The Yamaha NIKEN is trying to make a three-wheeled revolution, and it is coming to the United States starting in September. As such, we finally have pricing information on the NIKEN, and the American MSRP is set at a stout $15,999.
For those who don’t want to do the math, this price tag represents a $7,000 markup over the Yamaha MT-09, which the NIKEN is loosely based off of, from the headstock back.
Yamaha USA will be doing a special “online reservation system” only sort of deal when it comes to selling the NIKEN here, which means that all bikes will have to be ordered through your local Yamaha dealership before they are shipped.
Yamaha faithful should recognize that online ordering scheme is the same system that Yamaha USA used for the VMAX power cruiser and YZF-R1M superbike.
Reporting back to us from the Yamaha NIKEN’s press launch in the Alps, our man Adam Waheed was impressed with what the NIKEN offered for power enthusiasts. The front-end is confidence inspiring with its 80% more traction, and the riding action is similar to a standard motorcycle.
The NIKEN isn’t a light motorcycle, however, tipping the scales at 580 lbs at the curb. Using the three-cylinder engine from the Yamaha MT-09, the NIKEN makes 113hp at the crank.
Using a complex four fork front-end arrangement, with a parallelogram linkage, the NIKEN is a complex solution for a basic goal: a leaning multi-wheeled vehicle.
From a mechanical perspective, there is a lot going on, but from a riding perspective, things are bit more straight-forward.
All-in-all, the NIKEN s better-suited for touring rather than sporting duty, though Yamaha seems intent to be pushing the latter characteristic.
Though the NIKEN is set to hit US soil later this year, we can rest assured that it won’t be the last leaning multi-wheeler to come from the Japanese brand.
Expect to see more LMWs debut towards the end of the year, at the big trade shows abroad.
Source: Yamaha USA
