In December 2015, India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd. had confirmed that they’ll launch the MT-03 sometime in 2016. It looks like the plan got delayed for a bit, as prototypes of the naked street-fighter have been spied testing on Indian roads for the first time only now, and its already the end of 2016.
This suggests an early-2017 Indian launch for the Yamaha MT-03, a motorcycle that’s expected to be priced INR 20,000 to INR 30,000 lower than the YZF-R3 that its based on. The YZF-R3 retails for a stratospheric INR 3.25 lakh, Ex-Showroom (Delhi).
The MT-03 is essentially the naked street-fighter version of the YZF-R3, and was first unveiled at the EICMA show in Milan in 2015. The MT-03’s styling embraces its naked street-fighter philosophy by swapping the R3’s full fairing with minimalist bodywork.
A single piece, wide handle-bar replaces the clip on bars from the YZF-R3, accounting for a more upright riding stance. Up front, the MT-03 features a single pod headlamp as opposed to the twin headlamps on the R3.
The part analogue, part digital instrument cluster from the R3 is carried over, while the MT-03 gets a fuel tank mounted air intake. The MT-03, tipping the scales at 165 kg (wet) borrows its engine from its fully faired sibling as well.
The said engine is a 321 cc, four stroke liquid cooled DOHC parallel twin engine producing 41 hp at 10,750 rpm and a peak torque of 30 Nm at 9,000 rpm. The engine’s paired to a 6-speed transmission.
Expect the MT-03 to be locally assembled at either of India Yamaha Motor’s two manufacturing facilities at Faridabad (Haryana) and Surajpur (Uttar Pradesh). Upon launch, the MT-03 will lock horns with the Kawasaki Ninja 300, Benelli TNT300 and the BMW G310 R.
via Auto Blog India