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S. Muralidhar

YAMAHA Motor India was one of the first bike manufacturers to launch a new age 125 cc bike. However, despite this early bird advantage, the market performance of the Yamaha Fazer has been patchy at best.

The Fazer was and continues to be one of the best in its class, both in terms of performance and build quality. In fact, we have been ranking it, along with the Bajaj Discover, as one of the best bikes currently in the market. Its market performance has however, been affected because of other reasons.

Perturbed by the relatively lacklustre response to this product, Yamaha has decided to give this one-year-old bike a facelift. A sensible decision since the bike's insect (or it could be called alien looks) style front fairing and twin headlamps did not go well with Indian bike customers. The styling itself is the latest trend in the international market, but potential customers possibly felt that it looked too radical.

So, Yamaha has recently launched two new variants of the Fazer — the DX and the lower trim LX — in an attempt to woo customers with a fresh face. The LX variant has the same, simple, barebones look that Yamaha had given to the Libero LX. The Fazer LX, as a result, gets a large round headlamp with a halogen bulb, drum brakes that are dust resistant, new body panel graphics and two colours — red and black.

The Fazer DX variant carries forward the 240 mm disc brakes and self-start option from its predecessor, additions that Yamaha had given to the bike after first launching it without these features.

The changes in this new variant are cosmetic at best, with the most prominent being the removal of the dividing line on the bikini fairing that separated the twin headlamps and which had gave the original its alien eyes looks.

Other than this change, the headlamp design has been retained as it is. So, twin bulbs have been retained and the benefit of better illumination continues.

The larger glass area for the new headlamp shines through and is complemented by the clear-lens type glass. The new look should be much more acceptable to customers who are slightly more conservative.

The LX variants get a fuel gauge, a feature that was sorely missing earlier and which was a point of contention with customers in this segment. So, the rpm-meter has been replaced with the fuel meter. The Fazer DX gets new stickering all along its body panels to improve its visual appeal and to distinguish it from its predecessors.

Exhaust systems have also been tweaked to enable the bikes to meet India 2005 emission standards. Unlike many other bikes in its class, which use a constant vacuum carburettor, the Fazer features a Mikuni BS carburettor, which has been combined with a fuel saving feature that is called Yamaha Throttle Position Sensor (YTPS).

Through 3D digital mapping, the BS carburettor works in tandem with the YTPS to provide precise adjustment of the ignition advance based on the degree of throttle opening, which in turn depends on the rider's demand for power.

Essentially, this ensures that fuel supply to the engine is optimised and wastage is reduced. All other features of this bike, including the engine and chassis, remain the same.

The new Fazer DX and LX are attractive options for bike buyers in the 125cc segment. What you will get are two bikes that are classily built and are very high on refinement and ride quality. But the Fazer will continue to suffer on the fuel efficiency front, which is not on a par with the best in this class.

The ex-showroom (Delhi) prices of the new variants are Rs 43,000 and Rs 48,000 for the LX and the DX variants respectively.

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