Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha is praised for making some of the most reliable yet fun production motorycles in the history. The company celebrated its 70th anniversary in November this year, and to commemorate the occasion, new 70th anniversary edition livery was revealed. While Yamaha used the new livery on racetracks for a few championships, it's soon expected to hit the roads.
Yamaha's has four supersports models globally - R125, R3, R7, and R9. All of them will be available in the new 70th anniversary edition livery throughout the year 2026 at Yamaha dealerships. The dates and countries in which they will be available are not announced as of yet. Of al the global models, its only the Yamaha R3 that is on sale in the Indian market.
2026 Yamaha R3 70th Anniversary Edition
Although, considering the low demand of the motorcycle in the Indian market, it is difficult to see the 70th anniversary edition's arrival at the Indian dealerships. This is something that Yamaha might consider for the Indian motorcycling enthusiast in 2026. Talking about the design language on the R3, the motorcycle continues with the same body panels, but they are now finished in a dual-tone paint job with a red and white combination. You can see the paint scheme on the fairings, tank, and the motorcycle's tail section. The side fairings gets 3D graphics with black shadows, while the tank is finished in a white-red paint theme. A 'R3' logo sits on the face, along with a 'YAMAHA' placed atop the headlamp.
The powerterrain on the R3 remians unchanged, it draws power from a 321cc twin-cylinder powertplant that puts out 42 PS of power and 29.4 Nm of peak torque. The power is delivered to the rear wheel mated with a 6-speed gearbox. There is a slipper clutch available on the bike. The Yamaha R3 rides on 17-inch rims for both the front and the rear tyres. You do get suspended on upside-down front forks and a monoshock for the rear. The motorcycle is also loaded all-digital TFT screen that is as modern as it get.
Even though on paper the bike seems to be promising, it has been known to be underwhelming as compared to the existing competetion in the market. Also, the maket leadership and fanbase of the KRM RC 390 is something that many manufacturers have found tough to compete with.
The 70th Anniversary livery can be a cosmetic push that Yamaha can try to capitalise on in 2026, if they are looking to stay relevant with this motorcycle in the Indian market.
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In the Indian market, the Yamaha R3 retails at an ex-showroom price tag of Rs 3.39 lakh. R3 can be considered as a premium motorcycle for the Indian market and that is why, we have not seen much inroads by the R3 in an already competitive space that has the likes of the KRM RC 390, TVS Apache RR 310, Kawasaki Ninja 300, Aprilia RS 457, and Kawasaki Ninja 500.