Hay Yamaha, lets make a silly bike.....OK

https://www.yamahamotorsports.com/sport-touring/models/2019/niken
i think somewhere there's a whole engineering crew looking for a new job

 

Hmmmm..........

 

Yamaha has been working on that concept for almost two decades (well, after basically stealing the idea from a guy who forgot to patent his work).
Somehow they have managed to keep making it uglier with every iteration.

If it was inexpensive enough (and better looking) I think it'd be perfect for winter.

 

Piaggio has been making them for over a decade. Certainly better looking, and I have heard kmoe talk of scooters before...

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&sour...FjAWegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw19HgJqvBUTSlsAd6T2Ve_N

 

Piaggio's design is mechanical and passive. The Yamaha is hydraulic and active. If it's anything like what the original inventor had in mind, it won't miss a beat when dealing with road irregularities (like curbs).

 

Oops. I did some more looking. It seems that Yamaha dropped the hydraulics and do have a system similar to Piaggio's. Well that's less interesting.
Still, if it rides well, and I ever lose both of my legs in an accident.....

 

I like it (cough)

 

Maybe if my legs were broke, but then I’d probably buy a Spyder.

 

Spyders don't lean, and they cost more.

 

True

 

I don't get it.

 

Thanks for the vid, like it even more now

 

Meh

 

I would not buy a Niken, don't like it.

 

Yamaha has stated that it's not a trike and won't stand up without use of the side stand. The intent was not to address balance, but to increase traction. I like the idea of improving traction, considering Minnesota weather, but it just looks ugly and cumbersome to me.

 

Ick...

 

Well despite what Yamaha says, it is a trike (per currnent U.S. law anyway).
I see the lack of a self-support function to be a drawback, but I'm sure the aftermarket will supply a solution for those who need it.

 

Structurally though the forks and frame must be cleverly designed to make it work. I have studied basic bridge designs and the forces acting on them on construction projects but I don't know much about motorcycle frames and forks.

 

As I'm into trikes a bit, and have a "spare" kawasaki gpz500 which isn't really worth much, I've looked at building a reverse trike. The question over tilting or non tilting is a huge one, and quickly takes a reverse trike towards a bike with two front wheels, which as some have said would seem rather pointless.
Actually making it tilt is not that difficult, but possibly getting it to do it with the right characteristics might be - I dunno.
There are versions out there that flop all over the place, and others that tilt according to amount of lock, and others that tilt according to caster only.
I don't know about traction - that would be via the driven wheel, techically it would improve front end grip, but its a big penalty to pay. In the uk though, if you passed your test before dec 15 you could ride on a bike licence.

 

Never had a trike although there are some nice machines out there.

 

https://thekneeslider.com/tilting-m...ange-of-trikes-for-harleys-and-the-gold-wing/

 

It's an interesting form of transportation but anyone that calls it a motorcycle is mistaken. Personally, I just don't see the point of it.

 

I don’t know exactly what to think of it. I kinda dig the whole look of it. Kinda robo-something or other.
If I were to ever seriously consider three wheels for traction over two though I’d definitely just get a can am or the like.

 

I guess this Yam would walk all over the Canam and spit it out.
Someone at Yamaha must think it has legs...

 

well it might until it got to that 45 degree lean angle. then things would get interesting real fast

 

"...finding a way to prevent front-end slides is the Holy Grail of motorcycle racing: Honda found a device called Mark Marquez, Yamaha built the Niken."

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/yamaha/2019-yamaha-niken-first-ride-review.html

 

...which brings me back to the old saying, "Just because it can be built doesn't mean it should be built".

 

OK, not the first bike I'd buy, given enough cash but I'd love to rag it around my local twisties for a while

 

So none of y'all want to ride in the snow?
Suit yourselves.

 

Seeing as the snow gets about 4 feet deep here. No!

 

Why does it need a kickstand?

 

To keep it from falling over.
No active suspension, and no lock for the tilt.

 

No plows or blowers for the roads?

 

That was my feeling as well. And I'm probably less adverse to ugly, cumbersome, or unusually built than most...

 

They seem to get it plowed about 3 days after each snowfall.

 

The key phrase in the Niken description is "cornering confidence" indicating to me that the market for this is someone who is a touch fearful of the road and the curves - not appropriate traits for someone that decides to buy one.

Plus it looks like a small bike hiding next to a big bike in all the pics

 

With the months I have spent in recovery from my fall, I can understand the appeal. I get the fear riding in a car past the site of my accident.

 

Apehangers, skull paintjob, then dumpster.

 

me either, balancing on two wheels is half the fun - started at age 5 with a bike

 

Watching a bit of the Tour de France and I'm pretty sure I just saw one being used by a photographer (you know how the guy with the camera is the passenger as the driver gets the bike through traffic). Crazy job, but it was a Niken, I'm sure.

 

Yeah you're right. https://www.letour.fr/en/news/2019/with-yamaha-the-tour-de-france-rolls-on-three-wheels/1276061
Though when I was just watching there was one with the headlights which were one above the other. Whether that was a Niken or clone.