When I was at the Long Beach International Motorcycle Show, Yamaha reps said that the allotment of bikes to US dealership had already sold out. If that’s true, here’s an example where the rider who put down a deposit backed out – possibly because Yamaha has just announced the Niken GT (upgraded front suspension, center stand, heated grips, and other touring features like a larger windscreen, comfort seats, and luggage.) Either way, this is one of the more interesting debuts of the 2019 motorcycle lineups from any manufacturer.
I usually don’t feature brand new bikes that I haven’t ridden myself, so I’ll defer to Ari Henning in print or in this On Two Wheels video (skip to 3:20 to get straight to the review):
From Ari’s review:
“Why does this thing exist? Rather than being the answer to a question nobody asked, the Niken is the result of a 10-year quest to build a motorcycle with “unprecedented front-end grip.” Adding another front wheel was how Yamaha’s engineers met that goal.”
Find this Niken for sale here on Craigslist near Fort Collins, Colorado for $16,999 – that’s $1,000 more than Yamaha’s MSRP.
This bike-uriousity brought to you by Bob K!