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Yamaha have never had it this good. Since the R15 and FZ16 arrived in 2008, none of their products have really bombed. You could argue that they could have done more, but hindsight is always perfect, no?
Now they are taking the next step in their goal to become a bigger player in India and the obvious place to be is scooters. The automatic scooter segment has consistently outperformed motorcycles in sales growth in the recent years and one in four two-wheelers sold in India today, say Yamaha, is a scooter. That is set to rise to one in three by 2020. Translation is simple, if you need to be a big player in the Indian market, you have to do scooters and do them well. Which becomes more critical still when you realise that we are at the threshold of becoming the world’s largest two-wheeler market and that the volume segment - small motorcycles and scooters, like the Yamaha Ray, will form the chunk of those numbers.
So what is it? As you know, Yamaha showed a pink and black concept scooter at the Auto Expo and the production model looks more or less exactly the same save for the pink tint in the headlamp lens. It’s a smart, modern looking scooter that actually looks quite striking and handsome. I really like the sculpting of the body panels, especially the way the front apron wraps around your legs. In side profile it gives the front of the scooter a heft that makes the proportions looks muscular and the sweeping rear panel, which could otherwise have been lost among the other similar panels, looks more distinctive because of it. Like the Dio, Yamaha have given the scooter an apron-mounted headlamp that looks massive thanks to the use of clear lens indicators. They say it’s a smile but I thought angular lines made it look a bit more aggressive than that. This is matched at the rear by an equally large tail lamp which again makes the Ray look distinctive rather than over styled.
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In fact, I liked the styling so much that I’m a bit mystified as to why the scooter has been billed as a ladies’ scooter. I’d happily use one as a long termer and in the more gender neutral colours like this bright blue, I think it looks unisex. The pink and purple scooters, too, only suggest feminine traits thanks to our associations with those colours rather than anything else.
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Build quality is quite good and finish levels are only a notch short of excellent, I think Yamaha could have done better on both fronts but it sounded solid over the bumps on the course Yamaha had laid out for us in the parking lot of the hotel where the launch event took place.The scooter is all-new and borrows nothing, say Yamaha, from any of their international scooters. Under the plastic is a new chassis with uses a single tubular front member that splits into a cradle under the footboard. Yamaha say this is much stiffer than most of their own scooters from other markets for longevity and better riding feel.
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In that frame mounts a new 113cc two-valve SOHC engine that produces 7.1PS at 7500rpm. Being an undersquare layout, the engine also produces 8.1Nm of torque, at a low 5000rpm. Fed by a BS carburettor the engine transmits power to the rear wheels through a new CVT transmission aimed at boosting economy without sacrificing the ability to accelerate with traffic and out of it. Yamaha say the scooter will hit 60kmph in about 12 seconds, return about 50kmpl in the rear world (SIAM marks its mileage at 62.1kmpl, which isn’t the highest in the segment, mind you).
So what is it like to ride? It is a quiet, refined engine and the transmission felt alert. Acceleration is good though I am going to have to put it up against the likes of the Swish and the Vespa to see where it fits in the current scooter firmament. Higher speeds are handled with the same refinement and progress is quite brisk. Yamaha say their target audience, urban female students between the ages of 16 to 24 often ferry pillions a fair bit and that the torque the scooter makes will take care of the two up riding cycle well.
Yamaha have not skimped on the chassis. The front suspension is telescopic forks and the rear is the usual unit swingarm. Telescopes instantly make the handling more accurate than trailing link setups and feel more natural under full hard braking because they do not have anti-dive built in. Tyres are MRF Zappers in the 90/100-10 size which means they are about as good as the segment gets right now. And the 130mm drums are quite good. Brake force is developed quickly and the bike stops very smartly indeed. In fact, buzzing around the tight circuit through low and high speed corners, the Ray felt effortless in direction changes and less top heavy than most scooters I’ve ridden recently, which is one more reason why the girly positioning mystifies me.
Now to the convenience features. The Yamaha has a neat instrument console that is simple and clear and under that is the choke lever, a fixed bag hook and two small cubbies. No fancy gizmos here. Plastic quality could have been better and the scooter felt a bit rough and ready on close inspection but it is possible these were first generation prototypes we were riding so I will withhold judgement until I see our test bike. The seat hides a fairly large storage area. Again no gizmos here, but the space is shallow but wide and with the scooped out seat pan will easily hold a half face helmet, or when you are on the scooter an A4 size folder full of - Yamaha say books since chances are you’ll be a student. The grab rail includes a small vertical projection that Yamaha bills a hipstopper. It is supposed to stop you from sliding off the back.
But Yamaha is going all out on this. Not only is the product supposed to be a girl’s scooter,Yamaha have actually set up an assembly line that is manned entirely by girls and every showroom is to have female representatives to help prospective Ray buyers. Further, Yamaha is also going to host riding training programs for girls.All told, this is an impressive scooter in design and feel. But not for a minute did I think of it as a ladies’ special. I got my feet down very easily and the low seat is a boon, but it still doesn’t make it feminine for me. If the ads work as they are supposed to, men wouldn’t be willing to buy the Yamaha which I think is a bit of a loss in my books. What also worries me is that the Yamaha arrives at a time when everyone already has their scooters in place in this segment. It remains to be seen whether Yamaha has done enough to ensure customers think of it as a must-consider product when they’re making their scooter buying decisions or not. Whatever happens, I’m pretty convinced we will see a lot of happy men riding the Ray, though perhaps not in the purple or pink colours.
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Yamaha is continuing to push its volumes. In 2014 the Chennai plant will come online and the company wants to be a far, far bigger player in our market and scooters are critical to that ambition. And this scooter, says the company, is their first Ray of hope.
