Weird and Futuristic
Yamaha has some odd three-wheeled machines in its lineup, but those designs are honestly good ones if you like a third wheel. There have been rumors of the company adding another leaning trike to its lineup, and now Cycle World has shared some images that show what the bike will likely look like.
Hybrid Trike?
The publication says the new Yamaha bike is built on the MW-Vision concept bike design that was revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show last year. That design was crazier than this one, which is saying something. This leaning-trike has a futuristic maxi-scooter look to it, and Cycle World stated it’s a series hybrid.
What that means is that a gasoline engine will be used to power an electric powertrain. This allows the engine to run at a pretty constant rpm and keep the batteries charged while you ride. The trike will likely be able to ride for a while on electric power alone. There are no specs or additional details about the powertrain at this time.
Unique Trike Suspension
Yamaha has a new suspension set-up for the trike that sets it apart from the company’s other three-wheeled machines. Instead of a taller set-up with telescoping forks, this design has a lower horizontal approach.
The suspension utilizes a wishbone suspension, much like cars. This design is then tied into a central pillar piece that doesn’t lean. The rest of the trike leans around that central piece. This should make for a very stable machine going down the road.
This is similar to the patent that I showcased recently that I called a new T-Max design. That patent may not have been for a T-Max but for this trike instead. There’s also the chance that the design I’d previously shown could be for a completely different trike than the one you see here.
Will it be Made?
It is possible. Yamaha isn’t investing a ton of money into these three-wheeled machines for fun. The company wants to sell a lot of these things if it puts them into production. However, I will say that the images you see here are definitely for a bike that is still under development and still really a concept.
It’s unclear at this time what Yamaha will do with this new design. To be frank, I find this design butt ugly. I still want to ride it just to see what it’s like, but it will be many years before I could be convinced I should buy one of these trikes. I’m obviously not the market Yamaha is going for here, but I do wonder about the market validity here.
I don’t know the sales numbers for these new trikes. I’d suspect they sell or Yamaha wouldn’t bother with the designs, but I see hardly any on the roads. It will be interesting to see what Yamaha does next with this design.
