Use photo from top of page 19. Caption:
The Niken has two front wheels and a single rear drive
wheel powered by an 847cc engine. Maximum lean angle is 45 degrees before the
outside front wheel starts to lift. Ridden within its limits with deliberate,
smooth rider input, the Niken is stable at speed, as Chris Ulrich demonstrates
at Chuckwalla. Photo by David Swarts.
Featured in the June 2019 Issue of Roadracing World:
“Why does it have a sidestand?” I asked.
“Because it will fall over,” came the answer.
“If that is the first question you ask about a new
motorcycle, you know you are dealing with something out of the ordinary. The
Yamaha Niken definitely fits the definition of ‘out of the ordinary.’
“The remarkable thing about this cutting-edge
three-wheeler is how much like riding an ordinary two-wheeler it actually is,
and how much better it is than a traditional two-wheeler when you encounter the
conditions in which it is designed to excel.
“The Niken is a sport-touring machine that offers
one of the best-feeling, most confidence-inspiring front ends in all of
motorcycling. Not a big surprise, perhaps, because the two wheels are at the
front, and between the wide stance and the large contact patches, the bike
offers stability like nothing else.
“Riding it around the streets of Southern
California, up a snowy mountain road and on the track revealed that Yamaha had,
indeed, hit its goal of offering performance and stability in a package
guaranteed to attract attention …
It’s the
anti-trike, Yamaha’s bold foray into three-wheel motorcycling. And the Niken’s
main claim to fame is that it is much more like a stonking’ sport-tourer than
any trike yet built. Read how an engineering exercise turned into a street
package that defies definition, but runs the fun factor straight to redline.
It’s all in the June 2019 issue of Roadracing World!
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