We have been waiting for the naked streetfighter version of the Yamaha YZF-R15 for a very long time now. Yamaha Thailand has been teasing around a naked bike which clearly seems to be the stripped down counterpart of the YZF-R15. The bike is being called the Yamaha M-Slaz in Thailand and we believe that this new bike from Yamaha might be the new Yamaha MT-15. The teaser came as a video from Yamaha with the tag line ‘Slash your darkness’. Looks like Yamaha has taken the side of the Sith lords with many frequent references to the dark side in recent times.
The bike is expected to debut at the 32nd Thailand International Motor Expo this year which will kick-off on the 1st of December. A few leaked images of the new baby MT from Yamaha have been doing rounds on the web from the last couple of days. From these pictures, it is clear that the Yamaha M-Slaz carries the MT family DNA when it comes to its styling. The design lines are sharp and it features dynamic body graphics. It sports a stout headlight assembly which is mounted on beefy upside down forks which is very appealing. The tank shields are huge with the M-Slaz logo across it. The seats are stepped and split very similar to its sibling YZF-R15 with a high tail.
The frame also expectedly seems to be borrowing the familiar Delta-box design from the R15 along with the swing arm. The cast alloy wheels sport a new design too. The all new blue LED backlit instrument cluster is sleek with tell-tale lights on the top. We guess that the new Yamaha MT-15 will be powered by the amazing 4-valve SOHC 149.8 cc engine from the YZF-R15. It delivers 16.8 bhp with a maximum torque of 15 Nm. Most probably, for the MT-15, the engine might be re-tuned for a more street oriented riding style with the peak torque coming in at a lower rpm.
At present the new Yamaha M-Slaz or the MT-15 is pictured in two colour schemes, one in Red and another in a Sliver-Lime Green combo. We might be seeing more colour options available for the bike with Yamaha Racing Blue to be one of the obvious schemes. The 150 cc naked segment is currently very hot in the Indian market with bikes such as the TVS Apache RTR160, Hero Xtreme Sports, Bajaj Pulsar 150, KTM Duke 200 and also the Honda CB series. We will have to wait and see when the new Yamaha MT-15 will be launched in India and how competitively it would be priced.