The Yamaha R3 might sport a 320 cc engine, to gain an advantage over the competitors in its segment. After the launch of the R25 in Indonesia, the Yamaha R3 will be the next one to hit the showroom floors.
The above picture of the Yamaha R25 is for representational purposes only. At present, no official image or speculative rendering of the Yamaha R3 exists. However, the groundwork for such a bike has been confirmed by trademark applications. Yamaha had applied for trademarking the name “YZF-R3”, back in January this year. The Yamaha R3 will go up against the Kawasaki Ninja 300 and the forthcoming Honda CBR300R.
Rumor mills from Indonesia have started spinning stories about the engine size of the upcoming Yamaha R3. They claim that the Yamaha R3 will possess a 320 cc engine to gain an edge over other competitors in its segment. The 20 cc increase will lend it better performance specifications over the 300 cc counterparts from Kawasaki and Honda. Production of the Yamaha R3 could commence in Indonesia. Like its already-launched sibling R25, the sales of the Yamaha R3 might kick off in Indonesia first. Other international markets will follow suit soon after.
Launch of a 300 cc motorcycle makes sense as the presence of two variants helps in clearing the complex web of licensing regulations that exist in various countries. Like with the Ninja 250 – Ninja 300 pair and the CBR250R – CBR300R pair, the Yamaha R25 will be marketed in countries like Japan and Indonesia. The Yamaha R3 will be poised to take on the A2 Category licensing regulations existing in the UK and Europe. All sub-48 hp bikes fall in the A2 Category, and the number of applicants for this category has been rising steadily over the years, denoting it to be a lucrative segment.
However, can the Yamaha R3 manage to keep up with the upcoming 250 cc, Inline-Four motorcycle from the lineup of Kawasaki?
Source – TMCBlog