Yamaha’s new YZF-R3 is a great-handling machine that makes surprisingly good power for having just 321cc.
What’s the hottest trend in street bikes right now? Small bikes. Small as in sub-500cc sportbikes. According to Yamaha’s graphs, the “small-bore” sportbike market has doubled in overall sales over the last five years. Makes sense, really. Think back—what was going on five year’s ago? The economy was sucking and people were looking for better and more fuel-efficient ways of getting around town, and what better way to do that than on a motorcycle, especially a small-bore motorcycle?
This was a good excuse for people who had been thinking about getting a bike for many years to finally pull the trigger, and for those who had been thinking about getting back into riding again to revisit the wonder years. According to Yamaha, many of them did!
For these people, smaller bikes were the perfect first choice, and for many reasons: smaller bikes are less intimidating, easier to ride, safer, and cost less to operate and purchase than bigger and more powerful (600cc-plus) bikes. Plus, the manufactures finally started making them look far more appealing; they’ve finally figured out that just because you might be a beginner doesn’t mean you have to look like one.
As a result, the sub-500cc sportbike category has expanded—in more ways than one—over the years. Honda and Kawasaki have recently made their small-bore sport bikes more appealing by bumping up their displacement from 250cc to 300cc (or thereabout), and KTM joined the class with its all-new RC 390. And now we have Yamaha’s all-new YZF-R3.
The R3 takes its styling cue from its larger R6 and R1 siblings.
Like its name implies, the R3 is styled after its super sportbike YZF-R6 and -R1 siblings and is designed for both the beginner and experienced riders. Its 321cc displacement makes it tame enough for beginners while providing enough capacity to excite accomplished riders.
We recently got the chance to spend the day riding the R3 in the hills of Northern California, which included an afternoon track session at Willows’ Thunderhill Raceway, and we came away extremely impressed with this sub-$5000 motorcycle.
The R3’s 321cc in-line two-cylinder motor, with its dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder arrangement, delivers surprisingly good torque and outright power across the board, and throttle response from its 12-hole fuel-injection system is spot on. Yamaha claims that max horsepower (somewhere around 45 horsepower—Yamaha keeps the exact number a secret) is reached at 10,750 rpm, which gives you good incentive to keep the throttle pinned. You also have good incentive not to keep the throttled pinned, too, because of its claimed 56 MPG.
Shifting through all six of its gears is a breeze. All it takes is a light tap on the shift lever and you’re in the next gear, just like that, and the clutch has great feel and a light pull. Newcomers will master launches in no time on the R3.
Thinking about trying some road racing? The R3 might be the perfect bike to get you started.
The R3 is not a loud motorcycle and does not produce an inspiring exhaust note like its in-line four brothers, though it does sound kind of racy in the ultra-high rpm range when you’re listening from the side of the track. At that rpm level, vibration can be an issue, but not with this bike.
The R3’s KYB suspension is rather basic and adjustability is limited. You have preload adjustability in the back and that’s it. The 41mm fork has no easy adjustability whatsoever. Luckily, Yamaha test riders spent a lot of time on the track and on the road before settling on a permanent suspension setting for the R3, front and back, and they came up with a good one. Heavier and/or more aggressive riders will want to stiffen the spring up a bit in the back, but, overall, Yamaha found a good compromise at both ends.
Yamaha also managed to keep the R3’s seat height relatively low at 30.7 inches. They know that if a perspective buyer can’t plant their feet firmly on the ground on the showroom floor, they will quickly go looking elsewhere. The R3 weighs just 368 pounds (and that’s with the 3.7-gallon tank full of fuel), which explains why it feels so light and nimble when you first climb on board. It comes right up off the side stand, giving you that “I’m in command” feeling. The bike also feels ultra agile on the road; it takes little effort by the rider to get the R3 flicked into and out of the turns. Leaned over, the little Yamaha feels planted and stable, and the Michelin Pilot Street rubber provide decent grip, even on the track, and a smooth ride. They are mounted up to fairly wide (4.0×17-inch rear and 2.75×17-inch front) 10-spoke cast aluminum wheels that help give the R3 that big-bike look.
Braking is supplied by Akebono and comprised of a single 298mm disc up front and a single 220mm disc in the rear. They are sufficiently strong—good for novices. Experienced riders, however, will want more bite up front.
Our test rider for the day stands 6”1’ and he said that the R3 definitely feels small in size but not cramped in the cockpit. He returned from the 100-plus morning ride feeling no pain whatsoever.
At just $4990, we predict the R3—shown here in their three color options—will fly out the showroom doors.
We concluded our day on Thunderhill’s new West Loop section of the track, a fairly tight and flowing layout that features some minor elevation changes. If you’ve never been on a track before, the R3 is the perfect bike to get your feet. It handles well, the brakes are strong enough, and it’s plenty fast, but more importantly, it’s controllably fast. And just plain fun! Even experienced riders will crack a smile on this bike, especially when there are a couple other R3s on the track at the same time.
We certainly look forward to putting more real-world time on this bike, but we already know now that it handles the back roads just fine and is certainly track worthy for its size, and we have no reason to believe it wouldn’t make a fun and economical midweek workhorse, but we have to ride it some more just to be absolutely sure. (Wink-wink.)
The YZF-R3 sells for a very reasonable $4990 and is available in three color options: Raven black, Team Yamaha Blue/Matte Silver, and Rapid Red. ABS is not offered but many Yamaha accessories are already available.
We’ll have a more in-depth review on the YZF-R3 in a future issue of Cycle News magazine.
This 2015 Yamaha YZF-R3 has already visited Yamaha’s accessory department. You can easily spot the seat cowl and Yoshimura slip-on muffler, but there are plenty more goodies available.
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