The R15 Story: Part IV

Part IV: Street

After being bowled over by the R15’s performance on the track, I was eager to know what she would do on the street. A couple of days later I managed to finally get her down to the city tarmac. My first commute on the bike was worth around 15 kms. The first thing that struck me though was the lack of rolling power on the low-end of the rev-range. While on the track, I was continuously above the 7K mark, but on the street I was playing it rather easy with all the traffic-illiteracy-prone commuters around me. Below 5K, the bike struggles - even a decent Shine will be able to outshine the R15 in crowded city conditions. But keep the revs above the five grand mark and the R15 is a completely different bike. But the whole point is, its not all that practically possible to keep the revs above 5k all the time, especially with the kind of traffic conditions we have. This is where the displacement advantage of the others like the P220/200 and the Karizma comes into play. These bikes can easily cream the R15 if roll-ons were to be considered.

The other factor similar to the higher capacity bikes is Deltabox frame heating up. Since not many have experienced such a frame on an Indian bike before, this is one thing you need to keep in mind while riding the R15 of any bike with a similar frame. In crowded conditions, the bike tends to heat up a lot, thanks to the fully faired bodywork. The engine heat is transferred to the Deltabox frame and after a certain amount of time, the frame becomes hot enough to corrode your crotch. If your bike does heat up to this extent, it is advisable to take a break and let it cool down a bit. The sound of the radiator fan kicking in will definitely impart a pseudo-superbike feel-good factor to the new rider.

Coming back to the street, the bike feels quite puny when standing next to the regulars at a traffic junction. At one point of time I felt as if I was controlling a pair of mirrors with my handlebars, as that’s the only component visible while riding this bike. The visor is low down and doesn’t poke into your line of sight. The seating is comfortable for the city rides and the seating posture, though track focused, isn’t all that cumbersome in traffic. Infact the posture lets you flick this pony through the traffic with as much ease as a Dio – not kidding. For taller riders though (read 6-feet+) it becomes a little difficult in the stop-go-stop-go kinda conditions because of the high footpegs. This may sometimes lead to a slight imbalance. But for the average Indian rider, the bike is a dream – a perfect combination of race ergonomics combined with easy flickability for the street use.

So, the trick here is, if you wish to exploit the R15 in the city, keep the bike above 6K RPM, else your jealous rivals on the P220/200 and the Karizma will tear you apart. For all those short traffic light drags, launch the bike at around 8K RPM – and believe me, the 220 or the Karizma has no chance to take you down, provided you don’t miss-shift. Overall, the bike doesn’t disappoint in city conditions either. And it definitely attracts more attention than any other India bike in the market today. But frankly speaking, after the kind of experience I had on the track and then on the street, the R15 felt more like a Leopard that was kept in a kennel and given a plate full of dog-food to eat! The city is not where she belongs….