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2018 Yamaha Nikon three wheeler

Niken can "Nick off"!! lol

The Niken was ugly as a prototype and they didnt change it for production. The claim some sports bike heritage to it but suspension like that isnt sportsbike handling but you CAN make sportbike handling suspension.

They should have waited til the had the OR2T as a 3 and 4 wheeler (shame USA and Australia are the only 2 significant markets where you cant have 4 wheelers (some spots in US yes)) put the production finishes and gone with that although I'd like to see how it corners with its slab sided front end that close together.

If the Niken succeeds it will possibly take 3 years to take off and possibly thats why they are going with a bike they can easily trump themselves.

The big thing I think for Spyder product will be if Honda put the Neowing in the market, but they rarely do things first where-as Yamaha do (1980 GTS 1000 monoside front end). If Honda does put in the Neowing it will be to win that category not come second.

Be safe on the roads coming to Winter you Nthner's!! :thumbup:
 
SXSMachine said:
Its a starter bike but they make the wrong claims....
Click to expand...


I meant slow sales to begin and then it would catch on and sell well.
I don't know any claims they make to be wrong since I haven't seen or ridden one.
It hardly seems like a starter bike to me, that would be a Honda rebel 300 or TU250 or the like.
My guess is that Honda will be along with their Neowing in a couple years after Yamaha tests the market.
 
Hi WA5VHU,

Re: From what I understand the Piaggio MP3 is very popular in Europe

1 1/2 yrs ago I spent about two weeks in France, mostly in Paris. They were EVERYWHERE; very popular.

Your attached photo looks like it could have been taken in Paris,

Jerry Baumchen
 
ofdave said:
I meant slow sales to begin and then it would catch on and sell well.
Click to expand...

Oh I got you, it must have been me that was not clear I was agreeing with you! :thumbup:

Yep we are in total agreement except I know that suspension is not optimal because I know why its not optimal. Maybe it can keep up with a sportsbike ridden by someone else but ridden back to back the two wheeler should always be faster even if you took weight and "flikability" out of the equation.

Here's to what's coming and what rings everyones bell.
 
Having ridden a Piaggio MP3 for some distance, and having owned 2-wheel scooters in the past, I wouldn't have any objection to keeping one in the garage if it had had some more power. More or less like the Yamaha Niken. The two front wheels makes it feel much more stable in corners, especially ones with gravel or uneven surface as often experienced here. It could be held upright by locking the suspension, so no need for feet down when coming to a stop. I still have a 2-wheeler to get the lean in corners, and if the Yamaha comes here at a decent price it might well end up replacing my Spyder and my F650GS.
 
Having stability with the Spyder is great, but that isn't the main reason I bought one. I bought one because it is different. There is something alluring to the Spyder and it catches the eye of almost everyone, whether they like it or not. In my opinion, it is one of the coolest looking things on the road that is in my financial reach. ALMOST every motorcycle I see on the road is cookie cutter. This Niken doesn't look much different than any bike of that class, except with two wheels in the front. That being said, if the Spyder did not exist, I might be tempted.
 
pauly1 said:
There probably is a small subset of the Spyder community that would opt for a less stable platform. Piaggio has had this design out for a few years but I've yet to see one on the road. Performance needs to be vetted.

We've ridden the current competition but keep coming back to the Spyder for safety and performance.

Wayne
Click to expand...

Something to consider; 30% higher cornering grip threshold (~.7G vs ~1.0G) puts the Niken in another realm vs the Spyder. Im not certain that the traction control will be as invasive as on the Spyder, but the vastly higher limits, superior acceleration and braking, will mean this design has a lot of “baked in” stability. If Yamaha incorporates a stability system into it, safety won’t be comparable, it will landslide in favour of the Niken.

Add to that no centripetal force trying to dislodge you when turning, I can’t picture a scenario where safety would be compromised? It’s not an unproven design or layout, just an unproven/unknown version of it. I am a die-hard, 2000+mile a year snowmobiler, 1000+ mile a year ATV’r. I like the platform and feel of both, but the Spyder misses the mark that both those machines hit, mostly when ridden hard. For cruising, the Spyder is probably king. On road there is nothing like the completely neutral / natural feel of a motorcycle, but they are so flawed with regards to safety, as the front end is just too unreliable.

I intend to purchase one of these (sold the Spyder), and the only thing I foresee missing is, in my humble opinion, worlds best engine, the V-Twin. Everything an engine should be, character, torque, horsepower, and the best soundtrack of any machine, ever.
 
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Don't worry, Yamaha will perfect it. They, like Honda, will run the crap out of it and put it thru it's paces. The Japs have the money and technology to back-up any design they wish to market. And I will guarantee you, that the Japs will have the "BUGS" worked out before it or anything hits the market for consumption!! Mad Mac:lecturef_smilie:
 
Lol - I guess you’ve never owned a first year Yamaha product? They are THE WORST company in the past 15 years or so with first year defects. I got burnt, so did a bunch of my buddies. Yamaha is not what you think, nor what it used to be. I could list the huge list of first year botches, but let’s name a few; Phazer, Nytro, Apex, R6, Kodiak ATV, 2014 FZ09. All those were riddled with huge design or engineering defects, (first hand experience here for most of them, I swore off buying any yamhas forever, would have to make an exception here). Most BRP, Ford, and Honda stuff had been nearly flawless in my experience by comparison. Yamaha has a weird track record of engineering awesome technology, and screwing up the implementation. They always sort it out, but the above list has so many recalls, TSB’s, updates, and lawsuits you would be staggered if I detailed them all.
 
