Updated 2019 Yamaha YZF-R3 Revealed in Design Filings
Yamaha has registered a design for an updated YZF-R3, revealing a new look inspired by the R6. Prototypes of the redesigned bike (or, at least, the Asian market equivalent YZF-R25) were spotted in Indonesia earlier this year , but the photos were too blurry and dark to show much detail. The registered designs, filed Aug. 28 with patent offices in Australia and Turkey, offer us a much clearer look at the entry-level sportbike.
The front face looks a lot like the R6, albeit with regular-sized headlights instead of the squintier look found on the R6 and R1. The air intake between the headlights is also reminiscent of the larger bikes.
We overlaid the new design with the existing R3 below to illustrate some of the changes. The sizing is approximate, but we can still see how the front fairing sits much lower compared to the current model, with a much gentler curve from the nose to the top of the windscreen. The sides of the fairing also give off some R6 vibes, with some sharper lines than the old model. The fuel tank has a new shape with larger cutouts for the knees.
The engine looks similar, as does the exhaust, but we can’t rule out some internal changes. We can, however, confirm that the California Air Resources Board has already certified the 2019 YZF-R3, showing no changes to the 321cc engine’s emissions. Of course, there’s nothing stopping Yamaha from resubmitting emissions data if there are any changes to the engine. The current R3 is down on displacement against competitors like the Kawasaki Ninja 400 and KTM RC390, so a larger engine, perhaps bumping it up to an R4 would be welcome, but at the moment we have no evidence to suggest this is the case.
One important change to the new design is the addition of an inverted fork, which is still relatively novel for a bike in the small-displacement segment.
We expect Yamaha to introduce the new 2019 YZF-R3 at one of this fall’s motorcycle shows, either next week at Intermot, at AIMExpo the following week, or at EICMA in November. We’ll have more information here on Motorcycle.com as it becomes available.
Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.
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Is it just me or does the front-end look like a CBR600RR?
Actually the spy shots picture is taken in Indonesia, not Malaysia