maximNikenGT

Was going back through my current armored equipment inventory and was thinking about doing a direct comparison between armor from a Dainese GTR jacket from the ‘90s, my Aerostich TF6 armor from 2000s, then my Hit-Air Powertech armor from 2020s. Stumbled on this interesting observation from Aerostich on their experience with motorcycle armor and evolution since based upon Aerostich’s in-house built TF armor from pre-2k: https://www.aerostich.com/protection While the Aerostich TF armor does not conform to current CE standards due to shape requirements it did conform to best in class impact reduction (NOTE: This was impact reduction was tested back in November 2008). The following chart is interesting in terms of where their TF armor results landed in terms of independent testing against one of the CE standards. Couldn’t tell what the other items were along the x-axis though e.g. were they competitor armor or different classifications? Aerostich did make the following commentary on the current state of available armor: ”Despite today’s relentless marketing claims, TF impact armor and those more recently introduced consumer-branded armor types have a lot in common. All are slightly different formulations of siliconized visco-elastic foams. The shades of difference in the better types of energy absorption materials are important, the performance levels are fairly close now. Greater differences involve the cost, fit, comfort, shapes and sizes. Newer armor types have more in common with each other than TF though because most are a separate branded ingredient inside differently branded riding gear. The newer stuff is usually more expensive.”

F9 and the insightful dialogue here on armor took me down some deep rabbit holes during this morning’s coffee. This incredibly insightful rebuttal from Bennet’s Bike Social brought up some very good points about additional benefits of armor. Some of the many key points that caught my attention were: Armor not only includes point of impact protection at key joints e.g. elbows/knees/shoulders/hips due to impact but also dispersion of forces at point of impact to minimize catastrophic garment failure due to abrasion ex. if the sleeves wear away at the elbows as seen by motorcycle riders wearing leathers whom abrade away during a long slide. The CE testing procedures for equestrian armor certification start at a lower number in comparison to motorcycle armor (e.g. 35 vs. 50). So while equestrian armor does have a lower testing number required of transmitted force to pass certification, the amount of transferred force reduction is less in comparison to motorcycle armor which starts at a higher amount of tested force. Amount of force required to break ribs is about 3-4 (according to cited study) while femur ~ 10 (conflicts with what Ryan at F9 cited e.g. ~4). CE ratings appear to be evolving to have a standard for whether armor stays in place e.g. dedicated pocket for armor. Additionally the standard looks to further evolve to verify during impact tests whether any movement of the armor occurred e.g. is armor secured. Being in the US I’m not familiar with the BRK custom suits they cited in the Bennet’s review. Going to have to take a look at those. I’m familiar with the US Aerostich roadcrafter suits.

Parent’s just got a new car and I decided to apply some aftermarket cerakote ceramic polish to their new ride. After application on a freshly cleaned and dried car, I let it sit in the garage overnight for it to cure. The cerakote looks great on their new car, then got me thinking. Has anyone actually applied Cerakote to their Niken’s matte finish? If so how did it look? http://www.cerakoteceramics.com This is my first vehicle with a matte paint finish so not sure if this would be disastrous to apply a cerakote finish to the matte finish bits of the Niken.

In Italian - use Close Captioning and translate to English to get a sense of what he’s explaining.

Video of Yamaha dealers test riding the Niken around Sydney Motorsports track.

Spark plugs NGK SKU ID: MR9K9, Product ID: 97469, are $7.47 USD per plug direct from NGK: https://www.ngk.com/ngk-97469-mr9k-9-nickel-spark-plug. Does not include shipping or any applicable taxes. Amazon Prime did not seem to stock these but did have alternate suppliers for $11.52 per plug.

Approaching 5 year mark on my 2019 GT and was reviewing maintenance schedules. Has anyone done a spark plug change on their Niken? All I could find in the maintenance manual was the spark plug specification and that there are 3 needed in the CP3 triple. Looks like spark plugs replacement is every 8k miles or annually. Don’t have a good idea of how hard/easy it is. Anyone have any photos/tips?

Unverified source but ran across this as I was looking for Brudeli videos. The video suggests that Yamaha has a hybrid three wheeler version in the works. Had to read the transcript since it was recorded in Hindi. Source didn’t cite where he got the images from, so this may just be internet vaporware. But this was posted 3 years ago right as Niken sales was discontinued in the US (presumably due to poor sales/general user adoption). With the price of a new full size EV in the US averaging about $55353 (source: The Average Price of an Electric Car Keeps Dropping (2024 Update) - CarEdge https://caredge.com/guides/average-price-of-an-electric-car-2024 ), this may be a solution for folks needing more affordable mobility.

Curiosity got the better of me and I had to see one of these Brudeli’s 654Ls in action. What really caught my attention was when they dirt tracked and ice tracked the Brudeli. Pretty sure I would never dirt or ice track my Niken but the Brudeli looked pretty fun doing it. Shorter video with dirt tracking: Longer video with ice tracking:

Did some further digging, looks like Yamaha is utilizing the patents it acquired from Brudeli Tech to refine its LMW tech to a second generation: https://www.carandbike.com/news/yamaha-patents-reveal-new-leaning-three-wheeler-2243396 Unclear if this is heralding a second gen Niken or if tech is to be used in its Tricities line or some other yet to be announced product.

Thanks Yaman. Fascinating. First time I’ve heard that Yamaha bought a patent for leaning front wheels from a Norwegian company. Upon further review: https://brudelitech.com/history-22385s.html, the Brudeli Tech company’s own website touts the sale of the patent in the following press release. I’ll have to do a patent lookup to see which patent specifically changed hands here but it wouldn’t surprise me if Yamaha did buy certain suspension patents to support it’s own Leaning Multi Wheel (LMW) tech.

Not sure why I didn’t encounter this before but here’s a link to the Yamaha 01GEN concept bike that debuted in 2014 (four years before the worldwide introduction to the Niken in 2018): https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/yamaha-01gen-concept What’s interesting is that the 01GEN had the front double suspension tubes on the inside of the front wheels vs. the Niken production having the suspension tubes on the outside. I actually kind of like the double beak on the 01GEN. Makes it feel more adventure bike.

Buonguorno Dommy! Benvenuti ai nostri cavalieri Italiani.(Welcome to our Italian riders). I love Italy and dream of riding my Niken there someday, especially anywhere near the Chianti region and near Positano so I can snack on world class prosciutto along the way.

Saw this windscreen maker that I've not heard of before. While they make adjustable windscreens for Yamaha FJ and MTs I think they could potentially fit the Nikens. Anyone have experience with the Madstad windscreens? https://madstad.com/collections/fj-models/products/yamaha-fj-09-2015-up

Spanish review of the 2023 Yamaha Niken in Sardinia. Use close captions with translate to English option.