Bajaj Avenger Vs. Yamaha R15

Today we will compare two very powerful bikes available in India today. The Bajaj Avenger is a 220cc monster that is technically much powerful than the 150cc R15. However, in terms of power, the variation is not as much as you would expect. The Avenger delivers a power of 19.03 PS whereas the R15 can deliver up to 17 PS of power. Again, the Avenger is not for the mileage conscious, but the R15 is even more of that. The Bajaj Avenger 220 comes at an ex-showroom price of Rs. 76,835 at Delhi whereas the corresponding price for the Yamaha YZF R15 is a whopping Rs. 1,07,500.

Bajaj Avenger vs Yamaha R15

Let us first compare the major tech specs of both these bikes side-by-side.

Specification Bajaj Avenger 220 Yamaha RZF R15
Displacement 219.89cc 149.8cc
Peak Power 19.03PS @8400 17PS @8500
Max Torque 17.5Nm @7000 15Nm @7500
Fuel Tank 14 liters 12 liters
Kerb Weight 168kg 136kg
Fuel Claim 49.8 kmpl 46.93 kmpl

If you are someone who is contemplating purchasing either an Avenger or an R15, the mileage should be the last of your concerns. Both these are power bikes that are built keeping the requirements of the power and style conscious customers. When a motorbike is built with power as the priority, fuel economy is something that has to be compromised and it shows. Remember the comparison of 150cc bikes we made earlier this year? The R15 is at the bottom of the fuel claims chart that is topped by Bajaj Discover that claims to offer close to 72.3 kmpl.

Also, the 46.93 kmpl that we are talking here is the fuel consumption reported under standard test conditions. In the real world, where you have city traffic and pot-hole laden roads, this number is expected to come down much more drastically. Let us compare how the Avenger and the R15 compare against each other in the real world as reviewed by various sources including real world customers.

Bajaj Avenger 220 Review

The Avenger is a cruiser mode motorcycle that is not known for its mileage by any chance. PriceDekho in their official review report having seen around 32-35 kmpl on city roads. On the other hand, BikeDekho as well as ZigWheels, the Times group auto-review magazine in their reports claim a much better city mileage – they both report a consumption 1 liter for every 40 kilometers of city commute on the Avenger. While customers who had put up their Avenger for sale on Olx reported an average of 38 kmpl from their bikes, a few unhappy people on the customer complaints forum noted their mileage to be around 35 kmpl.

Yamaha YZF R15 Review

We reviewed the R15 from four different sources. According to a comment posted by a customer on MotorBeam, the R15 could deliver 40 kmpl with proper care. In a similar vein, an Ibibo user reports around 40-42 under city conditions. There are not too many reviews of the R15 from the point of view of fuel economy. According to one small blog called KannanKing, the R15 can extract around 32-35 kmpl on city roads.

Bottomline

It’s evident that the R15 can return slightly better economy compared to the Avenger – maybe an additional 3-4 kilometers for every liter. However, the decision to purchase one over the other should not be based on these numbers. Avenger is for cruisers while the R15 is a powerful machine for a 150cc bike. Test ride both the bikes and see where you fit better and go for that one.

Bajaj Avenger 220

Bajaj Avenger is one of the few cruiser kind motorcycles available in India. It was inspired by the Kawasaki eliminator and was initially launched with a 180cc engine. This has now been gradually increased to now come with a 220cc engine. The Avenger comes with a 5 speed transmission, a 14 liter fuel tank, a 4 stroke single cylinder engine, 19.03 PS max power, 17.5 max torque and a wheelbase of 58.1 inches. You can buy an Avenger from Delhi at an ex-showroom price of Rs. 76,835.

Bajaj Avenger 220 Mileage

Bajaj Avenger Mileage

Considering that the Bajaj Avenger is not your regular take-to-office kind of a bike, mileage is not the first priority when it comes to features. In any case, at 220CC, the engine enhances the power of the bike at the cost of fuel consumption which means you may not see the regular 60+ kmpl mileage claims like manufacturers do with the bikes with smaller engines. Bajaj claims the mileage of Bajaj Avenger to be 49.8 kmpl under standard testing conditions.

Bajaj Avenger Fuel Consumption Reviews

Cruiser motorcycles has its legions of fans and so you will not have too many buyers complain about mileage. That’s because mileage was not the priority even when they purchased the bike. According to the official review on PriceDekho, the Bajaj Avenger should draw 32-35 kmpl under regular city conditions. BikeDekho, one of their sister sites though claims the average mileage to be as much as 40 kmpl. That’s a pretty high variance here and so we are going to assume the latter fuel efficiency is what you will see on the highways.

ZigWheels.com rates the Bajaj Avenger the second most fuel efficient bike in the 200-250cc segment – behind Bajaj Pulsar 220F. In their tests, they were able to extract 40 kmpl in the city and 49 kmpl on the highways. Assuming that the next best in the segment only offered an average mileage of 39 kmpl, you must say that the Avenger is a pretty solid bike in the category.

Classifieds sites are always an excellent place to review the actual mileages. In a post on Olx, a customer claims that he sees 38 kilometers per liter on his Nov 2011 model of the Bajaj Avenger 220. That’s not bad and is pretty close to what others report.

I looked into a few consumer complaints forum and even here mileage is not one of the reported issues. On ComplaintBoard, a customer reports seeing a mileage of 35 kmpl. So as you can see, you are guaranteed a mileage of over 30 kmpl which is pretty much expected on a motorcycle of this size.

Should you buy a Bajaj Avenger?

There are a host of reasons including the need for a cruiser kind motorcycle that should go into your decision making process. But be assured that mileage is not one of them. At an average of around 35 kmpl, the Bajaj Avenger seems to do a good job in fuel efficiency while managing the rest of the features better. Here is a summary of what the various reviewers say.

Source City Mileage (kmpl) Highways (kmpl)
Official 49.8
PriceDekho 32-35
BikeDekho 40
ZigWheels 40 49
Olx 38
ComplaintBoard 35