Ever since the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R became a reality, there has been growing speculation that Yamaha might follow suit with a four-cylinder variant of its 250cc sportbike.
The rumor comes to us from Indonesia, with local site Iwanbanaran being the first to report the story. According to the Indonesians, the new model would be called the Yamaha YZF-R25M, with this additional letter supposed to distinguish the motorcycle from its twin-cylinder counterpart.
Does all this hold water? Not really. The idea of Yamaha developing a 4-cylinder small-displacement machine is certainly appealing, and it certainly could be true, but the riders who led Kawasaki to develop this line are not present on the brand's teams in tune.
Indeed, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R exists primarily due to market constraints in Southeast Asia, where the Kawasaki Ninja 400 is extremely difficult to own due to various taxes imposed on it. Having a 250cc machine that produces similar power to the 400cc model allows Kawasaki to offer a powerful motorcycle to those with smaller wallets.
However, for Yamaha this problem does not exist. The company does not sell its YZF-R3 model in these markets, choosing instead to offer the YZF-R25.
If there was a significant loss in sales of the ZX-25R to Yamaha YZF-R25 sales, then perhaps we would see the 2 brands go head-to-head, but the reality is that a ZX-25R buyer is not the same as a YZF-R25 buyer in Southeast Asia.
The rumor that Honda could also follow suit, with a CBR250RR-R model follows the same logic, and whether or not you want to believe these rumors depends on whether you think that these Japanese brands present in the global market will fight for a niche market.
Until we see something more concrete, skepticism reigns supreme. A top-of-the-line R25/R3 with the “M” designation would be more likely than a new 4-cylinder engine.
