ROAD TEST - 2019 YAMAHA NIKEN - JUST BIKES

ROAD TEST - 2019 Yamaha Niken

Words: Dean Mellor Photos: Yamaha

Motorcycles are not safe. At least that seems to be the mantra uttered by all those who don’t ride them… and even by some who do. How many times have you heard the term ‘temporary Australian’ or some other such rubbish when you tell people you ride a motorcycle?

This perceived lack of safety amongst non-riders - as well as amongst those who hold a motorcycle licence but haven’t thrown a leg over in quite some time - is hurting motorcycle sales in the Western world… and has been for several years now.

Back in 2010, Yamaha Europe commissioned research that suggested 65 per cent of motorcycle licence holders were currently not riding, and the main reason for this was a perceived lack of safety. The research also suggested this was the reason keeping many car drivers away from jumping on a bike, so Yamaha’s solution was a simple one: develop a safer motorcycle. The result is the three-wheeled Niken, and its increased safety comes courtesy of its prodigious front-end grip, but more on that later…

What’s in a name?

The name Niken comes from a 17th Century Japanese dual sword fighting technique. ‘Ni’ means two and ‘Ken’ means sword.

What is it?

The Niken might have three wheels, but let’s make one thing perfectly clear: it is not a trike. Yamaha calls the Niken the world’s first Leaning Multi-Wheel (LWM) motorcycle and it features an innovative Ackermann-style front-end that allows it to lean into corners at angles up to 45 degrees. In other words, when you hook into corners on the Niken, it feels just like any other motorcycle, except with more front-end grip and a level of front-end ride quality that has to be experienced to be believed.

The Niken is loosely based on the MT-09, and at its heart is Yamaha’s glorious 847cc inline triple (retuned for smoother power delivery and more torque) from that model, matched to a beefed-up six-speed gearbox straight out of the YZF-R1. The engine is housed in a unique hybrid aluminium/steel frame, and the Niken has a ‘traditional’ rear-end, with just one wheel suspended by a monoshock set-up, albeit with a quite long swingarm.

Front-end Tech

Yep, all the cool stuff is at the Niken’s front-end, where its twin 15-inch wheels operate independently of each other thanks to the innovative Ackermann dual parallelogram set-up with double external upside-down forks. This set-up ensures both front wheels always remain parallel regardless of lean angle, achieved thanks to linkages that create a parallelogram that changes shape as the bike leans. And the Niken can lean up to 45 degrees before the outside front wheel will want to lift off the road surface, but the footpegs will stop you at 43 degrees to prevent this from ever occurring.

The Niken runs a twin USD fork set-up because the forks perform different functions; the front fork legs are essentially there to provide steering support while the rear fork legs provide the damping. The effect is that the Niken rides like any two-wheeled motorcycle, but where steering and suspension are independent of one another, a bit like a BMW Telever – it feels the same but different.

In the case of the Niken, there’s also double the contact patch thanks to having two front wheels instead of one, which means a hell of a lot more grip when cornering and braking. In fact, Yamaha claims up to 80 per cent more grip. Of course, this extra grip is great for improving safety, but it’s also great for upping the fun factor, and the Niken carves up corners like no other bike, despite its somewhat hefty 263kg wet weight.

First impressions

The Niken is a big machine, but it doesn’t feel like it once you jump aboard. Sure, the 820mm seat height means shorter riders have a bit of a stretch to reach the ground, but most of the weight feels low down and the wide handlebar makes it easy to manoeuvre the Niken in tight spots, although there is a lack of feel through the ’bar at slow speeds.

The riding position is excellent; you sit upright on the firm and supportive seat, there’s plenty of space to move around and there’s a good bum-stop thanks to the raised pillion seat. The footpegs are ‘just right’ and the reach to the handlebar is spot-on for long-distance touring. To counteract the additional weight of the tech-heavy front-end, you sit further back on the Niken than other bikes, which results in a claimed perfect 50:50 front/rear weight distribution with a rider on board.

That wide handlebar also makes it easy to judge the overall width of the Niken, which is handy because you can’t see the front wheels unless you lean over to one side and have a look. Those front wheels are situated 410mm apart, and overall maximum bike width is a not-too-bad 975mm, so you can still lane-split on more generous arterial roads. Notably, the mirrors can be easily folded back if you need another inch or so to squeeze between utes and vans in peak traffic, or they can be folded forwards if you need to park in a tight spot.

The instrument binnacle offers plenty of information, but some of it can be hard to read; the contrast isn’t great and some of the info is presented in pretty small type, but the important stuff (speed, tacho, clock, etc.) is easily digested. Big switches make scrolling through the instrument menu easy with gloves on and most of the other controls are where you’d expect them, such as the D-Mode control on the right-hand switch block and the cruise control on the left-hand switch block. Oddly, the traction control selector is up on the instrument panel, next to the trip reset. There’s also a 12V power outlet behind the low screen for running a satnav device or charging a phone.

