Yamaha Ray Z

Yamaha launched a new variant of its popular Ray 110cc scooter earlier this year in May. You might remember that in our comparison of the best scooters for women in India, the Yamaha Ray came third in terms of the median city mileage at 46.5 kmpl. The Japanese company has now used that positioning to build a similar scooter for the male audience.

In terms of the underlying engine, the new Ray Z is very similar to the Ray. However, the exterior is more masculine with exterior shades that will appeal to men. Like the older variant for women, the Ray Z too comes with a 113 cc single cylinder 4 stroke engine that delivers a power of 7.1 PS at 7500 RPM and a torque that goes up to 8.1 Nm at 5000 RPM. The Ray Z measures 1835mm x 675mm x 1090mm and has a wheelbase of 1270mm with a ground clearance of 128mm. Weighing just around 104 kg, this is not a very heavy scooter for men. The Ray Z can hold around 5 liter of petrol at any time. According to the company website, the Ray Z is now available at a price of Rs. 49,105 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Manufacturer Mileage Claim

Given that the underlying technology behind the Ray Z is not too different from the older Yamaha Ray scooter, one would assume that there would not be a great variance in the fuel efficiency – at least under standard test conditions. However, according to the company, the Ray Z can deliver a fuel efficiency of 53 kmpl (compared to 62.1 kmpl claimed on the original Ray). I am really not sure why there is this big variation but there you go. In any case, the real world mileage of the original Ray was only around 46.5 kmpl and it is to be seen if Ray Z matches this figure.

Customer Feedback & Test Drive Report

Let us start with the review of the Ray Z on MaxAbout. According to this website, the ‘sharp and aggressive lines’ on the body of the Ray Z can distinctly appeal to the male audience. However, the absence of disc brakes on the front and the price point are some things that can go against this scooter. The website reports a fuel consumption figure of 40 kmpl on city roads and 62 kmpl on highways.

IamaBiker offers a pretty comprehensive review of the bike. They note that the Ray Z is a compact bike that feels super light. Despite this, the scooter has sufficient leg space to accomodate a tall rider with a pillion which is an extremely important criteria for a scooter targeted at the men. In their test ride, the reviewer was able to report 43 kmpl under mixed riding conditions (city and highway) which they say is slightly better than what they could find on the Ray.

Most of the popular automobile websites that you would seek out to while checking on a bike review have merely parroted the company claim on the mileage. Given that this is a new bike in the market, there have not been too many reviews on MouthShut either. There has been just one review of the Ray Z and this customer has rated the scooter 3/5 in terms of FE. According to him, Yamaha could do better on the pick-up. However, after riding 300 kilometers and with the first service pending, the scooter offered 41-42 kmpl. This is likely to go up after servicing.

Bikewale does not have a review of the bike yet. However, in their specification sheet, they have also mentioned the mileage offered by the Ray Z. According to this, the fuel consumption of the scooter is likely to be around 43 kmpl. But I am not sure if this is a figure they obtained by test-riding it, or if it’s sourced from elsewhere. Anyway, just note that this is not a customer report and so you may not rely on this.

So here we go. With a number of popular bike review sources yet to report a mileage, this is what we have got till now. I have summarized them in a table below. The average seems to be around 40-45 kmpl which is not entirely bad at all. What do you think?