If your riding buddies think they
can keep up with you when you ride
the Niken GT in the rain, you might
want to warn them not to try
PRESS LAUNCH 2019 YAMAHA NIKEN GT
Story by: Costa Mouzouris
I
f you’re an experienced rider like
me and get more satisfaction from
motorcycles than any other type
of vehicle, you probably looked
at the 2019 Yamaha Niken GT and
wondered: “Why? What’s the point
of a leaning three-wheeler when
two-wheelers have been leaning
successfully for more than a century?”
I had no idea what to expect when
I arrived in California for the North
American launch of Yamaha’s new
“leaning multi-wheel motorcycle.” I had
no clue about whether I had to steer in
the direction of a turn like on a con-
ventional three-wheeler (for example,
Can-Am’s Spyder or Harley’s Trike) or if
I had to countersteer into turns like on a
conventional motorcycle.
Well, I won’t keep you guessing and
address that one right now: the Niken
leans, steers and feels just like a motor-
cycle. You therefore must be versed in
the operation of a motorbike to ride it.
You have to push on the same side of the
handlebar as the direction in which you
wish to turn – you want to turn right,
push on the right handlebar. The Niken
leans as freely as a bike and will fall
over if you neglect to put a foot down
at a stop. If you were to sit on a Niken
with your view of the front wheels
masked (otherwise, you can see them if
you lean your head a bit to either side)
and ride away, you would take some
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different about it — if you’d even pick
up on that at all. For the most part,
the Niken rides like a motorcycle
except for a couple of distinct, yet
subtle differences – and one really
big one.
Ties to the Tracer 900
The Niken shares its 847 cc
inline-triple with Yamaha’s Tracer
900, but with a slightly heavier crank-
shaft, and transmission gears made
from more robust steel. Yamaha Canada
does not publish horsepower numbers,
but in Europe the Niken claims 113
horsepower and the same 64.3 ft-lb of
18 MOTORCYCLE MOJO JULY 2019Limits
Pushing
the