There’s hardly any storage space under the pillion seat, but the Niken offers plenty of tie-down points for luggage, and a big pillion grab handle. The pillion seat is small but offers reasonable comfort, and it’s set at a good height to offer a good view around the rider without feeling too ‘over the top’.

Carving the Twisties

It’s out on the open road that the benefits of the Niken’s trick front-end are realised. Firstly, the feel at the handlebar is incredible, and the front-end offers one of the most compliant rides of any motorcycle on the market - no matter how crook the road surface. Hit the sharp edge of a roundabout with just one of the front wheels and you’ll hardly feel it at the handlebar. Hit a mid-corner pothole and the Niken will hold its line without complaint – no judder, no kick, nothing.

At first the lack of feedback through the handlebar feels a little disconcerting, but as trust builds in the way the Niken behaves, and you begin to understand just how much front-end grip there is, the harder you can push, braking later and later into corners and carving through them at higher and higher speeds. Go in too hard and the Niken will forgive you if you brake mid-corner, and it likewise won’t get upset if you crack the throttle open too hard and too early, the latter thanks in part to the effective traction control system.

The front-end is so good, in fact, that it highlights the less-than-perfect rear-end. Rear preload can be wound up or down on the move by reaching back to the easily accessible adjuster, but the rear shock simply doesn’t soak up bumps as well as the front-end. Likewise, there’s not as much grip at the rear as there is at the front, despite the 190-section rear tyre, which keeps the traction control system busy as you wind on the throttle exiting corners.

The Niken’s 847cc inline triple is an absolute gem of an engine (as already proven in the MT-09 and XSR900) and it delivers plenty of punch in this application. To handle the Niken’s extra weight, Yamaha has re-tuned the engine to deliver more usable torque, and crank inertia has been increased 18 per cent for improved rideability. The fuel injection has been tweaked too, aimed at delivering a smoother throttle response. And the rear sprocket is up to 47 (from the MT-09’s 45) to improve acceleration.

The Niken’s D-Mode system offers three settings, with ‘3’ being the most docile throttle map and ‘1’ being the most aggressive, with ‘2’ somewhere in between. It’s setting ‘2’ that proves the best choice in most real-world situations, offering excellent throttle response that allows you to make the most of the engine’s linear torque delivery. The ‘1’ setting is simply too abrupt in most situations, and ‘3’ is best reserved for rainy days or slippery gravel roads when you want to dumb down throttle response.

The Niken’s gear lever needs a fair old nudge on the upshift, and the standard one-way quick-shifter can be recalcitrant at partial throttle, but it works a treat when you’re on the gas, offering bloody quick upshifts that result in impressive acceleration. And there’s rarely a need to rev the engine all the way to redline thanks to the impressive spread of power across the rev range.

While the quick-shifter doesn’t work on downshifts, the effective slipper clutch makes up for it. The clutch itself is light and progressive and the whole engine/gearbox package works in harmony to encourage shifting. Of course, the Niken is equally happy to lug along in too tall a gear for those times when you just can’t be bothered.

Although the Niken’s brake package is nothing special, there’s plenty of stopping power thanks to the two Bridgestone Battlax tyres up front. Feel at the lever is good, and with loads of front-end grip, the ABS comes on much later than it would on a “normal” bike. Jump hard on the front and rear brakes at the same time and the Niken pulls up just as hard and [mostly] straight.

For long highway stints, the Niken’s cruise control system is fantastic – it’s easy to use and holds the set speed pretty well. The low windshield offers little in the way of protection, though, and has no adjustment, but the fairing does a good job of keeping the wind off your legs. For those who envisage hours in the saddle, Yamaha is about to launch the Niken GT, which scores a bigger windshield, as well as panniers.

On test, we recorded an average fuel-consumption figure of 5.5L/100km, which means the Niken offers a touring range well in excess of 300km from its 18.5L fuel tank.

Should you buy one?

At around $23K ride away, the Niken is a relative bargain, offering an incredible amount of technology for the price, but should you buy one?

Yamaha says prospective customers for the Niken will include 30-50-year old white-collar/self-employed males, experienced motorcyclists, tech-savvy early adopters and even sports-touring adventure seekers, but marketing mumbo-jumbo aside, buyers will most likely be interested in the added safety benefit offered by having two front wheels.

But the Niken is so much more than a ‘safe’ motorcycle. It’s a bloody great motorcycle! If riding big road miles to get to your favourite twisties is your thing, there are not many bikes on the market that will do the job better than the Niken.

Of course, the Niken is not perfect. It’s a big and bulky beast that ain’t exactly suited to city commuting, but Yamaha has a smaller Leaning Multi-Wheel motorcycle for urbanites in the pipeline; called the Tricity, it has a 155cc single and it will land in Australia soon.

The other thing to note with the Niken is that not all Yamaha dealers here are stocking it. The specific servicing requirements for that complicated front-end means the 3-wheeler is only being offered through ‘Specialist Dealers’, but there were 19 of those specialist dealers at last count, so it won’t be too hard to find.

Sure, Yamaha hasn’t reinvented the motorcycle with the Niken, but it’s certainly had a good crack at enticing new buyers to the market.