Yamaha routinely has some of the prettiest motorcycles on two wheels. From great designs to fantastic liveries, Yamaha just knows how to make a bike look good. Occasionally, though, the company outdoes even its own high standard with a particularly cool bike like the XSR900 GP, the 60th anniversary R1, or… the 2025 R3?
For some reason, Yamaha’s smallest U.S.-market sportbike — and only the smallest — comes with the world’s coolest bike paint scheme for 2025. This design uses two colors, Lunar White and Nebula Blue, and put together they make one of the most beautiful motorcycles I’ve ever seen — all on a 321-cc beginner bike. I don’t understand the game you’re playing, Yamaha, but I’m sure glad you’re playing it.
There’s so much flake in this paint
Look at the way the white paint gets a warm sparkle when sunlight hits it, the way the purple shifts to a blue that’s almost teal. This bike costs $5,500, and the paint is included in the same base price Yamaha charges for black or blue! If a luxury car offered either of these colors, the paint alone would cost more than this entire R3. This color even gets unique graphics that aren’t shared by the other two hues.
Yamaha’s no stranger to purple — the recent run of retro dirt bikes showed just how well the tuning fork company can use the color — but Nebula Blue is on another level. It’s iridescent in a K/DA ALL OUT way that I very much love, and for some reason it’s only available on Yamaha’s littlest sportbike. Is the market for good colors simply too small among buyers getting more serious machines? Are R1 owners boring? I don’t understand Yamaha’s plan here, but some part of the company’s strategy gave us this color. For that alone, I’m thankful.