V-Max

I'll stick with my old, slow V-Max. BUT----- as a Yamaha product------ it has never given me any mechanical trouble and has shown it's taillight to many a bike and all the cars.


but I don't race any more.

Lew L
 
isthatahemi said:
Lol - I guess you’ve never owned a first year Yamaha product? They are THE WORST company in the past 15 years or so with first year defects. I got burnt, so did a bunch of my buddies. Yamaha is not what you think, nor what it used to be. I could list the huge list of first year botches, but let’s name a few; Phazer, Nytro, Apex, R6, Kodiak ATV, 2014 FZ09. All those were riddled with huge design or engineering defects, (first hand experience here for most of them, I swore off buying any yamhas forever, would have to make an exception here). Most BRP, Ford, and Honda stuff had been nearly flawless in my experience by comparison. Yamaha has a weird track record of engineering awesome technology, and screwing up the implementation. They always sort it out, but the above list has so many recalls, TSB’s, updates, and lawsuits you would be staggered if I detailed them all.
Click to expand...

My experience w/ Yamaha has been a good one or I didn't run it hard enough to break it(Phazer (snowmobile), V-max (motorcycle & snowmobiles), virago, boat motors, quads(Grizzlies). Plus numerous Honda's( about 25 of them). The Japs cross-engineer most of their recreational products and they (at the time I was a service manager) manufacture enough spare parts to take care of the products they sell, way better dealer network than BRP has at the time. Now I'm not going to sit here and bash the hell out of BRP, I do like their
side by side line(Maverick/Commander) and snowmobile product line, very high performance oriented. I am a retired Moto-x and desert racer from the late 70's and off and on in the 80's and 90's when Uncle Sam would allow me the time. I just hope I have the same kind of reliability with this machine as I had with my Jap bikes, like my '94 and '03 Gold Wing's, put the key in, start, and go. Just the way I like it when I'm on the road recreating and seeing what this country and yours(yes, I've been up that way also) has to offer. Mac:doorag:
 
Gotta LOVE a V-Max. Thats a bike to but a double front end on. I'd definately take that in an instant, depending on the styling even over the Honda Neowing. Its a bike that deserves to be ridden at leaning front end potential. :bowdown:
 
icon1.png
A New Trend is Happening
Yamaha has a new "tourer" on the market.

The Eluder. It is a "re-birth" of the Venture Touring. It will be sold "less" touring topcase.

This one will be an 1800 cc V-twin, has analog gauges. Weight 873#. The entry level is $22,499. About $500 less than the 1800cc/6 wing.

The article:
Before I rode the Yamaha Star Eluder, I wondered if it should be called the Enigma. As a package, the motorcycle didn't immediately make sense to me.

The Eluder is essentially the Venture touring motorcycle Yamaha introduced last year without the top box, passenger backrest, rear speakers and the Sure-Park feature (an electric motor that helps the rider maneuver into parking spots). There are some other minor styling differences, such as blacked-out parts on the Eluder, but it still has two defining elements that struck me as contrasting when I saw them on the Venture: a thoroughly modern and full-featured touch screen infotainment system and electronic rider aids package coupled with a very traditional, low-revving, air-cooled V-twin engine.
I'll get to the riding impression in a minute (skip ahead if you just want the review), but before I even threw a leg over the Eluder, I was eager to ask the Yamaha execs why they chose this engine for their touring bikes.

A link to my original thread with some pictures.

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?110507-A-New-Trend-is-Happening
​
 
Last edited by a moderator:
isthatahemi said:
Lol - I guess you’ve never owned a first year Yamaha product? They are THE WORST company in the past 15 years or so with first year defects. I got burnt, so did a bunch of my buddies. Yamaha is not what you think, nor what it used to be. I could list the huge list of first year botches, but let’s name a few; Phazer, Nytro, Apex, R6, Kodiak ATV, 2014 FZ09. All those were riddled with huge design or engineering defects, (first hand experience here for most of them, I swore off buying any yamhas forever, would have to make an exception here). Most BRP, Ford, and Honda stuff had been nearly flawless in my experience by comparison. Yamaha has a weird track record of engineering awesome technology, and screwing up the implementation. They always sort it out, but the above list has so many recalls, TSB’s, updates, and lawsuits you would be staggered if I detailed them all.
Click to expand...


That is just flat out not true. Yamaha is considered to be the best motorcycle manufacturer in the world, ranking right up there with Honda in overall quality.

If you or your buddies got lemons, which all companies have, then sorry. However, to say they are "worst" motorcycle manufacturer on the planet for first year model defects is completely wrong. There is plenty of documentation around to disprove your assertion.
 
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