Yamaha Sniper 150

This is no ordinary kapchai. The apron is sharp and edgy. Inspiration from Yamaha’s racing bikes is clearly evident. Sharp vents, narrow LED DRLs and front fairing give it a sleek appearance. Graphics are also inspired from Yamaha’s bigger bikes. There are 4 color options - Yellow Hornet, Black Raven, Matte Green and Racing Blu. Of these the Racing Blu, with its blue alloys is the one to get. Touches like the R6 inspired number plate holder and floating fender design further drive the point home. Then you find the very modern and sporty combo digital-analog instrument display that is comprehensive and customizable and you know you are looking at something really special. Start the bike and funky animations on the digital display welcome you. The large analog tachometer eggs you on to go faster. It is slightly long at 1,970 mm (L) x 670 mm (W) x 1,080 mm (H) but still feels compact on city streets. The wheelbase of 1290 mm, seat height of 780 mm, 17” wheels with wide 70/90 38P and 120/70 58P tires front and back along with low handlebars give it a racy appeal. Ground clearance at 135 mm is a bit low but manageable.

There are telescopic front forks and the rear gets a monocross unit. Ride is set for handling but not extremely so. It is still comfortable on long highway rides. The tires do allow you to confidently take lean angles but wider tires would have been even better. Yet Yamaha knows that their riders are going to lean their bikes to crazy angles and have given it collapsible foot pegs to avoid them from getting scrapped. The seat is comfortable and long without being extremely stepped. This allows the rider to move about and adjust for the best fit. The seating position is relaxed and does not tire you on long rides.

The engine is the real pièce de résistance here. It is a 149.7cc liquid cooled and fuel injected SOHC 4 valve unit that churns out 15.4 PS at 8,500 rpm and a maximum torque figure of 13.8 Nm at 7,000 rpm. Between 7000 and 9000 rpm lies the engine’s sweet spot while the redline is encountered at 9500 rpm. It uses a 5-speed constant mesh gearbox with low gearing. This makes the bike very eager to perform. Wheelies are what we are talking about here. Overtaking maneuvers are child’s play. Take care with that clutch though – it might take some getting used to. At 116 kg, it is not that heavy either. This means that it is not only easy to take on the twisties but also easy to take to a top whack of 120 kmph. There is no compromise on fuel economy either. The 4.2 L fuel tank is good enough for 160-189 km thanks to 35 kmpl in the city and 46 kmpl mileage figures on the highways. You can thank its fuel injection mapping for that.

With such performance on offer, the stoppers have to be pretty great too. And they are. A 245 mm hydraulic single disc does duty on the front and a 203 mm single disc does the same on the rear. However, the lack of ABS does pinch the rider a bit.

Overall for the price of Php 97900, it is very near what Honda asks for their Repsol liveried RS150R. It too misses out on ABS but produces slightly more power and is much more race focused with its newest upgrade. Where does that leave the Sniper you may ask? In desperate need of an upgrade. Till then the current model will have to do.