Yamaha NIKEN Three Wheel Leaning "Sport Bike" ... Cool or Conflagration?

[Bonaventure]

https://shop.revzilla.com/common-tread/yamaha-niken-is-ridiculous-and-awesome

https://www.yamahamotorsports.com/sport-touring/pages/ride-the-revolution

Register my vote for conflagration.  Just don't see the advantage of the two front wheels.  More forks to maintain.  I guess it would garner lots of stares and looks though, if that's what one is after.

[fotoguzzi]

a solution for a non existing problem?

[twowheeladdict]

Double the front tire traction.  Less risk of washing out the front of the bike. 

If I had a leg injury that would keep me from holding up a standard bike, I would be interested. 

I like what tilting motorworks is doing for the touring segment as well.

Of course the ride is what matters more than the look to me. 

[jbell]

The guys I know that ride trikes do so because they can't hold the bike up at a stop.  I think they would love to be back on a leaner.

[beetle]

Let’s make motorcycles more complex and increase maintenance costs simultaneously. Woohoo!

There’s only one question to ask. Why?

[ITSec]

So let me point out the obvious - how is this so different from the Piaggio MP3 or the Can Am Spyder? They may not lean to the same degree, and the Can Am is certainly a step further away from a traditional motorcycle design, but as a concept I just don't see a reason to dismiss it out of hand.

It's unlikely that it would come to market in the EICMA show form, but it's part of the purpose of such events to give companies and their designers a chance to mess around and show some different ideas. Sometimes very different...

[Arizona Wayne]

Far as I'm concerned being a Piaggio MP3 owner of 2, this is a loser.   It's heavy and has no centerstand and has a conventional sidestand.  A MP3 has a centerstand and doesn't need a sidestand because it has something far better......a motorized lock upright feature no matter if the ground you stop on is level or not.    It also has a parking brake on the rear disc.  This Yamaha trike is heavy and unlike a somewhat heavy MP3, which can be easily rolled around even with camping gear on it when locked upright, no way will you be able to do that on the Yamaha trike.     Sure, this Yam. trike is a lot faster but so what?   It has none of the storage a MP3 has either.  Only thing it does have like a MP3 is 2 wheels in front that give you a big + when riding in the rain and you don't have to worry about your 1 front tire sliding out. 

[Sasquatch Jim]

 A pigio MP3 on lots of steroids.

[Sheepdog]

I think I’ll move on to scooters or sports cars when I start having a hard time with motorcycles...the three wheelers just aren’t my cup of tea.

[Huzo]

Double the front tire traction.  Less risk of washing out the front of the bike. 



Of course the ride is what matters more than the look to me.

At first when I saw your forum name I'd got the impression you were hooked on motorbikes.
Seems you're not as much of an addict as you thought !
Also Dusty chatted a while ago about tyre adhesion as a function of square inches of rubber on the road.
Shit mate ! With all those "tyres on the road", imagine how safe a Banana Split buggy must have been !

[twowheeladdict]

At first when I saw your forum name I'd got the impression you were hooked on motorbikes.
Seems you're not as much of an addict as you thought !
Also Dusty chatted a while ago about tyre adhesion as a function of square inches of rubber on the road.
Shit mate ! With all those "tyres on the road", imagine how safe a Banana Split buggy must have been !

Not sure where you are going with your post, but I also love bicycles.  Basically anything with 2 wheels and I will give it a go.  I was just commenting to the original poster who couldn't understand having two front tires on a leaning bike.

[guzzisteve]

I hope you like changing fork seals, WT?!! I worked on & road MP3's and think they are superior to that thing. If you need more there is the Mana engine, this would really make it a hoot.

[Shorty]

The test pilot is wearing appropriate gear: It looks like he is in a hurry to report back to Darth Vader. The NIKEN just looks too arachnid for me. Maybe make a Sturgis Edition (TM) with a front clip off a 57 Chevy or a Willies coupe? 

[bad Chad]

I have heard that virtually nothing can get down a mountainside than a MP3.

[oldbike54]

At first when I saw your forum name I'd got the impression you were hooked on motorbikes.
Seems you're not as much of an addict as you thought !
Also Dusty chatted a while ago about tyre adhesion as a function of square inches of rubber on the road.
Shit mate ! With all those "tyres on the road", imagine how safe a Banana Split buggy must have been !

 Just to clarify , traction is independent of contact patch area . Those two front tires don't increase traction .

 Dusty

[Guzzistajohn]

”cruisers” and bikes that resemble an insect 🐜 or a transformer are really not nice to look at for me. But that is a really cute outfit he’s sporting!

