Should I wait for the new Hero Karizma XMR or buy a Yamaha R15 V4?

I have always been a fan of the Yamaha YZF R15 and after the R15 V4 model came out I have been saving up to buy it. But now, there's news of the new Hero Karizma launching soon, and having seen the spy pictures, I feel the bike looks quite good. How much will this Karizma cost and do you think I should buy that instead of the Yamaha R15?

Frashogar Batliwalla, Mumbai

Autocar India says: The brand new Karizma XMR will be one of Hero’s biggest launches this calendar year and the bike is expected to debut with a brand new liquid-cooled 210cc engine. Given that the oil-cooled engine in the Xpulse 200 4V already produces just above 19hp, it’s fair to expect that the new Hero Karizma should make well over 20hp.

In that respect, this bike will probably have stronger performance than the Yamaha R15. Hero will also be looking at pricing it quite aggressively, and it will probably end up being much more affordable than the Yamaha as well – the latter starts at around Rs 1.8 lakh, ex-showroom.

On the other hand, the new Karizma will use a much simpler chassis and it also has a more basic telescopic fork at the front. So in terms of equipment and sheer dynamic capability, it might not be on the same level as the Yamaha. However, at the moment, we don’t know enough about this upcoming bike, and it would be interesting to wait and watch.

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