Yamaha excels at creating an air of excitement around its products. It takes a very regular, well-established segment, and then pumps a generous dose of adrenaline into it. The company did that with the R15 – it made the 150cc segment, well, exciting. The R15 received a major upgrade some time ago adding more excitement to the bike. Now, at last, after a slew of scooters its other 150cc blockbuster gets a major update.

Fresh looks

From afar, you can’t immediately tell that it’s a newer bike. That’s because the cosmetic changes are but minor – the new FZS gets a refreshed headlamp and tail lamp design, different decals, and some new shades. The changes include a reworked seat and rear design – you now get a split rear seat and new aluminium grab rails, and the rear tyre comes covered with a big tyre-hugger.

The console has been changed too, with a new ‘Eco’ indicator – we reckon this could’ve been skipped, but then the whole point of the new FZ is that of more fuel efficiency. There’s a new exhaust design too, and the big, bulbous muffler has been replaced with an end-can that honestly looks like one of Megatron’s limbs.

On the whole though, the bike retains its old muscular character. Only, new side cowls and the new rear design accentuate the sharper lines – we loved the old design, but seriously, it had to have a new-age look.

Sharper ride

On paper, it looks like Yamaha shrunk the engine just a bit to save more petrol. The bore has been reduced very minutely (the stroke remains the same), and now the new displacement is 149cc. Power figures have also come down, but just marginally – the single cylinder mill produces a peak power of 13.1PS @ 8,000rpm, and the torque peaks out at 12.8Nm @ 6,000rpm. But these numbers hardly matter, because the biggest news is that Yamaha has ripped off the carb and thrown in a fuel injection system.

That’s good news for two things – a refined ride, and more fuel efficiency. On the road, the added refinement is a welcome change. We had no complaints with the older, carburetted 153cc motor, but this new engine (with what Yamaha calls “Blue Core” technology) is an absolute delight. The throttle response is sharper when you pull it up, and there’s a noticeable drop in power loss, when you roll the throttle down. It retains the old, short-ratio gearbox, which makes the FZ feel completely at home on the streets. Sure, on the highway you do feel the need for a sixth slot (the bike feels too strained after crossing an indicated 110kmph), but then this 150cc was never really meant for that.

Like the predecessor, the suspension setup is still on the stiffer side. While this adds oodles of confidence around fast corners, the rider and pillion’s bottoms are prone to be sore over bumpy roads. The weight loss is just 3 kgs, but the new FZ feels way nimbler than ever.

We do have something to complain about, though. The braking needs a lot of improvement. Yamaha still offers the front-disc and rear-drum combination. While the Bybre disc on the front is sharp, the drum brake feels too spongy.

Bottomline

What Yamaha has done is take its best streetbike, added new stuff to it, and priced it just a little more than its predecessor. At about ₹6,000 more than the original FZ-S, the new FZ-S comes with increased mileage, tonnes of refinement and much needed radial tyres (with the same dimensions). Only, we wish that Yamaha had at least thrown in the rear disc, even if as an optional purchase. The FZ-S also has an aggressive price tag at ₹78,250 (ex-showroom, Delhi), giving the Pulsars and Triggers a run for their money.

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