc segment. The Japanese motorcycle maker is also likely to unveil a tourer motorcycle, tagged as G-Storm 250, at the motoring event. Both motorcycles – GSX-R250 and G-Storm 250 – are likely to share the same engine but come with different states of tunes to match their respective character.

Here is what else Suzuki will reportedly reveal at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show

• Suzuki GSX R1000 / R
• Suzuki S 600 Turbo / Recursion
• Suzuki GSX-R250
• Suzuki G-Strom 250

All the above images are artist renders of what the upcoming motorcycles would look like and we are really not sure how would the final products would look like. However, that does not lower our excitement and we eagerly await the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, the 44th edition of the motoring event, that will make landfall on October 30 and will continue till November 8, 2015. We are already jumping on our seats in excitement, especially after going through the list of the expected launches. What about you?

Source: Young Magazine via TMC Blog