[Phang]

Besides the dream of double wheelies, what does Niken mean? I’m no expert in Japanese, but I know ni means “two.” Which is strange, because I can think of a few other Yamaha products that could be described as having a pair of wheels.

Niken = Two swords

[rodekyll]

Niken = Two swords

That's the only thing I've read here today that made any sense.   

[Arizona Wayne]

Watched a Niken video a little while ago of a robot looking rider screwing around with 2 swords.    Guess I know why now. http://www.motorcycledaily.com

[Arizona Wayne]

I just watched a 12 min. video of a 2017 bike show in Japan? of 2018 Yamaha products that showed the Niken and a 155cc MP3 type scooter apparently available in Japan but not here. There were also 2- 4 wheel street vehicles that lean.

[bigpants]

I've got  a Honda nv50 stream, its got two wheels at the back and tilts . Its awful but weirdly fun. Could combine this with a two front wheeled tilter and have a 4 wheeled bike. Just an idea.

[Phang]

That's the only thing I've read here today that made any sense.   

I like it actually, always wished someone make a three (tilt-able) wheeler with a bigger and more charismatic engine. Can-Am on the other hand is more car alike to me.

[twowheeladdict]

Just to clarify , traction is independent of contact patch area . Those two front tires don't increase traction .

 Dusty

In the "real" world, those two front tires reduce the chance of tire slipping due to imperfections and debris in the road.  Where one tire might roll over some gravel, sand, etc. in the curve and slip, the other tire might avoid the debris and keep the bike tracking through the curve.  That was the point I was trying to make in my post without going into this level of detail. 

You can't equate two separate tires into the same "one tire, larger contact patch" equations.

[Arizona Wayne]

Just to clarify , traction is independent of contact patch area . Those two front tires don't increase traction .

 Dusty

They do when 1 front tire hits an object on the road and the other front tire doesn't when both front tires are independently sprung.   I have experienced it on my MP3s and it's hardly felt at the handlebar.     

[oldbike54]

They do when 1 front tire hits an object on the road and the other front tire doesn't when both front tires are independently sprung.   I have experienced it on my MP3s and it's hardly felt at the handlebar.     

 Randy , not exactly sure what you are saying . My point is that contact patch size is not connected to traction . Basic physics . In fact , on dry pavement given the same tire compound , a single front tire with equal loading will have better traction , because the only way to increase traction is with a softer compound , or to increase the weight/load .

 Dusty

[Arizona Wayne]

I can't agree, Dusty.   2 of the same front tire doubles traction & braking IMHO.  With 1 front tire at really high corner speed if your bike handles good enough and you are a good enough rider you can slide/push the front tire thru the corner on it's tread sidewall.  BTDT.  No need to do that with 2 front tires  because you have twice the traction on the front.  Maybe after you ride a MP3 you will understand what I'm saying. 

[oldbike54]

I can't agree, Dusty.   2 of the same front tire doubles traction & braking IMHO.  With 1 front tire at really high corner speed if your bike handles good enough and you are a good enough rider you can slide the front tire thru the corner on it's tread sidewall.  BTDT.  No need to do that with 2 front tires  because you have twice the traction on the front.  Maybe after you ride a MP3 you will understand what I'm saying. 

 Randy , do just a bit of reading , that's all I can say . Start with Kevin Cameron . What you are describing is stability , not traction , two different concepts . The laws of physics are the laws of physics are the laws of physics .

 Dusty

[Arizona Wayne]

Randy , do just a bit of reading , that's all I can say . Start with Kevin Cameron . What you are describing is stability , not traction , two different concepts . The laws of physics are the laws of physics are the laws of physics .

 Dusty

I respect Cameron but it seems to me stability/traction are 1  in the same.

[oldbike54]

I respect Cameron but it seems to me stability/traction are 1  in the same.

 No , separate concepts . I understand this is hard to grasp , but traction and contact patch area are unrelated . Traction is dependent on loading per square inch , and tire compound . No idea what type of tire the MP3 runs up front , probably fairly soft , and separating them by the use of independent suspension will allow one tire to stay in constant contact with the road no matter what the other tire is doing . That would probably be advantageous , as would one tire being on a surface free of anything like gravel or sand that decreases traction . In fact if one tire is lifted from the pavement the load on the other would increase , which would increase the traction available to the tire still in contact with the pavement . Watch how a racing car corners , often times lifting the inside tires off the pavement , thus increasing the load on the outside tires .

 Dusty

[Huzo]

I have heard that virtually nothing can get down a mountainside than a MP3.

Tumbling car perchance ?