Yamaha FZ25

11 months and 7000kms later, it’s time to bid adieu to one of the most favourite long-terms I ever had, the Yamaha FZ 25. The last one year has been great fun with this quarter-litre Yamaha. We did a 3500kms long-distance ride down south, spent a full gruelling day at the track and it was also my preferred companion for every day commute. 

In the last few reports, we talked about the experience in city and in touring with the FZ25. In both conditions, the FZ25 performed well and managed to impress us in a few aspects. We decided to take it to the track to check out its racing pedigree because it’s a Yamaha after all. 

After living with the FZ25 within the city limits for a few months, it was time to take this Yamaha for a long journey. The 2018 BikeWale Track Day made this happen. While the car team planned to drive down, obviously, Ranjan, Omkar and I decided to ride down. But the plan was to go for a short vacation after getting baked at MMRT, Chennai. We were to head from the east coast India to the western coast, Mangalore. I was excited about this route as this detour was long enough to decode the FZ25’s touring capabilities.

I’ve found a new friend in our Yamaha long termer, the FZ25. It’s been over two months since we acquired this streetfighter and have been thoroughly enjoying it. For now, the ride is limited to city limits primarily because there are no launch events in Pune and I’m still in the process of setting up my new house. So finding time for long rides is difficult. There are plans to take the FZ25 for long hauls next month, but we’ll talk about it in the next report. For now, allow me to pen down my city experience.

The last two years have been miserable for me. My daily commuting time by car has increased from a total of 3.5 hours to 5 hours now, thanks to a never ending construction of a bridge enroute to work and the ever growing vehicle population in Mumbai. This has resulted in more fatigue and lesser time spent with family as I’ve been wasting hours in the traffic. I finally shifted to two-wheelers when the Yamaha FZ25 entered the BikeWale long term garage.