The Yamaha Niken’s two front wheels give it a huge increase in feel and confidence
YAMAHA has never been afraid to rock the traditional boat.
In the early Nineties it was the hub centre-steered GTS1000 that raised eyebrows.
Ditching the front forks and replacing them with a single-sided swingarm failed to capture the imagination of us bikers and it quietly disappeared from showrooms within a few years.
In the mid-Noughties it was the MT-01 that had us scratching our heads.
An upright bruiser of a bike, it looked like it weighed a ton, because it did. Sports bike suspension and brakes can only do so much when you tip the scales at 265kg.
Whatever lessons Yamaha learned with these two weirdos have clearly been forgotten as they’re at it again with this, the Yamaha Niken.
Everything from the numberplate to the fuel filler cap is pretty much the same as a Yamaha MT-09 – everything from the fuel cap forward is, basically, motorcycling mutiny.
Having two wheels at the front works, though. Grip is the holy grail when it comes to biking and the increase in contact patch at the front equals a huge increase in feel and confidence.
The Niken steers like a regular bike, you lean it over and it goes where you want it to.
The smaller front wheels are a gyroscopic necessity, which means smaller brake calipers and a slightly numb feeling at the lever, but once you’ve got your eye in you’d be hard pushed to notice it unless you were really flying.
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The Niken is punchy, the 850cc triple-cylinder motor delivers real zap off corners and will cruise at high speed with zero fuss. It’s comfortable, too – our ride in the Austrian Alps was a long one but not once did I feel like I needed a stretch.
The quality and finish of the Niken is top-notch, as per all Yamahas recently. Yes, it’ll pop a wheelie like a regular bike and, yes, it’ll fall over like a regular bike too.
Whether you can get your head around the benefits of that front end is a question that only a test ride will answer.
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